5/5 JD at his very best!!!!!!
  by Denise58 (Omaha, NE)
Fantastic DVD of John over the years. It really shows people what an truely incredible person we was. It's too bad most people associate him with corniness. No one is really remembering him hardly at all and it's very sad!!!!! This man was a genius and this DVD reflects that 100%. We need more of his DVD's like some of his documentaries on nature he did over the 70's, 80', & 90's..........Peace

2/5 Too Much of the Same Thing.
  by Hombre Divertido (www.maskedmoviesnobs.com)
John Denver - Around the World Live

On October 13th Eagle Records released what is being heralded as the definitive John Denver DVD Release. "Definitive" is one way to describe it. "Eclectic" is another, and "excessive" is also an option.

Consisting of four live concerts: "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" Live in Australia 1977, "Rocky Mountain High" Live in Japan 1981, "Country Roads" Live in England 1986, "Solo Acoustic Show" Live in Japan 1984, his "Farm Aid Performances" 1985, 1987, 1990, and two documentaries "Earth Day" 1990, and "Day at Bighorn" 1972, the collection has 592 minutes of material on 5 discs.

The collection is definitive in that it spans more than ten years of live performances, it is eclectic in that it includes such things as the Earth Day documentary, which may have been one of Mr. Denvers passions, and is briefly hosted by him, but it really has little to do with him, and the material is outdated, and the collection is excessive in it's repetitiveness. The collection includes no less than six performances of "Take me Home Country Roads", and numerous performances of other Denver Classics.

Though it is interesting to watch how the technology to film a concert advanced over the years, eventually the footage becomes more enjoyable to listen to, rather than to sit and watch an incredibly talented man, stand in front of a microphone and strum his guitar. The concert from Australia in 1977 is awkward from the opening where it fails to properly capture Denvers introduction, and remains awkwardly filmed throughout. As technology improved over the years, so does the footage of the concerts.

The documentary "Day at the Bighorn" lends the most insight into Denver, his personality, and his passion for animals and the great outdoors, but it is clumsily edited, and generally results in poor story telling.

The gem in this release is the acoustic performance in Japan from 1984, as it truly displays the immense talent and vocal range of Denver.

The sound quality of all segments is excellent, and most of the footage looks great if you are so inclined to watch all of it.

Recommendation: This collection seems thrown together, as the Earth Day documentary seems out of place. A documentary on John Denvers Life would have made for the perfect conclusion to the story that was attempted to be told here. Even the addition of the made for television movie "Take Me Home: The John Denver Story" from 2000 with Chad Lowe as Denver, would have made for a more well rounded release. The true fan may enjoy sitting and watching all of this, but most will simply enjoy listening to some of it.


5/5 John Denver at his best
  by Christine Moon (Leicester, England)
John Denver was at his best when singing to an audience - I always felt that his studio albums didn't do him justice. So, this DVD set reveals the full extent of his talent! Most of his well-known songs are here, as well as some lesser-known gems that deserve this opportunity to be enjoyed by a wider audience. There is even an unlisted surprise - John's wonderful rendition of `The Lord's Prayer' in American Indian sign-language is included in the 1984 solo concert from Lake Biwa. This goes some way to compensate for the omission of `Boy from the Country' from this concert.

The two documentaries on the final disc show something of John's concerns for the natural world and the environment. The 1990 Earth Day documentary reminded me a little of Al Gore's excellent film `An Inconvenient Truth', though of course it pre-dated that film by 16 years! `Day at the Bighorn' was, I believe, the first of John's documentaries about the natural world; it would be great to follow this with `Rocky Mountain Reunion' or `Alaska: America's Child' on the next boxed set.

Heartfelt thanks are due to Barry Ehrmann, producer of this set, and his colleagues who helped to bring us this treasure. I look forward many more DVD releases from the John Denver archives!


3/5 This DVD was not the quality John would've endorsed
  by L. Stevens (California, at the beach)
The sound quality was very inconsistent - some clips were very poor & others were just ok. This is absolutely not a DVD John would've ok'd for production. I can almost feel him cringing as his fans are watching it. I really LOVED to see John again but my heart bled while watching it, knowing that John would've been so embarassed at the poor quality of the sound & visuals. There were some clips from the 80's where John had on stage make-up (NOT meant to be seen by close-up cameras) that really is shameful - John would've been so upset that we are seeing this. On the plus side - I've not seen the "Bighorn Sheep" TV special since the 1970's - so this was the jewel, the treasure of the DVD. I would buy it again, just for this, as the visuals and sound are right on the money for this one DVD. The rest is really not what John would approve of. Sadly he is not here with us anymore, which is exacly how and why this DVD got produced - John was not here to nix this project.

5/5 Forgotten joy
  by Barb F (Maine, USA)
In the twelve years since his death I had forgotten how much joy was shared in the live performances. The experience was a complete sensory feast, sights, sounds, emotions, energy etc. It is really fun to be able to see him have such a good time singing to thousands and thousands of friends. This is an unexpected treat for the diehard fan, but I hope it proves to be an opportunity for new generations to make the acquaintance of an artist who connected one on one with his audience and sang of love and hope instead of anger, angst and violence. It is a fantastic effort by Hal Thau and much appreciated. It is brilliant.