Review of AC/DC No Bull Live

Introduction

Whilst ageing rockers AC/DC are not everyone`s cup of tea, twenty eight years of success, tens of millions of albums sold and yet another sell-out tour in 2000 means that they are still a very popular band.

I was lucky enough to see AC/DC in the 2000 "Stiff Upper Lip" tour at the MEN Arena, Manchester and they were superb. I`ve also got all 17 of their UK albums, the 5 disc Bonfire boxset, 4 Australian import albums, loads of live MP3s, a couple of videos and now this DVD. I`m a big fan of their music!

Shot in Madrid in 1996, "No Bull" is a 20 song concert set featuring songs spanning their career, and being part of the Ballbreaker tour, several songs from their second last (and fairly weak) album.

Video

Video comes in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and is of good standard throughout the concert.

Visually, AC/DC are quite a spectacular band with plenty of lights, pyro, props and a great deal of movement (and sweat) from Brian Johnson and Angus Young.

Audio

Audio comes in a choice of Dolby Digital 5.0 or 2.0 and is of good quality.

Johnson`s mega-gravelly screech sometimes gets lost behind the noise of the music, but some of the studio albums sound like that, so it`s perfectly normal!

If you`re a fan (and you`d have to be to purchase this DVD - it`s not exactly an impulse buy) - the track listing is pretty good with plenty of the older (and generally better) material on offer alongside the later tracks. It`s hard to pick a favourite song, but Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Highway To Hell and Thunderstruck are always great live (I was hoarse after the Manchester show...)

Features

Usual practice on music videos is no extras, so even one video ("Hard as Rock") and a documentary about the making of "Hard as Rock" are a bonus.

The menus are nice and the song selection is split into three parts, each with different backgrounds and music.

"No Bull" is packaged in a clear Amaray case and includes a four page insert containing pictures of the band in concert and a track listing.

Conclusion

Overall, if you`re an AC/DC fan, the two hour concert is non-stop entertainment and you will be singing along all the way. There`s also twenty-odd minutes of extras, bringing the total running time to a generous 2 hours 20 minutes.

As people generally only purchase music DVDs featuring bands they like, it is hard to rate them impartially. Suffice to say that as an AC/DC fan I love this DVD and recommend that everyone in the world rushes out and buys it immediately!

Realistically, if you like the band, this is an excellent DVD and you will not be disappointed.