[.ca] Rolling Stones: Bridges to Babylon Tour '97-98 (ISBN 6305161925)

From Amazon.com:
Like any good brand, the Rolling Stones know to preserve the formula even when updating the package, and this long-form concert video underscores that market strategy. As with each of their tours since the early '80s, the quartet, augmented by a discreet auxiliary of backup musicians, gives the fans new eye candy while dishing up a familiar set list spiked with Mick Jagger's lip-smacking vocals and Keith Richards's signature guitar riffs. The visual twists are at once spectacular and conservative: a cyclopean main stage design with massive pillars (presumably the Babylonian connection), a vast oval video screen (shades of Big Brother), and a hydraulic bridge enabling a midconcert sortie into the audience, with the Stones playing a more stripped-down, intimate set on a small satellite stage. That huge physical setting doubtless made the live shows eye-filling rock spectacles, but the video crew necessarily accepts the limitations of the small screen, focusing more on close-ups of the band, rapid cuts, and racing, hand-held tracking shots to convey excitement while keeping the viewer close to the action. The evening's repertoire sticks to the band's most familiar hits, and if the Glimmer Twins occasionally slip their masks to let the routine show, the real wonder is how effectively they keep the playing focused. During the first half of the program, the band's newest songs (especially "Saint of Me" and "Out of Control") elicit conspicuously higher energy from the band, if not the audience. But just as the show seems doomed to a certain anomie, the escape onto the smaller, no-frills stage pumps up players and crowd alike, particularly when they launch into "Like a Rolling Stone," a cover that winds up sounding like a great idea too long deferred. --Sam Sutherland

Stones live 1998:
Excellent Stones concert. IMO Gimmie Shelter, It's Only Rock and Roll, Waiting on a Friend and Flip The Switch are the highlights. Keith is very strong thoughout. I don't have the other Stones DVDs- so I can't compare. Having said that, I've seen the Stones in concert many times (starting in 78). This is an excellent show.

A MUST HAVE:
This is a MUST HAVE if you like the Rolling Stones. This DVD has excellent sound quality and visual quality. This is the best Rolling Stones DVD on the market. This covers 40 years of hits with today's dvd technology.

Very enjoyable:
Great sound, great picture, excellent performance. Jagger is in fine form, and his vocals are very good. Sometimes a singer will sound less than enthusiastic when doing a song for the 1000th time, but that is never the case here (well, almost never). This two-hour concert recording includes Keith Richards doing a wonderful "I Wanna Hold You" (a non-album track) in a surprisingly strong voice, and a fine set list with "Satisfaction" as an energetic opener, as well as several well-executed classics. The band is excellent; Richards' guitar work is tight, and bass guitarist Darryl Jones and the other backing musicians help drummer Charlie Watts keep things in place. A very enjoyable performance. 4 1/2 stars.

Is this true?:
Ok.The best rock band ever in an amazing concert.This DVD has taken a special place in my heart for ever.Rolling Stones combine their great songs with their extraordinary show on stage and of course with the latest technology.I have been renting it the last few months a lot,lot of times and now i have bought it and i watch it nearly every day.The only thing i say is that my whole music experience changed with this dvd but also it has affected my life. Thanks to the Rolling Stones that can still inspire and make people excited with the same songs 40 years now!

"Live at the Max" is good but "Bridges" sounds better:
Well, when Keith Richards struts out on stage in a leopard-skin coat and starts riffing on "Satisfaction"-it just doesn't get any cooler than that. Great sound, great picture, and I'm just talking about the VHS version. I liked this so much I bought the DVD of the Stones "Live at the Max", (I finally converted to DVD),and I think this VHS beats that DVD as far as the sound.The Rolling Stones have been around longer than anyone else. They have the attitude, the songs, and the best one-two guitar work in rock and roll.Get this for a great concert experience.I know my taste tends towards the older stuff, but check this out and you'll see why these guys have had such longevity.