Joining Forces (Archive Master Series AMS-010)
December 12th, 1984 Hammersmith Odeon 1:49:54
Closer, City Sirens, Make Or Break, The Morning After, Together, Cadillac, Prelude, Money Can’t Buy, Radioactive, Live In Peace, Midnight Moonlight, You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, Chase, Guitar Solo, Drum Solo, Someone To Love, Full Circle, Boogie Mama, Everybody Needs Someone To Love
Bonus Material
Old Grey Whistle Test 1984
Hammersmith Odeon 1984 (backstage)
Hammersmith Odeon 1984 (edit)
Entertainment Tonight 1985
These Arms Of Mine (promo) 1985
Les Paul Birthday Party 1985
Five From The Firm MTV Special
Jimmy Page Interview
Page With The Beach Boys 07/04/86
The Firm were formed in 1984 and consisted of Jimmy Page (Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin), Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company, Tony Franklin (Blue Murder), and Chris Slade (Uriah Heep, AC/DC). Their first album was released on February 11th, 1985 and included the hits Radioactive #28 US and Satisfaction Guaranteed #73 US and was produced by Page and Rodgers. I remember as a teenager going to Peaches Records And Tapes the day the cassette was released in the US after hearing “Radioactive” on the local rock station.
The main material on this disc is from the December 09, 1984 concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in London that was filmed for a MTV special. The set list includes songs from Paul Rodgers “Cut Loose” solo album and Jimmy Pages’ contributions to the “Death Wish II” soundtrack. The show has a slow start however by the time we get to “Cadillac” the energy increases. Chopins’ “Prelude” performed by Page has always been one of my favorites. Some of the material on this excellent comprehensive DVD was released on The Firm’s 2nd studio album entitled “Mean Business” released on February 3rd, 1986. The album peaked at #22 on the Billboard’s Billboard 200 album chart and #46 on the UK Album Chart. My favorite studio and live song from this album is a reworking of “Live In Peace” which originally came from Paul Rodgers 1983 release “Cut Loose” which he played all instruments on and unfortunately only climb to a disappointing 135 on Billboards pop album charts. One other song from the Hammersmith show is “Boogie Mama” also from Rodgers solo album. During the Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti sessions Page work on a song titled “Swan Song” that was resurrected and released on the on The Firms debut album as “Midnight Moonlight” and is one of my favorite tracks on this DVD.
The audio and video have been upgraded on this release compared to my old VHS tape and DVDRs I got in trade. Comparing those sources to this release, the picture quality was quite fuzzy and the audio was muffled.
1 Comment
This is a great release and a must have for any JP fan. Old Grey with Roy Harper and JP playing acoustic on a mountain, Beach Boys stuff is incredible, plus all the best quality Firm footage including all videos.