CD Review: The 12-12-12 Concert Release Highlights Performances, And Misses Others

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When hurricane “Sandy” hit the coast of New Jersey lastyear, you knew things were going to change forever. As fellow “Jersey boy” JonBon Jovi said, “The storm lasted one day. The effects of it are going to last alifetime.” So Bon Jovi, along with fellow New Jersey native Bruce Springsteendecided to hold a concert to support the Robin Hood Relief Fund which aidedthose affected by hurricane “Sandy.”
The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger exclaimed that “this has gotto be the largest collection of old English musicians ever assembled at MadisonSquare Garden.” He was definitely on cue with that statement as the concertinvited the likes of Roger Waters, The Who, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton andThe Rolling Stones to join fellow musicians Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Billy Joeland others in raising money to benefit the Robin Hood Relief Fund. The concert itselflasted over four hours and was broadcasted over television, the internet and inmovie theaters across the world.
Two weeks later, iTunes released a digital version of theconcert, which became one of the top selling albums that week. One month later,Columbia Records released a 2CD set featuring two hours of highlights from the “12-12-12”concert.
The high points from disc 1 include almost the entire setfrom Roger Waters as he performs the Pink Floyd classics, “Another Brick In TheWall,” “Us And Them” and “Comfortably Numb” along with the help of Pearl Jam’sEddie Vedder. This disc also features the all-too quick two-song sets from TheRolling Stones.
The second disc gives us highlights of The Who and BillyJoel’s sets and starts off with a great live version of “No One” by AliciaKeys. Coldplay’s Chris Martin receives help from Michael Stipe on R.E.M.’s “LosingMy Religion,” but it’s the Coldplay songs “Viva La Vida” and “Us Against TheWorld” that ring true.
Now the downside with both discs is there are many outstandingperformances that were left off this release, like the one-of-a-kind duet betweenBruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi on “Born To Run” and Paul McCartney’scollaboration with the surviving members of Nirvana for “Cut Me Some Slack.” WhileI understand that this 2CD is to capture the emotions of that concert, Ipersonally would have rather have seen other songs take the place of AdamSandler’s “Hallelujah.”
Let’s not forget that the main purpose of this release is tohelp raise money with a portion of each album sold going to the Robin HoodRelief Fund. To find out more about this album and its cause, please visit121212concert.org.