John Fogerty

Premonition


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Details At A Glance

General
Extras
Category Music Video Theatrical Trailer(s) None
Rating g.gif (1187 bytes) Other Trailer(s) None
Year Released 1998 Commentary Tracks None
Running Time 89:06 Minutes  Other Extras Main Menu Audio and Animation
RSDL/Flipper No/No
Cast & Crew
Start Up Movie
Region 2,3,4,5,6 Director Jim Gable
Studio
Distributor
Warner Reprise
Warner Vision
Starring John Fogerty
Case Super Jewel
RRP $39.95 Music John Fogerty

 
 
Video
Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame MPEG None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None Dolby Digital 5.1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9Yes.jpg (4536 bytes)
Soundtrack Languages English (Dolby Digital 5.1, 448Kb/s)
English (Linear PCM 48/16 2.0, 1536Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 1.33:1
Miscellaneous
Macrovision Yes Smoking No
Subtitles English Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes, some video and music during credits

Plot Synopsis

    John Fogerty was one of the men who made up Credence Clearwater Revival, a band that made music which you could honestly expect to hear in pubs around uncivilized backwaters of the world such as Coober Pedy. Not that the music is particularly bad, far from it in fact. In spite of their exceptionally simple structures, the songs were quite pleasant to listen to because of the fact that the band members could play their instruments and make their songs sound interesting. However, as with many bands that start selling millions of records, a string of legal disputes broke out, and Credence Clearwater Revival split up forever. I have no idea what the exact nature of these legal disputes were, and I don't really care. Suffice it to say that after a lot of arguments, it was finally confirmed that John Fogerty was the true author of many of the songs performed by Credence Clearwater Revival, and thus he began performing them again with a group of session musicians. Into the mix, he also added a few new songs of his own, including Premonition, after which this DVD is named. To be frank with you, the elder songs such as Lookin' Out My Back Door, which does not appear on this DVD, are far superior to Premonition, which combines the inherent simplicity with clumsy structuring and poorly looped lyrics. Five year olds dream up songs like Premonition, as I remember doing at that age. If that is the sound of John Fogerty songs to come, then I certainly hope that he goes back into retirement and lives off his older material, like most performers who wrote material of such calibre are smart enough to do. In any case, this is the track listing provided with this DVD:     Suffice it to say that this performance is worthy of a listen in spite of the lesser quality of the recent material, and it certainly would make an excellent gift for a relative who is old enough to remember when these songs were frequently played on the radio. According to the notes on the cover, this video was filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in front of a live audience over two nights, making it halfway between a live album and a studio recording. Father's Day is coming soon, so I guess I know of one more item to consider purchasing for the old man (says me who has actually bought sixty to seventy DVDs in nine months). Probably the most surprising revelation to be found on this DVD is the fact that John Fogerty speaks in a similar manner to how he sings.

Transfer Quality

Video

    Unlike the other music video DVD that I received for review today, K.D. Lang's Harvest Of Seven Years, this particular music video was actually filmed and recorded with DVD and other digital media in mind, and the differences speak for themselves.

    The transfer is presented Full Frame and was presumably shot that way, as we don't seem to be missing out on any important imagery.

    The transfer is razor sharp in spite of the technical limitations involved in shooting a live musical performance, with even the movements of John Fogerty's guitar strings in some close-up shots being easy to make out. One can see how the movements of his fingers perfectly correlate to the notes one hears at any given moment. The shadow detail is distinctly ordinary, but being that this concert was filmed in a studio specifically for transfer to one home video medium or another, this is of little consequence to the overall picture. No low-level noise was apparent in the abundance of black in the picture.

    The colour saturation was perfectly accurate, with skin tones and stage lights being perfectly rendered throughout the transfer. There is a surprising multitude of shades apparent in the picture, and these are accurately transferred to give the performance a life-like quality that puts you right in the midst of the action.

    MPEG artefacts were not noticed during the transfer although the imagery is rather tightly compressed in order to accommodate the two audio mixes and the animation in the main menu. Sometimes, the backgrounds appear to be just a little too hazy for their own good, especially in shots where the drummer is directly behind Fogerty. Film-to-video artefacts were not especially noticed, although this is hardly surprising given that there are very few panning shots involving aliasing-prone objects to be found. Film artefacts were not noticed at all, apart from the occasional lens flare from light reflecting off various shiny objects. Overall, this is a very clean and clear looking video presentation.

Audio

    The audio transfer is presented in two formats, both of them in English: a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and a Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 soundtrack which has been allotted three times as many bits per second. In spite of being the second track on the disc, the Linear PCM soundtrack is the default, and it is a nice effort at that. I listened to both soundtracks, although I only listened to the first four songs, as well as Chapter 20 (Fortunate Son) in Dolby Digital 5.1 for comparison purposes.

    The vocals are extremely clear and easy to understand in spite of John Fogerty's thick-as-soup Southern drawl, and once you've learned how to interpret his accent, it is easy to sing along with him. The backing vocals that are provided in some songs aren't too shabby, either, with a surprising amount of clarity in spite of the fact that they are meant to hang in the background. The audio sync is absolutely spot on to the point where the precise movements of the musicians perfectly correlate to the notes coming from the speakers.

    The music on this DVD was written by John Fogerty, with some songs also partly written by others, and some of the songs he performed with Credence Clearwater Revival being thrown in for good measure. These particular songs sound better than they ever have before just by virtue of having been recorded three years ago, as opposed to thirty or forty. Fortunate Son in particular is a great example of this: on the remastered CDs that are hobbled by trying to reproduce a decades-old recording session, the song sounds confined and indistinct. On this DVD, however, every ounce of the anger that was meant to be brought across in the vocals of the song comes out of the speakers and hits you in the face. This is not to say that the remastered CDs sound bad, but a recording made in the days when vinyl platters were considered the height of technology simply cannot hold a candle to one made in the days when the background fuzz of vinyl is considered to be unacceptable.

    The surround presence in the Linear PCM mix is non-existent, although this is made up for by uncompressed clarity and presence. The Dolby Digital mix, on the other hand, is an extremely immersive, if relatively quiet, beast that immerses the listener in the performance. The Dolby Digital mix surrounds the listener with the sounds of cheering and clapping, as well as the ambient sounds of guitars and other such effects, however few there are on this DVD. There is a slight problem with the consistency of the overall level in the Dolby Digital mix, but you'd have to really be listening hard to notice.

    The subwoofer had a whale of a time in both mixes, supporting the sounds of the bass and drums, as well as the occasional portion of the vocals, and was superbly integrated into the overall mix.

Extras

    Given that this is a music DVD, I guess we should be happy with what we've got. However, speaking as someone who doesn't know any pertinent information about John Fogerty, some biographical notes and an explanation of why Credence Clearwater Revival broke up and nothing was heard from any of them until three years ago would have gone a long way.

Menu

    The main menu consists of an animation based on a still shot of the stage and audience, with an animated John Fogerty playing a sample of his music which sounds remarkably clear, all things considered.

R4 vs R1

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;     The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;     Although neither casing is particularly ideal due to either its fragility or the fact that cardboard rots because of the way it is made, Region 4 is the clear winner here.

Summary

    Premonition, the song, is a shadow of John Fogerty's older material. The rest of the music contained here, however, is well worth the invested time to listen to, even if it does sound a little dated at times. Some might consider it worthy of the Hall Of Fame, and I certainly wouldn't argue with them.

    The video quality is excellent, and surpasses Ozzy Osbourne: Live & Loud by a nose to become the new benchmark in how a music video should look on DVD.

    The audio quality is also excellent, and equal to the same title as an example of how music video should sound when presented on DVD.

    The extras are almost non-existent, but they do set a great mood for the piece.

Ratings (out of 5)

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© Dean McIntosh (my bio sucks... read it anyway)
July 13, 2000.

Review Equipment
   
DVD Grundig GDV 100 D, using composite output; Toshiba SD-2109, using S-video output
Display Panasonic TC-29R20 (68 cm), 4:3 mode, using composite input; Samsung CS-823AMF (80 cm), 16:9 mode/4:3 mode, using composite and S-video inputs
Audio Decoder Built In (Amplifier)
Amplification Sony STR-DE835
Speakers Panasonic S-J1500D Front Speakers, Philips PH931SSS Rear Speakers, Philips FB206WC Centre Speaker, JBL Digital 10 Subwoofer