Gamma Ray-Lust for Live (1993)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-by Malcolm Dome Introduction-by Malcolm Dome Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	1993
Running Time	57:20 (Case: 55)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Christoph Albert
Studio Distributor	Modern Video Warner Vision	Starring	Ralf Scheepers Kal Hansen Dirk Schlachter Jan Rubach Thomas Nack
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$34.95	Music	Gamma Ray

    If German heavy metal is your bag, you simply cannot go past the brilliance of Helloween. If that's still not enough for you, then former Helloween guitarist Kai Hansen's Gamma Ray will certainly satisfy.

    Recorded on September 25th 1993, this performance marked one of the band's last shows with vocalist Ralph Scheepers. As well as the concert performance, the feature is thinned out with home video footage and interviews, a lot of which is in German and decidedly unfunny. Some of the home video footage also shows the band at work in the studio, recording their Insanity and Genius album.

    The concert footage is well directed with strange, arty shifts in the speed of the video, and some quick effective editing. As far as 90s metal videos go, this production is of a good standard.

    While it may not be to everyone's taste, Lust For Live is a DVD worth checking out for all the metal heads out there.

Video

    The video transfer is presented in 1.33:1 full frame and is obviously not 16x9 enhanced.

    This transfer looks very much like it has been sourced from videotape, but appears to be in much better condition than the other Gamma Ray DVD release, Heading To The East. The level of sharpness is acceptable when the source is taken into consideration and is watchable at the very least. Blacks are far from jet and lend themselves to poor shadow detail most of the time. There are no problems with low level noise in this video transfer.

    Colours appeared intense and are a little oversaturated at times. Again, this is not as bad as the previous Gamma Ray release, probably due to the source being a little more recent. There are the usual artefacting problems you would expect from videotape, such as motion trails on the bright stage lighting and the odd magnetic fleck here and there but that is the extent of the most distracting problems. Some portions of the concert performance are also shot on film, which brings with it some slight grain and the odd speck of dust and hair.

    There is an English subtitle stream activated by default, translating the German dialogue that appears often between songs and during the home video footage. The font is a little small, but readable.

    This disc is single layered so there is no layer change to contend with.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There are two audio options, including Dolby Digital 5.1 and a feature commentary also presented in Dolby Digital 5.1.

    The vocal delivery is spot on at all times and features prominently in the mix. There are no issues with audio sync at all.

    The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is average to say the least. There is absolutely no signal directed to the front centre speaker, and the rear channels receive only slight spill from the front left and right channels. I suspect that this surround mix is merely sourced from the original stereo master. The result is slightly enveloping, but sadly bogus.

    The subwoofer receives only the very slightest signal, and offers only a slight murmur in response to the kick drum and bass guitar.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

Introduction by Malcolm Dome (1:34)

    Malcolm briefly explains the relevance of this live concert and the line-up of the band at this time.

Feature commentary by journalist Malcolm Dome

    As with his commentary effort on Heading To The East, Dome chirps in for a quick comment at the beginning of each track, often describing with inane superlatives what we can hear for ourselves. It's unlikely that fans of the band will find any new information here, and those only mildly interested in the band will find it all decidedly drab.

DVD Credits (0:37)

    The video transfer is passable.

    The audio transfer is a cut-and-paste job, taken from the original stereo effort.

    The only extra is a daggy commentary, but it's better than nothing.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall