Black
Label Society: Unblackened
(2013)/Bryan Ferry: Live
In Lyon (2013)/Caro
Emerald In Concert
(2013/Eagle Blu-rays)/The
Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
(1992/Eagle SD Blu-ray)/Morrissey
25Live (2013/Eagle
Blu-ray)/Wild Style: 30th
Anniversary DVD set
(1983/Submarine Deluxe/Music Box)
Picture:
B-/B-/B-/C+/B-/C+ Sound: B/B/B/C+/B/C+ Extras:
C+/C+/C+/C+/C/B Main Programs: C+/B/B-/B/B/B-
Here's
a really rich set of new music releases...
Black
Label Society: Unblackened
(2013) is the third release of the Heavy Metal band we have covered
and like its predecessor releases, it shows the band in fine form,
even if you are not a fan. See our coverage of the following for
comparison:
Skullage
DVD/CD set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8469/Black+Label+Society+-+Skullage+(Eagle+DVD/CD+
European
Invasion: Doom Troopin Live
Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10246/Black+Label+Society:+The+European+Invasion+%
This
show was recorded at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California and the
17-song set is just fine, as good as the other releases and the
audience is a plus. If you want to find out more about this band and
never heard of them before, this is as good a place as any to start.
It did not stick with me like it predecessor releases, but they have
talent and I see why new material keeps getting issued on them.
Bryan
Ferry: Live In Lyon
(2013) is the second and better of the two concerts we have covered
from the former Roxy Music lead singer long now a solo artist. His
Dylanesque Live: The
London Sessions
DVD was a change of pace in fairness to him, as our coverage at this
link will show:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5561/Bryan+Ferry+%E2%80%93+Dylanesque+Live:+The
This
time out, it is back to his hits in and out of the band including
Avalon,
Love Is The Drug,
Lennon's Jealous Guy
and his remake of Let's
Stick Together among the
22 songs he performs. He is older and does not hide this, sings
through this (even looking like he is struggling at times) and the
result is that he delivers a really exceptional concert that
impressed me throughout and shows how underrated an artist he really
is. Very impressive and he has a great band with him, all of whom
are shown and discussed in the booklet included with the Blu-ray
disc.
Caro
Emerald In Concert (2013)
features the vocalist singing 18 songs in a Jazz style from the BBC
Radio Theater in London. The retro style will remind one of Martha
Davis of The Motels at times, but Miss Emerald is more stylized and
retro singing the likes of Just
One Dance, Riviera
Life, Black
Valentine, Liquid
Lunch, That
Man and Man
About The Boy. Even more
period than
Diana
Krall, she brings the period feel and sound of the music to life,
though most of the compositions are new ones.
See
it soon as she may become the next biog vocalist and who knows if
she'll switch styles like a Linda Ronstadt or Sheena Easton.
The
Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
(1992) is a new Eagle SD Blu-ray that takes standard definition
analog video and upscales it to high definition, or 1080i in this
case. We previously reviewed the shorter DVD version about a decade
ago at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/132/Queen:+Tribute+To+Freddie+Mercury
Though
my fellow writer was not happy with missing songs and how extras were
hidden as Easter eggs, the concert is now here in full length, the
extras easy to get to and sound even more improved in an upgrade more
than worth the effort. See more in the technical section below.
Morrissey
25Live (2013) has the former lead singer of The Smiths long into his
solo glory giving an exclusive show at a Los Angeles High School to
major fans. The 19 songs well performed here include Alma
Matters, You
Have Killed Me, Still
Ill, Speedway,
That Joke Isn't Funny
Anymore, Let
Me Kiss You and of
course, Meat Is Murder.
Like the Bryan Ferry show, this is top rate with a great band, great
audience and yet another singer who is still somewhat underrated.
Don't miss it.
Though
this is our first concert from Morrissey, we have reviewed other DVD
releases, all of which were documentaries. You can read about them
and any new titles on him we add later at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/new/viewer.cgi?search=morrissey
Last
but not least is Charlie Aheran's Wild
Style: 30th
Anniversary DVD set, the
key classic 1983 drama/comedy about graffiti artists in New York City
during the rise of Hip Hop, Rap, Punk and Breakdancing. Along with
Style Wars
(reviewed elsewhere on this site and being restored as we speak), it
is a key document of the time and though the acting and story can be
rough, we get plenty of fine moments, happy accidents, unscripted
moments and a rare capturing of a set of music and art cultures still
with us today.
This
edition replaces the older Rhino DVDs and expands them with a
restored version of the film to boot, so if you are a fan or never
caught up to it, this is the best way to be introduced to it to date.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Label
and Morrissey,
plus 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Lyon
and Caro
are about even with each other including some motion blur, color
limits and depth limits, though Morrissey
has a few more solid shots, but all also have style choices that can
hold consistency back. The 1080i
upscaled image from the
Mercury
disc comes
from analog PAL 540i video sources and is not bad, but has its share
of haloing, yet is an improvement over the controversial DVD version.
It is equalled by the 1.33 X 1 color image on Style
made from a new HD master of the original 16mm camera materials and
looking superior to all previous video versions, but this one is
screaming out for Blu-ray presentation.
The
DTS-HD HR (High Resolution) 5.1 mix on the
Mercury
disc is also a big improvement over the simple stereo on the old DVD
which had no 5.1 mix of any kind, but it has limits and the PCM 2.0
Stereo version also shows the age of the audio. Still, it will
likely never sound better, so fans will be happy. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on the rest of the
concert Blu-rays are all top rate recordings and mixes with musical
soundfields that take full advantage of the multi-channel
arrangements and are a pleasure to hear. All also have PCM 2.0
Stereo tracks that are not bad, but none can match their DTS
counterparts. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Style
shows its age the the budget limit of the film, but this is still a
bit clearer than the older DVD, so that helps.
Extras
in all cases include a nicely illustrated booklet (a paper pullout in
the case of Label)
on their respective programs with photos, tech information and
essays. Caro,
Mercury
and Lyon
add rehearsal footage and all plus Label
adds a clip of Zakk at a U.K. prison, interviews, Label
also adds a video
for the song Losin
Your Mind
and a Photo Gallery, Lyon adds the Isaac Ferry short The
Making Of Olympia,
Mercury
adds a Photo Gallery, Mercury Phoenix Trust Facts and 10th
Anniversary documentary, Morrissey adds a Behind The Scenes
featurette with comedian and megafan Russell Brand and Style
(with
a booklet thicker than al the others combined) adds a feature
length audio commentary track by Ahearn and Fab Five Freddie, New
Interviews, 20th Anniversary Jam, 25th
Anniversary Reunion, New Interviews and a New Expanded Photo Gallery.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
