Roy Orbison: Greatest Hits (DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: B     Film: B

 

 

When it comes to the pioneers of rock music there are certainly names such as Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Buddy Holly.  However, the person that gets lost in the shuffle more than anyone is none other than Roy Orbison.  While Orbison may not have had as many hits as some of the other artists revolutionizing the rock movement his contributions were insurmountable.  While being notoriously known for the song ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’, Orbison was responsible for some of the most beautiful epic love songs ever written such as ‘Only the Lonely’, ‘In Dreams’, and ‘Dream Baby’. 

 

This is not the first collection of Orbison’s material on the DVD format as Roy Orbison: Black and White Night (reviewed on this site) featured Orbison with some of the most talented musicians of that time to put on a concert shot in black and white.  This is still one of the best concert DVD’s to date!  As a matter of fact presented on this Greatest Hits DVD from Eagle Vision are sections from that concert and compiled here with other live performances that are taken during different stages of Orbison’s long and prosperous career. 

 

The live concert material gathered for this ranges from good to fair in terms of picture quality.  Most of this is full-frame with the best sections being the ones taken from Black and White Night.  The interview segments are presented in 16X9, while the rest is full-frame.  Considering the source material this is not bad, but nothing to brag about or demonstrate.  Even the audio is slightly disappointing at times especially when compared to that material from Black and White Night.  The fullness and range of the mix is very limited and front-heavy.  Although this is a 5.1 mix, which does give more depth and dimension (as you can compare for yourself during the mono to 5.1 comparison segment) you will notice an improvement, but there are still holes in the mix that leave the song hollow. 

 

One further test is by going to the music videos, which like the entire DVD, play in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, or Dolby Stereo.  This is the best place to demonstrate the fullness that is lost as you can surely hear in the music videos when played back in DTS 5.1 the amazing results of an engulfing mix.  The two music videos include ‘Crying’ with k.d. lang and ‘She’s a Mystery to Me’.  Rarely do we get the chance to experience music videos in multi-channel, but with results like this its apparent that we must or else we (upon getting material like this) be disappointed by anything less than this.  Even by comparing the sections from Black and White Night on here to the actual DVD of that concert you can hear some compression going on with the mix here despite both of them being available with DTS 5.1 mixes. Perhaps the use of other material and extras on this disc compromised some of the fullness of the Image Entertainment DVD for Black and White Night. 

 

Track Listing

 

Go, Go, Go (Down the Line)

In Dreams

Blue Bayou

Ooby Dooby

Only The Lonely

It’s Over

Claudette

That Lovin’ You Feelin’ Again

You Got It

Crying

Walk On

Running Scared

Oh, Pretty Woman

 

What is different about this collection of material vs. that of Black and White Night is that this offers interview sections that are placed in between songs as Orbison offers some comments about each song either before or after the song.  This interview material was most likely filmed during the late 70’s or early 80’s.  Not only go we receive 13 live performances, but there are also two music videos as well as an electronic press kit and audio comparisons to demonstrate the work done to remix for 5.1.  This DVD acts more like a documentary with sporadic moments of live songs, where Black and White Night was strictly a concert.  Both are great in their own right and are a must own for any true Orbison follower.

 

 

-   Nate Goss