The Who Album: “Live from Toronto [DVD]”

I'm very familiar with the concert and have a very good condition VHS (and at one point in my life owned the original "rental" VHS). I also knew that this DVD release was not cleaned up and had also been filmed on video tape. However, to protect my VHS tape, I made this purchase.

(With that said, it must be obvious that I enjoy the performance itself).

But I'm convinced that my VHS copy would have made a better "master" since I don't have a visible tracking line at the bottom of the screen. This DVD does, making it little more than a bootleg. Yet, a bootleg that I can play in any room (not just the one where I still keep an operating VHS player).

The above review is right; good concert but my 25 year old second generation vhs tape looks and sounds just as good. With technology being what it is today, there is no exuse for releasing such a shoddy piece of work than this. As far as I know neither the Who or their management even acknowledge this disc, and for good reason. They must know that their long time, hard core fans are being gouged. If you want live material from the 1982 tour, buy Who's Last. It's not the best but most of the material came from this concert anyhow, and it is a step or two higher in quality.

Many reviews of the bad sound is true for 2.0 sound or played through a TV, but if you have a true 5.1 system, the 5.1 mix is very good and you get alot of separation.

The video quality is very good, though it seems to have been transfered from a VHS tape, but the quality is still very good.

The Who here is super tight, the give a steller performance! The set list is A+, rare songs live like "Love aint for keeping" and "Love reign over me". There are also a few songs from the "It's Hard" album as this was the albums tour. The Ox plays two songs, "Boris the Spider" and "The Quiet One". This show truly is fantastic! See the Who still in the prime in the second phase of their careers just a few years after Keith Moon had passed away.

This show was originally filmed for HBO and I believe the audio was used for the now out of print "Whos Last" album.

So dont let the bad reviews deter you from buying this. It sounds great in 5.1, the picture quality is very good but The Who are EXCELLENT!

I don't know if it's just me (I'm sure it's not), but I feel that this period of the Who (the first break up) has been swept under the carpet and unfairly maligned in the concept of their history.

I had this video on VHS for many years, then I saw it on Amazon on DVD and thought I would relive the memories. The first time I saw the movie in the 80's I thought the performance was great. I still do.

Unfortunately the video quality looks like it was transferred from tape, and the sound quality is really quite muddy. Townshends guitar is not loud enough, and the instruments are panned in reverse to the picture. By that I mean that the Bass guitar is coming from Pete's side of the stage, and guitar from John's side which is a bit off putting. I guess someone switched the cable when dubbing the movie.

But, the playing is still great, particularly from Kenney Jones on the drums.

A lot has been said about Kenney in the Who, but he was always going to be up against it replacing Keith. I guess everyone found it hard to move on at the time, but Kenney was still a wonderful drummer and gave the band a tighter if less flamboyant feel.

It could have been so much different if Pete had given the Who all the great songs he had at the time instead of releasing his two solo albums. The Who could have really reinvented itself, with Kenney. But alas it wasn't to be.

Perhaps a lost opportunity?

I hope one day this concert is given the restoration and mixing it deserves, because it is still an important part of the Who's history. Even if they like it or not.