Posted on: September 21, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Poison – Seven Days Live / 2006 MVD / 82 Minutes / http://www.poisonweb.com / http://www.mvdb2b.com /

One really has to debate whether, as posed on their press sheet, that Poison was “at the height of their international success” in 1993, when this show was filmed. The one thing that individuals cannot debate is that Poison brings it, and brings it hard with this. Coming out after “Flesh & Blood”, this is a culmination of hits from their three biggest albums (Look What The Cat Dragged In, Open Up And Say Ahh! and Flesh and Blood). Everyone is captured in their element, and shows a power to the band that does not seem to be as present in the current iteration of the band. This is a greatest hits, with tracks like “Fallen Angel”, “Unskinny Bop”, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and “Nothin But A Good Time” smacking listeners upside the head, one soon after the others.

There is no doubt that the footage captured is solid, but there is a little graininess owing to the age of the film. Something that holds up perfectly here is the soundboard recording of the band, which is so perfect that tracks like “Good Love” sound as if they were remixed in the studio. The only draw back to this DVD is that there is little in the way of extras to be found; individuals are left with an eighty-two minute concert and that concert only. Don’t get me wrong, the concert is nothing less than phenomenal but with a retail approaching $20, one wonders whether there couldn’t have been a little more in the way of goodies bundled with the disc. Richie Kotzen does as good of a job as C.C. Deville playing the distinctive guitar work that made Poison such a big band in the eighties and early nineties, while the dynamic between band members seems to be flawless. Being a Poison fan, there does not seem to be anything in the way of tracks missing from this concert. The goofy covers that really diminished the power of Poison are left off, and listeners/viewers are left with the pure essence of the band. Here is what needs to be done with a number of the bands that are currently touring but had their heyday a few years before; find some old footage and stick it on DVD instead of capturing a reunion show in which much of the fury has departed the band, replaced by the desire for every more money.

The audiences are larger, the sing-alongs more primal, and overall the image of the band is much more positive than footage captured in 2005 or 2006. Poison really was in their element in 1993, and can carry the disc even during the slower tracks (“Something to Believe In”, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”). Watch this DVD and remember the halcyon days of the early nineties when the hair bands ruled the earth, and the bombastic expectorations of these acts were what was heard over and over, instead of the Britneys and Jessica Simpsons of the current period.

Top Tracks: Something To Believe In, Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Rating: 8.0/10

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