Formed in 1974, The Stranglers were a British rock group that knew no rules and couldn't be stereotyped. Though often lumped in with the punk movement of the time – opening for The Ramones on the seminal American punk act's first British tour helped in that regard - and later with so-called post-punk, the truth is no label was an easy fit.

The Stranglers took a more thoughtful approach when compared to their more aggressive, confrontational contemporaries. Thoughtful in subject matter that is, because their music was anything but brooding. Chaotic and disjointed and brimming with energy, the band was as at home with radio hits as they were with dark, keyboard-driven growlers. Equal parts noise-rock, punk, eclectic post-punk, psychedelic, with some hints of early metal and Fallish “indie rock” well before that term was coined, the band paved its own way and created a sound uniquely its own. No matter what you call them, The Stranglers were beyond classification.

In 1998, after some success in England, The Stranglers rolled into San Francisco on their first U.S. Tour. Playing material from their first two albums, Rattus Norvegicus and No More Heroes, the band tore through roughly 20-minutesof material that ended up captured on video. Not very good video, mind you, but video nonetheless.

And so we have The Stranglers Live '78, SF.

Imagine that video of your friend's band. You know, the band he had when you guys were 22, the band with the “big” following that managed to pack that one local club once every other month (with most of the crowd made up of friends and family). That video someone took that one time. When your friend played. At that club. That's what The Stranglers Live '78, SF is. A low-budget, low-rent affair capturing the performance of a relatively small band. Oh, The Stranglers were much bigger (and probably better) than your friend's band, to be sure, but watching the concert captured here on DVD is little different from watching his little home video. The sound stinks, the picture stinks, the whole thing is short as hell, but damn, it sure does capture some fond memories, doesn't it?

Presentation
When I said “stinks” above, I meant it. The video quality really is like footage taken when your friend's band played that small local club. Smokey and hazy and shaky, I can't imagine this footage was shot with anything in mind other than archiving a bit of the band's performance. It sure wasn't shot to be watched. Sure, at a few points some cheesy 1970s “special effect” overlays crazy-colored designed on top of the footage to try and jazz things up - and yes, it works about as well as other such attempts from the pre- and early-MTV era, which is to say “not at all” - but at other points the camera goes black and stays that way. This looks like a VHS tape that started off bad, then was watched 32 times before being transferred to DVD.

The audio fares about the same. Imagine listening to some great rock music on the radio. AM radio. In a 1977 Chevy Impala. four door. With one speaker. A speaker that's blown.

Yeah.

So why the DVD case boasts “5.1 Surround Sound” I'll never know, because all that will do is highlight just how bad this really sounds. It's no fault of the DVD manufacturer's, mind you. In fact, they deserve credit for getting this performance in front of the public, ensuring this footage from a pioneering period in rock isn't lost forever. It's the source material that is sub par. Despite what the blurb at the start of the show says, you won't be cranking this up.

Extras
A Target Video trailer. That's all there is to supplement this 20-minute performance. (The case says 30 minutes, but 30 minutes it ain't).

Overall
The Bottom Line is this: If you're not already a fan of The Stranglers, this is not the way to be introduced to the band, as the poor quality of the source material will be a big turnoff. However, if you're a fan of The Stranglers, the chance to get any concert footage from this early period of the band is probably very welcome indeed. This may not be some huge Rattle And Hum production, but it does serve to preserve an early performance by a little-known pioneer of the punk/new wave movement. For that alone, fans will want this.