Not a musical DVD as such, more a documentary with interspersed musical interludes.

    Brian Wilson was the genius behind the Beach Boys, he wrote and sung most of the songs, played bass and keyboards and probably took the most drugs. The son of an abusive and dictatorial father, Brian overcame many psychological hurdles to become one of the most influential singer / songwriters ever. The Beatles "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" was written (according to legend) after John and Paul heard The Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds" which was so far ahead of it's time as to be popular only with visionaries. I thought it was pretentious crap at the time, now It's one of my favourites, I'm obviously not a visionary !

    A wide range of artists including David Crosby, J.J. Cale, Tom Petty all pay tribute to Brians work with Brian himself looking retrospectively down the tube leading to his past life. Since his well publicized breakdown, his vocal ability has deteriorated with a slight slur, this doesn't change his ability to hold a note or express emotion through his singing as is demonstrated at the end of the disc as he churns out some excellent songs with the aid of daughters Wendy and Carnie.

    The camera work is in Black and White and the sound quality is commensurate with the venues so there's no reference quality stuff here. What we do have is an important piece of musical history which is riveting in it's execution and certainly kept me fascinated for it's 70 minutes, I'll certainly be watching it again.

Audio - Variable

Video - Black and White

Content - 4.5 out of 5