Alice Cooper-Welcome to My Nightmare (DVD-Audio) (1975) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Booklet Featurette-Interview: Bob Ezrin and Alice Cooper (10:36) Biographies-Cast Notes-Credits Lyrics
Rating
Year Of Production	1975
Running Time	46:52
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Alice Cooper Johnny 'Bee' Badanjek Jozef Chirowski Bob Ezrin Whitey Glan Steve 'Deacon' Hunter Prakesh John Tony Levin Vincent Price Michael Sherman Dick Wagner Gerry Lyons Trish McKinnon
Case	DVD-Audio Jewel
RPI	$32.95	Music	Alice Cooper

    So now we get to the first DVD-Audio disc I had the pleasure of listening to as a DVD-Audio disc. Whilst I had already listened to several discs using the DVD-Video compatible Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and been impressed, nothing quite prepared me for the experience of listening to the Advanced Resolution MLP 5.1 soundtrack! It does of course help that this is one of my favourite albums from the 1970s, and one that I have had in my music collection in various forms since it was first released back in 1975. Specialist, high quality pressings on vinyl from Japan and Hong Kong have shared shelf space with local vinyl releases, several cassette releases from overseas as well as at least two CD incarnations. I have probably destroyed more copies of this album through overuse than most people have actually owned of the album. It remains one of the very best theatrical albums ever produced and nearly every song is a classic - certainly an appellation that can be ascribed to Welcome To My Nightmare, Devils Food and The Black Widow, a triumvirate of songs perhaps unexcelled as a coherent, thematic opening to an album. Add in such gems as Only Women Bleed, Department Of Youth and Escape and there is so much great, classic music packed into 46 minutes that it is hard to comprehend just how good this album is.

    I have had the privilege of seeing Alice Cooper on stage several times, but not even those experiences can compare to the quality we hear on this disc. This is as close to live music as you can get out of the studio environment I would suspect.

    This is a disc that is a revelation in every way, and should be in every collection. A classic album from a classic period of popular music that is as easy to listen to and appreciate today as it was way back in 1975. If this is not in your DVD-Audio collection, you really don't have a DVD-Audio collection.

Video

    The NTSC menus and stills are clear, with the text generally easy to read. The video interview segment is good but is slightly diffuse with some slight colour bleed.

Audio

    The disc contains three sound format choices: the default DVD-Audio MLP 96 kHz/24 bit 5.1 soundtrack, a DVD-Audio MLP 96 kHz/24 bit 2.0 soundtrack and a DVD-Video compatible Dolby Digital 5.1 448 Kb/s soundtrack. I listened to the two 5.1 soundtrack formats in their entirety and sampled the MLP 2.0 soundtrack. The original album was produced by Bob Ezrin and it is very pleasing to see that he produced, engineered and mixed the surround sound remix. Now, some might wonder why this is important. For me it is very important for the simple reason of artistic integrity. Classic albums are classics for good reason and therefore it should not be left to any old person to play around with remastering them, for they may have no understanding of the thought processes that went into the original album mix. So if you have the actual person who did the original mix doing the remastering, the chances are that they will be doing the job cognisant of the aims of the original release.

    There is again not much to complain about with respect to the DVD-Video compatible Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Whilst not quite of the quality of that found on Billion Dollar Babies, it is not bad. The main issue is that the bass is slightly too resonant in the mix, although some may not be affected as much by this as I. The bass is particularly noticeable in Some Folks and Only Women Bleed. Other than that, a nice mix has resulted. There is good separation of the tracks, so that the vocals tend to be frontally orientated with keyboards and backing vocals tending to be rearwards balanced. The result is a very believable soundscape, even though even better separation of the instruments would not have been impossible. The sound has plenty of body and would suffice in every way for those not DVD-Audio equipped.

    In this instance, the DVD-Audio MLP 5.1 soundtrack is a kicker and a half. Not because it has truckloads of bass, but rather because it brings out so much detail and subtlety in the music. There are entire instrument tracks in the mix that I never knew were there and to finally hear them and understand the contribution that they make to the soundscape is a joy. The surround channels have been well used with some nice separation of instruments and vocals that results in the incredible detail to be found in this over twenty five year old material. The start of Welcome To My Nightmare has you wondering whether this is really the first time you have heard the song the way it is supposed to be heard, and there is no let up from there. The distinctive tones of Vincent Price are clearer than you have ever heard them, and the little vocal inflections that previously were only hinted are now heard to the fullest. Pick any song and similar platitudes can be granted. My personal favourite is Department Of Youth - a classic song that really lifts in this new format.

    From the sampling made of the MLP 2.0 soundtrack, there is little to complain about. Once again a nice open sound, with quite a deal of presence (especially when you crank the volume up a bit) and clarity.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
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Booklet

    A decent 12-page booklet provides some history of Alice Cooper, some insight into the album, photographs and a track listing, as well as credits.

Featurette - Interview (10:36)

    Featuring Bob Ezrin and Alice Cooper, this is a really worthwhile listen. It looks into some of the history and gestation of the album, some of the problems of recording the album as well as looking at the way that Alice Cooper creates music. Technically it is a little lacking with a slightly diffuse image and some colour bleed, but otherwise is fine with plenty of saturated tones and vibrancy. A thoroughly worthwhile listen in every way - I usually hate this sort of thing but have listened to it twice, so hopefully that gives you an idea of its value.

Biographies - Cast

    Biography actually, since it is only for Alice Cooper: it runs to five pages of text.

Notes - Credits

    Five pages of text covering the original album as well as the DVD.

Lyrics

    The usual lyrics that may be read whilst the songs are being played, as long as you are listening in DVD-Audio mode.

    This DVD-Audio is identical in content and format around the world.

    Alice Cooper's Welcome To My Nightmare was the first DVD-Audio disc I listened to in DVD-Audio mode and it knocked me over! Considering the age of the album, a true classic in every way, the detail that is revealed in the Advanced resolution sound is quite astounding. Alice Cooper's Welcome To My Nightmare is one of my favourite albums from the 1970s as indicated by all the versions I have had of it - at least three different, high quality vinyl LPs, along with cassettes and two CDs. Despite having heard the album so many times that I have literally worn out LPs and tapes, this was like listening to the album for the first time. An ear-opener in every way and already a steady visitor to my player. If this is the quality that can be achieved from twenty five year old material, then I look forward with relish to some more recent material. I hope they consider releasing School's Out on DVD-Audio though! The only thing that I cannot understand is how this album could possibly score a PG rating.

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