Melinda Schneider-The Story So Far, Live & More... (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Main Menu Animation
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	82:37 (Case: 80)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	?
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Rajon Vision	Starring	Melinda Schneider
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	?	Music	Melinda Schneider

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
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	No

    Country Music is one of those polarising things. You either love it, or think it's a contradiction in terms. Even among those that love it, there is a polarisation. There are those that like the 'traditional' country and those that like the 'new' country; a style that, to my ears, blurs the line and tends to sound more pop/rock than country. No twangs and thangs with new country, it's more edgy and raw. Artists such as Keith Urban, Adam Brand and Kasey Chambers tend, to a greater or lesser degree, to have more a 'new' country sound while artists such as Lee Kernaghan tend to have a more 'traditional' country sound.

    Now, country music is not really my scene but I can listen to 'new' country if I am forced to. Consequently, when my wife insisted we go along to see an Adam Brand concert I only half reluctantly agreed. Supporting at this concert was Melinda Schneider. It was the first time I had heard her and she was definitely 'new' country, so when I was begged to review this DVD, I didn't mind as I could sit through 80 minutes or so of 'new' country. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Melinda Schneider has a very 'traditional' country side to her repertoire. Yep, mixed in with some 'new' country, there was some real good ol' country sound to some of her songs. Why heck, at one point she actually yodelled. An almost unforgivable sin. But if anyone could convert me to country music, it would be Melinda Schneider.

    Just as her music isn't strictly 'traditional' country, neither is her presentation. No 10 gallon hats, cowboy boots and denim jeans for this lady, instead we get a short skirt, fishnet stockings and stiletto heels. Country never looked so good. Melinda is not only easy on the eye, she is also easy on the ear. Her voice is smooth and clear, and when she sings ballads such as Dream Him Home she has such emotion and truthfulness to her delivery you find yourself immersed in the words and music and carried on the musical journey with her.

    Melinda Schneider - The Story So Far, Live and More is a two part experience. The first part is a live performance at The Basement in Sydney with brief interviews interspersed amongst the songs. The interviews are filmed in that angled, moving camera style which I believe is meant to be arty and edgy, but just make me wonder why they didn't use a sober cameraman. This part runs for 55:56. Melinda has a good mix of songs in the 15 selected for this disc, running the gamut from a very traditional country sound to some that are much more 'new' country and almost mainstream in their sound. It's a good variety so most people should find something that they can listen to.

    The second part is a collection of eight video clips. Some of them are songs performed in the concert, and some not.

Video

    This is a good transfer but not reference quality. Obviously done on a budget, but not cheap and nasty, the video doesn't have anything to really criticise, nor does it have anything to praise. It is a good, clean transfer with a moderate bit-rate that is easy to watch. With only 82:37of content, the DVD format is not stretched so there are no compression artefacts or other transfer problems.

    The live concert and interviews are presented at 1.78:1, but the menus and video clips are at 1.33:1. Like the live concert, the video clips are clearly made on a budget and are transferred to DVD with the same quality as the concert. Some of the video clips do use home movie footage and these segments suffer from the usual film artefacts of old home movies; dust and scratches with variable colour quality.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The back of the case says 5.1 Surround Sound. My equipment says Dolby Digital 2.0. While the audio is Pro Logic encoded, it is a little naughty promoting this as 5.1 Surround Sound as it does tend to imply something other than Dolby Digital 2.0.

   That aside, the audio is good but a long way from reference. The centre speaker is called on to do the most work with some spread to the left and right. The surround speakers are only lightly used, and then just to provide fullness rather than ambience. The sub-woofer is barely needed, after all this isn't a double drum kit heavy metal thumping band, but a bunch of good ol' boy country musicians. So what you get is a mainly front sound stage that is OK, but uninspiring. I actually found it sounded better when I dropped out of Pro Logic and went to standard two channel - the stereo spread was better and the centre bias reduced.

    Still, a quite listenable audio track with no real nasties to spoil your enjoyment.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There are no extras.

    Menus are static with an animated transition between each.

    As far as I can tell, this release is Region 4 only.

    While country isn't everyone's choice in music, this bare-bones offering from Melinda Schneider will not offend any but the most ardent country critic. If you love your country music you will like this disc. Even if you aren't into country you will find yourself enjoying her performance and maybe even - dare I say - liking some of the songs. A nice solid concert performance from a lady who is clearly very talented and loves what she does.

    Although the video and audio is nothing special, it is still good enough for you to sit back and enjoy the concert without being visually or audibly affronted.

    Melinda you almost converted me to country, but the yodelling was just too scary.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall