Flight 666 (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are a fan of Iron Maiden, this is the biggest no-brainer in the history of mankind. Watching this concert in 1080P projected on a 133" screen is awe inspiring. The DTS-HD MA audio mix is appropriately aggressive and captures the band's sound perfectly. It definitely helps that the band is obviously having fun with the enthusiastic crowds, and are in fine form, especially vocalist Dickinson, who sounds effortless hitting all of his signature high notes throughout the set. I may be crazy, but he appears to have even better control of his voice now than on earlier concert films like the classic "Live After Death" when he was barely 26 years old (and theoretically in his prime!). Impressive indeed.
Drummer Nicko McBrain literally puts on a drum clinic on several songs, and the set provides some great angles of his playing, especially a particularly well edited segment of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" which had my jaw on the floor. The guitar playing is also pretty great throughout, and surprisingly very tight considering there are 3 guitarists in the line-up. It's hard to pick "highlights" because the whole set is basically guitar riff heaven!
As others have stated, this is a great concert to introduce people to Iron Maiden. Oh, and there is also a pretty good documentary on the disk as well... ;)
The actual documentary is pretty light on content, and emphasizes fun moments more than shedding any real light on the inner workings of the band. I was ok with that, even as a pretty huge fan of Maiden since the 80's, but I can certainly understand where someone that wants to know what color underwear Steve Harris wears would be disappointed here. Ah well, you can't please everybody! And apparently there is a mountain of footage not used, so I'm sure we'll eventually see it released in a retrospective of some sort when the band gets to that point in their careers (10 years from now would be my guess).
But for now, I can't recommend this disk highly enough. Do not hesitate- even if you are only a casual fan- buy this NOW, especially if you have a good sound system and a 1080P display.


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FLIGHT 666 documents the first leg of Maiden's legendary SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME WORLD TOUR which took them 50,000 miles round the planet playing 23 concerts on five continents in just 45 days. One of the stars of the movie is the band's customized Boeing 757, Ed Force One, which carried the band, all their crew and 12 tons of stage equipment and was piloted by Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, a fully qualified and active Airline Captain with Astraeus Airlines. Taking you on a visual global tour from Mumbai to Sydney, Tokyo to L.A., Mexico City to Costa Rica, Bogota to Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago to New York and Toronto and places in-between, you travel with the band and crew on the plane, to and from shows, in the bar and during leisure time, while experiencing the exhaustion and fan pandemonium that comes with such a mission.

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Stevie Wonder: Live at Last (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased the Stevie Wonder - Live At Last yesterday and I have to say that finally Motown stepped up and put together a great DVD featuring one of the great pioneers of our musical time. Simply one of the best from beginning to end. My all time favorite song is also featured on this DVD "Visions", I went to see Stevie in concert this last year in Philadelphia, and I would have to say that the picture quality and the surround 5.1 DTS sound made me feel like I was at the concert all over again at a reasonable price. I was also amazed at how wonderful Stevie's daughter sounds on her solo. All in all....this is definately a classic DVD with all of his favorite songs, from "I Wish", "All I Do", " "As", "Don't You Worry About A Thing", "Superstition", "Overjoyed" to the all time classic "Lately". Truly a must have for any music lover and keep in mind that after almost 6 decades....Stevie Wonder is still selling out arena not only in this country....but around the world. If you've never been to a Stevie Concert.....sit back, relax and enjoy this 2 hour DVD concert....you may never get a chance to enjoy great music like this again, so don't take it forgranted. Just simply enjoy and again....thanks Stevie and Motown.....You both finally got it right!!!!!

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This is Stevie's first EVER official DVD release!! Filmed at the O2 Arena, London, UK on September 30th and October 1st 2008 in front of 15,000 people, this show was part of the A Wonder Summer Nights Tour which visited the US, Europe and the UK as well as Australia and New Zealand.1. Intro / All Blues2. As If You Read My Mind3. Master Blaster (Jammin')4. Did I Hear You Say You Love Me5. All I Do6. Knocks Me Off My Feet7. Uk Medley*8. Higher Ground 9. Spain10. Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing11. Visions12. Living For The City13. Part-Time Lover14. Overjoyed15. Lately16. I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out Of My Life 17. My Cherie Amour18. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)19. Sir Duke20. I Wish 21. Isn't She Lovely22. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life23. I Just Called To Say I Love You24. You Are The Only One (Snippet)25. Superstition26. So What The Fuss27. As*UK MEDLEY TRACKS ARE London Bridge Is Falling Down (Traditional) * Fool On The Hill (The Beatles) * I Wanna Hold Your Hand (The Beatles) * I Can't Get No Satisfaction (Rolling Stones) * That's What Makes The World Go Around (The Sword In The Stone - Disney)

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k.d. lang: Live in London With the BBC Concert Orchestra (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)DTS-HD master audio is spacious with tight, deep bass and plenty of air between the instruments. Gigantic sound stage, especially when string section joins in. Vocal recording is dry with incredible nuance. You could literally hear her whisper above the full band & orchestra. Demo disc quality. Video is a little soft compared to, say, a nature documentary, but is basically crystal clear. Performance features stunning vocals & a very talented band. You probably either hate or love KD Lang but even home theater enthusiasts who are not into her music should consider owning this disc. This is a new standard for blu-ray concerts.

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The legendary voice as you've never heard her before! One of today's most distinctive performers, k.d. lang, sings her enduring hits live with the BBC Concert Orchestra in this new concert, featuring state-of-the-art video and sound. Featured Songs: Constant Craving, Upstream, I Dream of Spring, Helpless, Coming Home, Thread, Wash Me Clean, Western Stars, Pay Dirt, Jealous Dog, Sunday, Smoke Rings, Don't Smoke in Bed, Once In A While, The Valley, Flame Of The Uninspired, Close Your Eyes, Je Fais la Planche, Shadow and the Frame and her celebrated version of the Leonard Cohen classic, Hallelujah.

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The Live Anthology: Ultimate Collector's Edition Boxed Set (5 CDs + 1 Blu-ray + 2 DVDs + 1 LP) Review

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(More customer reviews)When I saw this title, I knew I'd get it, but there are a few versions, so... which one? I opted for the deluxe Collector's Edition because I'm a big Petty fan, and I don't regret it, but after sifting through it, I think the non-deluxe version is a MUCH better value. That can be had for $20 or so, while the deluxe seems to be a minimum of $100 (on sale) or up to $150 at regular prices.
The non-deluxe version gets you 4 cd's of great Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers live from 1980-2007 (disc 5 in the Deluxe Version gets you one older track recorded in 1978, but everything else in this set is 1980 or later). You can check the track-listing for details, so I won't drag it out here, but suffice to say there's plenty of room for the hits, and there are tons here, but thankfully there's also plenty of room for some more obscure Petty gems like "Nightwatchman", which is a fave of mine and opens the set, as well as covers he's done through the years like Willie Dixon's "I Just Want To Make Love To You", an instrumental version of "Goldfinger", "Green Onions" from Booker T & the MG's and many more. So there's plenty of songs Petty does here you will not have heard on his albums, and they are worth having. And the set is not chronologically ordered, instead sequenced by mood, so each disc flows nicely yet is never predictable. Just what a Petty/Heartbreakers live anthology should be, and at $20 for FOUR discs, an absolute STEAL. Some fans seem a little disappointed that the set is a bit heavy on more recent performances featuring Steve Ferrone on drums instead of the 1976-1993 lineup that had original drummer Stan Lynch, but I'm a drummer myself of 18 years and this doesn't bug me a bit. They are both excellent players and both are in top form on this set.
The Deluxe version has the 4 discs above, plus a 5th bonus disc of more live material as well as the following:
-Blu-ray audio disc of all 62 tracks in both stereo and surround sound, high resolution 96K 24-bit audio with 256 times more resolution than a CD
-DVD of "400 Days," a previously unreleased documentary film by director Martyn Atkins, made during the 1995 Wildflowers tour and recording sessions
-DVD with previously unreleased New Years Eve 1978 Santa Monica, CA, concert
-12" vinyl of a remastered 1976 official Live Bootleg album
-Deluxe book with liner notes offering personal perspectives on the band and their music by Tom Petty, Warren Zanes, Bill Flanagan, Robert Hilbum, Joel Selvin, Austin Scaggs and Phil Sutcliffe
-Reproduction "Litho" of Shepard Fairey cover art (12x12 on high quality stock)
-Assorted authentic vintage backstage satin passes Looking at all these extras, it's an impressive package, but here's what I've found:
- the backstage passes and litho artwork are nice to look at, but... essential? Not really.
- the live DVD from 1978 is prior to Petty's breakthrough "Damn The Torpedos" album, so unless you're a big fan of his earlier stuff (which I'm not), this is also not essential.
- same for the 1976 "Official Live 'Leg" LP. This was recorded a mere month after the release of Petty's very first album in front of what sounds like about 10 people and includes just 4 songs: Jaguar and Thunderbird (a Chuck Berry cover), an early take on "Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)" plus "Luna" and "Dog On The Run". About 22min in all, so again, neat to hear and a nice piece of history, but hardly essential.
- The documentary '400 Days' is nice, but focuses on one period of Petty's career (1995 during the Wildflowers album and tour). It's probaby the favorite of the "extras" included in this set, but unlike the main music discs themselves, this too isn't anything I could see myself watching over and over again.
- Then there's the blu-ray disc if you're a tech-junkie/true audiophile (I'm not, so the regular discs sound just fine to me). And then the extended liner notes are nice, combining looks back from some top music journalists that have seen Petty over the years and Petty himself offering takes on each of the tracks.
So I guess for ME, the only thing of all these extras I really wouldn't want to live without is the 5th disc of music (as even Petty himself would agree I bet, it's the MUSIC that matters, right?). Disc 5 contains one of my all-time favorite tunes ("The Last DJ"), plus several interesting covers (including Roger McGuinn's "Ballad of Easy Rider") and the always killer "Don't Come Around Here No More", which easily trumps the studio recorded version.
But... is that 5th disc worth an extra $100? Hmmm, that's a toughie for you to decide. Since I bought it, I'll keep it, but for all but the hardest of the hard-core Petty fans, the 4-disc version for $20 is an incredible value with TONS of great music. The collector's edition contains a lot of great extras, but the only essential thing there to me is the 5th disc and if I had it to do over again, I might pass on that and save the $100. That's why this deluxe version gets 4 stars from me and not 5, but overall it is a nice package and the music itself is definitely top notch! A great reminder of what makes Petty (and the Heartbreakers!) such an important band over the last 30+ years.

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The ultimate collector's boxed set includes:
- 62 tracks on 5 CDs including 14 exclusive tracks on the 5th disc only available in the deluxe box set.
- DVD of 400 Days, a previously unreleased documentary film by director Martyn Atkins, made during the 1995 Wildflowers Tour
- DVD of previously unreleased New Years Eve 1978 Santa Monica, CA concert.
- Vinyl of re-mastered 1976 Official Live 'Leg bootleg album.
- One Blu-ray disc of all 62 tracks in both stereo and surround sound. This high resolution Blu-ray is an audio only disc with basic song navigation and information displayed on the screen. The 96K 24 bit audio on the disc has 256 times more resolution than a CD providing greater detail and reproducing the music's full dynamic range, from the softest to the loudest sounds.
- Deluxe book with liner notes offering personal perspective by Tom Petty, Warren Zanes, Bill Flanagan, Robert Hilburn, Joel Selvin, Austin Scaggs, and Phil Sutcliffe.
- Lithograph reproduction of Shepard Fairey Cover Art (12" x 12" on high quality stock)
- Reproduction of 1997 twenty night Fillmore stand concert poster (8" x 12" on high quality stock)
- The Live Anthology notebook.
- Assorted authentic vintage backstage satin passes.

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