Another Station, Another Mile DVD Review

Rise Against recently entered the studio to begin work on their follow up to 2008's Appeal To Reason, but not before giving fans a real introspective into their band. Last week, the Chicago quartet released a documentary DVD entitled, Another Station, Another Mile, which outlines everything from their live show and touring to recording and their daily lives.

The DVD has 14 live songs performed at six different venues across the globe. Footage was taken from their summer 2009 shows at the House of Blues in Boston, Chicago's Lollapalooza, Germany's Area 4 Festival and even an acoustic performance by lead singer Tim McIlrath in a Budapest subway.

Another Station comes packed with an ability to hook the viewer from beginning to end. That's most likely due to the way the footage has been structured. Unlike most every other music DVD, Another Station jumps between one live performance and a few minutes of actual documentary.

That's probably the brilliance of it. One minute you're watching a live rendition of "Survive" at Lollapalooza, and the next you're watching drummer Brandon Barnes shop for vintage cars. It's not just one straight concert with backstage bonus footage like a ton of other music "documentaries" out there.

Besides music and interviews, the DVD is packed with Rise Against describing their local music scenes, a profile on their crew, and of course, a touch of the band's views on politics and animal rights. Everything is summed up nicely.

As far as the actual footage goes, most cuts have been done well. The live footage is clear, covered from a variety of angles and most importantly, left completely unedited.

In fact, the documentary opens with the following statement from Rise Against:

"Since we put together our last DVD, the snowball that is Rise Against is still gathering size and speed. What you hold in your hands is the continuing story of our band, what it means to us, and what it means to people like you. At our request, all the live footage you see in the DVD is completely unedited; meaning we didn't go back and fix or re-do anything. We felt it should stand or fall on its own merit, and be embraced for what it is, which is live music. Who knows, maybe we'll feel differently next year. But for now, the moments are captured raw as we make our way to another station: another mile."

The sound quality remains clear, and because of the unedited nature of the live performances, every vocal inaccuracy and tuning mishap (though few and far between) is represented.

So is this worth your 11 bucks? If you're into Rise Against, even in the slightest, it's a must have. As mentioned, it's one of the few documentaries that's an actual documentary. Plus, it will hold you over until their new record is released in spring 2011. You can't go wrong.