Kasabian: Live At The O2 London
15/12/2011 (Eagle Blu-ray)/Rockwell: A Night Of Legendary
Collaborations (2012/Intergroove/MVD DVD)/Stone Temple
Pilots – Alive In The
Windy City 2010 (Eagle Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/C/B- Sound: B-/C+/B+ Extras: C/D/C Concerts:
C+/C+/B
Now or
our latest Rock entries, with some highs and lows…
I have
barely heard any of their music and it turns out what I have heard, I do not
remember much. However, Kasabian: Live At The O2 London 15/12/2011 is the second-ever concert
we have covered form that concert venue and the music and performance did not
do much for me. We get 19 songs here
played with some energy and at least some sincerity, but I was bored and this
indie Rock/Electronica lite combo just did not do anything for me. The result is a release for fans only or a
sampler disc for those who want to hear the band.
A brief
documentary on the band and concert is the only extra.
A little
more interesting and somewhat experimental, Rockwell: A Night Of Legendary Collaborations (2012) is a mix of
old and new acts, along with some new ones we have not heard of before. Robert Plant, Tom Jones and Joss Stone do
some solo sets, Stone & Jones duet on It’s Your Thing, Razorlight, David
Grey and Escala also perform and it is at least an unusual (no pun intended,
Mr. Jones) program. Unfortunately, it is
too short, the performances are mixed and the show overall never gets off the
ground. Still, it is a nice try and
something different, so fans might want to check it out for themselves. There are no extras.
Finally
we have Stone Temple Pilots – Alive In The Windy City 2010, a really impressive concert
by the now-underrated band that is one of the few in Rock who have not sold out
and I am glad to See Scott Weiland both surviving his personal problems and
still being able to sing so well. The
bad arrived along with Nirvana and Pearl Jam in popularity in Rock Music’s last
great wave of talent. They still got it.
The band
delivers 18 songs including all of their key hits like Plush, Sex Type Thing, Interstate Love Song, Trippin’ On a Hole In A Paper Heart and Vasoline. Here is a real band with raw talent that is
actually better with age and can outplay most new bands that have debuted
since. I thought this would be good, but
it exceeded my expectations and show they are not a mere legacy band. That makes Alive In The Windy City one of the best concert Blu-rays of the
year.
An
interview with the band on the disc and paper pullout are the only extras.
The 1080i
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on the two Blu-rays are similar and
interesting that they decide to have a darkened room shoot, versus the mostly
well-lit live Blu-rays we have seen over the first years of the format. Pilots
has a very slight edge in picture quality over Kasabian, but not by much. The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Rockwell is softer and more
problematic than expected, including more motion blur than I would have liked,
plus overall softness that does not help.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on both Blu-rays outdo the PCM 2.0
Stereo versions also included, yet the way Kasabian
has been remixed for DTS-MA is compressed somewhat and problematic. On the other hand, Pilots is one of the most sonically exceptional Blu-ray concerts we
have heard to date with exceptional depth, fidelity, range and is an often
audiophile-level mix that rivals anything good that can be said of the 5.1
lossless mix on the long out-of-print DVD-Audio edition of the band’s Core, which is available in reasonably
priced editions now.
I was not
always happy with those upgrades, though I wonder if the possible Japanese 5.1
Super Audio CD import reissue will sound better. However, this mix can compete with the older
audiophile Core edition and will
challenge any serious home theater system and please any serious fan.
That
leaves the PCM 2.0 Stereo on Rockwell
sounding fairly good, but not great and sometimes harsh at the edges.
- Nicholas Sheffo
