Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis
Label: Warner Bros.
Media: CD
Format: Compilation
WorkNameSort: Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis
The first thought that comes to mind with this two-DVD/one-CD summary of the Live Earth concerts is, “Something’s missing.” After all, this event took place on 12 stages in various locations around the world with a wide variety of international performers. Yet this collection is less like a plea for a dying planet than a transmission from the Land of Same Old Same Old. There are many things this planet needs, but it definitely does not require this sad parade of overplayed songs to be foisted upon us. While the 36 DVD performances go more than twice as far as the CD in attempting to skim the top of the day’s events, it’s dull trudgery hearing KT Tunstall, Beastie Boys, Black Eyed Peas, Keane, Wolfmother and every other well-known performer of the day run through their hits. Why not include M.I.A.’s performance? Or Xuxa’s? Or UA’s? Or Mando Diao’s, Yellow Magic Orchestra’s or Baaba Maal’s? Oh, because then there wouldn’t have been space for Bon Jovi doing “Wanted Dead or Alive,” the Foo Fighters running through “Times Like These” or Rihanna warbling “Umbrella.” And lord knows, we need to hear those songs a few more times. By culling a bland and ultimately boring “highlight reel” from the day’s events, the producers of this collection completely missed the mark – and the point.
This article appears in Dec 5-11, 2007.