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Dave Matthews Band - Videos (1994 to 2001)
BMG Video // Unrated // August 21, 2001
List Price: $24.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Coming from their small-time roots, the Dave Matthews Band has risen to new heights as one of the most popular touring bands of recent years. They were even featured on a recent IMAX feature called "All Access: Backstage", where they were joined by Al Green for a superb performance of "Take Me To The River". Matthews and his highly talented backing band have previously released a video of their live performance ("Listener Supported"), but this DVD edition provides the 12 videos from 1994-2001. I can't say that I'm a hardcore Matthews fan, but I enjoyed the ability to experience all of the band's imaginative and occasionally strange ("Don't Drink The Water") videos.
Songs: What Would You Say, Ants Marching, Satellite, Too Much, So Much to Say, Crash Into Me, Tripping Billies, Don't Drink the Water, Stay (Wasting Time), Crush, I Did It, The Space Between.
The DVD
VIDEO: All of the videos are presented in 1.33:1 full_screen, as they were originally broadcast. Although I spotted a bit of softness or the occasional speckle in some of the early videos, all of the videos look consistently very pleasing. Sharpness and detail is, with only a few exceptions, excellent. I didn't notice any instances of pixelation and only a few tiny bits of shimmering once or twice. Colors looked strong, rich and well-saturated when the videos used a brighter palette (such as on "Stay(Wasting Time)) and accurate when they used a more subtle look, as well.
SOUND: All of the videos are presented in PCM Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1. I was quite pleased with the audio quality for all of the videos. I can imagine that there's only so much you can do with the basic audio quality of music videos, but these provided an enjoyable and enveloping experience. Lately, I've heard a lot of music video remixes where the surrounds are simply re-inforcing the music and take on a forced sound. Occasionally, these presentations don't use the center channel, either.
All of the videos included here do use the surrounds to re-inforce the music, but it seemed a little more seamless than this brand of surround presentation usually does. In other words, it didn't blatantly sound as if the same thing was coming from all sides. Audio quality was splendid, as the music sounded rich, full and crisp. Instruments came through with fine detail and Matthews's voice was clear and easily understood. Overall, these certainly aren't anything too remarkable in terms of how the music is mixed, but the added depth and envelopment definitely make for a more enjoyable experience, as does the fine audio quality.
MENUS:: BMG has provided wonderful animated menus for the DVD, including text information such as the director, video premiere, running time and album (as well as a clip) in the video selection menu. Animated main menu, as well.
EXTRAS::
Commentaries: Audio commentary tracks from the directors of the videos are available through the menu selection, not by switching the audio button on the remote. Still, this is a really nice feature and the ability to select commentary by video or commentary by director is another nice touch. The directors are David Hogan, Wayne Isham, Ken Fox, Dean Karr and Dave Meyers.
Behind-The-Scenes: These are nicely done short films that provide behind-the-scenes moments and planning for the videos "Don't Drink The Water", "Stay(Wasting Time)" and "I Did It". These short productions (5-7 min each) let the viewer in on the planning sessions and the filming itself - they definitely aren't "promotional" at all and are quite enjoyable.
Final Thoughts: BMG could have simply slapped together all of these videos and called it a day, but it's obvious that that both the band and the company care about providing a quality product. Not only are the videos provided with great audio/video quality, but there's a really enjoyable set of supplemental features. Last, but not least, the menus are really informative and well-done. Highly recommended!.
Coming from their small-time roots, the Dave Matthews Band has risen to new heights as one of the most popular touring bands of recent years. They were even featured on a recent IMAX feature called "All Access: Backstage", where they were joined by Al Green for a superb performance of "Take Me To The River". Matthews and his highly talented backing band have previously released a video of their live performance ("Listener Supported"), but this DVD edition provides the 12 videos from 1994-2001. I can't say that I'm a hardcore Matthews fan, but I enjoyed the ability to experience all of the band's imaginative and occasionally strange ("Don't Drink The Water") videos.
Songs: What Would You Say, Ants Marching, Satellite, Too Much, So Much to Say, Crash Into Me, Tripping Billies, Don't Drink the Water, Stay (Wasting Time), Crush, I Did It, The Space Between.
The DVD
VIDEO: All of the videos are presented in 1.33:1 full_screen, as they were originally broadcast. Although I spotted a bit of softness or the occasional speckle in some of the early videos, all of the videos look consistently very pleasing. Sharpness and detail is, with only a few exceptions, excellent. I didn't notice any instances of pixelation and only a few tiny bits of shimmering once or twice. Colors looked strong, rich and well-saturated when the videos used a brighter palette (such as on "Stay(Wasting Time)) and accurate when they used a more subtle look, as well.
SOUND: All of the videos are presented in PCM Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1. I was quite pleased with the audio quality for all of the videos. I can imagine that there's only so much you can do with the basic audio quality of music videos, but these provided an enjoyable and enveloping experience. Lately, I've heard a lot of music video remixes where the surrounds are simply re-inforcing the music and take on a forced sound. Occasionally, these presentations don't use the center channel, either.
All of the videos included here do use the surrounds to re-inforce the music, but it seemed a little more seamless than this brand of surround presentation usually does. In other words, it didn't blatantly sound as if the same thing was coming from all sides. Audio quality was splendid, as the music sounded rich, full and crisp. Instruments came through with fine detail and Matthews's voice was clear and easily understood. Overall, these certainly aren't anything too remarkable in terms of how the music is mixed, but the added depth and envelopment definitely make for a more enjoyable experience, as does the fine audio quality.
MENUS:: BMG has provided wonderful animated menus for the DVD, including text information such as the director, video premiere, running time and album (as well as a clip) in the video selection menu. Animated main menu, as well.
EXTRAS::
Commentaries: Audio commentary tracks from the directors of the videos are available through the menu selection, not by switching the audio button on the remote. Still, this is a really nice feature and the ability to select commentary by video or commentary by director is another nice touch. The directors are David Hogan, Wayne Isham, Ken Fox, Dean Karr and Dave Meyers.
Behind-The-Scenes: These are nicely done short films that provide behind-the-scenes moments and planning for the videos "Don't Drink The Water", "Stay(Wasting Time)" and "I Did It". These short productions (5-7 min each) let the viewer in on the planning sessions and the filming itself - they definitely aren't "promotional" at all and are quite enjoyable.
Final Thoughts: BMG could have simply slapped together all of these videos and called it a day, but it's obvious that that both the band and the company care about providing a quality product. Not only are the videos provided with great audio/video quality, but there's a really enjoyable set of supplemental features. Last, but not least, the menus are really informative and well-done. Highly recommended!.
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