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Released by: Ki/Oon Records
Released on: December 2, 2004.
Director: Various
Cast: Seiji (Guitar Wolf), Billy (Bass Wolf), Toru (Drum Wolf)
Year: 2004
The Film:
Guitar Wolf remain a fringe act here in the United States where, aside from the fine Wild Zero release from Synapse films, their only domestically available DVD is the Guitar Wolf - Red Idol release from Narnack Records. In Japan, however, there have been a few DVD releases covering the band's history, the first of which is Guitar Wolf - Ookami Hero. This half hour compilation disc compiles five of the band's earlier promotional videos and slaps them onto a nice shiny disc with some accompanying live footage shot during one of their all too infrequent North American tours.
Included on the DVD are:
Invader Ace -
All Through The Night Buttoobose! -
Kaminari One -
Can-Nana Fever -
Jet Generation -
U.S. Live! -
The six chapters do a pretty good job of capturing the raw energy and complete, manic insanity that Guitar Wolf brings to their recordings and more importantly to their live shows. While obviously it isn't the same as being there, there's a nice sense of chaos that permeates every second of this material and as such, it's a good representation of what the band is all about.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Well, the video quality on this release is a mixed bag. Some of the studio shot videos look perfect without and compression or defects at all, while the live video footage is a little worse for wear. The live footage is shot in such a way that the camera shakes and moves around a lot, which goes a long way to capturing the feel of the band, but makes it dizzying in a few spots. The overall image clarity is pretty solid though and for the most part it all looks pretty good, those few minor complaints aside.
The audio is presented in a Japanese language Dolby Digital 2.0 track without any subtitle options of any kind (thankfully, since this is all music footage, it doesn't really matter). The levels on their recordings are always way in the red and totally off the meter so expect plenty of noise, feedback and distortion all through the video. This is completely on purpose and that's exactly the way it should be.
Aside from a main menu screen that allows you to pick from the six chapters on this disc, the DVD itself is barebones. Inside the keepcase, however, is a strange little booklet that is all in Japanese and printed on newprint. It contains credits for the six videos contained on the DVD and some other text that, unless you can read Japanese, is indecipherable.
The Final Word:
It's a little on the expensive side (roughly $20 US) for less than half an hour's worth of material but Guitar Wolf fans will want to add Guitar Wolf - Ookami Hero to their collections. The five videos on the DVD are all a lot of fun and the live footage is completely insane.