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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.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer-Live at Montreux 1997 (1997)

Emerson, Lake & Palmer-Live at Montreux 1997 (1997)

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Released 9-Oct-2005

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Music Menu Animation & Audio
Booklet
Rating Rated E
Year Of Production 1997
Running Time 91:25 (Case: 84)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (45:53) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor
Montreux Sounds
Rajon Vision
Starring Keith Emerson
Greg Lake
Carl Palmer
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $29.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.29:1
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.29:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

    Emerson, Lake and Palmer was one of those monolithic stadium bands of the 1970s, a progressive rock group whose music was influenced to a considerable degree by classical music, without being quite as clean-cut as Sky, for example. The band was born from the dissatisfaction felt by two members of popular troupes of the late 1960s. Keith Emerson was the keyboardist with The Nice, and Greg Lake the vocalist and bass player with another seminal progressive rock band, King Crimson. Both decided to leave their respective bands and form a new group. They auditioned several drummers and eventually settled on Carl Palmer. At one stage it was rumoured that Jimi Hendrix would join the band and that they would be known as Hendrix, Emerson, Lake and Palmer or HELP for short. But this did not come to fruition due to Hendrix's untimely death.

    ELP had a number of hits during the 1970s but were primarily a stage band and their best recorded work was on albums, not singles. They split up towards the end of the decade when each member wanted to pursue solo interests. In 1991 they were persuaded to reform and the concert on this DVD dates from 1997 at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

    The concert includes mainly familiar old material. While the performers are no longer young, they seem to be reasonably fit and can still put together a good stage show, though Emerson's antics with the keyboards seem a little passé. The music is well performed and the band members seem to be enjoying themselves rather than just going through the motions. There is also little interruption to the concert through having too many shots of the audience, the director concentrating on showcasing the performers. This makes the disc enjoyable despite some balance problems with the audio. The tracks performed are as follows:

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Track Listing

1. Intro By Claude Nobs
2. Karnevil 9-1st Impression Part 2
3. Tiger In The Spotlight
4. Hoedown
5. Touch And Go
6. From The Beginning
7. Knife Edge
8. B****es Crystal
9. Dance Creole
10. Honky Tonk Train Blues
11. Take A Pebble
12. Lucky Man
13. Tarkus/Pictures At An Exhibition
14. Medley

Transfer Quality

Video

    While it is noted on the case that the programme was recorded in high definition, it is presented on this disc in 1.29:1 and not 16x9 enhanced.

    This is a pretty good transfer with few problems. The only significant issue I noted was some aliasing on the keyboard. Apart from that colour is a little washed out, probably due to being filmed in less than ideal lighting conditions. Detail is good, which enables the viewer to see the beads on sweat on the brows of the trio, as well as to make out the Supertramp logos on the t-shirts of two audience members. Sometimes detail isn't a good thing.

    Being a recording on video, there are no film artefacts. The disc is RSDL-formatted with the layer break well placed between songs, but there are no subtitles, which is unfortunate.

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

Audio

    There are three audio tracks to select from, being DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Linear PCM 2.0. I listened to the DTS track and sampled the others.

    The DTS track is very good in providing a substantial sound, but the recording mix is not so good. There is a lack of definition in the audio, which sounds homogenised and amorphous. The drums come across well with lots of low frequency effects to give the subwoofer a continuous workout. The keyboard also comes over clearly, but the bass guitar is almost impossible to distinguish in the audio mix throughout most of the concert. Vocals are not very clear either, with Lake's voice sometimes being lost in the wash of sound, and Emerson's occasional comments to the audience being virtually inaudible.

    The audio mix is much as would be expected, with the bulk of sound coming from the front channels with the rears used for ambience and some crowd noise. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is much the same as the DTS, perhaps being slightly less rich and warm. The Linear PCM track sounds a little thin and metallic in comparison.

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

Extras

Menu Animation & Audio

    The menu features some of the footage from the concert complete with audio.

Booklet

    A six page booklet with information about the group by Michael Heatley, plus reminiscences of Montreux by each of the band members.

R4 vs R1

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

    This disc appears to be identical to the overseas versions.

Summary

    A good concert reasonably well transferred to DVD, though the audio really needs to be remixed. ELP fans will not be that disappointed.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Philip Sawyer (Bio available.)
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-S733A, using Component output
DisplaySony 86CM Trinitron Wega KVHR36M31. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to DVD player, Dolby Digital, dts and DVD-Audio. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationSony TA-DA9000ES
SpeakersMain: Tannoy Revolution R3; Centre: Tannoy Sensys DCC; Rear: Richter Harlequin; Subwoofer: JBL SUB175

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