The Moody Blues-Live at Montreux 1991 (1991)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Animation & Audio Booklet
Rating
Year Of Production	1991
Running Time	95:51
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Montreux Sounds Rajon Vision	Starring	Justin Hayward John Lodge Ray Thomas Graeme Edge Bias Boshell Gordon Marshall Paul Bliss
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	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.75:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Founded in 1967, the Montreux Jazz Festival has established itself as one of the most prestigious annual music events in the world. The extraordinary list of artists who have played Montreux is drawn from across the musical spectrum (it's not just limited to jazz as the name might suggest) and from around the world. It includes the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Van Morrison, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, BB King, Santana, Johnny Cash and even decidedly non-jazz groups such as The Corrs and ZZ Top. 2006 sees the festival celebrate its 40th anniversary with the event to take place in the Swiss town from June 30 to July 15.

    In 1991 legendary long-serving British rockers The Moody Blues attended the festival for their one and only appearance to date. The Moodies as their fans affectionately refer to them burst onto the music scene from humble Birmingham beginnings in the mid 1960s. Like many bands of the time, they broke it big with one huge song, in this case the moody (a pun!) and immensely listenable Nights In White Satin from the 1967 album Days Of Future Passed. Also like many bands before and since, they never really captured the success of that song again despite several moderate hits from many albums, including a chart topping effort in 1986 with Your Wildest Dreams from the album The Other Side Of Life. Other well-known Moody Blues songs include Gemini Dream, Tuesday Afternoon and the catchy I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock N Roll Band).

    Thankfully all of the above mentioned songs get a run in this quite enjoyable concert. Lead singer Justin Hayward is in fine voice and despite the lack of lengthy banter with the crowd or flashy lighting the guys know what makes a good song. Fans will love this show, while those looking for an introduction to this veteran British outfit will be equally pleased.

    The following 15 songs comprise the 95 minute concert:

Video

    All of the Montreux titles have so far exhibited excellent video quality despite some of the material getting quite long in the tooth. This Moody Blues concert is no exception, though this time we get a widescreen video transfer instead of a full frame one.

    The aspect ratio of this concert is 1.75:1, but it is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The level of sharpness and detail is excellent, and with a simple lighting setup there are no issues with shadow detail. There is no grain at all and no low level noise on some of the black areas.

    Colours are solid without being spectacular. The Moody Blues seem to concentrate on the music and don't worry too much about fancy lighting or costumes.

    No compression artefacts were detected. Video artefacts are mostly absent except for some excessive comet trails noticeable whenever a bright light source flashes momentarily on the screen or the light catches a reflective surface such as a guitar face.

    There are no subtitles.

    This is a single layered disc only so there is no layer change to navigate.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    As with the other Montreux titles, we are spoilt for choice with three audio tracks available covering virtually all possibilities. First up is a Dolby Digital 5.1 effort, while the second track is a PCM stereo 2.0 track. Lastly, those with suitable equipment levels can immerse themselves in the delights of a dts 5.1 surround soundtrack.

    I was a little disappointed with the lack of sparkle evident in the last Montreux title (Joe Cocker), but thankfully the bar has been raised again with this disc. With original source material hailing from 1991 the quality of the remastered tracks here is excellent. They are not quite top shelf but are close with clear instrument separation, solid vocals and a wide dynamic range. There's not a whole stack of solid or powerful surround activity, but the front soundstage is utilised fully and will please even the fussiest fan.

    The sub is nicely integrated. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track makes more use of it than the dts track, but both offer seamless bass throughout.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu Animation & Audio

Booklet

    A six-page fold-out style of booklet that in addition to advertising some of the other Live at Montreux titles includes a comprehensive Moodies history written by Michael Heatley and a reproduction of the 1991 official festival poster.

     The Region 1 disc appears identical to the Region 4 version.

    The Moody Blues - Live At Montreux is another disc in the series of titles from the Montreux Jazz Festival. 1991 saw long-serving British band The Moody Blues charm the crowd with their repertoire of magical songs including their biggest hit Nights In White Satin and Your Wildest Dreams.

    As with most of the other titles in this series, the video quality is excellent, while the audio, which includes an excellent dts soundtrack, shines as a better than average effort.

    There are no real extras other than a booklet.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall