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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.
Sinead O'Connor-Goodnight, Thank You, You've Been a Lovely Audience

Sinead O'Connor-Goodnight, Thank You, You've Been a Lovely Audience

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Released 11-Nov-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Music Menu Audio
Featurette-Song Of Hearts Desire (With Subtitles)
Music Video-Peggy Gordon, Molly Malone, The Moorlough Shore
Music Video-The Singing Bird, My Lagan Love, Oro Se' Do Bheatha 'Bhaile
DVD Credits
Rating Rated E
Year Of Production ?
Running Time 68:42 (Case: 150)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor

Warner Vision
Starring Sinead O'Connor
Caroline Dale
Graham Henderson
Carol Isaacs
Clare Kenny
Rob O'Geibheannaigh
John Reynolds
Sharon Shannon
Steve Wickham
Case ?
RPI $34.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English dts 5.1 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio Unknown Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes

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

Plot Synopsis

    This concert was filmed at the end of Sinead's first tour in six years, a tour that I think was promoting her new album of the time 'Sean-Nos Nua', meaning roughly old-style/new. It is an album where she has collected together a selection of traditional Irish songs and ballads and added her own particular style to them. This concert contains several tracks from that album and also a selection of her top hits from previous albums.

    Sinead has a voice with an incredible range, a powerful but clear outcry when needed and a wonderfully musical almost-whisper. She also puts her entire heart and soul into her music. It seems to be a rule that those with the passion and pain in their lives produce some of the most powerful music. Her interpretation of the traditional music is very interesting - she has added a reggae beat as well as changing the tempo of some of the songs. She has a softer style than the traditional singers of this type of music. Traditional singers also add more vocal embellishments and grace notes to the music.

    The concert is a little short, with only thirteen songs, but the performance is excellent. On stage is of course Sinead along with Caroline Dale (cello or electronic cello), Graham Henderson (guitar), Carol Isaacs (keyboards), Clare Kenny (bass), Rob O'Geibheannaigh (tin whistle), John Reynolds (drums), Sharon Shannon (accordion) and Steve Wickham (fiddle). They combine to produce a wonderful old-new sound that works for both the traditional material as well as Sinead's more modern compositions.

    The only slightly disappointing bit was that they ran the credits over the end of the last song.

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Track Listing

1. Molly Malone
2. Oro Se do Bheatha 'Bhaile
3. The Singing Bird
4. My Lagan Love
5. I am Stretched on Your Grave
6. Nothing Compares 2 U
7. John I Love You
8. The Moorlough Shore
9. You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart
10. Paddy's Lament
11. Thank You For Hearing Me
12. Fire on Babylon
13. The Last Day of Our Acquaintance

Transfer Quality

Video

    This is one of the best captures and transfers of a live concert that I have ever seen, presented at 1.75:1 and 16x9 enhanced which is a pleasant surprise.

    As with all video material, the sharpness is in inverse proportion to the length of the shot. The close and medium shots are nice and sharp while the distance shots are not. Shadow detail suffers a little from the stage lighting but is not too bad.

    There are some coloured spots, particularly on the left of Sinead, and they give rise to some funny colouration and a blue halo at times. There's nothing wrong with the transfer - it is simply how it was on stage that night.

    There are no MPEG artefacts present and surprisingly little video noise or other artefacts. The only real complaint is the typical motion blur of video captured material and this is only a minor one.

    There are no subtitles for the concert. There are various language subtitles available for the documentary but none of these are English.

    This is a Dual Layered disc, but the layer change is hidden somewhere in between the various items on the disc and is not visible.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     There are three soundtracks accompanying the concert; a DTS 5.1 track, a Dolby Digital 5.1 track and a Dolby Digital 2.0 track. I listened to both the 5.1 tracks and did notice some differences. The DTS track is really great, with fantastic fidelity, clarity and a solid soundstage. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is also good but is not in the same class as the DTS track. The DTS track is slightly clearer with more presence and a tighter bass line. Overall, the impression is of a sharper, more open sounding soundtrack. The Dolby Digital 2.0 track is hardly worth mentioning in comparison, with the vocal submerged in the instruments and the surrounds sounding artificial.

    Dialogue quality is excellent as is the audio sync.

    The music is great from the old to the new. The instrumentality is also a wonderful fusion of the traditional and the modern.

    On both the DTS track and the Dolby Digital track, the surrounds hold the ambience of the concert hall. The audience is quiet through the music and the ambience is surprisingly well rendered. You feel very much as though you are there at the concert.

    The subwoofer gets the bass drum and the bass from the bass guitar. This will really test out the tightness of you system - see if you can hear each note as it is strummed and then fades, changing texture as it does.

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

Extras

Menu

    A nice 1.75:1, 16x9 enhanced menu with a still picture of Sinead on the left with a very dark, almost subliminal, video of the concert playing under the menu selections on the right. Accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Documentary: Song of Hearts Desire (52:10)

    A very interesting documentary on the research, preparation and recording of the album Sean-Nos Nua. It includes interviews with many of the people involved, including the people that the reggae influence came from as well as traditional Irish singers. Sinead also talks about what the various songs mean to her and her feelings about them. Great for fans and those interested in Irish music. Presented at 1.75:1 and 16x9 enhanced, and accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Bonus Videos

    There are six video clips to select from: Peggy Gordon (5:36), Molly Malone (3:31), The Moorlough Shore (5:24), The Singing Bird (4:28), My Lagan Love (4:41) and Oro Se Oo Bneatna 'Bnaile. All presented at 1.75 and 16x9 enhanced with the selection of Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. The only problem is sometimes the audio sync drifts a little but I suspect that this is source related.

R4 vs R1

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

     It would appear that the R1 and R4 releases are identical.

Summary

    The Irish accent is one of the most musical in the world. When set to music it is sublime. I could sit and listen to this disc all day moving between appreciating the music, the voice and the content. One in particular is Oro Se Oo Bneatna 'Bnaile, a song that is taught to children in schools in the south. It is a cry for freedom for Ireland, for help from France or Spain and Sinead does a great spirited rendition.

    The video is great.

    The audio is spectacular

    The extras are interesting.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Terry McCracken (read my bio)
Friday, December 12, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDSkyworth 1050p progressive scan, using RGB output
DisplaySony 1252q CRT Projector, Screen Technics matte white screen 16:9 (223cm). Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre.
AmplificationOnkyo TX-SR800
SpeakersB&W DM305 (mains); CC3 (centre); S100 (surrounds); custom Adire Audio Tempest with Redgum plate amp (subwoofer)

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