The music documentary/concert film hybrid is hardly a new invention, but one that's produced a few notable landmarks: The Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter, Depeche Mode's 101 and even the long-delayed Festival Express, to name a few. They're designed to paint an accurate portrait of life on the road---both on the stage and off---while entertaining the fans every step of the way. The best ones also try to capture a unique moment in music history---and while it's obvious this can't always be achieved, only the most memorable push the genre forward.

As a "non-fan", I'll admit that I probably wasn't the ideal candidate for reviewing Changes, a film that follows Boston-bred metal group Godsmack during their 2003-04 Faceless tour. For those unfamiliar with the group (probably not many, judging by the album sales), the band has enjoyed immense popularity since their first self-titled album was released in 1997. Five studio albums, roughly a dozen Top 10 hits and countless sold-out live performances later, it's no secret that Godsmack has developed quite a large following over the past decade.

Since I'm admittedly not a follower, it's harder to really appreciate the music itself and the guys behind it. For this reason, I'll be as objective as possible; after all, this review could be just as biased if Godsmack were my favorite band of all time. I'll say this, though: while Changes doesn't make much of an effort to push the genre forward, it's a slightly better film than I expected.

Directed by the team of Daniel E. Catullo III and Andrew MacNaughton (Rush In Rio), Changes isn't a whole lot different than most modern music documentaries, but the live performances---combined with excellent DVD production values---help this release stick its neck out a bit. Like most other films in the genre, Changes abruptly blends road trips and candid interviews directly with the live performances---and while the end product is hit-or-miss, it's still slightly better than your average music fluff piece. Before we get to the technical portion of the review, let's break down the footage a little further:

Concert Setlist: Straight Out Of Line / Awake / Faceless / Bad Religion / Moon Baby / Changes / Re-Align / Serenity / Keep Away / Batalla de los Tambores / Whatever / I Stand Alone.

Recorded live in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (an hour north of my hometown) in July 2003, this show features a well-rounded batch of songs from Godsmack's back catalogue. This live footage may not be enough to win over legions of new converts, but die-hard fans of the band should be pleased with the show. The DVD's audio presentation, covered in more detail below, offers a dynamic atmosphere that certainly adds to the experience. Blistering guitars, energetic drums, searing vocals---what you've heard from them before is what you'll get here, turned up to "11".

The documentary footage isn't quite as attention-grabbing, though: while it's a slight step above your typical MTV-produced "fly on the wall" piece, the majority of the behind-the-scenes material doesn't attempt to break any new ground. From the obligatory pre-concert huddle (seen at top) to the band members' personal reflections of each other---hardly as "in-depth" as the packaging promises---the documentary isn't really the selling point of this release. The band's charisma and camaraderie helps to keep some footage above water, but the concert is easily the more engaging of the two. While I'm not a huge fan of Godsmack (or metal, for that matter), I'll be objective here: on the whole, Changes is worth a look if you love the band's music. It may not be the strongest music documentary or concert DVD I've seen, but it certainly earns passing marks for a halfway-decent effort.

While the secret's already been given away, the technical presentation for Changes is a top-notch effort. The video and audio stumble through a few rough spots, but it's safe to say that the concert portion looks and sounds incredible! While it's a shame the bonus material comes up short, this is a nice "movie-only" disc that could be the perfect remedy for a quiet weekend evening (unless you like quiet weekend evenings, of course). Let's see how this disc stacks up, shall we?

Presented in its original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio (and filmed in High Definition), the video quality presented during the live show is terrific. There's nothing at this concert that rock fans haven't seen a hundred times before, but this DVD still does an excellent job of capturing the striking visuals of a live performance. Colors are bold and the black levels hold up surprisingly well, easily earning the concert footage very high marks in the video department. The bulk of the documentary footage, however, isn't nearly as strong. Most of it is a bit on the soft side, though a thick level of grain in certain scenes looks to be more of a stylistic choice. From an objective standpoint, it's a shame everything couldn't have looked as good as the show----but from the standpoint of a documentary, it's still on par. Nonetheless, I doubt many fans will be disappointed.

Not surprisingly, the audio is the star of the show here. Available options include Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, SRS Circle Surround 5.1 (similar to DD 2.0 Surround), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and DTS 5.1. It's great to see such a well-rounded assortment of mixes, perfect for almost any level setup. The concert footage is still the focal point here, and the DTS track remained the one to beat---from the aggressive music to the deafening roar of the crowd, Changes truly offered an amazing audio experience. While the documentary footage sounds clear despite its lower-budget production, the only complaints about the audio mix are the near-exaggerated levels of quiet and loud displayed between the documentary and concert---meaning you'll have to turn it up for some of the behind-the-scenes dialogue, but the live footage might have your neighbors complaining unless you turn it back down. This isn't a major problem under the circumstances, but consider your eardrums warned.

It really doesn't offer anything new and groundbreaking to live concert or documentary DVDs, but Changes is a fairly solid disc that fans of Godsmack should enjoy. It's a little light on material to score a full recommendation, and it may not be the best jumping-on point for new fans (despite the "introductory" presentation style). Still, there's a number of things that make this disc worth a weekend look, especially the excellent technical presentation of the concert itself. It's certainly not for everybody, but those who love Godsmack's music should enjoy Changes. Rent It.