Elton John – The Red Piano (Universal/Mercury Blu-ray)

 

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

 

 

Not long ago, we covered a DVD/CD set from Elton John called Rocket Man featuring many of his #1 Pop hits.  It was also issued as a single CD, but the DVD has some classic Music Videos and also included clips from a concert that had yet to be released in any format.  It was dubbed The Red Piano and you can read my first impressions at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5290/Elton+John+–+Rocket+Man:+Number

 

 

Now months later, the show in on Blu-ray and the result is mixed.  Elton can still play the piano and his showmanship is so that he can go a few rounds with the best in the business, but his voice from this exclusive Las Vegas engagement is rougher and more limited than ever.  It is as disturbing as it can be heartbreaking, even though he blew his voice out by the early 1980s.  The songs performed are:

 

1)     Bennie & The Jets

2)     Philadelphia Freedom

3)     Believe

4)     Daniel

5)     Rocket Man

6)     Answer In The Sky

7)     Tiny Dancer

8)     Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me

9)     Candle In The Wind

10)  Pinball Wizard

11)  The Bitch Is Back

12)  I’m Still Standing

13)  Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting

14)  Your Song

 

 

The 1080i 1.78 X 1 image is a little softer than expected considering how good the footage looked on DVD, but color helps save the picture, though this is dated from being an older HD shoot.  Longtime concert & Music Video director David Mallet makes this as exciting as he can, so this is as professional as you can expect, if not up to the best work of all.  Editing is a plus.

 

The DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 mix is a big disappointment, sounding tinny and tiny more so than the Dolby Digital 5.1 from the bonus DVD off of the Rocket Man set would have suggested, while the PCM 2.0 Stereo sound is even weaker.  What happened?  The mix is too much towards the front channels, the soundfield is weak and what should have been the best Elton John audio since the classic albums were issued on SA-CD is not anywhere nearly as good.  You can read more about those multi-channel SA-CDs at links at the bottom of the Rocket Man set review by going to the link above.

 

Extras include a nice color booklet inside the Blu-ray case, a short documentary that shows how the show is put together and all the films LaChapelle made for the giant video screen backing Elton.  You can even switch between the films and concert, making up for this disc’s shortcomings somewhat.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo