In some of my other music DVD reviews, I take the tact of applying a set of standards to a release and establishing how the DVD in question measures up. Let me say in advance that when I take this tact, it usually means that I was disappointed in the release. Such is the case with Alice Cooper Live at Montreux 2005.

A memo should go out to all bands and music DVD producers that says at minimum: "1) Music DVD's should be produced to the highest standards. 2) The musical performances within should represent the talent that made the studio recorded CDs sell. 3) Theatrics are very cool too, as long as you can pull them off without deterioration in the quality of the music."

Let's break it down then for Live at Montreux:

1 - "Music DVD's should be produced to the highest standards." - The picture quality in Live at Montreux is outstanding. It's a high-def recording that is stunning in its clarity. Unfortunately, the director has chosen to indulge in what he feels is "cool production" versus giving the viewer a front row seat to the performance. The visual often jumps around similar to the music video format of "4 seconds then cut to another view". In fact there are segments where I couldn't count 2 seconds off before the camera angle switches. It was like staring at a strobe light. This made for a viewing experience that ruined the illusion of having a front row seat to the show.

However, the Welcome To My Nightmare theatric 4-song medley was an exception to this abomination. The director must have become as captivated as I was, because the shots actually lasted long enough to take them in before changing angles.

The sound is great in Dolby 5.1. You get your choice between Dolby Stereo, Dolby 5.1 or DTS. Dolby 5.1 actually sounded better than DTS on my Surround system.

2 - "The musical performances within should represent the talent that made the studio recorded CDs sell." - The guys prior to hitting the stage must have huddled and committed to each other to go out and play the music true to the studio versions of the songs. All of the tracks on Live in Montreux are performed precisely. Alice still sounds the same way he did in the 70s. Absolutely amazing.

Eric Singer is one talented drummer...too bad his great drum solo on this DVD is visually chopped to pieces by the video strobing effect. The director needs to watch Eric in Kiss' Rock The Nation DVD; that's a DVD done right productionwise.

The other hired-help musicians were also quite good. Like I said, musical performances that mirrored the original recordings.

One other note is that a live performance includes getting the audience charged up. Man, did this audience ever need charging up! They were zombies. The first 3 rows occasionally looked excited, but the rest of the audience was absolutely dead by the 8th song and there are 27 songs. Either Alice made a very poor choice of venue to record at (The Montreux Jazz Festival), or please just remind me never to go to a concert in Switzerland. The zero audience energy indeed negatively affects the viewing experience.

3 - "Theatrics are very cool too, as long as you can pull them off without deterioration in the quality of the music." - The theatrics were great! Alice included a lot of cool stuff that he did in the 70s (the guillotine, the coffin, the dancer), and the band performed the songs to perfection. These guys were all on tonight. Alice did his theatrical magic; it made it a better show and the music sounded great.

All in all...it's a very good performance with a very very distracting choice in video production. The second to second video cuts took what was close to a 5 star release down to a visual headache....Yes, it's really that bad.

If you are or ever were an Alice Cooper fan, and you've been waiting for a high quality Alice Cooper audio/video release...this is it. If you have strobe induced Epilepsy, by all means skip this.

Continuing with their collection of excellent concert films from the Montreux Jazz Festival, Eagle Vision gives us a 2005 performance from the legendary Alice Cooper. For over thirty years Alice Cooper has held the title as the "Godfather of Shock Rock" with bands such as KISS and Motley Crue following in his influential footsteps. For this concert Alice would be performing in support of his to be released "Dirty Diamonds" CD (of which several tracks are presented for the viewer to enjoy). However, like many Artists who place too much focus on a new release Alice and Company make sure to provide an absolutely heavy amount of classics from his extensive back catalog. Most of his hits are now legendary parts of Hard Rock music culture and I think even the most distant of music fans knows that "School's Out" and "Billion Dollar Babies" are Cooper tracks. Fortunately these and many others are present but as you watch this concert there is a couple of things that stand out very quickly about the show. You'll find that there is not much of an emphasis of the showman from the Nightmarish carnival that he usually brings around with him. The stage itself is not garish in design and no one is really in any sort of costume change except Cooper who has several during the performance while using a number of small props. He has a female dancer who also goes through a number of costume/character changes during the show and she does really well. It was a great difference to the Cooper experience for while its common knowledge about his level of visual talent and capacity, this showed that while it's an important part of his show, it can be used minimally and still have a maximum impact on the audience. No matter what the reason for his changing the format from the way he used to you can count on Alice to lose his head for you as a viewer when it comes down to it. As an older fan of Cooper I lean to his classics, but was happy to see his newer material hold a heaviness that works very well.

Musically Alice knows how to build a band for his tours and as you watch this film you will see that he has not faltered yet. On guitar/vocals he has Damon Johnson of Brother Cane & Slave To The System (guitar), Ryan Roxie (guitar), Chuck Garric (bass) and the one and only Eric Singer (most recently seen in makeup performing with KISS as the "Catman"). Singer is always on point it seems and has proven himself to be one of the better drummers in Hard Rock music. He does a brief solo which is an added bonus. The dancer/actress performing around Alice through the whole show is in fact his Daughter Calico Cooper. It's amusing to see when at band introductions with her wearing next to nothing Alice announces "that's my little girl, now put some clothes on!" A companion CD is included with this DVD that features 19 of the songs from the film. It's a great way to load up your music player or take the show along with you in the car. I hope they do this with more of the releases since it's a nice enhancement to the product purchase.

Fans of Hard Rock music video and legendary performers cannot go wrong with this release. I enjoyed it very much and am happy to see Alice Cooper still showing the new kids how it is supposed to be done.

People will come out and say that Alice Cooper is "dead". Either because he does not follow the trend or because his music reflects to real rockers and not to whatever the music industry offers nowdays. Despite what people think, Alice Cooper was, is and will always be a pioneer, a proprietor in what he does. With this new DVD he proves just that for one more time. He looks as good as anybody on stage and in all likelihood, his voice can overpower any other voice from all these new expiration bands. The selection of songs is amazing, as it gives a tour of his whole career. Starting from his early legendary songs, all the way to the masterpieces of today. Watching this DVD is an unimaginable pleasure and it can give the creeps to anybody that knows how to appreciate good rock music. Should there be any hesitation in buying this DVD? Absolutely not. Should you watch it more than once? Not a question. It is an instant classic.

DVD Tracklisting:

1. Department of Youth

2. No More Mr. Nice Guy

3. Dirty Diamonds

4. Billion Dollar Babies

5. Be My Lover

6. Lost in America

7. I Never Cry

8. Woman of Mass Destruction

9. I'm Eighteen

10. Between High School and The Old School

11. What Do You Want From Me?

12. Is it My Body?

13. Go to Hell

14. The Black Widow

15. Gimme

16. Feed My Frankenstein

17. Welcome To My Nightmare

18. The Awakening

19. Steven

20. Only Women Bleed

21. Ballad of Dwight Fry

22. Killer

23. I Love the Dead

24. School's Out

25. Poison

26. Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills

27. Under My Wheels

CD Tracklisting:

1. Department of Youth

2. No More Mr. Nice Guy

3. Dirty Diamonds

4. Billion Dollar Babies

5. Be My Lover

6. Lost in America

7. I Never Cry

8. Woman of Mass Destruction

9. I'm Eighteen

10. Between High School and The Old School

11. What Do You Want From Me?

12. Is it My Body?

13. Gimme

14. Feed My Frankenstein

15. Welcome To My Nightmare

16. School's Out

17. Poison

18. Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills

19. Under My Wheels

Alice Cooper has been churning out "in your face" music since the late sixties. He has always set the standard for incredible live performances.

This DVD captures Alice on stage at his best. His vocals and intent are as powerful as ever.

Turn the volume way up and hold on.

I've been waiting to get my hands on a copy of this concert DVD.Did they make two different versions,though?Because I didn't get the audio CD,just the DVD.No complaints whatsoever.This 27 song concert was filmed at the annual Montreux Jazz Festival in July, 2005 - just prior to the release of his 'Dirty Diamonds' CD. Pristine,superb and top-of-the-line sound and picture quality. Plus,with a DVD you know the picture won't fade like VHS tapes would always,after five plays. Tunes that were great to experience again were the opener "Department Of Youth","Dirty Diamonds","Lost In America","Feed My Frankenstein","Welcome To My Nighmare" and so on.Noticed some recent material,that Alice and his four piece band handled(playing live)really well,like "Between High School And Old School","Woman Of Mass Distraction" and "Gimme"(cool lyrics).As for the Cooper classics,you know they're here,as such "Be My Lover","Is It My Body",the straight-jacketed performed "Ballad Of Dwight Fry"(like the way the camera crew made JUST him in B&W during this tune),"Killer","School's Out" and the grand finale "Under My Wheels".A must-have by any and all true Cooper fans.A keeper.