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Category:    Home > Reviews > Concert > Pop > Rock > Irish > Chris De Burgh - The Road To Freedom Live (DTS)

Chris De Burgh – The Road To Freedom Live (DTS)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B     Extras: C     Concert: B-

 

 

In the mid-1980s, Chris De Burgh was threatening to break through as a singer/songwriter.  A&M Records was still the real A&M Records, and they did their best to promote him here in the United States.  The Irish/British talent first looked like he was going to make an impression in the summer of 1983 when Don’t Pay The Ferryman hit the Top 40, but the song was too artsy for Rock radio and too radical of Pop, so he did not get far.  The Music Video for the film song was interesting.  By 1987, the more subtle Lady In Red arrived and was a huge Pop and Adult Contemporary hit, also becoming a big selling single when they were still being produced.  Too bad it was so played-out that radio never touched him since.  The Road To Freedom Live is a one-man concert taped 5/28/04 that shows the man is still standing.

 

Named after his latest album, De Burgh takes the stage and runs through a wide range of songs in a 90-minutes-long set that includes:

 

1)     When Winter Comes

2)     The Road To Freedom

3)     The Same Sun

4)     Five Past Dreams

5)     Natasha Dance

6)     Lebanese Night

7)     A Rainy Night In Paris

8)     Songbird

9)     St. Peter’s Gate

10)  Medley: Living On The Island, Night On The River, Save Me, What You Mean To Me, Crying & Laughing, Tender Hands

11)  Snow Is Falling

12)  Borderline

13)  Sailing Away

14)  The Words ‘I Love You’

15)  The Lady In Red

16)  The Journey

17)  Living In The World

18)  Read My Name

19)  Don’t Pay The Ferryman

20)  High On Emotion

21)  The Snows Of New York

 

 

The set reveals an artist steeped more in Irish music than expected and one struggling through what his material is saying.  He is for real, but the program sometimes gets into split screen fanciness that defeats the performance.  Furthermore, his voice is uneven during some of the performances, particularly noticed on the two hit singles.  However, fans will be pleased and as compared to many performers of his generation, he fares better than most.  Those who are curious will be entertained.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is sometimes soft, but other times not bad.  Too bad the directing and editing approaches were not as good as the music.  The sound is here in PCM 2.0 Stereo with some Pro Logic surrounds, Dolby Digital 5.1 and a really solid DTS mix.  The DTS in particular brings out the nuances in his voice and has a warmer feel than the Dolby.  The PCM is not bad either.  Extras include an odd stills section where the stills are decorated by the menu, leaving an interview with De Burgh and a section of Fan Stories adding nearly a half hour to the DVD.  They are not bad, but the music is the main reason to pick up this disc and it is particularly recommended to those who like this kind of music.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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