Rating: Summary: What the (...)?!!! Review: Yes, the music IS great, and I've drooled at the the excellent musicmanship that DT can convey as much on stage as in the studio, and this is no small feat. BUT (And this a major BUT), The short video clips that were suuposed to get me into the story are so amateurly made that I've just laughed and laughed. Seems to be the crossing between a 10-year old boy trying to make a horror movie, and a *VERY BAD* student flick, the psychedelic effects that accompany the live video were also pretty much hilarious...and the transition effects.. why, god?!?!! I can bare watching such effects in '70 video-clips, when they were just learning to use 'em ("wow look, we can split the image to 2, then to 4, then to 64,000! this surely will entertain audiences forever"). And as other people noted, the Audio quality is rather poor for a DVD, and the balance is all wrong. So should you buy it or not? If you're a DT fan, the answer is still yes. There's more than enough left in this disc to make you grin (and a good laugh is something too of course).
Rating: Summary: Poor Audio Review: The band is brilliant as always, but the sound is horrible.I was very disappointed with this DVD. I Max out the volume and it still isn't nearly enough(usually one third of Max is plenty).I still give it 3 stars because the musicians are incredible and it shows.
Rating: Summary: The greatest and most talented band on the planet! Review: I have never seen these guys live, so this was the main reason why I purchased this dvd last night. I was blown away by just how great of musicians these guys are. John, Jordan, Myung, and Rudess are just godly. My favorite has to be John P. because even though the other guys are great, John steals the show with his technically blazing riffs and his mind-shattering solos. All the guys on one stage just blows the mind. The power and energy these guys create will never ever be recreated by any band. Oops... I almost forgot to mention James Labrie. He sounds great in this concert (unlike Once in a Livetime). He hits all his high notes with ease, and his vocals seem pretty strong and consistent throughout the entire three and a half hour show. The only complaint I have about the dvd is that the silly movie inserts during parts of the songs seem cheesy and just plain dumb. I would much rather be seeing the band play, rather than watching some losers who can't act. Anyways, at least we do get to see the band majority of the time. This dvd also includes over an hour of additional songs(not to mention the whole Scenes from a Memory album!). We get to see "A Change of Seasons" in its entire 25 minutes, which is just too awesome to explain. I give the dvd footage, sound, and the band 5 stars, but I have to take 1 star away due to the stupid movie clips. My advice is to drive to your local music store and purchase one of the greatest live videos ever!
Rating: Summary: GREAT!! Review: This is one of the greatest live shows I have ever seen, it shows the masterpiece Scenes from a Memory in whole and helps the viewer understand the story more. I have watched over and over again, and get chills every time.. Do yourself a favor and buy this one, no regrets believe me....And to ERIC if you read this Dream Theater are not Berkley graduates thier Berkley dropouts as they all met there except James, and Jordan. They are still faithful to the school doing clinics and speaking to the students but never graduated.
Rating: Summary: Dream Theater is The BEST Review: Look, plain and simple----> Dream Theater has the best musicians. Hard to have a BAD concert when you have a drummer who ranks along the lines of Lars Ulrich from Metallica, guitarist who also played at the G3 tour- (I saw it live, it blew me away), a keyboardist who played with Yngwie Malmsteen, and a singer who took lessons from an opera coach, not to mention they are all UC Berkley Music School Graduates. They sound as good live as they do in the recording studio, and what a show! A MUST buy!
Rating: Summary: Best DT DVD !!!! Review: I bought this DVD with some apprehension abt the audio quality. Here is my review after watching it tonight...it ROCKS!!!! Audio: a) Sound is not low level(as per some review)..i played at the same level knob as Metallica S&M and it sound okay for a small room....i using a PC sound card + amp + 2 bookshelf speaker. b) Yes, the audio quality is below par. The solution is for those who have treble control on your amp or audio control to increasing the high's , for me i use my hi-shelfing treble to bring the highs and voila!!! it sound acceptable again..off course dont compare to S&M... it will not be that annoying to hear all the sounds so muffled. John Myung bass is solid and you can hear distinctly what he plays! unlike Metallica's Jason...that a plus. I don't think Kevin Shirley (the mixing engineer) is too blame for the mix,,,,i heavily suspect that it is down to the DVD rendering/ authoring team or during the transfer of the masterdisc for production...any untrained ear will quicky reject such inferior sound...it's a shame on the that note I appreciate Mike Portnoy of splitting the images to show different members playing...i am always wants to see my fav bassist John Myung play his Infiniti bass!!! awesome!!!! This DVD is superb in other department, it brings out the passion and memories for those who attended the gig and for those who misses (like me...they never come to Singapore :( but i got to see John Myung at Hard Rock Cafe in Singapore Jan 2000 doing a bass clinic :) this is a must have DVD !!!!! Video : So-So....quality is acceptable but not crisp...however it beats VHS!!! The audio commentary is so fun!!! and to hear inputs from the members itself!!! JM was very mysterious though... So i urge anyone who wants to buy this DVD but feel apprehended abt some of the review, don't...it is worth the buy....I hope DT will come out another GREAT DVD soon!!!!!
Rating: Summary: For fans only Review: First off, I do love DREAM-THEATER and the performance on this DVD is very good. If you thought James Labrie's vocal performance on ONCE IN A LIVE TIME was below par(now that's an understatement) then you will be pleasantly surprised by his performance on this DVD. It is not perfect by any means, but it is acceptable for the most part. The rest of the band are pretty much flawless, as you would expect. Now for the DVD itself, the picture quality is pretty good in my opinion, it's full screen, which is OK for a music DVD. The picture can become a little bit pixalated in some of the split screen sections, but it's not a huge problem. The big problem(one of them anyway), as just about everyone has stated, is in the sound. Even allowing for the fact that it isn't 5.1, the volume is extremely low. The volume control on my HI-FI goes up to 30, normally I would listen to a CD on about 17(which is fairly loud), with this disc I have to turn it up to about 25, which under normal circumstances would be shaking my house into the ground, and even at full volume it's just not that loud. Plus, the mix isn't that good anyway, lacking in power and clarity, probably the best mix I have heard of their recent live performances is on the THROUGH HER EYES CD single, even though it features James Labrie's worst performance ever, at least the music sounds good. Now some more problems, the poorly acted and filmed narrative inserts that have been put in to explain the story are completely embarrassing, I am way to embarrassed to even show this DVD to people who aren't already fans, as they would probably leave the room in hysterics, an option to turn these on and off would have been greatly appreciated. I watch the bonus tracks more often as they don't include any of these scenes and I can watch it without cringing. Just take a look at the guy reading the newspaper during BEYOND THIS LIFE and tell me that that isn't one of the dodgiest things you've ever seen. Near the end of the OK commentary track Mike Portnoy states that the scene on screen at the time is the one scene that he is not happy with, well I've got news for you Mike, there all terrible. DREAM-THEATER fans will want to pick this up, but people just wanting to see what there like would be better off picking up one of their studio albums.
Rating: Summary: Great band, but not a great DVD Review: Dream Theater is probably the best band in the planet, but that's not the point. Pros: The band's performance is excellent. Video quality is the best i've ever seen on a live performance (sharp and colorful). It includes full versions of Metropolis 2 and Change of Seasons, plus a small bunch of other songs. Cons: Audio quality is so poor I though I was listening to a VHS tape. Even if it's a live recording, it could have sounded a lot better, since musicians performance is flawless. If you are a DT fan, this is a piece you MUST have in your collection, but don't expect too much: Metropolis2 Audio CD sounds a thousand times better. If you are not a DT fan and you want to know them, it's a worth buy, but better buy the CD albums.
Rating: Summary: Awesome band, DVD production stinks Review: My rating of this DVD does not reflect my enthusiasm about this band, or the concert that is recorded here. Where Rush began to fade in the 90's, Dream Theater picked up the torch of progressive rock, and moved on! Dream Theater rocks folks! There's more talent in this band than I've seen in a progressive rock band in a long time. That being said, I think this latest effort (Scenes From A Memory) is a little pretentious. Concept albums are difficult to get right. It requires the right mix of message and execution, and 'Scenes' seems to missing something to me. With standards like Floyds 'The Wall', Genesis' 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway', and Rush's '2112' to compete with, it's is a very tall order. OK, back to this DVD, which I am watching as I type this on my laptop. The quality of the video, and audio production is so far below DVD standards, it's pathetic. Compare this with the Eagles 'Hell Freezes Over'. My God! The Eagles DVD envelopes you in sound with it's DTS soundtrack, and it has equisite video coverage. No comparison. All that aside, it is great to watch these guys play! And I am not upset that I bought the DVD (VHS is so gouch!) Besides the DVD has more goodies. But I challenge Dream Theater to capture some truly great video and audio for another DVD. I want a DTS soundtrack dang it!
Rating: Summary: Best LIVE DVD Review: I would put "Metropolis 2000" up there with S&M, it is a must have for anyone who liked "Scenes from a Memory." Dream Theater disappointed me with their performance on "Once in a Live Time," but this more then makes up for it, they play out better then on the original and Portnoy just nails that solo at the end. You can also get a chance to hear the band comment on their masterpiece. It is fun hearing them talk about it. You get the feeling that you're special, it is like they are addressing you. Another amazing thing is Portnoy directed it. He is a very talented guy and I think that was his first DVD that he directed. Also if you know the album then seeing concept footage along with the music gives you chills because it is so vivid and fits in completely. It adds a whole new aspect to it. In conclusion "Metropolis 2000" is one of the best live DVD, and is at the same caliber as Metallica's S&M.
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