Whew, I thought I had to track down another (of course more expensive Euro version or something) Happy Easter man
Ordered, but I had to get it from Importcds. Amazon is now out of stock for some reason. But still... since I will have it I'm thinking I should get to pick one you don't actually have and aren't going to have anytime soon.
Not a problem; you don't have it - you just want it. I'll surprise you next Sunday if you haven't figured it out after those 10% beers get metabolized [sips 8% beer].
I think it's simply called "In Concert". Actually, I remember the concert in Wiesbaden well. The chain sounds were there, run across the speakers. The PA was also given a workout in the run-up to the gig, with the long soundscape that PF had been using for a long time (a shortened version appeared on the PULSE cassette). Of course there were some other sounds in there - I remember the Echoes "ping" and some other stuff. My main gripe was that the mix seemed pretty bright (the birds in the soundscape were really shrill), and the live album also sounds a bit harsh to me, compared to older Floyd stuff. Other than that, it's a good live album. (I've got the box set, which is really good value. I wish all Floyd related items were priced and packaged reasonably like this.) I just lament the fact that David doesn't keep his voice in shape between tours, he was on the verge of cracking during the tour. It's gotten rusty. His guitar playing, on the other hand, seems to only improve with age and experience, and I've found that the Rattle That Lock album is a bit of a grower.
The High Road Live Performance by Roxy Music Released 1983 (VHS) 2004 (DVD) Recorded 27 August 1982 Venue Amphithéâtre Les Arênes De Fréjus, France Genre Art rock new wave Producer Rhett Davies Running Time 73 minutes The High Road shows the band on tour in support of their last album - Avalon. Personnel Bryan Ferry – vocals, keyboards Phil Manzanera – guitars Andy Mackay – saxophone, oboe Neil Hubbard – guitar Guy Fletcher – keyboards Alan Spenner – bass Andy Newmark – drums Jimmy Maelen – percussion Tawatha Agee – backing vocals Michelle Cobbs – backing vocals Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals Track Listing 1 The Main Thing 4:27 2 Out Of The Blue 4:32 3 Both Ends Burning 5:35 4 A Song For Europe 6:36 5 Can't Let Go 4:58 6 While My Heart Is Still Beating 4:28 7 Avalon 4:19 8 My Only Love 8:19 9 Dance Away 3:35 10 Love Is The Drug 3:46 11 Like A Hurricane 8:04 12 Editions Of You 4:52 13 Do The Strand 3:50 14 Jealous Guy 6:23 _______________ Version Control This was originally released in VHS and laser disc format in 1983. I think I had the laser disc. A DVD version was first released in 2004; I have the US version which was released in 2005. It’s out of print, but used copies aren’t expensive. An EP with the same name and cover was also released in 1983, but the four songs are from a different concert. A live album containing songs from the same concert was released in 1990 with the title Heart Still Beating. The Concert The video quality is what I’d call low grade DVD; very good considering it’s vintage. The audio quality is excellent. The start up menu has PCM as an audio option, in addition to Dolby; so I think I’ll really get it this time. The video starts out with a camera on the three back-up singers (Agee, Thorton, and Cobb). They are perched in the middle of the back row, between the two the keyboard player and percussionist Maelen. Then there’s a middle row bass player Spenner on the left, drummer Newmark in the middle , and second guitarist Hubbard to his right. In front, we have Manzanera, Ferry, and McKay. Because they are at the same level, the intermediate row is somewhat obscured by the front. “The Main Thing” From Avalon. Starts with percussion and the trio are dancing – that’s the other thing they do besides sing. Ferry sings, the band plays. In the mix, the two guitarists get their own speaker: Manzanera and Hubbard call each other back and forth. Very cool. “Out Of The Blue” From Country Life. McKay plays oboe on this one, one very other song he has a sax. Manzanera with nice solo at the end. “Both Ends Burning” From Siren. Maelen gets serious for the first time. Manzanera heats up again at the end. “Song For Europe” From Stranded. Bass solo for Spenner. McKay with the sax solo. “Can't Let Go” Bryan Ferry song. Back ground trio and Manzanera carry the song to it’s finish. “While My Heart Is Still Beating” From Avalon. McKay starts off on sax by himself, then bass, then keyboards, then percussion, then Ferry, guitars and drums. The backup trio just dance real slow until a couple of choruses near the end before Manzanera finishes it off. “Avalon” Tawatha Agee is the colead, taking the part sung by Yannick Etienne on Avalon: “My Only Love “ From Avalon. After Ferry has finished singing, Hubbard comes forward with guitar solo, then gets superceded by McKay on sax. “Dance Away” From Manifesto. Ferry sings, Manzanera gets a solo. then the rhythm section gets a work out, and they break straight into… “Love Is the Drug” From Siren. The pace picks up, and Ferry and the trio sing the whole way through. “Like A Hurricane” Neil Young cover. Hubbard with guitar solo again. The backup trio with a nice long chorus, then McKay takes over on sax. Then Ferry and the trio chime in, and after Maelen starts up a serious rhythm barrage with Spenner and Newmark, Manzanera finishes things off with a furious solo. Awesome. “Editions of You” From For Your Pleasure. McKay dances around the stage with sax, Maelen has drumsticks. The trio concentrate on dancing before singing a bit. Ferry plays the keyboards a bit. Good time had by all. End of regular set. “Do The Strand” From For Your Pleasure. Ferry goes frenetic, and the rest of the band does too. Fireworks from behind the stage “Jealous Guy” John Lennon cover. Still the Ferry show, with backing vocals. Then Manzanera and McKay get short solos. Ferry whistles, the singers sing, and the credits roll. A Roxy swan song. _____________ This was my favorite concert video for many years. The video shows some age, but it’s not bad. The sound quality is excellent – you can turn it up. Besides covering four songs from Avalon, there is a nice selection from the entire Roxy catalog. It seems crazy to me that they broke up right after this, but it was a nice way to go out. The background trio are special – it seemed to me that David Gilmour was trying to capture some of their magic, but he really didn’t. An absolute must for any Roxy fan. Music – 3 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 2 Surround – 1
Time for another index. I’m also putting up my ratings for the ones I have – see post #1 for an explanation of them. Ranges indicate either that the rating is version dependent, or that the content varies. The reviews are mine unless other attribution is given. The video content is categorized as follows Concert Documentary: Contains extensive narration along with some performance footage. Live Performance: Mostly concert footage, perhaps with a little narration. Movie: A theater release featuring a particular band or artist Studio Performance: Video of Recording in Studio Video Collection: Collection of music videos that may or may not include live performance AC/DC - Let There Be Rock / Live Performance and Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Band, The – The Last Waltz / Live Performance and Concert Documentary / Rating 12-14 Beatles – Help! / Movie / Rating: 7 Blue Öyster Cult – Live 1976 / Live Performance / Rating: 7 Cave, Nick – Once More With Feeling / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Church, The – Future Past Perfect / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Dead Can Dance – Yulunga and Other Stories / Video Collection / Rating: 9-12 Dylan, Bob – No Way Home / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Gabriel, Peter – Secret World Live / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Genesis – Pop Shop Live TV 1972 / Studio Performance / Rating: 9 Gilmour, David - Live at Pompeii / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Hendrix, Jimi – Band of Gypsys: Live at The Fillmore East / Concert Documentary / Rating: 9 Iron Maiden – Flight 666 / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) King Crimson - Meltdown: Live in Mexico City / Live Performance / Rating: 14 Mannheim Steamroller – Fresh Aire 8 / Video Collection / Rating: 10 Marillion - Fish Tales / Video Collection / Rating: 10-11 Marillion / Recital of the Script / Live Performance / Rating: 12 Pink Floyd – Devi/ation 1970 / Video Collection / Rating: 6 Pink Floyd – The Wall / Movie / Rating: 10 Roxy Music – The High Road / Live Performance / Rating: 12 Rush – Exit ..... Stage Left / Live Peformance (@mark winstanley) Santana – Santana IV Live At The House Of Blues Las Vegas / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense / Live Performance / Rating: 11-13 Tangerine Dream – The Video Dream Mixes / Video Collection / Rating: 9 Townsend, Devin – Ocean Machine – Live / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 10-12 Ultravox – Rage in Eden / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Various Artists – Woodstock / Live Performance and Concert Documentary / Rating: 13 Wilson, Steven – Home Invasion / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Wishbone Ash – Live Dates 3 / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Yes – Yessongs / Live Performance / Rating: 7 Zimmer, Hans – Live in Prague / Live Performance (@thetman) / Rating: 15 Comments on any of the above are always welcome.
Play Video Collection by Peter Gabriel Released 16 November 2004 Recorded 1977 - 1994, 2002 Genre Pop rock, Art rock, Progressive rock, College rock Length 141 mins Label Rhino Entertainment Company Director Various Play: The Videos is a compilation DVD of music videos by Peter Gabriel, released in 2004. The DVD contains remastered audio tracks of songs in DTS 5.1 (DTS 96 kHz/24-bit) and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The new surround sound mixes were created by Daniel Lanois and Richard Chappell. Personnel Peter Gabriel - Vocals and Piano ...plus many others Tracklist 1. "Father, Son" 2. "Sledgehammer" 3. "Blood of Eden" 4. "Games Without Frontiers" 5. "I Don't Remember" 6. "Big Time" 7. "Lovetown" 8. "Red Rain" 9. "In Your Eyes" 10. "Don't Give Up" 11. "The Barry Williams Show" 12. "Washing of the Water" 13. "Biko" 14. "Kiss That Frog" 15. "Mercy Street" 16. "Growing Up" 17. "Shaking the Tree" 18. "Shock the Monkey" 19. "Steam" 20. "The Drop" 21. "Zaar" 22. "Solsbury Hill" 23. "Digging in the Dirt" Version Control Although there are different regional versions, this has only been released as a DVD. It is included as a bonus disc on the Live in Athens bluray, which I also have – so I have two copies. The DTS audio on my original copy didn’t seem to play properly – I had to turn the amp all the way up just to get to a normal listening level, That problem seems to have been fixed on my second copy. There is also a newer 2015 release; I have no idea if or how it differs from earlier versions. It is still available new, and used copies are cheap – but I’m thinking snagging the Live in Athens bluray is the way to go The Music Videos with 5.1 Mix by Daniel Lanois and Richard Chapell I’ll rate the video as I go along many of them are really good and many of them really aren’t. "Father, Son" Album: OVO. Video: Widescreen. Gabriel singing and playing the piano spliced with black and white movies of Peter and his dad (2). Surround: Piano in front, vocals in center, horns in rear. "Sledgehammer" Album: So. Video: Starts with a physiology lesson then proceeds with a pastiche of animation and still photographs that yield a disjointed motion picture. This was on MTV a lot and that’s because it’s very cool (3). Surround: Starts with synth in center, horns in rear, bass and percussion in front. Then Gabriel vocals in center, guitar and background vocals in surround. Synth comes back in front. Ends with swirling percussion. "Blood of Eden" Album: Us. Video: Gabriel in the Desert, Sinead O’Connor is there too in what appears to be a red wedding dress. She’s got a white one too, plus she is very pretty. (2) Surround: There are often three vocal tracks going; Gabriel alone in the center; Gabriel and O’Connor singing together in surround; O’Connor alone in the rear. Also percussion and synth in surround, bass in front, guitar in rear. It’s a great mix. "Games Without Frontiers" Album: PG III. Video: Gabriel has his head in his hands, and what seems to be pretty random video segments (1). Surround: Starts with different percussion from every speaker, then percussion in surround, bass and synth in front, Kate Bush in back, Gabriel vocals in surround and back. "I Don't Remember" Album: PG III. Video: Widescreen. Gabriel gets sucked into the couch and he surrounded by pasty actors in their underwear (1). Surround: Bass, drums, vocals in front, and guitar in rear. Synth sporadically in center channel. "Big Time" Album: So. Video: Animation similar to “Sledgehammer”, also very good (3). Surround: Lead vocal center, bass and percussion in front, background vocals and guitar in surround, organ in rear "Lovetown" Album: Philadelphia movie soundtrack. Video: Gabriel walks through a neighborhood of prefab homes carrying a suitcase, a busy kitchen, lots of other stuff (2). Surround: Lead vocal center, guitar, bass and drums front, percussion, second guitar, background vocals rear. "Red Rain" Album: So. Video: Dark video with Gabriel singing and a barely seen dancer (2). Surround: Lead vocal center, bass front, drums, synth, and background vocals in surround, guitar rear. "In Your Eyes" Album: So. Video: Gabriel head shot, not singing. Old movie clips, and I don’t get it but hey it’s a love song (2). Surround: Lead vocal center, bass front, drums and synth surround, background vocals and guitar rear. "Don't Give Up" Album: So. Video: Gabriel and Kate Bush in each other’s arms. They constantly rotate so the one currently singing is facing the screen (3). Surround: Gabriel in center channel, Bush in rear. Bass front, piano and synth in surround. Background vocals at end in front, guitar in surround. "The Barry Williams Show" Album: Up. Video: Talk show host, dancing girls, and a lot of people are bleeding (2). Surround: Lead vocal center, bass and drums front, Synth surround, background vocals front and back, horns front. "Washing of the Water" Album: Us. Video: Rushing water (1). Surround: Piano, drums, bass front, lead vocal center, background vocals rear, horn left "Biko" Album: PG III. Video: Gabriel singing about the death of black South African protester Stephen Biko, with what I presume to be historical footage (2). Surround: Live performance, lots of reverb. "Kiss That Frog" Album: Us. Video: Animated frog that can sing like Gabriel and a girl, frog turns into Gabriel after she kisses him (3). Surround: Guitar, bass, drums in front, percussion in surround, lead vocal in surround, background vocal in center, then rear. "Mercy Street" Album: So. Video: Another dark one; on the beach, bare feet, a boat that gets pushed out into the ocean (3). Surround: Synth in surround, bass front, percussion front, lead vocals surround, backing vocals front and back, flute in surround. "Growing Up" Album: Up. Video: Gabriel under water singing; boy and girl on beach, lots of animation (3). Surround: Lead vocal center, bass and drums front, backing vocals rear and center, synth rear and swirling surround, guitar in surround. Since this is a good one I didn't see ad nauseum on MTV: "Shaking the Tree" Album: Shaking the Tree. Video: On the beach somewhere in Africa. Doesn’t look like Gabriel, but I guess he was younger and had more hair – ok you can tell it’s him after he takes the dark glasses off (2). Surround: Percussion in front and back, bass in front, organ in front, background vocals in surround, N’Dour vocal in center, Gabriel vocal in front, synth and horns in rear, wind instrument in surround. "Shock the Monkey" Album: PG IV Video: PG and a monkey having a shockingly bad day at the office (2). Surround: Synth and percussion in surround, drums and bass in front, lead vocal center, backing vocals and guitar in rear, 2nd synth in front. "Steam" Album: Us. Video: I'd say this is the one I remember most from my MTV years. Lots of really good animation, girls in a sauna, head on a locomotive, a long list of other stuff, and I’m pretty sure it’s all about sex (3). Surround: Guitars front and back, lead vocal center, bass in front, percussion and horns in surround, organ rear. "The Drop" Album: Up. Video: Dolls in the clouds, plus sperm (1). Surround: Piano front, lead vocal surround "Zaar" Album: The Passion. Video: Weird animation – Fruit on a table turns into boats and what not (1). Surround: Shankar on double violin in surround, yay. Plus other stuff - not your usual selection of instruments. "Solsbury Hill" Album: Peter Gabriel. Video: This seems to combine and older video with some new footage featuring a lady wearing lettuce. No really (1). Surround: Guitar surround, percussion front, flute front and guitar rear, lead vocal center, backing vocals rear. "Digging in the Dirt" Album: Us. Video: Gabriel in the grass with a snail, and lots of other dirt related animation (3). Surround: Guitars left and right front, bass and percussion front lead vocals in rear, keyboards and backing vocals in front, synth surround. _________ I’ve had this for a long time and I had no idea that the videos came with a surround mix; and they are really good too. Yes, it’s only DTS; but I can live with that. Many of the videos are dumb, but the surround mixes are all excellent. Play has 6 out of 9 tracks from So and 5 out of 10 tracks from Us. I figured that’s enough to create a couple of ersatz multichannel folders for both of those albums – I’ll filled in the rest in with stereo versions and I’ll let the receiver upmix them (3 of 6 was good enough for Renaisance Turn of the Cards). So, I now have three new PG entries in my hard drive surround collection – So, Us, and Play Remnants I might want to watch some of the videos over again one of these days too. Many of them are quite good. Music – 3 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 1-3 Video quality – 2 Surround – 3 Live in Athens is on my list of things to review at some later date.
A Moment in Time Live Performance by Anathema Released 2006 Recorded 27 August 1982 Venue Kuriozum Club; Spodek, Katowice, Poland Genre Progressive Metal Producer Tomaz Dziubiński Running Time 77 minutes A Moment in Time features a concert held at the 2006 Metalmania festival held in Katowice, Poland. It covers music from albums released during the band’s “middle period” of 1996 -2004, during which they were best characterized as a progressive metal band. Personnel Anathema Vincent Cavanagh – vocals, guitars, vocoder John Douglas – drums Les Smith – keyboards, programming Jamie Cavanagh – bass, programming Danny Cavanagh – guitars, keyboards, vocals Lee Douglas – vocals on “A Natural Disaster” Bacchus String Quartet David Wesling – Cello Neil McErlean – Viola David Spencer – Violin Kevin Carlsen Flynn – Violin Production Engineer [Sound Mix] – Les Smith Producer – Tommy Dziubiński Dolby Digital 5.1 Sound Mix – Piotr Brzeziński Track Listing Tracks times are from CD – DVD may be slightly different 1. Shroud Of False 4:36 2. Fragile Dreams 4:52 3. Balance 3:33 4. Closer 5:33 5. Lost Control 6:09 6. Empty 3:13 7. A Natural Disaster 5:55 8. Inner Silence 3:10 9. One Last Goodbye 5:47 10. Judgement 2:43 11. Panic 3:01 12. Flying 6:16 13. Angelica 5:05 14. Comfortably Numb 7:26 There are also four tracks from a 2004 concert in Krakow included as bonus material, but I will just stick the main show. _____ Version Control The original version of this was released in Poland in 2006. I have the 2007 Argentinian version that also contains a CD. The Concert We’ve got normal DVD quality video with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. “Shroud of False” – from Alternative 4 Starts out with the string quartet, they are all in front - nothing but crowd noise in the back. After a few minutes, they stop and piano starts up, then Danny lead vocal in center channel. “Fragile Dreams” – from Alternative 4 Now we have the whole band. Going left to right: keyboards, strings and drums in back, Vincent, Danny, and Jamie in front. This song starts up with Vincent guitar and strings, then bass, Danny guitar, keyboards and drums. Danny vocal comes in after a few minutes of jamming. A stuffed dog is keeping John Douglas company next to the drum set. All sound in front, just a little reverb in back; center channel hardly used either. Vincent guitar mixed in left speaker, Danny on right. There are two screens that show random images throughout the concert – nothing worth mentioning. “Balance” – from A Natural Disaster Vincent and keyboards, then bass and drums, then Danny vocals and strings. After things heat up, Danny plays guitar too. Spotlights are strobing. “Closer” – from A Natural Disaster Danny with the vocoder. This song is awesome, so here it is with the previous track “Balance” as well: “Lost Control” – from Alternative 4 Slow song. Danny vocal and piano start. Interlude with drums, bass strings, and Vincent guitar, then back to piano and vocal, then back to full band again; Danny with acoustic guitar. Finishes with strings and piano. “Empty” – from Alternative 4 Vocals, drums, and strings. Then bass and furious guitars. It all stops momentarily, piano and strings start it up again. “A Natural Disaster” – from A Natural Disaster Future band member Lee comes out for one song– she’s in front on the right; Jamie moves back behind her. She starts out with Vincent guitar and strings, bass and Danny guitar join, also Danny backup vocals. “Inner Silence” – from Alternative 4 Starts with piano, then strings, then Vincent guitar Danny vocals, then bass and drums. Finishes with drums and guitar. “One Last Goodbye” – from Judgement Slow song starts with Vincent guitar and strings, then Danny vocal with bass and drum, volume gradually builds up “Judgement” – from Judgement Starts with Vincent guitar and keyboards, then Daniel vocals and little guitar too. The add in bass and drums. After things heat up the lights start flashing and the strings come in too. “Panic” – from A Fine Day to Exit Frenetic song with flashing spotlights. Slows down enough at one point to hear the strings, but not for long. “Flying” – from A Natural Disaster Vincent directs the strings starting off. Then Daniel sings with acoustic guitar. Then the rest of the band starts in. Ends with strings. “Angelica” – from Eternity Guitar and strings start off in the dark, then the rest of the band comes in as the stage lights up. End of the regular set. “Comfortably Numb” – Pink Floyd cover Encore song. Starts off with Danny vocals and strings. As rest of the band comes in, Vincent takes over on lead vocals, Danny continues with backing vocals and occasional lead. More reverb than on previous tracks. Finishes with long solo form Vincent. He throws an amp off the stage at the end – I guess he has seen the movie. _______ A very nice performance from the band back when they still did rock and roll. Nothing showy about the performance except that they have a string quartet parked in the back. I have to give full marks for that. The presence of the quartet was indicative of the musical course the band would take after this. I know the specs say there is a surround mix, but I’m not giving a point just for a smidgen of reverb and no use of the center channel. Music – 3 Sound quality – 2 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 2 Surround – 1
Arriving Somewhere... DVD Bluray Live Performance Video by Porcupine Tree Released 21 August 2006 (DVD) March 2018 (Bluray) Recorded October 2005 Venue Park West; Chicago, IL Genre Progressive rock, progressive metal Length 101:48 (Show) Label Snapper/Kscope Director Lasse Hoile Producer Steven Wilson, Porcupine Tree Arriving Somewhere... is the first live performance DVD by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Disc one is a full show from the Deadwing tour filmed by "Studio M" with nine High Def cameras at Park West, Chicago on 11 and 12 October 2005, edited by Lasse Hoile, with the soundtrack mixed in stereo and 5.1 surround sound by Steven Wilson, and mastered by Darcy Proper. Disc two includes live performances on the German television show Rockpalast, a promotional video for "Lazarus", the live films used as the backdrop for three songs, Gavin Harrison's "Cymbal Song", and a photo gallery with over 100 images. This audio edition is in the top 10 of the "Top Albums of 2007" chart of Rate Your Music website. The DVD was re-released under Kscope record label on 21 April 2008 the same day of the regular release for the DVD-A edition of Lightbulb Sun. In March 2018, Blu-ray and 2CD set was released. Personnel Steven Wilson – lead vocals and guitar John Wesley – session guitar and backing vocals Colin Edwin – bass Richard Barbieri – keyboards Gavin Harrison – drums Track Listing 1. "Revenant" – 3:04 2. "Open Car" – 4:46 3. "Blackest Eyes" – 4:41 4. "Lazarus" – 4:06 5. "Hatesong" – 9:14 6. "Don't Hate Me" – 8:38 7. "Mother and Child Divided" – 5:11 8. "Buying New Soul" – 7:17 9. "So-Called Friend" – 4:55 10. "Arriving Somewhere but Not Here" – 12:57 11. "Heartattack in a Lay-by" – 4:07 12. "Start of Something Beautiful" – 7:19 13. "Halo" – 6:42 14. "The Sound of Muzak" – 5:14 15. "Even Less" – 6:54 16. "Trains" – 7:18 _________ Version Control I’ve had the DVD since it was released, but I splurged for the bluray since it’s not expensive, and it was totally worth it. The main improvement is that on a big modern screen the video resolution is quite noticeably better. The bluray also has the audio in a lossless format (DTS HD MA) instead of lossy DTS. However, the audio quality is still very good on the DVD. The Concert On studio albums Wilson often has multiple guitar and vocal parts. John Wesley is along to be the second Wilson. The video and audio quality are excellent and the music is great. That leaves two unresolved issues: How’s the show and how’s the surround? "Revenant" from Deadwing This plays during the opening credits. Sounds like there’s some surroundscape action, crowd noise in back. "Open Car" from Deadwing Wilson starts with guitar and vocal, both in front, but vocal is centered, guitar is on the right. Then bass and drums in front. Center channel not used at all. Mainly percussion reverb in back. Wesley guitar and vocals spilling left. "Blackest Eyes" from In Absentia Wilson guitar mixed far right, vocal centers, drums in surround. Wesley guitar left "Lazarus" from Deadwing There are three screens in the back now, but we’re not seeing much of them. Piano in surround, plus some soundscape. Wilson guitar on right, Wesley acoustic guitar and vocals on left. "Hatesong" from Lightbulb Sun Bass front, then surroundscape lots of drums in the back too. Guitar right front, vocal center, piano surround. Wesley vocals left. Wesley acoustic mixed to back with Wilson electric front, (to hell with the soundstage). More surroundscape, Wilson guitar far right, then some swirling, then left (more soundstage obliteration). "Don't Hate Me" from Stupid Dream Wilson guitar right and vocals front, soundscape and drum surround. Then bass front, Wesley guitar left. "Mother and Child Divided" from Deadwing Soundscape and a few cymbals in surround, guitars far left and right. "Buying New Soul" from Lightbulb Sun Surroundscape, Wilson guitar right, drums front,l v center, bv rear, Wesley guitar left. Wilson switches to acoustic onright, Barbieri synth in back (another soundstage faux pax), nice Wesley solo on left. "So-Called Friend" B-side from Deadwing Guitar on right, bass and drums in front, synth in back. Then Wesley guitar and vocals on left. Wilson lead vocals in front, harmony vocals on right (that’s been going on for a while, but I just figured it out) "Arriving Somewhere but Not Here" from Deadwing Surroundscape, baby. Guitars right, then left. Left and right vocals, with front to back echo. See a bit of the screen. Sorry, would have said more but I was too busy watching. Surroundscape baby. I think there’s a reason they name the album after this track. Plus, did I say how amazing it is that Barbieri gets so much music with so little work? "Heartattack in a Lay-by" form In Absentia Wilson vocals in front, Wesley in back; Wilson guitar on right, Wesley on left. Soundstage smoundstage. Barbieri sound stage stays in front. "Start of Something Beautiful" from Deadwing Surroundscape, plus keyboards, bass, and drums in front. Bass and Wilson vocals in front. Wilson guitar on right, Wesley eventually pipes up on left. Impressive drumming from Harrison, and a great all around surround track. "Halo" from Deadwing Starts with surroundscape and drums, then bass, then Wilson guitar on right, vocals front (narration in surround). Wilson Wesley vocals sound identical. Wesley guitar on left. Weird stuff in back probably from Barbieri. Wesley vocals in center at end. End of regulation. "The Sound of Muzak" from In Absentia Wesley guitar and vocals rear, Wilson vocal and guitar front. Then they go left and right. "Even Less" from Stupid Dream Surroundscape, then Wilson guitar on right. Then bass and drums in front, Wesley rhythm guitar on left. More Wilson guitar and Barbieri soundscape. "Trains" from In Absentia Wilson with acoustic guitar on right, vocals in surround. Then bass drums in front, surroundsacpe, vocals front Then Wesley electric guitar on left, vocal rear. Major eff up requires mid song restart, but it’s OK. I think they did that on purpose. _______ I haven’t watched this is a while, and the show itself isn’t as awesome as I remembered it; I probably conflated it with Anaesthetize, which I will get to later. Even though the picture quality is excellent most of the time, it is often deliberately degraded to grainy black and white for artistic purposes. That doesn’t bother me, but it does sort of call attention to the fact that the film itself doesn’t present much of a visual spectacle. Furthermore, Barbieri is great at surround but he does nothing for show. That little shortcoming aside, this disc is great in all other respects. While the surround isn’t quite as magnificent as Meltdown or Home Invasion, it is still good enough to get full marks. Any Porcupine Tree fan should have this. Music – 3 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 3 (DVD is 2) Surround – 3 Part of a PT Sunday double header. If you are upset about the high price of the Deadwing surround mix, this is a mighty fine substitute.
3D: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Video Collection by Kraftwerk Released 26 May 2017 Recorded 2012–2016 Genre Electronic Length About 70 min Label Kling Klang, Parlophone This release is a "Best Of" of sorts from recordings done live between 2012 and 2016. It features tracks from eight original albums and is an excerpt from the full boxset 3-D (Der Katalog). According to the liner notes, the boxset documents Kraftwerk's 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 tour at various museums and concert halls around the world: Museum of Modern Art in New York City (9–17 April 2012), Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf (11–20 January 2013), Tate Modern in London (6–14 February 2013), Akasaka Blitz in Tokyo (8–16 May 2013), Sydney Opera House (24–27 May 2013), Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (18–21 March 2014), Burgtheater in Vienna (15–18 May 2014), Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris (6–14 November 2014), Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin (6-13 January 2015), Paradiso in Amsterdam (16–23 January 2015), DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen (26 February – 1 March 2015), Oslo Opera House (4–7 August 2016), and Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (7–14 October 2016). Personnel Kraftwerk Ralf Hütter Fritz Hilpert Henning Schmitz Falk Grieffenhagen Tracklist 1. Autobahn 14:27 2. Geiger Counter 0:31 3. Radioactivity 6:14 4. Trans Europe Express 3:21 5. Metal On Metal 6. Abzug 2:24 7. The Man-Machine 5:08 8. Numbers 2:58 9. Computer World 3:22 10. Boing Boom Tschak 2:33 11. Techno Pop 2:46 12. Music Non Stop 7:45 13. The Robots 7:44 14. Tour De France 4:45 15. Etape 1 3:46 16. Chrono 1:12 17. Etape 2 4:59 Version Control Per the intro, there are multiple versions of this: A one-disc bluray compilation, a four bluray disc set, and CD and LP versions. I have both of the first two. However, the four disc set is a bit much too bite off in one chew, so I’m going to start off with the single disc version. The larger sets have what appear to be two different video versions of more or less the same material: A “Film” version and a “Concert” version. The single disc has some of each, which makes it an especially good place to start. All the sets have both 3D video and Dolby Atmos audio. I used to have 3D video, but now I don’t – but I have watched the single disc version several times. I’ll rate the 3D from memory. On the other hand, I didn’t used to have Dolby Atmos equipment or ceiling speakers, but now I do. I may never get both at the same time. Bummer. The Videos The video quality is all widescreen 1080p, the audio quality is excellent, and the surround mix is demo quality. Oh, did I say it’s in Atmos – it’ll light up the ceiling speakers if you have them. If you like electronic music, it is very good. So, the main thing to talk about here is the video presentation. With reference to the four disc set, I think we are getting mainly “Film” video, with just a little “Concert” footage edited in. However, there isn’t a whole lot of difference, so it’s hard to tell. The concerts are performed with a large screen behind the band members that is showing the same video as the film. Which brings us to another important point; with Kraftwerk the distinction between a studio and live performance is barely worth mentioning. Basically, we are talking about a band of keyboard programmers. Once the music is programmed, it’s mostly a matter of just pressing “Play”. Yes, there are some vocals, but watching Kraftwerk perform is sort of like watch a band of four Richard Barbieris – they aren’t really doing a whole lot. Both the one disc and multidisc versions are divided into eight segments. However, there are really only seven albums covered by the set. I haven’t ascertained what happens if you select “8” in the multidisc set, but with the one-disc version you get “Tour De France” – and that is because a “7” gives you more Man-Machine. Anyway, I’m going to go through the videos by album, which means I will cover “The Robots” with “Man Machine” Autobahn (Track 1) The song “Autobahn” put Kraftwerk on the map in 1974. There actually was a short version of it that became a radio hit. The side long album version of the album Autobahn was groundbreaking at the time, but on repeated listening it’s monotonous. However, this reworked version of it is far more interesting, especially in surround. As for the video, it’s a long trip down an animated autobahn. A VW bug and a Mercedes are the stars of the show. It reminds you of how monotonous the original song was. The 3D makes it a little more interesting, but not for long. The sequence with vocals has a car radio animation to remind you of the good old days when you turn it on and hear “fun, fun, fun, on the autobahn” come blaring out. Radioactivity (Tracks 2 and 3) The album Radioactivity has much faster rhythms than Autobahn did. The first short segment “Geiger Counter” graphs oscillating noise. Then the title track has several very cool video sequences: A video introduction to treated vocals; a telegraph sending out signals; concert footage with a big screen flashing out the danger points (Fukushima wasn’t in the original song, but it is now); animated atomic nuclei and electrons (very cool in 3D); bouncing atomic detonations. Trans-Europe Express (Tracks 4-6) Trans-Europe Express in more like Autobahn except it’s about a train this time, and that goes for both the audio and the video. However, instead of going straight down the track all the time, we sometimes get lines on the screen at multiple angles. The 3D is worthless until you get to the bridge. Man Machine (Tracks 7 and 13) This is my favorite Kraftwerk album. Besides having the most accessible vocals, it has some almost catchy tunes. The video for the song “Man-Machine” is a very cool geometry lesson; even better in 3D. “The Robots” video features mannequins made to look vaguely like the band members, and because that’s not enough, there are stick figure band members too. Not worth watching more than once, and 3D doesn’t help. Computer World (Tracks 8 and 9) Also a great album made better. Oscillating numbers on the screen, counted out in many different languages, with a 1980 computer thrown in for good measure. The best 3D on the disc is found here. Also has more concert footage than most previous tracks. Technopop (Tracks 10-12) Kraftwerk decided to explore the disco angle with this album, and the results are not so good IMO. The first video uses comic book graphics to display the nonsense lyrics. The second video shows written music notes (e.g half-notes, clefs, etc) going towards or form the viewer. You get the 3D visual pretty well even without the extra equipment. The third video shows CAD versions of the band. Tour De France (Tracks 14-17) This is definitely a better album than Technopop, but it’s not in the same league as the run from Radioactivity to Computerworld. The video shows a bicycle race (a Tour de France, presumably) filmed in black and white, with computer generated graphics superimposed in color. The music starts with simulated heavy breathing, which conveys the irony of the piece; the music that celebrates the exertions of the bicycle riders is being produced by musicians who demonstrate very little. _________ Technopop notwithstanding, this is excellent electronic music and it is especially interesting when played in surround. If you have an Atmos system, then it is a demo disc. Some of the video is interesting enough to watch more than once, but you might prefer to just listen with the video off. While the book sets may be of interest to serious Kraftwerk fans, the one disc option has to be the better choice for listeners with a passing interest in electronic music. Music – 2 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 (Some of the videos are very good, most are forgettable) Video quality – 3 Surround – 3 I may get around to doing something with the four disc set. In the mean time, Mark Winstanley has done a surround review of the Catalog version of Man Machine.
Ultravox - Return to Eden. One of the reasons to have this thread is so other people can come on here and tell me what I should get. (Thanks @mark winstanley) I played the hell out Midge Ure-era Ultravox in the 80's, so I'm very glad to have this. Besides the great music, the audio quality is also very good. The synths sound nice and edgy. The picture quality was as good as a DVD gets and the show was great too, but I do wonder why the stage needed to be so dark. The big screens in the back were spectacular, but they didn't use them that much. The surround mix made excellent use of the center channel, but the rears were mainly used for crowd noise. That was great for the crowd sing alongs on "Hymn" and "The Voice", but otherwise it was a little annoying. If they could have mixed some of the instruments a little to the rear (Cross or Ure on the left, Currie on the right) I'd be a happier surround camper. Music – 3 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 2 Surround – 2 The theme of the day is "keyboard programming"
U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky Video by U2 Released 1984 Recorded 5 June 1983 Venue Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Morrison, Colorado) Genre Rock, post-punk Length 55 minutes (1984 release) 82 minutes (2008 release) Label Island Director Gavin Taylor Producer Rick Wurpel, Doug Stewart U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky is a concert film by Irish rock band U2. It was recorded on 5 June 1983 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, United States, on the group's War Tour. Originally released in 1984 on videocassette, U2 Live at Red Rocks was the band's first video release. It accompanied a 1983 live album entitled Under a Blood Red Sky, on which two tracks from the film appear. The video was directed by Gavin Taylor and produced by Rick Wurpel and Doug Stewart. The film was arranged by U2 management to showcase the band's live act and to promote them to American audiences. It depicts the band's performance at Red Rocks on a rain-soaked evening. The concert was almost cancelled because of the inclement weather, but the band had invested in the filming with Island Records and concert promoter Barry Fey and wished to proceed with the gig. The rain and the torch-lit atmosphere of the surroundings made U2's performance dramatic. Segments of U2 Live at Red Rocks were shown in regular rotation on MTV, and were also broadcast on other television networks. Critics praised the concert and the video, and it subsequently became a best-seller. The video, along with Under a Blood Red Sky, helped establish U2's reputation as remarkable live performers and boosted Red Rocks' stature as a live venue. A remastered edition of U2 Live at Red Rocks was released on DVD in September 2008 with previously unreleased tracks, coinciding with a remastered edition of Under a Blood Red Sky. Rolling Stone selected the film's performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" as one of the "50 Moments that Changed the History of Rock and Roll". Bono – lead vocals, guitar on "A Day Without Me" The Edge – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, lap steel guitar on "Surrender", bass guitar on "40", lead vocals on "Seconds" Adam Clayton – bass guitar, guitar on "40", backing vocals on "I Will Follow" and "Out of Control" Larry Mullen Jr. – drums, backing vocals Film crew Malcolm Gerrie – production associate Paul McGuinness for U2 at Red Rocks Associates – executive producer Doug Stewart – producer Gavin Taylor – director Rick Wurpel – producer Original release "Surrender" "Seconds" "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" [sic] "Cry/The Electric Co." "October" "New Year's Day" "I Threw a Brick" [sic] "A Day Without Me" "Gloria" "Party Girl" "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" "I Will Follow" "40" 2008 edition (DVD) "Out of Control" "Twilight" "An Cat Dubh" / "Into the Heart" "Surrender" "Two Hearts Beat as One" "Seconds" "Sunday Bloody Sunday" "Cry" / "The Electric Co." "October" "New Year's Day" "I Threw a Brick Through a Window" "A Day Without Me" "Gloria" "Party Girl" "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" "I Will Follow" "40" ---------------------------------------------------------------- U2 are a band that seem to cop a lot of stick these days, and from my perspective unfairly so, but each to their own. No matter what anybody thinks these days When they burst into my music airwaves in 1980 - I Will Follow, and particularly 1981 - Gloria, they interested me, and really got me involved. Early in 1983 the War album was released and frankly it blew me away. I had heard song and liked the band, but I heard a concert broadcast on 96fm, my local rock radio station (before the formatting of the latter eighties turned me off radio altogether) It was a show from Boston 5/5 or 5/6 1983 at the Orpheum theatre, and it really get a fire under me to get some music by this band. From there there was a frenzy of activity, from my perspective for this bands music. I got October and War, in what order I really don't know, and seemingly not too long after the mini-lp Under A Blood Red Sky came out, and U2 were taking over the Australian airwaves through shear force of will and a passion sadly lacking in some of the music of the day. The passion of these guys exploded out of their albums, but particularly from the stage. A lot of folks poo poohed the band even back then, and made claims it was fake and contrived and all that kind of BS, but there was no mistaking what was coming out of this band, pure unadulterated rock passion, with lyrics a little more intelligent and passionate than the pop fare that was taking over the charts elsewhere in music (not that there is anything wrong with that, I have plenty of it) Some time around here VHS home video concerts started to become a thing, and due to the necessity to fit them on videotape, they were often edited to about 60 minutes, which, not having anything else, was fine by me. Two of the biggest eye opening VHS releases I got were Dire Straits Alchemy, and U2 Live At Red Rocks Under a Blood Red Sky. These two tapes usurped my love of live albums, because seeing the band playing live lifted it all to the next level. Since the advent of home dvd and bluray, I have been a huge fan of getting these concert sets, and since the advent of dvd and bluray, the concerts have been more complete, and even better. I may not always get time to watch them, but when I do, it is a concert in my living room, that fills me with a great deal of pleasure..... In light of what is going on these days, they may end up being my only concert outlet, but hopefully these things will pass.... This Concert Movie almost didn't get made. The weather was atrocious and it was recommended that the band call off the show, for fear of electrocution. Thankfully, and most likely due to the huge investment and a huge faith in God, the guys went ahead with the show. It was a sensation and it gained the band a huge following. The clips on MTV showed everybody what this band were all about. The buzz in the air over this release was huge, and the results were spectacular, moving and really very rock. Later in their career, the band started using a lot of technology to supplement their already great stagecraft, and live playing, but here we get the pure unadulterated rock experience that was U2 in 1983-85 I saw the band live September 23 1984 at the Perth Entertainment Centre and even though this was considered the Unforgettable Fire Tour, all that had been released at that stage was the mega-hit Pride, and that was the only song from the new album on the setlist. It was magic show, and I left completely hoarse from singing all the songs at the top of my lungs ... yea I know, I was a young enthusiastic, hyperactive teen ... what do you expect. U2 made some fantastic albums after this, in fact more than any one band should reasonably have in them, but nothing ever captured that lightening in a bottle of the War, Under A Blood Red Sky and Live At Red Rocks concert for me in the same way again. This is the 2008 dvd that I am watching today. This set also comes with the original 8 song live mini album. We open with Clannad Theme From Harry's Game and Bono speaking in the background. The band speculate what it would have been like if the sun had shone, and come to the logical conclusion that it wouldn't have been the same. We get fan comments waiting to see the band, and without much further ado we're off. Out Of Control The picture is set on widescreen, and the limitations of video recordings do show, but not much. This cleaned up very well. The always exhuburant strains of Out of Control ring out. The venue, the audience and the band are perfect. This is a great example of the beautiful raw rock that U2 made. They look and sound like a brilliant young rock band, because that's what they were. Twilight Larry takes his jacket off for this song, he is giving it his all. It strikes me that he looks so young here, he looks like he just got out of school. Even at this early stage Bono has full control of the crowd, and his presentation and singing. The Edge is a picture of focus laying the landscapes of beauty that the songs walk in. Adam Clayton is solid on the bass, and throws in some backing vocals. An Cat Dubh/ Into The Heart Fantastic riff, well paced, and Bono's great vocals.. it must be said the backing vocals are really good also. Talk about rising to the occasion, they owned this, and drove home the point that they were a farce to be reckoned with. Bono revs the crowd up again, and they respond, as always. It is a beautiful backdrop for a concert. We move on to the reflective Into The Heart and the crowd are still with the band 100% .... The Edge plays the beautiful guitar arrangement and Bono sings the refrain, and the band kick in. The crowd are seen singing along.... early days, committed fans already. Surrender It's still light, but the sun is slowly setting. Bono states that it is apt "for this group" that it isn't sunny, and let's everyone know they are being recorded, " say hello to Japan" Bono goes down to the crowd as he was often want to do. The Edge is rocking the lap steel with equal efficiency and musicality as his regular axe, which he gets back to smoothly. The crowd encouraged by Bono sing the "oh oh oh" section and Bono falls backwards onto the crowd and they all scream well pleased. Two Hearts Beat As One The rain is coming down, but nothing is dampening anyone's spirits here. Adrenaline and passion raise this above any weather and nobody care. Seconds Edge opens the vocals, and he an Bono do it as s duet. A great song, and a great environment. Bono takes the vocals. It's starting to get darker and the simple lights take effect. Edge is playing an acoustic that looks a little Frankenstein'd. Sunday Bloody Sunday Huge screams of acknowledgment. The flames atop the rocks look like warning beacons. It is a spectacle, and the band and song just motor along. Bono is bouncing around all over the place and singing with all he has got, and that is plenty. The guitar break comes in like a call to arms. The white flag of peace comes out.... Sing "no more". A young crowd. We were all sick of old men dictating that the world was on the cusp of war, the spirit here reflects the times beautifully. Cry/Electric co. The sound is excellent in my opinion. It is a more typical live 5.1 mix with mainly atmosphere and fx sends to the rears, but it is solid, and perfect for what we have. During this sing we see the guy with the telescope up high, the made the iconic cover of the mini-lp. This is a celebration and it couldn't have been more perfect. You get the light lines on the camera, but for me it all works. Raw rock it a beautiful thing. October Edge plays the beautiful piano and the crowd hushes, with just the odd whistle. Full darkness has fallen and the atmosphere though hushed is electric, the rim shots come in the crowd cheers, the vocals come in, and a beautiful mellow interlude works. New Years Day That bass line comes in and we're back into the fray. Edge bounces between piano and guitar laying those beautiful landscapes down and the rhythm section pumps along solid as the rock they're playing on. The rain pours down, Bono Adlibs those immortalized lines "under thunder cloud and rain" Magic stuff. Everyone just rocking out to the best new band on the planet in spite of the conditions. Threw a Brick Through a Window Solid all the way through and we also get the Edge's slide lead break. Bono get the crowd to sing again. You can see it is spontaneous, because of the eat he comes back in with the "me, me" A Day Without Me The rejoicing music bursts in over Larry's solid drums. Bono is playing the guitar, adding strums to accent the Edge's riff. It all works perfectly. The bridge bursts in and Bono says thank you Goodnight. Gloria No delay, we burst into this classic. Everyone bouncing like pogo people. Great stuff. Bono pumps the crowd up again and Edge is sliding again. Bono introduces Adam and Edge and we get that glorious final chorus. We a get a real Goodnight this time. Party Girl The band comes out and plays the best version of this song. Bono gets the crowd chanting again. 11 o'clock Tick Tock To me this is the ultimate version of this song also. Bono sits with crowd next to the front fold back, who try to drag him in. Then he goes down to the crowd without his mic and brings up a girl and they dance. This is an energetic dance, not the cuddle-fest of later years. I Will Follow Bono keeps saying goodnight, but they just keep playing. This might be the ultimate version of this track too. And we say goodnight again, but the crowd are pumped up and not having a bar if that. 40 Edge plays the bass, and Clayton plays the harmonics, and it is effective. It never really struck me as a pup how well Clayton did here. Getting the feedback atmosphere to work. The crowd are fully entertained the band are just about spent. Adam gets some final screams from his guitar. Edge hangs up his bass. Larry keeps the beat going, Bono gets the crowd to sing the outro chorus, something that became an auto reaction from there on ..... This is a fantastic concert, and I think essential for anyone that likes the band at all. This is raw rock, but a young band, at its every best
Alchemy Live Live Performance by Dire Straits Released 2010 (DVD, Blu-ray) Recorded 22–23 July 1983 Venue Hammersmith Odeon, London Genre Rock, progressive rock Length 90:00 Label PolyGram Video Warner Bros. (USA) Producer Mark Knopfler The concert film Alchemy Live was originally released in Beta, VHS video cassette and Laserdisc formats, and digitally remastered in 1995. 2010 saw new DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases of the concert with surround sound mixes prepared by Chuck Ainlay and the original video footage digitally enhanced and cleaned by Dick Carruthers. The 2010 Blu-ray release also included the BBC Arena documentary about Dire Straits aired in 1980. The Alchemy video opens with scenes of the band in a pub playing pool, interspersed with concert clips. Playing over this is the song Saturday Night at the Movies performed by The Drifters. The music changes to the instrumental "Stargazer", from the film Local Hero, over external shots of a sold-out Hammersmith Odeon. The scene switches to the inside of the venue as Dire Straits are announced and walk onstage for the concert. The closing credits again use the Drifters' "Saturday Night at the Movies". Personnel Dire Straits Mark Knopfler – guitar, vocals Alan Clark – keyboards John Illsley – bass guitar, backing vocals Hal Lindes – guitar, backing vocals Terry Williams – drums Additional musicians Mel Collins – saxophone Tommy Mandel – keyboards Track Listing 1. Intro...Saturday Night At The Movies (The Drifters) 2. Once Upon A Time In The West 3. Expresso Love 4. Romeo And Juliet 5. Private Investigations 6. Sultans Of Swing 7. Two Young Lovers 8. Tunnel Of Love 9. Telegraph Road 10. Solid Rock 11. Going Home - Theme From 'Local Hero' ______ Version Control This was originally released as a video on VHS and Laserdisc in 1983, and on LP in 1984. Many different CD versions followed. DVD and bluray versions weren’t released until 2010. I have the European bluray. The Concert with 5.1 mix by Chuck Ainley The bluray is reputedly DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. However, I will note that when I ripped it, DVDAE seems to think the multichannel layer in plain old DTS, so in spite the labeling maybe it is lossy. The stereo layer is LPCM. The video is cleaned up 4:3; decent, but definitely grainy - no reason to think the DVD wouldn’t be just as good. This is a Love Over Gold era concert. Besides having a new second guitarist (Hal LIndes), the band has a keyboard player (Alan Clark) for the first time. “Once Upon A Time In The West” From Communique. So we start off with keyboards from Alan Clark who is back left, next to drummer Terry Williams. Illsley, Knopfler, and Lindes are in front. There is also a barely visible sixth person back right on keyboards – I presume that’s Tommy Mandel. There two things that are weird going on here. First of all, there were no keyboards on the original version – it started out with guitar. Second, the keyboards here are in the back. Is it possible that this 1983 concert has a true surround mix? The answer is definitely yes – Knopfler vocals and guitar are featured in the center channel, and at least some of the keyboards are largely mixed to the back. There is crowd noise in the back too. On occasion, there is nothing but fluorescent pink lighting. Given the grainy nature of the video, this almost makes them look like cartoon characters, which is cool. Also, just to get this out of the way: Hal Lindes plays with an overabundance of movement. I was always worried that he was going to run somebody over, but he never did. “Expresso Love” From Making Movies. Lindes and Clark starts things off, and the piano is in front his time, but the rhythm guitar is in surround – also crowd noise is back. When Clark switches to organ he goes to the back, un front again with piano. Williams sings without a mike. “Romeo And Juliet” From Making Movies. Knopfler is nearly the whole show on this song. Footage from outside the arena is sliced into the slow passages. There is some organ in the back. It occurs to me that might be Mandel rather than Clark. “Private Investigations” From Love Over Gold. Starts with keyboards back right (Mandel?), plus some synth in surround (Clark?). Then Knopfler vocals in center, guitar in front. More keyboards both front and back. Illsley comes in front left, Lindes with heavily reverbing guitar. Dry ice rolls in. More keyboards rear right. Really nice surround track. “Sultans of Swing” From s/t debut. This is the song that put Dire Straits on the map, but we’ve got keyboards this time – and they are in the back. During long Knopfler solo, crowds claps in surround. Keyboards front and back: They finally get a camera on Mandel; he is definitely at least part of the back story. “Two Young Lovers” From the EP Twisting by the Pool. The ubiquitous Mel Collins comes out on sax. Piano and the rest of the band in front, crowd noise and a little organ in back. “Tunnel of Love” From Making Movies. Starts out with organ in the back, then piano front, and we’re off. Long Knopfler guitar solo from the center channel. “Telegraph Road” From Love Over Gold. This song mostly stays in front with Knopfler in the center channel, but there’s lot’s of reverb in the back. But there is some organ in the back when things heat up, and it must be Mandel because Clark is shown playing the piano part. “Solid Rock” From Making Movies. Starts with organ in surround, but when the band kicks in it’s all in front – and Mandel is just dancing. Collins comes back on stage with his sax. “Going Home - Theme From 'Local Hero' “ From Knopfler solo album Local Hero. Starts out with Knopfler playing solo. Collins comes in with sax, then keyboards and drum. All in front, just crowd noise in the back. _________ Well, here’s another surround gem that’s been lounging on the video shelf. Not only is the center channel used to great effect, there is also often a mysterious organ that is usually played off screen that shows up in the rear speakers (I think it’s mainly the second keyboard player Mandel). I’ve had this for years, but I probably watched it once, decided the video was no great shakes and put it away. But the audio is awesome. In fact, it’s a very worthy surround rip. While the performance is great, the video quality is just acceptable – so listening in surround without the video could be just fine on many occasions. However, I’m not saying that it isn’t a great concert performance that any Dire Straits fan should have. Music – 3 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 2 Surround – 3
Nice review.... you're lucky I love this concert. One of my favourites of all time. I really enjoy the mix, and the video isn't hi def, but that rarely bothers me. It is clear for the source it comes from. My wife walked in when I was watching it one time, and ended up sitting watching it until the end, and that is rare for her. To me this is an essential concert movie, unless you just hate the band. If you don't like Brothers in Arms, this is nothing like Brothers in Arms. Telegraph Road, and Private Investigations are worth the price of admission alone.
5.1 Audio is definitely Lossless DTS-HDMA.......and actually also 24/96!!!!!.......clearly better SQ than DTS. Maybe you have a problem with DVDAE...........I didn't think DVDAE could even do BD's??..... (which I thought is why it's called DVDAE) FWIW.......2.0 PCM Audio is also 24/96 Thanks for great review.........but maybe you need to hear again properly.....
DVDAE will rip an unencrypted bluray, but those are rare. As a result, ripping a bluray is a two step process - first you have to decrypt it (I use Make MKV) to copy the bluray files to a hard drive, and then you can generate flacs or whatever from those with DVDAE. The bit rate you get doesn't tell you whether or not the file format in the original is lossy or not. Anyway, no big deal there - it's sounds great.
