Human Nature-Here and Now (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Human Nature Music Video-16 Credits-For video clips Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Here and Now concert, Tellin' Everybody, Counting Down Featurette-Behind The Scenes-S Club 7 UK tour, Outback Instore
Rating	?
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	153:00 (Case: 178)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Mark Adamson
Studio Distributor	Sony Music	Starring	Andrew Tierney Michael Tierney Toby Allen Phil Burton
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

    It's only when I sat down to review this disc that I realised the number of hit songs that Australian vocal group Human Nature have enjoyed over the last few years. Having never being a huge fan of a group (or a band as the cover describes them) that merely sings and doesn't play any instruments, I have never really taken a whole lot of notice of this four piece outfit. But there are at least a half dozen songs performed on this disc in both live performance and video clip mode that are instantly recognisable and, dare I say it, quite enjoyable.

    Human Nature are a four member vocal group hailing from Sydney. Originally called The Four Trax, the guys formed the group while still at school, and changed their name to Human Nature after securing a record deal with Sony. The group consists of Andrew Tierney, Michael Tierney, Toby Allen, and Phil Burton. They have made their name with sweet and smooth ballads popular with teenage and young woman such as Tellin' Everybody, Don't Say Goodbye, Cruel, Whisper Your Name, People Get Ready, and Don't Cry.  They also scored a major hit in 1997 with the ultra-hip ballad recorded with John Farnham, Every Time You Cry.
   
    What we get in this well-packaged disc from Sony Music is a 90 minute concert and 16 video clips running for a little over an hour. Add in some 26 minutes of extra material and this is a great value disc. The concert was recorded in March 2002 at Melbourne's Palais Theatre and features an absolutely packed and wildly hysterical (mostly) female audience that shriek incessantly every time one of the lads even looks their way. All the big hits are included here as well as some covers of less conventional songs such as Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way, The Village People's YMCA, and even Barry Manilow's Copacabana.

    The boys perform the following songs in their 90 minute concert. Note that I have listed the 16 videos in the extras section. All comments regarding the video quality and audio relate solely to the live performance.

Video

     The concert is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.56:1. It is NOT 16x9 enhanced.

    Despite the lack of an anamorphic transfer, the image does not suffer too greatly, maintaining a decent level of overall sharpness, not quite as good as if it was 16x9 enhanced, but satisfactory no less. There is no trace of edge enhancement, and shadow detail is exemplary at all times, probably to the detriment of the contrast level which is a little high on occasions. Grain is minimal and there is no low level noise.

    Colours are well rendered with no apparent problems. Skin tones are natural.

    There are no MPEG artefacts. The transfer is also clean of any video artefacts.

    There are no subtitle streams present

    This is a dual layered disc, but there is no layer change so I'm assuming the concert and the video clips are located on separate layers.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There is a choice of three audio tracks - two Dolby Digital tracks in 5.1 and 2.0 variants for the main concert and another Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack featuring a commentary from the group. I listened to the 5.1 track and verified the presence of the Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The full surround soundtrack offers a wide and enveloping sound presence with decent bass response and consistent rear channel use throughout the entire show. There is no hint of noise or distortion.

    Dialogue is well produced and there are no audio sync problems.

    There is quite a significant amount of surround use. The audience noise is dominant at the end of each song, but there is also a reasonable amount of instrument separation and vocals to the rears.
   
    The subwoofer is pleasantly integrated into the overall soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Audio Commentary

    From the Sony Music website I found the news release about this DVD. Contained in it is a quote from Human Nature member Phil Burton, waxing lyrical about audio commentaries. He said "We've always loved listening to the commentary on movies, especially when you hear a few funny stories about the filming - the sort of thing the public wouldn't normally hear, so we couldn't wait to do the same for ours!"

    Well does this concert commentary work? I'd have to say yes. The four band members are together as they talk for the entire duration of the show. They don't make the ill-fated mistake of merely describing the on-screen action, but rather offer a few amusing anecdotes and bits of information that only they would be privy to. While it may not be everyone's cup of tea and does become a little monotonous after a while, fans will no doubt hang on every word.

Music Videos 

    As an added bonus to the live performance you are able to watch all the group's big hits again (and this time without the screaming girls) via the selection of 16 video clips. These clips are presented in a variety of aspect ratios (all letterboxed) and come with a very nice Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Total running time for these 16 clips is 61:28.

Video Clips

Credits

    Three static pages of text detailing those responsible for the video clips and the extra material.

Featurette-Behind The Scenes (Here and Now Concert)

    Like the name suggests, this is a brief behind the scenes look as the guys prepare for the big show. Runs for 3:11.

Featurette-Behind The Scenes (Telling Everybody)

    A 9:41 minute featurette that appears to have been filmed in 1997 to coincide with the release of the band's first album. In between highlights of the main song off the album the boys explain who they are and how they achieved their success.

Featurette-Behind The Scenes (Counting Down)

    7:47 of promotional material as the boys discuss their Counting Down album.

Featurette-Behind The Scenes (S Club 7 UK Tour)

    3:41 of backstage and concert highlights of the 2001 UK tour when the boys supported dance/vocal group S Club 7.

Featurette-Behind The Scenes (Outback Instore)

    Something a little light-hearted here. The boys agree to take part in an in-store appearance in the outback of Queensland somewhere near the town of Dingo. Unfortunately, they get lost and end up performing for nobody except a couple of water buffalo. Runs for 2:21.

    This disc does not appear to be available in Region 1.

    Human Nature - Here and Now is a fairly comprehensive set of live performances and videos from one of Australia's most successful vocal groups. In terms of value for money it is hard to beat and will sit well in any fan's collection.

    The video and audio transfers are excellent.

    The extras are quite comprehensive and include that rarest of beasts - a concert commentary soundtrack.

Video
Audio
Extras
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Overall