Phil Collins: Serious Hits... Live! in Berlin is the recording of a 1990 concert in (you guessed it) Berlin. Coming after a five-year break in touring, the play list for the Serious Hits! tour is a true "best of" sample from Collins' many hit albums, and Collins performs all the songs with style and enthusiasm. It's clear that here we have an artist who's interested in making music more than making a spectacle; with a few exceptions in which he plays to the crowd a bit, the focus is on the music, with Collins taking turns on the piano and drums as well as providing the lead vocals.

What makes Serious Hits... Live! different from a regular "greatest hits" compilation on CD? Obviously, for viewers who enjoy the concert experience, it offers a front-row ticket to an energetic concert. The DVD is the full concert, not just the songs: we get Collins' comments between songs and a segment of "band introductions" on the second disc, in which Collins calls out the various band members for audience appreciation. The audience is clearly excited and happy to be there, supplying plenty of applause and clapping along (but not so much as to interfere with the songs). Collins does a fair amount of interacting with the audience, for instance "warming them up" by getting the audience to repeat song phrases after him, or playing around with the other band members in songs like "Who Said I Would."

The songs themselves are often slightly different than their studio versions, usually somewhat more drawn-out with more repeats of introductory material or choruses. No matter whether you like the live version more or less than the recorded version, it's still enjoyable to have the Serious Hits! concert offer a slightly different riff on familiar songs.

Lest you think that the "Serious Hits" title is an exaggeration, here are the songs that are played in the course of the concert:

The DVD

Serious Hits: Live! is a two-DVD set, with both discs securely held in a slim keepcase.

Video

Serious Hits: Live! appears in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which is how it was originally filmed. The image quality is reasonable, with flesh tones and other colors looking natural (except when there are some special lighting effects being used, of course). Edge enhancement and noise make for a blurry image at medium-distance and long-distance shots, but closer shots have a satisfactory level of detail. The print is in good condition, with no flaws or scratches showing up. Overall, the image looks reasonably good for a 13-year-old television broadcast, and is satisfactory.

Audio

Viewers have the choice of a Dolby 5.1 or a Dolby 2.0 soundtrack. The only distinguishing feature of the 5.1 track is that it uses the side channels for a slight echo effect and for the audience noise and applause, creating a slight sense of the viewer being part of that audience. The music and vocals are strongly center-focused, which in a way makes sense for a concert experience. The music is nicely rich and full, with Collins' vocals fitting in very well with the backup vocals and instruments, and an overall clean, clear sound.

In the 2.0 track, the overall music mix is simply spread evenly among the different channels. In terms of overall sound quality, the two are identical. The 5.1 track is a lot louder than the 2.0 track, but if you do a comparison of the two with the volume adjusted accordingly, it's impossible to tell the difference. Since the sound quality is excellent, apart from the minimal use of surround, what this amounts to is that viewers with only Dolby 2.0 capability are getting a particularly good deal here, for a change.

Extras

The main special feature is a 24-minute interview with Phil Collins, focusing on the Serious Hits tour. It's a bit puffed up with long clips from the concert, but it's definitely interesting to hear from Collins, with insights into things like the re-interpretation of some of the songs for the live performances.

Multiple camera angles are listed as one of the special features, but they don't turn out to be all that interesting, since the default camera work is quite satisfactory. For viewers who are particularly interested in the camera work, the "info" section on the second DVD gives a full diagram of where all the cameras were located on the stage, and lists which cameras were used for which of the three angles, for every song on the DVD.

A section on the stage construction turns out to be more interesting than it looks. It's a combination text description and photo gallery that takes the viewer through the entire process of the set design for the enormous "carousel" stage, from the initial scale model to the planning and design, to the final construction. Other minor special features include a photo gallery and a program for the overall tour.

The menus are reasonably easy to use, although the "song select" menu annoyingly only displays a few choices at a time.

Final thoughts

For Phil Collins fans, the Serious Hits: Live! in Berlin DVD is an opportunity to sit in at one of the British pop star's most successful concerts. The play list is chock full of great songs, the music sounds good, and everyone involved appears to be having a good time, from Collins and his band to the cheering audience. It's recommended.