From where I'm sitting, this 2006 DVD release is the best official visual document of a Bad Brains performance ever released. Those classic SST live albums still hold a cherished spot on my shelves, but as far as actually seeing these pioneering Rasta-thrashers on stage, Live At CBGB 1982. The band's energy and aggression on this hour-long set is something to behold. We've stocked the LP release of the live set from CBGBs for years, but haven't had this DVD in stock for ages. If you're into the Brains and haven't picked this up yet, do yourself a favor. Here's our old review of the live LP from this performance:

      Bad Brains are one of the few bands whose live albums I regularly pull out to listen to; they embodied the "crucial energy" of hardcore in the live setting more than any other band in the early 80's, and I've listened to all of their old live albums (Spirit Electricity, The Youth Are Getting Restless, and especially Live from 1988) countless times over the past twenty years. Their live documentation on record was terrific, but until a few years ago, there was hardly any high quality live concert footage of their classic 80's era available; that is, until that Live At CBGBs DVD came out on MVD, inarguably the best live video document ever released of the legendary Rastafarian hardcore gods. That DVD featured an exhaustive set list that was culled from three consecutive shows at CBGBs that were spread over the Christmas holiday in 1982, and includes just about every song from that period that you could possibly want to see them perform live. At the time, the energy and ferocity of Bad Brains was unrivaled in hardcore, and their incendiary performances captured on that DVD proved the point. With amazingly high-quality film and audio, the footage captures the band in the throes of ecstatic fury, surrounded by punks hurtling across the stage and the dance floor as the band tore through a set list that drew heavily from their early ultra-fast thrashers with a handful of Rastafarian dub/reggae jams.

      Now MVD has assembled a full-hour long recording of their performances, comprised of the best footage from the weekend and meticulously assembled into a full nineteen-song set; this features way more material than is found on the LP. And it fucking smokes. The performance features a couple of their reggae/dub cuts, but the bulk of this set is given over to their ferocious Rastafarian speedpunk. Most of the set is made up of material off of Rock For Light, while this is also the only recorded appearance of some of those dub tracks. It's all about watching the band rip through blistering hyperspeed versions of classic songs like "Banned In DC", "FVK", "How Low Can a Punk Get" and "Right Brigade" for us, though. A crucial live document from the Bad Brains, arguably at the height of their quasi-mystical, Rastafarian thrash powers, absolutely recommended to fans of the band.

      Audio quality? Considering the age and the soundboard-sourcing of the recording, it's terrific. The camera footage? Fuckin' fantastic. Multi-camera shots and dynamic editing makes us feel like we're there in the pit. And that crowd is bananas. The circle pit is endless, as is the stamina of both band and audience. We're breathless every time we re-watch this thing. As far as extra material, you get a couple of minutes of on-site interviews with audience members, which is a brief but interesting snapshot of early 80's hardcore punk culture; and an audio track of "I and I Survive", which appears to be an alternate live version from the weekend's worth of recordings. It's rounded out with liner notes from the great Jack Rabid of Big Takeover Magazine, reminiscing on his experience at these shows. Killer stuff, one of the top ten hardcore/punk DVDs in our collection, and highly recommended.