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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.
Oasis-Live by the Sea (1995)

Oasis-Live by the Sea (1995)

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Released 4-Mar-2002

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Music Main Menu Audio & Animation
Music Video-Rock 'N' Roll Star
Music Video-Cigarettes & Alcohol
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1995
Running Time 80:20 (Case: 82)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Nigel Dick
Studio
Distributor
Squeak Pictures
Sony Music
Starring Liam Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Paul Arthurs
Paul McGuigan
Tony McCaroll
Case Soft Brackley-Transp
RPI $29.95 Music Oasis


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Even though this title has only recently been released in Region 4, it is actually an old title that predates the other two Oasis DVDs available (There and Then and Familiar To Millions). Live By The Sea is a recording of a concert held at the Southend Cliffs Pavilion on 17 April 1995.

    Following on the heels of the Beatles and Rolling Stones, Oasis is a British rock band featuring a few young men (including brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher) with funny accents, catchy songs, and an appeal that goes beyond their country of origin. Their first album, Definitely Maybe, was released in 1994 and sold over 4 million copies in the UK but success across the Atlantic puddle had to wait until the second album (What's The Story) Morning Glory? which peaked at #4 on the Billboard charts and had two #1 singles. The band also had at least 15 minutes of fame through the off-stage antics of the brothers, which involved sibling rivalry, feuds with other bands and drug use. The band then went a bit quiet and there were rumours of a break-up, but they resurfaced in 1997 with a third album Be Here Now. The boys then calmed down a bit, got married and started families and got off the drugs and alcohol. Oasis is still around today (albeit with some changes in the band line-up), a few years and a few albums later - the latest being Standing On The Shoulder (sic) of Giants. Oasis has obviously retained a core group of loyal fans - as evidenced not only from their fairly comprehensive official web site but from fan sites as well.

    This concert features the following line-up:

    This is a pretty run-of-the-mill concert video with a pretty average performance by the band and no real highlights to speak of. Noel seems rather off-key in Acquiesce - which is normally my benchmark for whether an Oasis concert is any good or not. Elsewhere in the concert, it is evident that his mind wasn't very focused that night - both Sad Song and D'Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman? - supposedly solo spots for Noel and his guitar - finished rather abruptly because Noel couldn't remember the endings of the songs, and he had to play an extra solo song (Talk Tonight) in order to placate the fans.

    Predictably, there's lots of holding up of cigarettes and pints of beer amongst the audience during Cigarettes & Alcohol and the video editor decided to insert some psychedelic lens distortion effects during I Am The Walrus. Incidentally, Noel mucks around with some guitar pickup feedback effects in this song.

    All-in-all, I would say steer away from this one unless you are a true fan and want to complete your collection of Oasis DVDs.

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Track Listing

1. Rock 'n' Roll Star
2. Columbia
3. Digsy's Dinner
4. Some Might Say
5. Live Forever
6. Up In The Sky
7. Acquiesce
8. Headshrinker
9. Good To Be Free
10. Cigarettes & Alcohol
11. Married With Children
12. Sad Song
13. D'yer Wanna Be A Spaceman?
14. Talk Tonight
15. Slide Away
16. Supersonic
17. I Am The Walrus

Transfer Quality

Video

    This is a full frame transfer from what looks like an interlaced video source.

    Quite surprisingly though, I did not notice any interlaced video artefacts such as aliasing or shimmering. However, a moderate number of MPEG compression artefacts were present, including macro-blocking in the backgrounds, some Gibb's effect ringing and minor instances of posterization.

    The overall look of the video is rather soft with rather flat colours and a general lack of contrast. I would say the quality of the video transfer is mediocre but probably consistent with the age of the video source.

    There are no subtitle tracks on this single sided single layered disc.

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

Audio

    Despite the Dolby Digital logo on the back cover of the DVD, there is only one audio track on this disc: English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s).

    Don't expect CD-like quality from the PCM audio track. This was obviously mastered from an analogue video source. The audio track suffers from poor tape head tracking and alignment and consequently sounds rather out of phase.

    There is also a persistent low level hum present during most of the audio track, but this appears to be a ground loop problem on stage rather than a transfer fault. The hum is not present during Noel's solo songs where he sings accompanied only by his guitar.

    Overall, the audio track sounds rather flat and muted, and recorded at a fairly low level.

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

Extras

    The only extras present on this disc are two music videos.

Menu

    The full frame main menu includes a short intro, and features animation as well as background audio.

Music Video - Rock 'N' Roll Star (4:39)

    This is a full frame music video which seems to consist of mainly concert footage spliced with additional scenes. The audio track is PCM. The transfer is grainy in parts.

Music Video - Cigarettes & Alcohol (4:51)

    This is also full frame but in black and white. For some reason, the overall theme is girls smoking and drinking in the ladies toilet, spliced with Oasis concert footage.

R4 vs R1

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

    This title does not appear to have been released in Region 1.

Summary

    Oasis - Live By The Sea is a video of a concert held at the Southend Cliffs Pavilion on 17 April 1995. The video and audio quality is very mediocre and based on an interlaced analogue video tape. Extras are limited to two music videos.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Christine Tham (read my biography)
Monday, May 20, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-626D, using Component output
DisplaySony VPL-VW11HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics 16x9 matte white screen (254cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationDenon AVR-3300
SpeakersFront and rears: B&W CDM7NT; centre: B&W CDMCNT; subwoofer: B&W ASW2500

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