VHS : The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Babylon Tour '97-98
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Like any good brand, the Rolling Stones know to preserve the formula even when updating the package, and this long-form concert video underscores that market strategy. As with each of their tours since the early '80s, the quartet, augmented by a discreet auxiliary of backup musicians, gives the fans new eye candy while dishing up a familiar set list spiked with Mick Jagger's lip-smacking vocals and Keith Richards's signature guitar riffs. The visual twists are at once spectacular and conservative: a cyclopean main stage design with massive pillars (presumably the Babylonian connection), a vast oval video screen (shades of Big Brother), and a hydraulic bridge enabling a midconcert sortie into the audience, with the Stones playing a more stripped-down, intimate set on a small satellite stage.
That huge physical setting doubtless made the live shows eye-filling rock spectacles, but the video crew necessarily accepts the limitations of the small screen, focusing more on close-ups of the band, rapid cuts, and racing, hand-held tracking shots to convey excitement while keeping the viewer close to the action. The evening's repertoire sticks to the band's most familiar hits, and if the Glimmer Twins occasionally slip their masks to let the routine show, the real wonder is how effectively they keep the playing focused. During the first half of the program, the band's newest songs (especially 'Saint of Me' and 'Out of Control') elicit conspicuously higher energy from the band, if not the audience. But just as the show seems doomed to a certain anomie, the escape onto the smaller, no-frills stage pumps up players and crowd alike, particularly when they launch into 'Like a Rolling Stone,' a cover that winds up sounding like a great idea too long deferred. --Sam Sutherland
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Music DVD's
From the very first song to the end - this is the "Stones" at their very best! They leave no doubt why they've long been introduced at their concerts as "The Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the World - The Rolling Stones!"
Rating:  - Disappointing Audio
The AUDIO SUCKS. Zero star rating. Sounds like a mediocre audience bootleg that was done in the rear of the venue. The performances and videography are 5 star which averages out to 3 stars. It's so sad considering the effort that went into the production that the sound was not commensurate with everything else. I'm sure glad I didn't pay good money to buy the DVD (rented from Netflix--writing this review to warn potential buyers). Still worth watching so long as you imagine yourself in last row of ... Read More
Rating: - The Rolling Stones - Bridges to Babylon
I am a rolling stones fan, as such it would have to be really bad for me not to like it. It is really good though/
Rating:  - Not the Worst Nor the Best as Stones Shows Go
I love the Stones but this show doesn't excite me as much as other Stones' shows have.
I think there are basically three reasons for this:
1)The show is over-conceptualized. This is a Stones show with a theme, ie Babylon (don't ask for an explanantion on the exact connection between the Stones & Babylon, there isn't one, and would it matter if there were?). I love Pink Floyd and I love the Rolling Stones and I love the approach that each band takes to music. ... Read More
Rating:  - Burned Bridges
"Bridges to Babylon" was not what I expected. That's my fault. The guys are old now and they seemed to be trying to enjoy what they were doing for this taped concert; but you could see the hum drum in their performance. I couldn't appreciate it for that reason and passed it on to someone else who might enjoy it.
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