The Last Waltz (Box set, Live, Original recording remastered)

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The Band

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"There's a flood out in California, and up North it's freezin' cold! And this a-livin' off the road is gettin' purty old!", drummer Levon Helm twangs as The Band gives a fiery performance of 'Up On Cripple Creek,' one of their many signature songs. And indeed, the actual meaning of "The Last Waltz" was that The Band (or more specifically, songwriter/guitarist Robbie Robertson) were saying goodbye to the touring life, and had the intent of being reborn as a studio unit (think Steely Dan). But that didn't exactly go as planned, and the odds-and-ends album "Islands" was the only product of this idea (but even that album was released mostly as a contract-filler for Capitol Records). And though Band members were still talking about a new album as late as 1979, Robbie Robertson was obviously now focused on his work in terms of films, and the legendary five-man version of The Band was no more. And though some critics are cynical as to why a group would give up touring when touring is what a rock group does for a living, Robertson obviously had good reason to say goodbye to the road; it was obviously taking its toll on the personal lives of the Band members, most notably pianist and one of three lead vocalists Richard Manuel. Robertson said in 1987 "To see people teetering on the brink constantly...Richard scared us to death. We scared ourselves to death." (It's been argued that the touring hassles that the reunited Band went through in the 80s is what caused Manuel's suicide, but that's too personal to get into.)

It's ironic that Helm could deliver such a powerful vocal performance, belting out the lines that began this review, but the whole time, he was certainly not happy to be a part of this "celebration." And indeed, the rest of The Band may not have been either, despite bassist/vocalist Rick Danko's energy on stage and the musical prowess of Manuel and genius Garth Hudson. They were not ready to end The Band's life as a touring unit, or else they wouldn't have reunited without Robertson. When "The Last Waltz" was released as an album of film it was a definite success, and the movie has been called the greatest rock film ever made. But Helm was the most disappointed. He wrote has gone on record as saying "the camera focused almost exclusively on Robbie Robertson, long and loving close-ups...the film was edited so it looked like Robbie was conducting the band with expansive waves of his guitar neck...for me it was a real scandal." Helm also claims he was scammed financially, but it's easy to agree that the film does feature Robertson a bit prominently, which is why this beautifully packaged box set re-release is an essential item, showcasing each brilliant member, even if sometimes they're buried under the guest stars.

This 4-CD set features a heap of tracks that were left off of the original release making it the almost-complete concert. Band essentials like 'Rag Mama Rag,' 'The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show,' and 'This Wheel's On Fire' are fortunately included, as well as additional performances from the long line of guest stars that appeared at the concert (the songs from Eric Clapton, Neil Young and Bob Dylan are the best of the guest-stars). Concert rehearsals (including another essential 'King Harvest') and studio sketches are enjoyable listening as well. The album (and film) "The Last Waltz" is a timeless, definitive piece of rock history, and an important if not controversial piece of The Band's history.

In conclusion, it's important to note the song 'The Last Waltz Suite' (from the wonderful six-part "Last Waltz Suite"). Ironically co-sung by Robertson, this song is eerily but charmingly prophetic; as the song goes, "It's the last waltz, the last waltz with you, but that don't mean the dance is over...The last waltz was through, but that don't mean that the party is over."

How true this was. It wasn't meant to be finished, the studio was meant to be The Band's new home. And though that notion never unfolded, the dance was certainly not over Helm, Danko, Hudson, and Manuel, as they would re-unite as The Band in 1983, touring until Manuel's death in 1986, and releasing three studio albums to surprisingly good reviews in the 90s, until Danko's passing in 1999.

I expect to take some arrows from the Band fanatics, who seem to pretty much deify this record, but please just give me a listen.

First of all, I think The Band was positively one of the great bands of their era. They put out some classic studio albums (to digress, at one time I would have put MUSIC FROM BIG PINK at the top of that list, but recent listens to the remasters forces me to revise my LP days opinion that THE BAND did not compare well with their first album; I now concede that THE BAND was the superior album, and I sometimes wonder how I did not notice that songs like ROCKING CHAIR and UNFAITHFUL SERVANT represented some of the finest music of the day (since I did not get stoned, I cannot blame it on that)! They even put out one of the top five live albums of all time. It just was not called THE LAST WALTZ. In my mind THE LAST WALTZ typifies the worst excesses of the period when it was created and the coming complete commercialization of rock, that has continued and run rampant to this day. The Band had had it when they decided to go out with a bang with this massive undertaking--they had been on the road too long, they had tired of each other (there was much bile among the members, which continues among those still living), and they had lost all spontaneity and real emotion in their music. And guess what? It shows! The whole thing (check out the DVD for further evidence) is tired, ponderous and just not very conducive to repeat listenings. It feels like a museum piece, not rock and roll.

Oh, I did say THE BAND put out one of the great live albums of all time, didn't I? Yes, and it was called ROCK OF AGES, and it happens to blow the socks off this tired mess. I actually never picked up on ROCK OF AGES upon its initial release (I had hundreds of albums, but I could not own them all, no matter how hard I tried!), but the double set remaster of ROCK OF AGES has completely blown me away, and I would take it any day over THE LAST WALTZ.

Well, I know this is supposed to be a review of THE LAST WALTZ, but I come by my opinion of this bloated package in the context of The Band's overall work, and particularly their live work.

If you can only buy one of their live albums, I would humbly direct you to ROCK OF AGES in a heartbeat over this one.