Great Big Sea

With the release of Great Big DVD & CD, a major question arises of Canadian favorites Great Big Sea's ability to plan their releases according to necessity. The release of the live album Road Rage in 2000 seemed appropriate since Great Big Sea had been recording for eight years at the time, but only four years and two studio albums later the band's decision to release this live CD and DVD set treads barren, senseless ground, especially since 14 of the 20 tracks on Great Big DVD & CD also appear on Road Rage. Presumably, the set was released as a way to increase awareness and sales for the DVD, which would've likely gone undernoticed had it come out on its own, and the idea of packaging a DVD with a CD is an excellent one, but one can't help thinking the group's fans who purchased Road Rage will feel cheated when they see Great Big DVD & CD. After all, Great Big Sea's live performances are fairly straight readings of their studio material, but the group has long been known as a live band and it shows here on both the CD and DVD. The crowd enthusiasm is impressive and the band clearly feeds off of it, turning in several nice performances such as "Boston & St. John's" and "Mari-Mac," but the real draw here is the DVD portion of the set, which includes 78 minutes of footage from a concert in Ottawa, as well as a documentary on the band, some home movies, music videos, and three karaoke tracks, which is a goodly amount of fodder for fans to consume. ~ Gregory McIntosh, All Music Guide