The Music:

1. The Bet
2. River
3. Treehouse
4. With Love
5. Moving On
6. Good Thing
7. Early Tuesday


The DVD

SOUND: "Shoeless Joe" is presented in 20-bit DTS 5.1 audio on this DTS CD release, which was one of the early titles released to the format. One of the more unknown artists that DTS has offered in surround, the band's sound is a light, entertaining rock with a touch of Southern flavor at times. The album has been mixed for surround by David Frangoni, who also did the 5.1 mix for Santana's "Abraxas" DTS CD release.

This presentation is essentially more of a "4.1" release, as the center speaker is used only in trace, minimal amounts. The presentation offers the vocals nicely from the front two speakers, with occasional background vocals popping up in the surrounds. Surrounds also do a fine job highlighting s...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. In Too Deep
2. California
3. A Woman and a Man
4. Jealous Guy
5. Remember September
6. He Goes On
7. Kneel at Your Feet
8. Love in the Key of C
9. My Heart Goes Out to You
10. Ballad of Lucy Jordan


The DVD

SOUND: "A Woman and A Man" is presented in 20-bit DTS 5.1 audio on this DTS CD release. Responsible for the remix to 5.1 audio is David Tickle, who many will likely be familiar with his excellent work remixing albums from artists like Steve Stevens, Sting and others to surround. As expected from a Tickle effort, the remix for "A Woman and A Man" is tastefully re-purposed to the 5.1 format. Although not musically one of the most remarkable or impressive transitions to surround sound, Tickle manages to keep things engaging and enjoyable without having to resort to audio trickery.

The ins...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Singing Winds, Crying Beasts
2. Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen
3. Oye Como Va
4. Incident At Neshabur
5. Se A Cabo
6. Mother's Daughter
7. Samba Pa Ti
8. Hope You're Feeling Better
9. El Nicoya


The DVD

SOUND: "Abraxas" is presented in 20-bit DTS 5.1 audio. According to the insert, the audio has been remixed to 5.1 and restored (it does not give any details on what kind of restoration has been performed) by David Frangioni, who is not one of the "familiar names" that I usually come across when reading about who performed the remix for a particular album.

There are several concerns when discussing this edition of the album. First, the album is slightly over 20 years old, so it will likely not provide the same sort of smooth high-end audio quality that DTS releases of newer albums usually offer....Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Xanadu
2. Magic
3. Don't Stop Believin
4. Please Mister Please
5. Jolene
6. Let Me Be There
7. Sam
8. Have You Never Been Mellow
9. Precious Love
10. Not Gonna Give Into It
11. Heaven
12. Back With A Heart
13. Suddenly
14. You're The One That I Want
15. Hopelessly Devoted To You
16. Summer Nights
17. Don't Cut Me Down
18. Somewhere Over The Rainbow
19. If You Love Me
20. Let's Get Physical
21. I Honestly Love You


The DVD

SOUND: "One Woman's Live Journey" is presented by DTS in both DTS 5.1 audio as well as Advanced Resolution DVD-Audio 5.1 and Dolby 2.0. The DVD-Audio presentation is 48khz and listeners can switch between any of the tracks to listen to, unlike the Warner Music titles, which do not allow switching between the DVD-Audio and Dolby tracks that they c...Read the entire review

The Music:


1. T.K.O.
2. Slinky
3. Beba
4. Passion Dance
5. Creepin
6. Qu? Pasa Mr. Jones?
7. Baila Conmigo (Dance with Me)
8. Until We Meet Again
9. Stormy Sunday
10. Route 101
11. Brasil Nativo(Bonus)


The DVD

SOUND: "Passion Dance" is presented in 20-bit DTS 5.1 audio. "Passion Dance" also brings back original mixer Alan Meyerson, who provides his thoughts in the DTS CD's liner notes about his initial experiences mixing for surround music. His discussion of how he took advantage of the format's unlimited palette is reflected well in the mix itself, which does a terrific job taking Alpert's latin and jazz-driven (he was a member of the Tijuana Brass) sound and spreading it agressively and often beautifully throughout the entire listening space.

And there's quite a few instruments requiring spac...Read the entire review

BR>The Music:


1. Babylon Sisters
2. Hey Nineteen
3. Glamour Profession
4. Gaucho
5. Time out of Mind
6. My Rival
7. Third World Man


The DVD

SOUND: Uh oh, Steely Dan. Those who have read many of my music reviews may recall my thoughts about their recent Grammy winning album "Two Against Nature", which I believed I called "elevator music". Thankfully, "Gaucho" (their 1980 album) provides a bit more musically diverse and interesting effort from the group. "Gaucho" is presented in 20-bit DTS audio, with the surround-sound remix coming from one of the more widely-known mixers in the business, Elliot Schiener(Sting, Toy Matinee). Scheiner really does like to bring out all of the possibilities in the format; all of the efforts that I've listened to that he's worked on have been some of the more agressive surround-sound music...Read the entire review

The Music:

All Or Nothing At All
Peel Me A Grape
I Don't Know Enough About You
I Miss You So
They Can't Take That Away From Me
Lost Mind
I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You
You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me
Gentle Rain
How Deep Is The Ocean (How High Is The Sky)
My Love
Garden In The Rain


The DVD

SOUND: "Love Scenes" is presented in 20-bit DTS 5.1 audio. Although some will likely find this kind of music too basic to prove interesting when presented in surround-sound, I thought the 5.1 format at least helped to open the music out into the room and served to amplify Krall's silky, rich vocals. The musical arrangements are fairly basic - Krall herself provides the vocals for this set of love songs as well as plays piano (quite well); she's accompanied by a upright bassist and a guitar pl...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. One Dance With You
2. High Lonesome Sound
3. Pretty Little Adriana
4. A Little More Love
5. Down to New Orleans
6. Tell Me Lover
7. Given More Time
8. You and You Alone
9. Worlds Apart
10. Jenny Dreamed of Trains
11. High Lonesome Sound


The DVD

SOUND: "High Lonesome Sound" is presented in 20-bit DTS 5.1 audio on this DTS CD. If you would ask me what kind of music I liked a year or so ago, I'd probably respond with "anything but country." But that's changing somewhat as I've found that country has been begining to merge with other genres such as blues, jazz and pop for more of a modern sound in comparison to the previous stereotypical country sound that many are familiar with. Gill's "High Lonesome Sound" is an example of one of the more enjoyable country efforts that I've seen, with catchy ins...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Better Chords
2. Individually Twisted
3. Cut, Cut, Cut
4. Alligator Farm
5. Attitude Boy Will Overcome
6. 2 Become 1
7. Lancelot Link
8. Rosalinda Told Me
9. Let The Computer Decide
10. Koto Girl
11. Dreamed Victoria
12. Six Billion People
13. The Ballad Of The Last Lions
14. Whole Lotta Sonata


The DVD

SOUND: "Alligator Farm" is presented in DVD-Audio 48khz/24bit 5.1 audio, along with DTS 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 editions of the album for those that don't have DVD-Audio capability. It's also nice that, unlike the Warner Music DVD-Audio discs, the DTS releases allow listeners to switch back and forth between the three options whenever they like. "Alligator Farm" is a mixture of the guitarist's 80's hard-driving rock songs with occasionally amusing lyrics as well as some ballads thrown in for...Read the entire review

The Music:

Hot Tina
Walk Belly Cologne
Puerto Rican Blond
Joe Bonner
Tiny Planet
DQ2K
Indentities Last Chance
The Ballad Of Falcon Carson
Penny And The Young Buck
The Orange Monster
OMM/BBB


The DVD

SOUND: The majority of DTS's music releases have been adult-oriented; country, light-rock, R&B, bluegrass or other. Occasionally though, more eccentric and offbeat releases are coming out of DTS's surround-music label. First it was "Studio Voodoo", a fascinating and wildly experimental techno/world album that mixed beats and chants to great success in a thrilling surround-sound mix. Now, it's The Gluey Brothers, a group that mixes the Beastie Boys, Devo, Beck and other odd-rock influences into a sound that's occasionally a bit too wacky for it's own good, but enjoyable when it catches a beat and rides...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. What's Going On
2. I Heard It Through the Grapevine
3. Let's Get It On
4. Trouble Man
5. It Takes Two
6. Distant Lover
7. Ain't That Peculiar
8. Your Precious Love
9. Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
10. Ain't No Mountain High Enough
11. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)


The DVD

SOUND: "Forever Yours" is presented in DTS 20-bit 5.1 audio. Produced by Robert Margouleff and engineered/mixed by Brant Biles, this is an another example of a terrific collaboration between the two, who also did the surround-sound presentation for the DTS CD of the Boyz II Men release "II". Usually when I do reviews of DTS CDs or DVD-Audio titles, I've always ended up sticking to newer releases. Being the first older title that I've sat down to listen to, I wondered how much of an advancement it would be over the origin...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Your Imagination
2. She Says That She Needs Me
3. South American
4. Where Has Love Been?
5. Keep An Eye On Summer
6. Dream Angel
7. Cry
8. Lay Down Burden
9. Let Him Run Wild
10. Sunshine
11. Happy Days

SOUND: Former Beach Boy Brian Wilson's latest solo effort "Imagination" is presented here in 20 bit DTS 5.1 audio. I certainly have no objection to different or interesting ways to mix music for surround sound, as long as they are appropriate. Mixed by the artist himself, Bela Fleck's "Bluegrass Sessions Vol. 2" DVD-Audio took all of the different members of the band and spread them out around the room, with both of the surrounds offering different music. It was original, it allowed the elements of music to stand out on their own and it sounded terrific.

Wilson's DTS CD has music specifically placed in t...Read the entire review

The Music:

SOUND: "Nothing Like The Sun" is the reunion of the highly talented producer David Tickle with Sting. The previous outing for the two was the DTS presentation of Sting's latest, "Brand New Day", a DTS CD presentation that is often used as demonstration material for the format. "Nothing Like The Sun" is Sting's 1987 release and, as with the majority of Tickle's work re-positioning a wealth of albums from different genres for surround sound, this is absolutely another successful effort.

The album is presented in 24-bit DTS 5.1 audio and is quite tastefully mixed, yet still puts the surrounds to very good use throughout the album. The presentation often worked best during the more subtle and pleasant songs that weren't heavily electronic-sounding (the hit "We'll Be Together" sounds quite eighties at this point, as do songs like "Rock Steady"). The...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Blue Mountain
2. Living in Your Eyes
3. Heaven
4. Invitation
5. Corner (4th & Cherry)
6. I Lied
7. Moment by Moment
8. Flame
9. The Serial Dream
10. Innocence


The DVD

SOUND: "Moment By Moment" is presented by DTS on this DVD-Audio release in 48khz/24bit 5.1 DVD-Audio and DTS 5.1 versions. For about a week prior to receiving the DVD-Audio release, I had been listening to the previous DTS CD release of the album and finding it an enjoyable effort. It's almost a given that any of the lesser known female singers are going to be compared to some of the more established names in the industry. If so, I'd have to say that Stow presents an engaging mix of Alanis Morisette and Sarah McLachlan - for the majority, she sounds somewhat similar to McLachlan, but there are times such as at the begining of "...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Enter the Heart - 5:40
2. Veracruz Express - 3:33
3. Flamenco Wind - 8:19
4. San Antonio Sunset - 4:56 5. Bag Jam - 3:40
6. Mediterana - 4:48
7. Silver Raine - 6:25
8. Blue Lotus - 11:13
9. Sedona Sunrise - 4:41
10. Avenida Concha Espina - 5:18

The DVD

SOUND: Esteban's album "Enter the Heart" is presented in 20bit DTS 5.1 audio and 48khz 5.1 DVD-Audio (as well as Dolby 2.0 for those who have access to neither surround format) . A Spanish guitar player that is incredibly talented, Esteban graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a major in classical guitar and studied with guitar legend Andres Segova in Europe for five years. Esteban is one of a select few guitarists who is endorsed by Segova. The music itself has a definite Latin flavor, with incredible guitar playing and terrific backing musicians.<...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Thing Called Love
2. Three Time Loser
3. Love Letter
4. Never Make Your Move Too Soon
5. Something to Talk About
6. Matters of the Heart
7. Shake a Little
8. Have a Heart
9. Love Me Like a Man
10. The Kokomo Medley
11. Louise
12. Dimming of the Day

Disc: 2
1. Longing in Their Hearts
2. Come to Me
3. Love Smeakin' up on You
4. Burning Down the House
5. I Can't Make You Love Me
6. Feeling of Falling
7. I Believe I'm in Love with You
8. Rock Steady
9. My Opening Farewell
10. Angel from Montgomery


The DVD

SOUND: "Road Tested" is presented on 2 DTS CDs in 20bit/DTS 5.1 audio. Remixed for DTS by Brant Biles and producer Ed Cherney, the audio quality and presentation throughout both discs is consistently excellent. As with any presentation of live material, ...Read the entire review

The Music:
1. There's a Storm Coming
2. I Can Hear The River
3. Little Bit Of Love
4. Can't Find My Way Home
5. Night Calls
6. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
7. Five Women
8. Please No More
9. Out Of The Rain
10. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away


The DVD

SOUND: Mixed by the famed David Tickle (who has worked on countless surround-sound music presentations), "Night Calls" takes the 1992 recording and presents it in DTS 5.1/20 bit audio. The surround-sound presentation of the music takes a pretty traditional approach throughout the album, moving some of the instruments into the surrounds as well as the backing vocals to highlight both and open up the sound. Occasionally, he lets Cocker's voice take over the room such as on "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", where his voice is spread out across both the front speak...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Thank You
2. All Around the World
3. U Know
4. Vibin'
5. I Sit Away
6. Jezzebel
7. Khalil (Interlude)
8. Trying Times
9. I'll Make Love to You
10. On Bended Knee
11. 50 Candles
12. Water Runs Dry
13. Yesterday

The DVD

SOUND: A few days ago I was reviewing a DVD-Audio release of "Take 6", a gospel band with terrific vocals. I thought that the sound was quite good, although the surround-sound presentation could have taken more risks with the material and put the surrounds to better use. A passerby while I was reviewing the title wondered whatever happened to "Boyz II Men". I wondered as well; after a couple of multi-million selling albums, the group seemingly has dissapeared. The 20 bit/5.1 dts presentation of their second album "II" will likely be a thrilling recollection for fans of how goo...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Enter the Heart - 5:40
2. Veracruz Express - 3:33
3. Flamenco Wind - 8:19
4. San Antonio Sunset - 4:56 5. Bag Jam - 3:40
6. Mediterana - 4:48
7. Silver Raine - 6:25
8. Blue Lotus - 11:13
9. Sedona Sunrise - 4:41
10. Avenida Concha Espina - 5:18

The DVD

SOUND: Esteban's album "Enter the Heart" is presented in 20bit DTS 5.1 audio. A Spanish guitar player that is incredibly talented, Esteban graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a major in classical guitar and studied with guitar legend Andres Segova in Europe for five years - he is one of a select few guitarists who is endorsed by Segova. The music itself has a definite Latin flavor, with incredible guitar playing and terrific backing musicians.

Before discussing what the majority of the album sounds like, there is an interesting tidbit about...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Sheep May Safely Graze
2. Badinerie From Suite 2
3. Adagio From Double Concerto For Oboe and Violin
4. Passepied 1-2 from Suite 1
5. Air from Suite 3 in D
6. Chorale from Easter Cantata
7. Siciliano from Sonata 4 in C minor8. Giant Fugue
9. Bourree 1-2 From Suite 2
10. Chorale from Little Suite
11. Aria (Contented Piece)
12. Sleepers Awake(Chorale)

The DVD

SOUND: "Bach: Classics" is presented in three options: DVD-Audio 96khz/24bit 5.1, DTS 5.1 or Dolby 2.0. After listening to "Tchaikovsky: Classics"(I hope I spelled that right. Probably not.) I was interested in auditioning more classical music DVD-Audio titles to find out if they were as capable of presenting classical music with such warmth and detail. Although "Bach; Classics" did a pleasing job at offering the delicate details of the music, it...Read the entire review

The Music:

1. Andantino Simplice (excerpt)
2. Scherzo (excerpt)
3. Andante Cantabile
4. Andantino Marziale
5. Andante In Modo Di Candona
6. Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
7. Andante from Symphony 6
8. Waltz Of The Flowers From Nutcracker
9. Menuet From Suite 4
10. Panorama from Sleeping Beauty Ballet
11. Scene 10 - Intro to Act 2: Swan Lake
12. None but the Lonely Heart
13. Andante Cantabile from Symphony 5 - E minor

Played by the London Philharmonic


The DVD

SOUND: Although I will admit that I am not a fan of classical music or do I know much about particular artists, I was quite interested to hear how the DVD-Audio format would render the delicate, subtle nature of the music. As with this kind of material, I was less concerned with how the music would be mixed - unless instruments were bounc...Read the entire review

The Music:

Flamengo.A.Go.Go
Cinecitta
Our Man In Istanbul
Letter To A Memory
Feminova
Velvet Cage
Hanina
Dementia
Twilight In Your Hands
Riviera '68


The DVD

SOUND: I think the element that often makes or breaks a surround-sound music recording is simply the mix itself. DTS CDs and DVD-AUDIO have proven that they can provide exceptionally high-quality audio, but if you have the sound sloppily thrown around the listening space, it's not going to be an enjoyable experience. Although I haven't been pleased with a couple of DVD-Audio titles from other companies. DTS, on the other hand, still remains with a clean slate in my book, due to the fact that they bring in some very talented artists to re-purpose these albums for the 5.1 format - people like David Tickle, who has also worked on DTS CDs for Sting and She...Read the entire review

The Movie:

Studio Voodoo is a group that really defies being labeled as one genre. A mix of jungle beats, voices, sounds, techno and other elements, this effort often lead me to think about it more as a performance art piece than music, although that's certainly not a negative remark. Some of the simple talking ("Trance Dance") that's layered over the music becomes a bit too much, taking away from the otherwise interesting beats that fill the track - the same thing starts "Integratron", which opens with a conversation.

Sometimes the music is a bit too experimental, looping in all different directions without much focus, but when it actually settles down into one or two genres for a song (the flamenco and techno mix of "Imagenes de Espana" or the techno-backed chants of "Lamentatio"), it becomes a fascinating mix of cultures and sounds. On the terrific DTS mix that's presented here,...Read the entire review

The Movie:

"The Globe Sessions", Sheryl Crow's latest effort, showed an artist who, in some ways, attempted to mature by adding more complex musical arrangements as well as some other details like orchestra backing on some of the tunes. At the end of it all though, one wishes that she had continued doing what she does best - simply writing wonderfully catchy, smart rock/pop tunes with clever lyrics carried by her fantastic voice.

To be fair, there are some hints of the past few albums throughout "The Globe Sessions"; the opening number, "My Favorite Mistake", as well as the excellent cover of Dylan's "Mississippi". Neither are quite the standouts that "If It Makes You Happy" and "Everyday is a Winding Road", from Crow's second album, were. There's a more melancholy air to the proceedings, and although it signals a different turn for Crow, it didn't always seem to be one that suited...Read the entire review

The Movie:

Toy Matinee? Many are probably wondering, just as I was when I first recieved this album, who the group is. As I love surround sound music, I was willing to take a chance, and ended up very pleased that I did. A collaboration between keyboardist/producer/composer Patrick Leonard and Kevin Gilbert, as well as a backup band, the group produced this 1990 album, which offers solid pop-rock with impressive musical arrangements and very talented playing. Julian Lennon even provides backing vocals on "Things She Said". Nearly every song provided great, catchy melodies and interesting lyrics. It's a shame that the recording apparently never went beyond a cult item, but hopefully the very nicely produced surround-sound effort will gain the release a fresh following.


The DVD

SOUND: "Toy Matinee" features a terrific DTS 5.1 mix courtesy ...Read the entire review

The Disc:

I've been listening to Sting's latest album for a few months now on this DTS CD presentation, and it's amazing how songs have almost "opened up" to me since I first heard it. Originally purchasing it because I liked the "Desert Rose" single, eventually I began to warm up to other songs; although I don't like all of the songs on the album - a few are a little too "out there", or, in other words, veering too far off from what Sting does best; elegant, yet powerful rock. I shouldn't be critical of a musician trying new things, but songs like "Perfect Love...Gone Wrong" just don't work for me.

"Brand New Day" is one of several DTS music CDs I've had the great pleasure of listening to. The way the songs are presented in these mixes is often brilliant, enveloping the listener in a universe of music that almost takes on a life of its own. I must say, "Brand New Day" really s...Read the entire review