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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Fleetwood Mac-Rumours (DVD-Audio) (2001)

Fleetwood Mac-Rumours (DVD-Audio) (2001) (NTSC)

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Released 4-Jun-2001

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Music Booklet
Menu Audio
Audio Commentary-The Making Of Rumours (12)
DVD Credits
Notes
Gallery-Photo
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 44:27
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Programme
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor

Warner Vision
Starring Mick Fleetwood
John McVie
Christine McVie
Lindsay Buckingham
Stevie Nicks
Case DVD-Audio Jewel
RPI $32.95 Music Lindsay Buckingham
Christine McVie
Stevie Nicks


Video (NTSC) Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English MLP 96/24 5.1
English MLP 96/24 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    In 1977 the Nicks/Buckingham/McVie/McVie/Fleetwood version of Fleetwood Mac released a magnificent album: Rumours. The process of making this album was fraught with upheavals in the personal lives of the band, as documented in the Classic Albums documentary — I won't go into any of that here. I pre-ordered Rumours after being very impressed by the previous album, and probably annoyed a few people by playing it over and over. I wore out that copy, and four years later, after getting a job, I bought the Nautilus Superdisc version of the album — still vinyl, but very high quality vinyl. Then, a few years later again, I bought the album again, this time on CD. I would hate to try to compute the number of times I have played that CD.

    Few albums get the recognition this one has. Other albums have achieved similar sales performance (not many, though!). More telling was the release in 1998 of the album Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. This album contained the same songs as Rumours, but every track was performed by a different group (or artist), and we are not talking about cover bands, either: Dreams is performed by The Corrs and Don't Stop by Elton John, for example.

    In 2002 I finally took the plunge into DVD-Audio. One of the very first DVD-Audio discs I bought was Rumours. I was quite curious to see what difference there would be, and an album I knew as well as Rumours would be a good test. I was rather impressed — I listened to the whole album twice in the first sitting, going through the 5.1 mix first, then the stereo. For quite a while I was using this as my only DVD-Audio demo disc (I have a couple of others as well now).

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Track Listing

1. Second Hand News
2. Dreams
3. Never Going Back Again
4. Don't Stop
5. Go Your Own Way
6. Silver Springs
7. The Chain
8. You Make Loving Fun
9. I Don't Want To Know
10. Oh Daddy
11. Gold Dust Woman
12. Songbird

Transfer Quality

Video

    There is no motion video on this disc, at all. There are some animated transitions, but they are sequences of stills. All that displays as the music plays are still images in NTSC.

    When playing in DVD-Video mode there is a single static image per track.

    When playing in DVD-Audio mode there are several static images per track. They are mostly photos of the members of the group (and some of the other people involved), but some of the shots have interesting bits of trivia overlaid, usually relating to the song that's playing. The lyrics to the songs are not provided — you probably know them anyway, but if you don't, they are provided in the booklet tucked into the front of the jewel case.

Audio

    The sound is provided three ways, as is common on DVD-Audio discs: 5.1 format 96/24 MLP DVD-Audio, 2.0 (stereo) 96/24 MLP DVD-Audio, and 5.1 Dolby Digital (448 kbps) DVD-Video. I listened to the entire 5.1 DVD-Audio soundtrack again (it runs 44:27), then compared selected tracks with the stereo DVD-Audio, the DVD-Video, and CD versions.

    The album was remixed into 5.1 by Ken Caillat, who was one of the two engineers on the original album — I guess he has to rate as being familiar with the content. He did an excellent job both times. There are some notes in amongst the trivia on the DVD-Audio version that mention small changes he made in the process of re-mixing. Let me comment track by track:

  1. Second Hand News — this track is one of the least changed, but the mix spreads evenly across the soundstage.
  2. Dreams — seems a little more intimate, with the backing vocals spread around the sides.
  3. Never Going Back Again — there's an electric guitar solo in the bridge that was dropped from the original. I like it.
  4. Don't Stop — feels a little punchier, with greater separation between sounds.
  5. Go Your Own WayMcVie's bass is clearer, and drives the song superbly.
  6. Silver Springs — always intended for the original, this song got dropped because there wasn't enough room on the vinyl. Each member of the group is pleased to see it back
  7. The Chain — slightly greater dynamic range and added clarity - this sounds even better than ever.
  8. You Make Loving Fun — the tinkling sounds across the rear of the soundstage are delightful.
  9. I Don't Want to Know — not greatly changed, but the guitar solo is nicely placed stage right.
  10. Oh Daddy — the simple start to a richly layered song is given more clarity and more poignancy.
  11. Gold Dust Woman — the screams at the end are less, one of the few changes I don't like — still a killer song.
  12. Songbird — moved from 6th position when Silver Springs was re-included — you can hear the subtle ambience of the auditorium in which it was recorded.

    The changes to the content are mostly subtle — unless you've listened to the CD recently you're unlikely to pick them up. The big changes are from the simple stereo image to a much more complex five speaker space.

    In general, the backing vocals have been moved to the rear, while keeping the lead vocals in the centre channel. This envelops the listener when backing vocals are used. A friend of mine didn't like this effect — he preferred the simpler stereo model, I suspect because it was more familiar, feeling more like a concert. I like this approach because it feels more intimate and more involving.

    Instruments are spread around the soundstage, with a consistent image within each song. John McVie's bass is not easy to localise, but I had the feeling it was usually a little left of centre, close to the front. Mick Fleetwood's drums were sometimes spread (an odd image, but it works), often with the snare placed somewhat to the rear and right. Other instruments vary from track to track. In Songbird, the acoustic guitar is placed to the rear, with the piano and vocals strongly frontal — perfectly appropriate.

    The DVD-Video track is quite similar to the 5.1 DVD-Audio one, with only a slight feeling of reduced clarity and slightly less dynamic range — it's a very impressive effort, considering that it's using 448kbps, versus the 8Mbps used by the 5.1 DVD-Audio track. Even if you only have a DVD-Video player today, you're getting an excellent recording.

    The stereo DVD-Audio track is an excellent rendering of the original stereo mix, as far as I can tell. The big difference in content between this track and the CD is the inclusion of Silver Springs. This track was previously only available as a B-side to Go Your Own Way on a 45rpm vinyl single.

    The CD sounded a little thin and lacking in definition when compared to the DVD-Audio. I've listened to this CD a lot, and now I find myself wondering when it will be possible to get DVD-Audio in more portable forms (walkman, car audio...).

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    This disc has an extra I have not seen on any other DVD-Audio disc. I think it is fabulous, and I hope other artists follow suit.

Menu

    The menu is static and silent in DVD-Audio mode; it has music playing behind it in DVD-Video mode. Essentially the same menu is available in both modes.

Audio Commentary (40:05)

    An audio commentary on a DVD-Audio disc? Yup! Entitled The Making of Rumours, this offers the same tracks as the album, but each track is a commentary on the song, over some instrumental content. For most songs, the instrumental content is much the same as the finished song, but that's not the case for all. For The Chain, we're treated to the original instrumental — the music that nearly caused the song to be thrown out. For Gold Dust Woman we get a taste of Stevie Nicks' original demo tape of the song before the instrumental section. This is very cool stuff. The commentary includes contributions from all the members of the group, though not all comment on every song. There are some gaps in the commentary, but that's no problem — they give us a chance to listen to the audio. The audio is 48/24, rather than 96/24, but that's not a problem because we're listening to this for the commentary content, rather than pure high fidelity.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This disc is the same in all regions.

Summary

    A magnificent album given renewed interest in the DVD-Audio format.

    The audio quality is excellent in all formats provided.

    The extra is impressive.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Tony Rogers (bio-degrading: making a fool of oneself in a bio...)
Tuesday, January 07, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-S733A, using Component output
DisplaySony VPH-G70 CRT Projector, QuadScan Elite scaler (Tripler), ScreenTechnics 110. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to DVD player. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationDenon AVC-A1SE
SpeakersFront Left, Centre, Right: Krix Euphonix; Rears: Krix KDX-M; Subwoofer: Krix Seismix 5

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