Megadeth – That One Night: Live In Buenos Aires (DVD-Video)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Concert: C+

 

 

Megadeth has been charting since 1988 and in some ways, you can already think of them as an older or oldies group.  Somehow, Dave Mustaine has managed to keep the band going despite mixed critical response because he has if nothing else been consistent.  That One Night: Live In Buenos Aires is a concert from 10/9/05 that they decided to tape and though the performance is fairly good, this concert version is not.  The tracks include:

 

1)     Blackmail The Universe

2)     Set The Word Afire

3)     Wake Up Dead

4)     In My Darkest Hour

5)     She Wolf

6)     Reckoning Day

7)     A Tout Le Monde

8)     Hangar 18/Return To Hangar

9)     I’ll Be There

10)  Tornado Of Souls

11)  Trust

12)  Something That I’m Not

13)  Kick The Chair

14)  Coming Home

15)  Symphony Of Destruction

16)  Peace Sells

17)  Holy Wars

 

 

Well, at least one song is named after a Darren McGavin film.  However, this concert just done not quite capture the band at their best, though their actual playing is not bad.  The problem is with the technical performance on this disc and is something fans and home theater owners will want to know about.  Read on below for more.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image can be colorful, but lacks depth and detail despite apparently being shot in 1080i HD, though an HD-DVD version would make for an interesting comparison.  However, that cannot save the issues with the Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1, all of which have problems because the singing vocals are substandard.  It is one thing not to hear anyone singing because music is loud, but this is a poor mix any way you cut it and whoever recorded and/or mixed this blew it.  Oddly, the bonus version of Symphony Of Destruction track has better DTS and Dolby than the whole concert and is the only extra here, listed as having an alternate mix.  How right they were.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo