Customer Reviews for
311 - Live in New Orleans 311 Day
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PROTO-311: THE OMAHA YEARS, 1990-1992
311, from Omaha, Nebraska, self-released three studio EPs entitled Dammit! (1990), Unity (1991) and Hydroponic (1992, created as a demo tape). This period ended when the band moved to L.A. and won a record contract in 1992. See 1993 and 1998 for the releases of music from this era...
THE TRILOGY OF DEBUT ALBUMS, 1993-1996
Music (1993)
Debut Trilogy Part 1: An original, energetic, raw, explosive fusion of rock, hip hop, funk, reggae and rap. About two-thirds of the songs are re-worked versions of the band's best songs from the Omaha years. The other third are butt-kicking new songs made just for this release. This album says, "This is what we can do."
Grassroots (1994)
Debut Trilogy Part 2: An exploration of their roots, a musical journey of growing up from the ground up. This album says, "This is where we came from."
311, "self-titled" or "the blue album" (1995)
Debut Trilogy Part 3: A crisp, tight, bold, definitive, well-oiled machine. This album says, "This is what we are."
These first three LPs are all tied for my favorite 311 album, and I admit my hard-hitting rap-rock bias. :-)
Enlarged to Show Detail (1996)
A "behind the scenes" DVD Epilogue to the Debut Trilogy containing interviews, music videos, concert footage, etc. - with a bonus EP of outtakes from 1995.
THE TRANSITION YEARS, 1997-2001
Transistor (1997)
4th Studio LP: The next phase in 311's evolution begins with this ambitious and psychedelic exploration of their unique style. This is their longest album, and it shows a substantial decrease in the rap/sing ratio. Transistor is my 4th favorite release (or 2nd fave if you count the first three LPs as one).
Omaha Sessions 1988-1991 (1998)
A compilation of 311's early songs (from 311's self-released EPs) that were not later re-made for the band's premier debut LP in 1993 (above). BTW, this CD is not bad if you like old school 311, but despite some of the songs being re-mixed, it still comes off like a demo or low-budget outtakes collection.
311 Live (1998)
A complilation of live versions of songs from the 1993-97 releases. BTW, if you only get into 311's first four studio albums and you enjoy listening to music that was recorded live in concert, then you will probably like this CD. However, I recommend the 311 Day DVD (2004) instead.
Soundsystem (1999)
5th Studio LP: While this follow-up to Transistor is not a huge leap forward style-wise, they still "come original" here. Soundsystem is really just as high quality as Transistor, which is only slightly more favored because it is longer. Soundsystem, technically my 5th favorite LP, is the last 311 album that I would describe as "great."
From Chaos (2001)
6th Studio LP: This is the 3rd and final album of the Transitional phase started by Transistor and continued with Soundsystem. This album is not a huge departure from Soundsystem, but to me it far inferior. Front-man Nick Hexum was suffering from a long-term relationship break-up, and it shows. This album attempts to herald the dawning of a new era for the band, but it instead accentuates the ending of their glorious initial decade. From Chaos is tied with DTOM (2005) for my least favorite 311 studio LP, but it still has a couple killer tracks, like "Sick Tight."
Enlarged to Show Detail #2 (2001)
A "behind the scenes" DVD Epilogue to the Transition Years containing interviews, music videos, concert footage, etc. - with a bonus EP of outtakes from 1999 and 2001. I actually like this well-produced DVD better than the original ETSD (96).
THE NEW SCHOOL, 2002-?
Evolver (2003)
7th Studio LP: Evolver succeeds in a lot of ways that From Chaos fails. It truly brings in the next era of 311's evolution. While it is a better LP than From Chaos, it further embraces melody over rap. I would describe this album as good but not great. This is my 6th favorite 311 album.
311 - Live in New Orleans 311 Day (2004)
Only four songs are missing from this epic five-hour concert (which I attended). This DVD features the live performance of 64 songs, mostly from 311's 1990-2003 releases. A handful of rare outtakes and covers were also played, including a reggae classic from Led Zeppelin.311 - Live in New Orleans 311 Day
311 Live in New Orleans
THIS DVD IS AMAZING. I went to this show and it captures the energy perfectly. Dont listen to people who talk about quality, this is as good as it gets. IF your a 311 fan or die hard like myself this will satisfy your 311 desire full throttle. The rarities are insane and not to mention they play for over 4 hours. You cant ask for anymore. YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED WITH THIS DVD. THIS IS THE BEST THING ANY BAND COULD HAVE DONE FOR THEIR FANS. Play a 5 hour show and then RELEASE IT!!! A+++++++++++311 - Live in New Orleans 311 Day
all the songs you ever missed live
I am a huge 311 fan. I have seen them live 15 shows. This dvd covers everything...... 64 songs, phenominal311 - Live in New Orleans 311 Day
Do Your Right !!, get this DVD home yo
this is THE best concert i've ever seen, and the best one I own in DVD! there is plenty of songs to hear and see..over 5 hours! the sound and video is amazing, and this guys are awesome musicians, P-Nut's bass lines can be heard clearly, he is great bassplayer, so is chad with the drums, and mahoney has a great sound. It is a fun dvd to see, I have watch this dvd over and over again, you get much more value than what you willactually pay. I would have like to see more bonus features, backstage and stuff though
311 Dvd's are getting better each time there is a new release, I'm looking forward for them to realease a new dvd of the latest 311 day concert featuring some of their newest songs.
the only thing left to say: I really, really wish I was there in the crowd!!311 - Live in New Orleans 311 Day
The 411 on 311's Live in New Orleans 311 Day
After my initial viewing of 311's Live in New Orleans 311 Day I thought, "What a nice gift these dudes have given to their fans with this performance and the DVD that documented it." Well it turns out that my first impression was short-lived.
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 measures up. Let me say in advance that when I take this tact, it usually means that I was disappointed in the release, and that is indeed the case with Live in New Orleans 311 Day.
A memo really needs to 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 in New Orleans 311 Day:
1 - "Music DVD's should be produced to the highest standards." - It's here and only here that Live in New Orleans 311 Day has failed...and failed miserably. I've been doing a lot of traveling watching DVDs on a portable DVD player instead of my home theater. This makes it hard to judge the picture quality and sound of a DVD. So before I pass any judgments, I wait until I have the time to take a look at the DVD on my home system. I was ready to give 5 stars to Live in New Orleans 311 Day before I watched it on the plasma/surround system.
It turns out that the picture quality in Live in New Orleans 311 Day is fair at best. The DVD was recorded in 2004 (on 3-11), so there is no excuse for a "fair at best" picture quality. The under average picture is hardly noticeable on a standard def TV, but it's very noticeable on a high def plasma TV; I think that just "flat" would be a good way to describe it. The technology to deliver a high quality picture was well in place prior to this recording (click on my name above and see my Amazon Listmania List of The Best Rock DVDs With High Quality A/V), and for 311 not to go with quality for this release--that captures almost their complete catalogue to date--is a shame.
The visuals are well-directed and don't jump all over the place every 2 seconds (as is true with way too many music DVDs; for some reason the notion all too often is that changing the visual projects the energy of a song...and that's a stupid notion). The camera shots in Live in New Orleans 311 Day give you nice long looks at each performer at the right time; if you were actually at the show, you'd probably be looking at the performer that the camera is on. This made for a viewing experience that enhanced the illusion of having a front row seat to the show, but the picture quality quickly reminded me that I was watching a DVD on my couch at home.
The biggest shock to this DVD production was the sound. Your only option here is standard stereo. No Dolby 5.1. No DTS. No Surround. Stereo on my portable or standard TV sounded fine, but c'mon guys. I'm not sure that I even know of a music DVD that at least wasn't offered in Surround in the last decade. The sound on Live in New Orleans 311 Day really ruins the illusion of being at the show using a home theater.
2 - "The musical performances within should represent the talent that made the studio recorded CDs sell." - The guys prior to hitting the stage definitely 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 New Orleans 311 Day are performed precisely. And as I mentioned earlier, they give you all of their best songs. 64 to be exact! It's like a 4-hour show. Incredible. So to give such a great performance, but deliver it with poor recording quality, just has me scratching my head.
The band gives you all of the songs that you'd really want to hear plus some cool bonus material leading up to the show. There are other reviews that give the track listing so I won't waste space.
3 - "Theatrics are very cool too, as long as you can pull them off without deterioration in the quality of the music." - There are no over-the-top theatrics...which is great. The guys just play the music, and as I said earlier, they perform the songs to perfection.
So to sum it up, 311's show on 3-11-2004 was killer...especially if you were at it. But if you wanted to experience it in high def with quality audio you indeed needed to actually be there, because the DVD is one of the most lacking that I've ever viewed in the picture/audio departments. However, the performance is superb and really shows that 311 is a very talented group of musicians. The performance makes it worth the purchase.
311 - Live in New Orleans 311 Day
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