Muse-Hullabaloo: Live at Le Zenith, Paris (2001) |
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Muse-Hullabaloo: Live at Le Zenith, Paris (2001) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Music |
Booklet Menu Animation & Audio Multiple Angles-Sunburn; Uno; Space Dementia; Hyper Music Multiple Angles-Agitated; Unintended Web Links Featurette-Extra Footage Discography Gallery-Front Covers DVD Credits |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
| Running Time | 91:17 (Case: 90) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
RSDL (50:22) Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Matt Askem |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Festival Mushroom |
Starring |
Matthew Bellamy Dominic Howard Chris Wolstenholme |
| Case | Soft Brackley-Transp-Dual v2 | ||
| RPI | ? | Music | Muse |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| 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 | ||
As musical tastes are extremely varied from person to person, I find it hard to give you my thoughts on their music. I call myself a fan of Muse, but not enough of a fan to warrant a purchase of anything they put out. This is not in any way a criticism of the band, but only my personal opinion. Triple J frequently play their tracks, and I recognised eight tracks while watching this DVD. What I can do is give you my thoughts on both their live performance, and the production of this DVD.
Having heard each of those eight songs I just mentioned numerous times, I can say that the band sounded fantastic live. The atmosphere created within their music came across perfectly on stage, and the lads put on a great performance in front of the massive French crowd. If you’re a fan of Muse and you have not seen them live, this DVD is a fantastic way to experience it without being there. The audio/visual presentation is fantastic (more on that later), placing you right in the middle of the crowd.
The only thing that let me down in the presentation was the editing. Being shot with multiple cameras, the show feels more like a video clip than a concert. With many shots lasting only a few frames at times, and flashing lights a-plenty, I found the overall experience slightly off-putting. I would have liked to see more fixed footage, but this was certainly not the intention of the producer or the band, and I cannot argue with that. That is the only complaint I have with this entire DVD, and that is not a fault of the actual DVD, but the way the concert footage was put together.
To sum things up; if you’re a fan of Muse, you cannot pass on this DVD. The presentation is top notch, and it is a great tribute to a band that have only released two albums so far. Even if you’re not a die-hard fan of the band, but enjoy music of their ilk, you should check this one out, as it is up there with the best music DVDs I’ve seen.
| 1. Introduction 2. Dead Star 3. Microcuts 4. Citizen Erased 5. Sunburn 6. Showbiz 7. Megalomania 8. Uno 9. Screenager 10. Feeling Good | 11. Space Dementia 12. In Your World 13. Muscle Museum 14. Cave 15. New Born 16. Hyper Music 17. Agitated 18. Unintended 19. Plug In Baby 20. Bliss |
When you get past the fact that the visuals have obviously been tweaked in post-production to provide all sorts of MTV-style effects, the video transfer of the concert footage is superb, and is of reference quality.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and is 16x9 enhanced.
The video quality is deliberately distorted and filtered at times, resulting in numerous varying qualities of image. Considering that intentional distortion and smoke is present at times, the sharpness is spot-on. Shadow detail is also perfect, although constant atmospheric low level grain is present throughout the entire production. This would not appear to be a fault of this transfer at all, but rather an artistic choice.
Colours tend to bleed at times, but again this is not a blemish of the transfer, but a deliberate effect. Apart from that, the colours are very bright and vibrant, resulting in a beautiful looking transfer.
Artefacts seemed to be non-existent, but it was hard to tell at times, the editing was that quick.
Disc one is RSDL-formatted with the layer change placed at 50.22, thankfully in between songs. It was not annoying at all. Disc two is a single layered disc.
| Sharpness |  |
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| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
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The live footage is presented with three different audio mixes, all selectable on-the-fly; Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and dts 5.1. They range from satisfactory (Dolby Digital 2.0) - to excellent (Dolby Digital 5.1) – to reference quality (dts).
The vocals were always clear and intelligible on all three audio tracks, never distorting unintentionally, and mixed at a perfect level which complimented the music perfectly. Audio sync was also spot on throughout all three tracks.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 track gets the job done, without sounding as spectacular as a surround mix can. Bass was good, but the lack of surround channels lets it down somewhat.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix was a vast improvement over the stereo track, which is to be expected. Surround channel usage was good, drawing the viewer into the performance a great deal. Music is supported, along with crowd ambience and directional cheering. The subwoofer had a decent workout, reinforcing the sound with some deep bass.
It is the dts track that wins here though, and it wins hands down. Surround channels are mixed noticeably louder than on the Dolby track, creating a much more interactive environment. You really feel like you are in the crowd, being surrounded by a singing, screaming and cheering bunch of French fans. Music can be heard in a realistic way, in that it is more of an echo than direct speaker sound. The subwoofer thumps along to every beat, improving on the Dolby mix again. I sometimes find I need to turn the sub down a tad on music DVDs, but this one was mixed perfectly. The thunderous bass could be felt in the way that it would have been if you were there. Put this down as another definite winner for dts in its battle with Dolby.
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| Overall | |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The video transfer is of reference quality.
The dts audio is of reference quality, and the Dolby track is very good.
The extra features provided nicely complement the live performance, but are not of the highest quality overall.
| Video | |
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| Extras | |
| Plot |  |
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-525, using Component output |
| Display | Teac 82cm 16x9. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Sony STR DE-545 |
| Speakers | 5 Sony speakers; Sherwood 12" 100w Powered Subwoofer |