ELO - Zoom Tour Live |
Image Entertainment/Warner Vision .
R4 . COLOR . 98 mins .
G . PAL |
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ELO has had a bit of resurgence lately. Perhaps the 70's are more in vogue. Certainly ELO songs have made their impact on films that have the 70's as a backdrop. I loved "Boogie Nights". Besides the subject matter that attracted me, I felt that the soundtrack to that film made the 70's songs sound better than I've ever heard. There was a strong bounce and impact to these songs that I've never heard before. ELO was one of the bands that contributed to that film and they are the subject matter of this music DVD. They are an odd melange of electronica and orchestra. And like their name implies, they are a grand sounding band with an impressively distinct sound. They are a favourite of the audiophile brigade as their music lends itself well to expensive setups. This DVD is a 23 track slice of their recent 'Zoom' concert at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. It is lead by Jeff Lynne who looks like he's still in the 70's with his afro style hairdo and wrap-around sunnies. His easy-going interaction with the audience sets the tone for what is an easy listening slice of the 70's. The performance is impeccable with not a single misplaced note. The concert is presented expertly by long-time music director Larry Jordan - plenty of professional and leisurely cuts and pans of the rather psychedelic stage. This concert runs 98 minutes and it feels short with the high production values that tends to make things fly along.
Track Listing: It is mainly a mix of slower tunes and some of their classic big orchestra pieces like 'Livin' Thing' and 'Evil Woman', both of which really go off.
- Do Ya
- Evil Woman
- Show Down
- Strange Magic
- Livin' Thing
- Alright
- Lonesome Lullaby
- Telephone Line
- Turn To Stone
- Just For Love
- Easy Money
- Mr Blue Sky
- Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
- One Summer Dream
- Tightrope
- State Of Mind
- Can't Get It Out Of My Head
- Moment In Paradise
- 10538 Overture
- Ordinary Dream
- Shine A Little Love
- Don't Bring Me Down
- Roll Over Beethoven
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The picture is anamorphic 1.78:1 and of excellent quality. I could only nitpick some glaring blue lighting that tends to wash out pale details, maybe some isolated aliasing on keyboards and some greyish blacks. The band is all in black and they are well defined. There is also some border bleeding on say black on blue sections. This isn't the sharpest transfer with some loss of detail on certain instruments but it's a consistent issue with many music productions. It is a very cool looking transfer due to the lighting so warm tones like skin takes on a paler hue. However... that's just the start! The lighting changes to yellow-orange and sometimes green and then the dominant palette changes to a warmer hue. The overhead lights and the large projected images are solid, colourful well captured by the transfer. There is even a Matrix-style waterfall of characters in the background and the symbols are easily discernible. In any case, there is nary a problem with the transfer and clearly I prefer 16x9 1.85:1 as my chosen aspect.
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There are three tracks, a 448k/s Dolby Digital 5.1, a 1,536k/s dts 5.1 and a 192k/s Dolby Digital 2.0 track. I'm going to ignore the 2.0 track as it's a travesty imparting nothing more than a cardboard cutout image of the concert. The Dolby 5.1 is a bit better but it too does little to convey a serious soundstage. The only thing I'd say in defence of the Dolby 5.1 track is that it does not display the same 'flamboyance' as the dts track, that is the imaging stays rooted to the front channels with the surrounds limited to audience. However let's get onto the main action... ELO is a big sounding band with layered vocal and harmonies and strong reliance on orchestra. In this case there is a brace of electric cellos. dts serves them well with a strong sense of individual instruments and synthesisers. The complexity of the band is no problem for this dts track with every instrument showing clear enunciation. The vocals from every singer are clear and distinct although they also sometimes come from the rear channels. The electric cello is a strong pointer here. It's an odd sounding instrument at the best of times and it sounds its best on the dts track with a strong sense of timbre and space. In the Dolby tracks there's less of that 'oddness' that tells you it isn't a normal cello. Pity they manifest themselves so well in your rear channels... Is there something bad about the dts track? The biggest issue I have is that the instruments are sometimes present strongly in the rear speakers. I mean there’s a lot in the rear channels, backup, main and orchestra, electronica. Bass is reasonably strong in the rears as well. This is like the famed 'Eagles' dts DVD again. It's severe enough that you're wondering if you're facing the right way. A set of timbre matched fronts and rears would help (perhaps on the lines of Steve's brace of I91's) because in this day and age one must get used to a swirling maelstrom of surround activity, even in music.
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This is a music DVD with very high production values. Besides that one issue I have with the dts track, I suggest fans should buy this DVD for their 70's collection. The 'ping pong' sound is not enough to deter the fans I'd imagine as I've never heard ELO sound bigger or better.
LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1152
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