Customer Reviews

Heart - Alive in Seattle [HD DVD]

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The 2003 DVD release HEART: ALIVE IN SEATTLE is one of the best video recordings of a live performance of a rock band, and it is especially impressive when considering that it documents a recent performance from a band that has been playing kick-*ss rock for nearly 30 years (their debut album, DREAMBOAT ANNIE, was released in 1976).

The performance was recorded at the Paramount Theater in Seattle (Heart's hometown) on Aug. 8, 2002, the last gig on the band's 2002 "Summer of Love" tour. The response to the tour was tremendous, with longtime fans and newbies alike enthusiastically welcoming fronters Ann and Nancy Wilson and their new back-up band--an ensemble that includes former Ozzy Osbourne and Alice In Chains bassist Mike Inez and Lovemongers drummer Ben Smith. The tour was so successful, in fact, that they turned right around and toured again in 2003 (the "Alive in America" tour) playing basically the same song set. So fans who missed either or both of those tours can still experience that concert atmosphere vicariously with the HEART: ALIVE IN SEATTLE disc--but with much better "seating"!

The Wilson sisters made an excellent choice for the set list, which includes the band's very popular pre-`80s hard-rock standards like "Crazy on You," "Straight On," "Magic Man," and "Barracuda," as well as some great post-70s tunes such as "Alone" and "These Dreams." In addition, the band does a fantastic job on covers of Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore" and "Black Dog," the Elton John ballad "Mona Lisas and Madhatters," and an old garage-band ditty called "The Witch."

Dark-haired Vocalist Ann Wilson, as beautiful as ever, proves that she still has what it takes to belt out the band's old hard-rock standards, and she still sounds as angelic as ever on the softer melancholy favorites like "Dog and Butterfly" and "Dreamboat Annie." When Heart plays their classic stuff, Ms. Wilson sounds exactly like she did when the songs were first recorded--which is a lot more than you can say for most rock vocalists from the '60s and '70s, who can no longer hit those high notes. But she and sister Nancy (who mainly plays guitar and other strings) also easily keep up with the newer, younger artists when they perform some of their latest compositions like "Heaven," "Sister Wild Rose," and the really cool hard-hitter "Break The Rock." Both women are certainly in top form and prove they can go the distance in the studio and on stage. And with HEART: ALIVE IN SEATTLE, they leave no doubt that they are still two of the most talented and creative women in rock.

The picture quality on this DVD is crisp and clear, with great color saturation and nice contrast, and the cinematographer does a top-notch job of capturing the energy of the artists and the spirit of their performances. The Dolby sound quality is also excellent, and a sound system that takes advantage of the DTS Surround Sound can really make viewers feel like they are at the live performance.

No longtime fan of HEART will be disappointed with HEART: ALIVE IN SEATTLE. And the DVD will certainly give newbies a taste of just how powerful and emotive this band and the talented duo that drives it can be.

To the previous reviewer who gave this DVD 1 star. Who are you trying to appeal to? People who want to buy this DVD are Heart fans. Not people who feel betrayed by individual "sell-outs" from the grunge scene. Look at the audience, middle age yuppies who are trying to recall the days when they still rocked out. Back in the early 80's The Clash was unmercilously flogged for "selling out" by appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone and having the gall to have two hit singles. Seattle grunge bands were lining up in droves to "sell out". And I blame grunge (along with record labels and fans) for destroying the diversity of "alternative" music that once was. Why trash a mainstream 70's rock group?

Anyways, I saw this video on PBS like so many others and was impressed with the Wilson sisters' live performance. Sure, they don't deviate much from their studio recordings (except for a few) but its nice to see professional musicians with good expressive voices and harmony. I'm not a huge Heart fan except for their signature songs like Barracuda, Magic Man, and Crazy on You. But their acoustic reworking of Alone and These Dreams were good. Their covers of Elton John's Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters and Led Zeppelin's Black Dog and Battle of Evermore show they're fans as well by showing the respect those songs deserve. And songs that weren't as familiar to me were made accessible by their performance.

So if you didn't buy this DVD just to see the "bass player" (so you can see how much he's betrayed you) Heart fans should be very satisfied. All in all one of the better live concert DVD's out there. Very enjoyable.

The widescreen video is nice and needless to say much cleaner than broadcast TV. I'd knock off 1/2 star for sound because the DTS/DD is 5.0 not 5.1 The Digital surround sounds excellent but why not make it 5.1 while they were at it? That discrete punch from the subwoofer would have been nice.

....And better than ever!
I loved Heart's first few albums. I never saw them live or even on TV until MTV came along in the '80s. Thus early on, I knew very little about this band. I did not know for instance that Nancy Wilson could sing, or that both sisters could play a wide variety of instruments. I only knew I loved their music. Then the 80s came and I saw Heart for the first time on a music video of theirs. I was horrified. HUGE hair, ultra-make-up, over-the-top vixen-like creatures, and music polished to the point of no longer having character. This image alone caused me to lose all interest. I no longer took them seriously. I felt betrayed. I dismissed every song they came out with after that out-of-hand, without even giving them a chance.

Twenty years pass. I watch this DVD for the first time, and I practically weep with joy that the 'real' Wilson sisters are back. They look like human beings, and can still sing like angels. I was totally floored. Songs I had previously dismissed as '80s schlock ("These Dreams" and "Alone") are so brilliantly re-done here, that I simply cannot believe the transformation. Oh, it's nothing radical; the songs are structured basically the same, but they sound so much more human when all of the polish has been stripped away. Don't get me wrong. There's still polish on these songs, and for a live DVD, it sounds fantastic. But the original studio recordings had way too much...processing I guess...done to them. Now, watching this DVD, you will hear these songs the way I believe they sound best. I now suddenly finding myself thinking these are great songs!

Speaking of which, there is not a bad track in this concert. I enjoyed every one, and both Ann and Nancy blew me away with their vocals especially. Photography and lighting are excellent. I notice this ad states 'full-screen format', but to me it looks like kind of a mild letterbox thing going on, with a bit of a black bar on the top and bottom of the screen. Which is good as far as I'm concerned (for those who don't yet know, when a movie is filmed for a wide movie screen, it is meant to be seen that way; on a wide screen. Television sets do not have a wide screen (in relation to its height), so to accomodate the TV crowd, lots of movies just get the sides cut off a bit so they will fit properly, thus you don't see the entire picture the way it was originally filmed. With letterbox, you get that narrow picture, but you also are seeing the ENTIRE width of it too).

It's not full letterbox, where you get a really narrow picture, but just a bit narrower than true full-screen. The whole concert looks excellent, sounds excellent on my stereo system, and most importantly to me, it revived my interest in this group. I guess it's time to buy some CDs.

Wow...What a concert! I was a casual fan of Heart knowing only a couple of songs. After watching this blu-ray, I became a crazy fan of theirs. The band is really talented and every song was performed flawlessly. Of course, the two ladies did phenominal job with such passion and musicianship. For about 5 songs (out of 19), they sing only to acoustic guitars and mandolin. "Alone" sounds great in acoustic version. I also really enjoyed the two popular songs "Barracuda" and "These Dreams". Camera work is precise and outstanding. I know this concert will be one of my all time favorites. I think this should be in your collection too. You won't be sorry.

Technically, I would rate 4/5 for both PQ (1080i with AVC coding) and AQ. (DTS-MA 5.0 & PCM 2.0). There's no extras except photo gallery.

I attended this concert just after returning to the US (the tickets were a gift) and it was one of the best I ever saw. This DVD captures the brilliance of the Wilson sisters. They haven't lost a thing! A must see for Heart fans.

OK, truth in advertising: When the Wilson sisters were just starting out, the idea of pair of cute and talented women who could cover Zeppelin better than Zeppelin was my idea of heaven on vinyl (LPs for those of you younger than 20). So there was a bit of a letdown in seeing that time has not been entirely kind to these two.
That said, my three star review is not because of that. First off, I haven't found a DVD concert that got everything right that I could commend to others as truly five star, (although the Eagles farewell tour comes pretty close). But several flaws in both the performance and production make this product not quite four star material either. There is no DTS 5.1 soundtrack, so if you picky about audio quality, you will notice. The mix is not particularly good to start with either, so even with DD 5.0, instruments sometimes come through muddled and/or weak, especially the bass. The actual performance of the Wilson sisters was quite good making the less than exceptional audio production even more saddening. My biggest annoyance however was their backup band. While Ann and Nancy kept up the pace the entire concert, the backup musicians seemed to be either tired or bored. By the time they had built up the pitch of the concert and launched into Barracuda, their zenith in high-energy hits, the drummer in particular, appeared to really be sucking wind.
On the plus side, Magic Man was performed competently, albeit without the energy of their concerts I saw many, many years ago, and I actually appreciate the more subdued light show they use. They call it "vibey". I just call it not overshadowing the music. If you're a die hard heart fan, you will enjoy this DVD. But if you are an equally picky audio enthusiest you might find yourself disappointed.

If you're a long-time Heart fan, then you're in for a treat. Although not every era of their career can be covered in a 100-minute set, this concert comes darn close.

Ann looks and sounds absolutely amazing. She's completely reenergized and totally on top of her game. Nancy is everything you expect her to be. The band plays very well together (even if they stick to the album arrangements a little too closely for my taste on many of the songs).

The DVD features five new songs that will be on the new Heart album, promised for this Spring. Of these, the two best are "Sister Wild Rose," a really great rocker, and "Heaven," a very atmospheric song that features Nance playing her guitar like a cello. You gotta see it!

Being a nit-picker, I would have rated this disc a 4.5, only because of the song set. Too many slow songs, all right in a row! This takes the energy level of the concert down a bit, even though some of the true highlights of the concert are the acoustic tunes. For instance, the true emotional peak of the concert is a wonderful performance of "Mistral Wind." Absolutely breathtaking at times, and drummer Ben Smith plays like a passionate fiend. And "Dog and Butterfly", played by Ann and Nance without the band, is stunning. "These Dreams" is rather bland, and seems a bit out of place, as they have returned to playing the album version rather than the very nice acoustic version they did in the Road Home shows. Also out of place is "Wild Child" as an encore. Seems an odd choice to me. It's an okay song, but there is much better material from that era (heck, from that album) they could have chosen. And it certainly seems weak as an encore, especially when paired up with an absolutely smokin' cover of Zepp's "Black Dog". Similarly, although performed extremely well, "Dreamboat Annie" is very anti-climatic as the final encore of the evening.

In spite of the complaints, this is a fantastic concert, and well worth any Heart fan's (or classic rock fan's) dime. A bunch of great Heart classics ("Love Alive" is, in my opinion, the best song Heart ever wrote, and it blazes here), five excellent new tunes, two feiry Zepp covers... Its as close to the perfect Heart show as you can get!

Alan

Heart has always been a unique band in the world of rock, with a light/dark, soft/hard dynamic that defies easy categorization. One thing they do have is longevity thru solid music & talent of the Wilson sisters. This is a great CD for Heart fans and also for fans of rock or popular music who enjoy excellent female rock singing. Ann and Nancy are accompanied by top-notch musicians (Mike Inez from Alice in Chains on bass, for one); the song list is varied from early Heart (Magic Man) to later (Alone) and even new stuff (7 songs not previously recorded by the band); Ann & Nancy are in good form after 30 years of performing professionally- both still sing beautifully & the arrangements are good (IE, its not a nostalgia trip, or depressing as some long-time rock acts can be!). I would have liked to see some more staple-Heart hits ("Even it Up", "All I WannaDo", "Never", "Bebe le Strange", "Tell it LIke It Is" come to mind) rather than a cover of LedZep's "Black Dog" and also wonder why include a fairly uninteresting concert-tune like "Wild Child" over a quality rocker like "Even it Up" or any other beefier Heart song worthy of an encore. That is the flip sides of following a band that has been around for a long time- they aren't predictable in song selection on tours. One criticism, the energy that one usually experiences at a Heart concert is not truly captured on the recording, but I am not sure why. SOng highlights for me are: The Witch; Mistral Wind; Alone; Dog & Butterfly; Mona Lisa & Mad Hatters; Love Alive.
Buy this disc & even better, see the band on this summer's tour. You will not be disappointed!

I bought this DVD while on the road, and looking for something just to throw into the DVD player. I ended up playing this DVD every single day for two weeks straight. While the girls have aged since I saw them in concert in 1987, I must admit their voices and music have not changed at all. I found the new acoustical touches on their past hits refreshing, and I love watching Nancy getting into it on songs such as "The Battle Of Evermore". Ann's voice remains deep and full. I loved them when they first came out in the 70's, but I can say after seeing this dvd that they have continued to improve throughout the years. I can't say a bad thing about this dvd except that is was "TOO SHORT". I don't mean that it didn't have enough songs on it...I'm saying I would have enjoyed it if this dvd played on for 3 or 4 hours. It's that good. Ann and Nancy if you're reading this please put out another one soon. Robert Flint

Like Robert A. Rhode says below, this HD-DVD does indeed work on the Xbox 360 add-on. I received my copy from Netflix originally, and when I tried it, I couldn't get it to work on my 360. I sent it back, saying the disc was broken. I purchased a new one from Amazon, thinking it was really a physical error, and had the same result initially. I did some research and ran across these ratings. I did what Robert said to try and it worked. You simply:

- Put the DVD in and let it get to the main menu screen. This may take a few minutes, so be patient
- Once the main menu appears, simply hit "OK" on your HD-DVD add-on remote
- Sit back and enjoy a wonderful concert

Two ridiculously talented women with a brilliant supporting cast, Ann and Nancy put on one heck of a show. Two songs really moved me - "Alone" and "Battle of Evermore". Ann's vocals are as powerful now as they were 20 years ago as evidenced on "Alone". Their cover of Zeppelin's "Evermore" was a fitting tribute to the rock legends. Nancy's guitar skills are as sharp as ever. I had a hard time taking my eyes away from her fingers when they showed her playing on-screen, but I'm a little biased.

The sisters have a bond and a chemistry that's easy to see and hear. It would have been a fun show to see live...too bad I missed it! This HD-DVD truly is the next-best thing, though. Once you get it working, of course.