The Tea Party-Illuminations: The Tea Party Collection (2000) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Music |
Menu Animation & Audio Audio Commentary Discography Biographies-Cast Gallery-Photo Audio-Only Track Featurette-Behind The Scenes |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2000 | ||
Running Time | 60:40 (Case: 59) | ||
RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | None Given |
Studio
Distributor |
Warner Vision |
Starring |
Jeff Burrows Stuart Chatwood Jeff Martin |
Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
RPI | $39.95 | Music | The Tea Party |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (1536Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English Song Lyrics | Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Formed in 1990, it wasn't until 1993 that the band signed with EMI Canada as they required full control over their productions. In 1993, "The River" and "Save Me" were made very popular by JJJ and other alternative rock stations in Australia. It was this popularity that saw the first international tour land on Australian shores with great success. This success paved the way for future albums and also was shown in the band's renowned history of over 700 live performances.
The Tea Party have a lot to say in their songs. These messages and themes are very well-presented on this DVD. I have not had a lot of experience with their music before this review but I must say that the music is truly excellent and well worth the price of this DVD or an album. I was very impressed with the depth of talent, discovering that they have used 31 different instruments, both classic and exotic, in their 10 year history.
This music DVD is presented as a collection of their most successful songs from all six albums. The tracks are presented as music videos, made at the time of releasing the songs. The music is excellent and the DVD is very good. Heartily recommended.
1. The River 2. Save Me 3. Certain Slant of Light 4. Fire In The Head 5. The Bazaar 6. Shadows on the Mountainside 7. Sister Awake | 8. Temptation 9. Babylon 10. Release 11. Psychopomp 12. Heaven Coming Down 13. The Messenger 14. Walking Wounded |
The video is presented in 1.33:1, being the original aspect ratio. One track is recorded in 1.78:1 non-enhanced, presumably for DTV.
The quality of the tracks improve dramatically as the age of the video decreases. Grain is very noticeable in the first few tracks, recorded in 1993/94, but diminishes steadily in the remaining tracks. Sharpness is hindered by the grain as well as the production techniques used for the music videos, which generally tend to move in and out of focus frequently. The transfer is more than adequate as the DVD is about the music - the visuals are merely ancillary.
Colour is well-rendered throughout, particularly well-saturated on "The Bazaar" where the colours are used to heighten the effect of the music video.
MPEG artefacts were not obvious and there were limited film artefacts, besides those introduced purposefully into the film as is often the case in music videos.
The lyric subtitles are accurate and often useful to aid in understanding what is being sung. English is the only option unfortunately.
The disc is dual-layered. There is a pause between each track which made my amp have to constantly redetect the audio format. This was not disruptive, merely interesting.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
There are four audio tracks available on this DVD; a Dolby Digital 2.0 track at 192Kbps, a Dolby Digital 5.1 track at 448Kbps, a DTS 5.1 track at the full 1536Kbps bitrate, and a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio commentary track at 192Kbps. I watched the entire feature in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS. The DTS track has marginally better use of the soundfield and seemingly more clarity, while the Dolby Digital track is mastered about 4 - 5dB louder. The Dolby Digital 2.0 track is not surround encoded and is fine for a stereo track but does not compare to either 5.1 mix.
Audio sync was fine throughout and the singing was understandable for the most part. Occasionally, the lyrics can be hard to understand, but this is not a fault of the transfer. The reproduced quality of the instruments is quite phenomenal throughout. Apart from a pop at 38:25 during the audio commentary, there were no other problems.
The Tea Party have made maximum use of the 5.1 soundfield, creating a very immersive track that is a great example of how music should sound when mixed to 5.1. "Save Me" is a great example of immersive use of the soundfield while "Babylon" makes aggressive use of the subwoofer. The subwoofer is used throughout but never without merit.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The video quality is adequate for a music DVD
The audio quality is excellent.
The extras are good with the audio commentary being very worthwhile.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using S-Video output |
Display | RCA 80cm. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Onkyo TX-DS787, THX Select |
Speakers | All matching Vifa Drivers: centre 2x6.5" + 1" tweeter (d'appolito); fronts and rears 6.5" + 1" tweeter; centre rear 5" + 1" tweeter; sub 10" (150WRMS) |