New releases - 04.11.06: REVIEWS DVD.

The Who

Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 (Eagle Vision EREDV 610)

The Who's incendiary performance at The Isle Of Wight Festival in front of 600,000 people is one of the highlights of their career and, after selling well more than 70,000 copies for Warner Music Vision since it was first issued on DVD 10 years ago, this historic concert finds a new home at Eagle Vision. The good news is that it has been upgraded, with the original eight- track recordings being given a stunning 24-bit transfer to 5.1 Surround Sound and DTS. The sheer power of the performance is almost overwhelming, with The Who's original line-up working its way through old favourites like My Generation, I Can't Explain and the entire Tommy rock opera. The bad news is that although there are previously unseen bonus performances and a 40-minute interview with Pete Townshend, the concert remains poorly edited, and out of sequence. On balance, however, a must-have upgrade for fans of the band.

Santana

Viva Santana! (Columbia/Legacy 82876898719)

A fascinating retrospective celebrating the music of Carlos Santana and his band collects together concert and TV recordings of the band between 1969 and 1988 and adds Santana's own recollections and anecdotes. At venues from Woodstock to Moscow, the clips all show guitar virtuoso Santana at the top of his form, with excellent support from his band, as they work their way through renditions of Jingo, She's Not There, Black Magic Woman et al, all performed in Santana's unique style, fusing his Latin roots with contemporary American rock. The visuals are sometimes - as on the Ed Sullivan footage - not what would be deemed acceptable today, and neither are some of Santana's preferred clothing options, including a less than fetching tank-top, but guitar gods can get away with wearing pretty much what they like.

Chris Rea