Rating: 
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: This is definitely my favorit live concert ever.I have both Cd and Vhs for almost ten years.This DvD is on my most wanted list of DvD's from the time when a buy my first DvD player four years ago.So it was a long wait.But now it is over.I just get this DvD and i am totaly blown away.I won't be talking about the performances of Peter Gabriel or the band because it is EXCELENT and i think the names of band members talks for itself.So i will be strictly technical.
The video quality could be better for an anamorphic widescreen and there are some places where can be seen some compresion artifact.The grain is ok and i think they wanted to be like this.And i like it this way anyway.It is a film not TV broadcast.
But what realy hit me,from first second to end was the sound.When i found out this disc will be released in Dts i was realy curious about the improvement in sound quality,but nothing prevent me from what i hear when i push the Play button on my remote.If i name you every improvement in sound quality it will be a wery long list.The dynamic is tremendous you can hear every tiny sound of cymbals, the bass drum is a killer (San Jacinto) the guitar flashes to surrounds (Digging in the Dirt) vocals in all songs stands up and they brings tears to my eyes (Blood of Eden,Don't Give Up) etc.Now i understand why they all have a head mics.Yeah they are all singing.You have feeling that you are there,and that is for me the best thing in sound.This is for me a true refference DvD for sound quality along with Nine inch Nails DvD.
So if you like this concert or never seen it before,it make no difference this is true master piece from all aspects.There can be some things done better,but lot things worse,and maybe they will release this concert on some better medium in few years,but believe me i will be enjoying this DvD till that time.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor video quality, but great concert
Review: I feel very qualified to speak out on the awful video of this embarrassing DVD. I have 300 DVDs, 150 laserdiscs, 3 TVs and 3 DVD players, and well over a decade of experience in professional digital imaging. I know the difference between a poor transfer and grainy film. I know what compression artifacts look like. I know when something has been oversharpened or otherwise fiddled with. So, beleive me when I say the video on this release is pathetic. It is inexcusable, easily the worst looking DVD I own or have seen. The sound is excellent, yes. But I can't bear to watch the terrible image, which effectively reduces it to a re-release of the Secret World Live CD.The laserdisc of this title looks much better than this remastered release. Given gabriel's tight control of his material, I wondered if this was mastered on a home computer? It really looks like an amatuer job. Bottom Line - great sound in a great concert by a great artist, but watching this on anything larger than a 17" is going to be disappointing for discerning collectors.
Rating: 
Summary: I think I'm gonna cry....
Review: [$$$] theater system including a plasma TV. Worst DVD I have ever bought. This is my favorite concert of all time and I am so heartbroken! Do yourself a favor and take the video of this show into the kid's room and watch it on your 2 head [...] VCR. You will get a much better playing. Trust me. I'm so disgusted that I can't even write anymore.
Rating: 
Summary: Ghost in the Machine? At Least for Me
Review: This was my favorite video concert for a very long time and was ecstatic to see that it was coming out on DVD. Well I played it through my DTS sound system and it sounded great, but my Wega Flat Screen (ran through RGB) did not like good, more like broken up mosaic pieces of video. I have over 50 DVD's and this is the first one that has ever broken down like this. Now I did take it to my friends house and played it on a 3 gun projector and it looked fine, what gives, I do not know? My Synopsis: it looks good on VHS, but on DVD only the sound is full proof and the video,,, well I do not know why is falls apart on my system as many others after looking at several reviews.
Rating:
Summary: Great performance
Review: I bought the original performance in laserdisc, so I've been spoiled up to this point. However, I am mystified as to the complaints about the DVD. It is as good, and better in several ways, than the laser, and is 10-fold better that the VHS. The performance is, of course, spectacular, one of the best concert performances by any artist. The DVD is clear on a good HDTV-capable set, and I recommend the bigger the screen the better. Very few artifacts from the digital transfer. Focus on listening to the DTS mix rather than the Dolby 5.1. For some reason, it has more punch and sounds much cleaner, with better multichannel separation. Even if you're not a Peter Gabriel fan but are wondering what all the fuss is about, you won't be disappointed with this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Peter Gabriel is a genius! Gabriel fans must have this DVD
Review: It was amazing to relive this incredible concert almost 10 years after seeing it live! Thank God it was recorded and released! Gabriel, as always, brings music and theatrics together to keep the audience in awe! All I can say is WOW! My 8 and 11 year old children have become TRUE Gabriel fans after putting a visual to all his music I have subjected them to over the years! There is no way to sit still while watching this show! You will be up dancing and singing! I can't believe anyone would say ANYTHING negative about this concert that so obviously had so much time, effort, and thought put into it! Gabriel is my hero!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I got the VHS of this concert a couple of years ago. The DVD is a vast improvement in almost every way. For me, this tour was one of the best PG concerts I've ever seen. The "Growing Up" tour was incredible, but I think this show had better showmanship and activity--and also a bit of a better selection of songs. Really, who is a better showman out there than Peter Gabriel? I don't think any other act--with the possible exception of Pink Floyd/Roger Waters or *possibly* Tool--approaches a concert as theater to the extent that PG does. It isn't just the songs, it is an artistic push for mood, costume, lighting, and *story*. On this tour, Peter and band use two stages (one male, one female) connected by a catwalk and moving sidewalks. The extras are also great with a "making of" doc that has Peter deconstructing the show and the sets. Rather than pure self-promotion, this segment really gives you a feel for all of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into creating this show. There's also a really great remix of "Steam", a pretty neat timelapse of setting up and striking the show, as well as previewing "Growing Up". My one complaint about this DVD is that it is pretty clear at least some of Peter's vocals were re-recorded in studio. There's no breathing (PG spends about a third of the concert in motion), no mic fades, and the audio doesn't always match up with the video. This is pretty typical of PG who apparently did the same for the VHS version, the Secret World CD and Peter Gabriel Plays Live CDs (he said as much in the "Plays Live" liner notes). For me it is maddening. I've seen PG live 6 times now (soon to be 7 or 8 as the Growing Up 2003 tour shapes up) and I have never heard a missed note or a crack. Even if such a thing should show up, it's a LIVE performance, isn't it? The perfectionist leanings that PG has are admirable, but I believe this goes to far and takes away from his live recordings. Most people don't seem to mind this, but I wanted to point it out. To those of you complaining about the video compared to the VHS version, I have both and I've watched them closely: The VHS is full-screen and cuts off the edges. The DVD is not a cropping. The picture in the DVD is a little darker, but a whole lot sharper. I'm no expert but I believe that when the VHS edit was mastered, it was "sweetened" to make it look more like video: a little more colorful and brighter but a little more distorted. This looks more like film. As for the audio, you can't compare the two: the VHS comes nowhere near the quality of the DVD. I can't compare it to the LD version, but the DVD mix is much more discrete and allows for a better feel for the full range of percussion--though Tony Levin fans might want to turn the bass up a bit; I think the low range was de-emphasized a bit to keep it from taking over. Overall, this is an excellent DVD and well worth buying even if you've already bought the VHS. If only more acts put as much effort into their live performances as Peter does. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: An honest review from a Peter Gabriel fan
Review: I'm a big Peter Gabriel fan, and a fan of the Secret World CD - so I thought I would love this DVD. I'm really quite disappointed, however. I read the other reviews, and since I have an EXCELLENT sound system, the sound issues that are reported in some of the other reviews didn't discourage me. It's not the quality of the sound that disappoints me most, it's the entire quality of the DVD (audio + video). It's apparent to me that the concert video does not match the music very well. It's almost like you're watching a video of the concert and listening to the Secret World music CD. It's apparent that the 2 were not recorded in synch. I'm not an over-critical person, but when I compare the quality of this DVD to The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over, or Elton John, Dave Mathews Band, etc. there is simply no comparison. I'd love for Peter Gabriel to come out with a DVD that was recorded in concert - live (audio and video). But for now, the reason I am giving this 3 stars is because I simply love the music.
Rating:
Summary: DTS format has a factory defect
Review: I have bought this dvd a 2 different stores...the DTS format on the sound did not work properly. I have a brand new Kenwood Vr60-70 with 6.0 THX, Dolby, and DTS and at first thought was there was something wrong with the dvd player and receiver but this was not the case. It was the dvd's and was probably was the manufactior of the product.
Rating:
Summary: PG SWL DVD (I love it anyway!)
Review: Like many of the others, I've been a PG fan for a long time, and couldn't wait to get my hands on this DVD. And, like many, I've found that it could have been much better in video quality. I suspect that the source film used in the transfer is showing it's age, or that, as some suspect, that the video 16x9 version is really just cropped from the original video master. The audio is a new mix, and I'm not sure I'm fond of it yet. I will say that unless your surround system is properly calibrated, this mix will sound like .... to you. I hadn't calibrated my speakers in a while, and a couple of songs into the DVD I stopped and calibrated. HUGE difference. Much better. That being said, there are some major differences between the old mix and this one. I like some of the effects done with discreet channels, but I'm still not sold completely on this mix. I love the old mix too much. This mix was done by Pete Walsh, who worked with Peter on the original mix. And although this new DVD mix really does have great moments, I don't think Pete took the time to really A/B the new mix with the old one enough. There are very significant differences in the EQ and volumes of the DVD mix tracks from the old laserdisc mix. Some song mixes sound similar, yet others are totally different. He also may have underestimated the love that so many fans have for the original mixes on SWL. It's a bit like colorizing B&W movies - it may look better but people loved them the way they looked in B&W. It appears to me that this project may have been mixed and edited rather hastily. Peter has been on tour for the past six months or so, and I wouldn't be surprised if this DVD was QC'd and mixed in facilities other than Real World, which is where the original mix was done. I'm also really suspicious of the source of the video masters used for this version. Did they go back to the original film and re-transfer? Did the entire show go through a re-edit? Was the 16x9 version just cropped from the original footage? Did Peter and Pete both work on the DVD mix together, or was it mix by proxy? All I can say is that maybe they will go back and do this one more time and do a THX-certified version or something where QC against the old version will be more a part of the process. I dunno. I love it just because it's really finally on DVD, but it is DIFFERENT. BillJV
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