Alice
Cooper – Live At Montreux 2005 (Blu-ray)
Picture: B
Sound: B Extras: D Film: B-
Eagle Rock has decided that one of its debut Blu-ray
concerts in the Eagle Vision HD series would be Alice Cooper - Live at
Montreux 2005, a more paired-down version of Copper on stage. Though it is an interesting change, I was a
little less happy than our big Cooper fan, who reviewed the concert in a
DVD-Video/CD set as follows:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3908/Alice+Cooper+-+Live+At+Montreux+2005+(DVD/CD+Set)
Of course, those who are not big fans will at least
recognize hits like School’s Out, No More Mr. Nice Guy, I’m Eighteen and Poison. For the older hits
from his indomitable 1970s period, he gives it his best, but his voice
sometimes fails him and it can be painful because you root for him to be 100%,
though it takes guts to do some of what he does here all these years
later. Cooper is one of those Rock
artists who survived the 1970s, yet is still quintessentially part of the
period, whose music is still turning up in films set in the period. He also has the guts to still wear the
make-up, something he pioneered in part and has been imitated ever since. Guts more than make up for wear in the best
Rock tradition.
The 1080i 1.78 X 1 image is at least as clean as the
DVD-Video version, but depth and detail are improved, with the color here making
the DVD-Video version look a bit washed out by comparison. Sound is presented in the same three
configurations as the DVD-Video version: PCM 2.0 16bit48kHz, 5.1 Dolby Digital
and DTS 5.1 mixes. The DTS is again just
a bit better than all of them, making for some of the best playback of Cooper’s
music in any format to date. That is
truer of this Blu-ray version where all three soundtracks seem a tad
clearer. Like the DVD, there are no
extras on this Blu-ray, but the DVD-Video version of the concert we covered
previously did come packaged with a CD of the concert, which unfortunately due
to time constraints, is missing the morality play segment of the show.
Overall, the HD-to-HD playback made it a more pleasant
sit-through and if you can catch it this way first, you’ll be able to enjoy and
judge it better for yourself.
- Nicholas Sheffo
