Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing video, disappointing audio
Review: I must agree with other reviewers' criticisms of the video quality of this DVD. It doesn't look good. Not only is it grainy with a number of obviously visible MPEG macroblocking artifacts, but the widescreen presentation is simply ill advised. Compare it to the Laserdisc. Unlike many DVDs which take what was originally a widescreen presentation "panned and scanned" for videotape and return it to its original form, this DVD takes the 4:3 original material and zooms in on it, chopping off the top and bottom. In general, this isn't too badly done, but I must ask what is the point? Why not show all that was recorded? I suspect that the zoom also magnified the film grain. This is widescreen for the sake of a marketing bullet, not for the sake of a quality presentation. Also, although others may disagree, I think that the color is under-saturated. Maybe it's just because I'm used to the Laserdisc, but the rich colors in that format were very pleasing, and the DVD's presentation, while possibly more accurate, is less pleasing somehow. What's even more disappointing than the video, though, is the audio remix. This is, after all, a musical event. I have the Laserdisc of the concert, and I also have the 2-disc CD album. They are slightly different mixes, but pretty similar. This DVD is a completely new mix, and one that I don't particularly like. Why? Although there are some areas where the mix is clearly nicer and the instruments are better defined, there are others where parts of the audio that I found really enjoyable on the LD and CD are missing. For example, Tony Levin's Moog bass line on "Shaking the Tree" and his synth bass line on "Digging in the Dirt" both lack the sub-bass rumble and punch of the CD and LD presentations. It's as if, in trying to make the bass sounds "tight" and "dynamic", the mixer totally rolled off anything under about 40Hz. Also, the snarl of Levin's Chapman Stick glissando is missing when the band enters on Solsbury Hill, which in my view simply ruins the dramatic moment of the tune. The disc has some nice extras, and for this reason I gave it more than 1 star. But, it's really quite disappointing, and it will not replace my Laserdisc.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor video killed great DVD!!!
Review: All I can say: great audio, audio engineer should be proud of highly professional job. On the other hand, video is absolutely unacceptable and video tech should be ashamed for ruining what could be one of the benchmark concert DVDs. Five stars for audio, minus five stars for video!
Rating:
Summary: 5 Star Reviews ...I bought it....I HATE it......
Review: I guess I don't hate it BUT...I bought this because of all the great reviews I saw on Amazon.com...I hear know great musicians here, there ok, but nothing extrordinary...Some reviewer said the stage was great or something...wow...A tree comes up...and a dome comes down...I say this performance and DVD is a master of mediocrity...
Rating:
Summary: Great concert, poor DVD
Review: I was really excited to get this DVD, only to face dissapointment. I actually bought this at a store, and I had to exchange it three times because each DVD skipped in between "Digging in the Dirt" and "Sledgehammer." I still haven't found a disk that doesn't do that, which makes me think that this DVD is destined to be re-called.
The quality of the film looks cheap (but that's already been mentioned by other reviewers). I was dissapointed that there were limited extras--multiple camera angles would have been wonderful, considering that there is a lot of action going on the two stages and the camera offers a limited view. Also, this may sound a bit picky, but I wish the menu had larger print. It took me a while to realize what I was choosing... Overall, only Peter Gabriel fans will appreciate this DVD...
Rating: 
Summary: Up In Smoke: DVD is Hazey
Review: The performance was stellar but the DVD version of this show is technically disappointing. The 5.1 DTS Audio is fine but the Visual film quality is bogus. For Peter Gabriel this is simply unheard of. It appears that where ever this show was filmed (Italy in smokey Europe. No non-smoking laws there, people) you can cut the arena smoke with a knife! I got lung cancer before Solsbury Hill went 'boom,boom,boom'!!!
All I can think of is the greedy record company released this show without the imput or permission of Gabriel. Grainy picture looks like 1970's super 8 family movies. Hate to rag, but try to find this one used or as a freebie. Sorry Peter but this one Peter'd out visually.
Rating:
Summary: Stand by - Technical Difficulties
Review: As a long-time PG fan, I was anxious to watch this DVD, and I am referring to the DVD here, a number of reviews are for the VHS. What a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, the content is absolutely fabulous! But along with the [poor] looking video, this DVD could easily be used as an example in audio engineering school on how NOT to master a live performance. The loudest thing on the DVD is the audience clapping! The audio track is so heavily compressed that the louder the band gets, the less you can hear. Everything gets pushed way back, to the point where you can't really hear anything. The audio mix is excellent, which is evidenced when the band plays a soft part. But, instead of getting blown out of my chair, instead I'm left straining to hear anything but the compressor breathing. What a disappointment. The only reason I give it three stars is because the performance is excellent, the staging, the lighting, everything is great. Too bad you can't hear it. By the way, I have not seen or heard either the VHS or laserdisc, so I have nothing to compare to.
Rating: 
Summary: quite simply, the best concert video ever made!
Review: From start to the glorious finale, there's not a lull. The band is a collection of some of the best musicians on the planet. David Rhodes and Tony Levin are incredible; as is Peter's voice. The special effects are truely amazing but don't get in the way of the music. I've made alot of new Gabriel fans by showing them this concert. Glad it's finally out on DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Except For One Thing.....
Review: I was ecstatic to find this finally released on dvd. As we all know the concert itself is absolutely phenominal, for those who attended this tour and/or bought the vhs tape well know. But, there's good news and bad news about this dvd. The good news is that the audio is impeccable, it sounds fantastic, a marked improvement over the video tape. The bad news is that the video is horrible! All grainy and it actually looks worse than the tape. I am totally shocked by this. With all the technology today didn't anyone care when they decided to release this on dvd to IMPROVE the video quality? It does look bad, there's no other way to put it. With the cool extras that were added, like the "making of" and the added teasers for the Growing Up Tour, this is a fun package to own. Juse the video quality is a letdown, which is why I didn't give this the 5 stars that it should have, so be warned.
Rating:
Summary: Great DTS sound, horrible picture
Review: I won't delve into the concert performance on this DVD, since it's been out on VHS tape for many years, except to briefly state the concert itself is fantastic. Instead, I'd like to comment on the qualities of the DVD itself. First off, the DVD's four added features, though not groundbreaking, certianly take advantage of the format. A timelapse of the stage being set up, a 'making of SWL' segment, a remixed version of "Steam" set to tour photos, and a glimpse of Peter's most recent "Up" tour, all give added value to the presentation. As to the DVD itself, the DTS 5.1 sound mix is the best I've ever heard. I had seen this concert tour at Madison Square Garden and am happy to say this sounds just like being there. The seperation in the mix is perfect, placing Gabriel's vocals right up front. Tony Levin's bass will give your sub-woofer a workout, Manu Katche's drums are crisp and clean, David Rhode's guitar never gets lost, and the keyboards are mixed just slightly to the background. Background vocals and other instruments are always subtly there. Also, there appear to be no overdubs, you are watching and listening to the same performance. This is not something all concert videos can claim. All in all, a perfect example of how a live 5.1 channel recording should be. On the other hand, the picture quality is another story. My DVD player is hooked up to a widescreen digital tv using component-out connections. Unfortunately, the picture is so grainy it becomes distracting, bordering on unwatchable. At first I thought the DVD was defective, but the bonus material does not have this graininess. I do not know if this is a result of the film being transferred digitally to widescreen, but if this is the case, I would prefer a regular fullscreen analog version. I have the Pearl Jam "Touring Band 2000" DVD, which has a slight graininess to it, however this gives it a certain raw feel that suits a live Pearl Jam concert. In the case of "Secret World Live" it is a disaster. Someone out there will say I'm too picky about the picture, but with the all the hoopla about the 16:9 anamorphic widescreen digital transfer, I am dissapointed. Half of me wants to scream 'this is the best concert DVD ever', and half of me just wants to scream. Geffen Records certianly owes an explanation for the very poor video quality.
Rating:
Summary: Must have DVD - but beware of the film quality
Review: I must say I'm a bit disappointed with this DVD. This was touted as being specially reformatted for widescreen TVs and digitally remixed and remastered for DD 5.1 and DTS. What upset me the most was the quality of the film transfer. It looks very grainy as compared to what I saw on the laserdisc release (and compared to other concert DVDs that I have). I think all they did to make the widescreen transfer was simply zoom in on the original 4:3 format (and ultimately cut off some of the top and bottom areas) so that it conformed to the 16:9 ratio. It's probably not so bad on a regular TV - one of the downfalls with watching it on a HD (I have a 57" Hitachi HD widescreen RPTV) or plasma displays is those types of displays simply magnify whatever is being fed to it - garbage in, garbage out. Don't get me wrong - there's no question that this DVD should be part of any Peter Gabriel fan's DVD collection, but if you already have it on laserdisc, I would think twice before purchasing it. Peter Gabriel is a master at what he does - despite the disappointing video quality, I still thoroughly enjoyed this concert.
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