Customer Reviews

Inside the Music - Women on Top (DVD Audio)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Another in the series of "Inside the Music" DVD-Audio discs, this disc may be the most enjoyable of the whole series. With the exception of track 1, Blondie's "Heart of Glass", the disc contains exceptionally well done mixes of famous rock songs by female artists or bands with female singers. The songs all come from Capitol, EMI or Chrysalis label artists under the "Silverline" and EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets labels.

The 5.1 channel mixes are available on DVD-Audio players as 96kHz, 24-bit output. In addition, on DVD-Video and DVD-Audio players, a 5.1-channel DTS and a 5.1-channel Dolby Digital mix is also included.

From track 2 through 9, the mixes are fresh, expansive with warm bass - everything DVD-Audio was supposed to be. Track 10, "Nutbush City Limits" by Ike & Tina Turner is actually very good if the source material is accounted for. It's hard to force 2001 sound out of old source tapes.

The only problem track from a equalization standpoint is the first one - "Heart of Glass". Much like some of the early tracks on "Inside the Music : Classic Rock", the song sounds like the high end has been muted and extra subwoofer bass added. While all the Silverline Label discs seem to have more bass than their Warner Music counterparts, track 1 is the only one where there is too much low bass and a serious lack of upper end treble. The rest of the music (tracks 2 through 10) are very well balanced.

Track 2 is also unusual in that "Walking on Sunshine" seems to change tempo slightly, right after the opening phrases. It is almost as if a new intro was grafted onto remainder of the song. The effect is somewhat like hitting a brick wall when the tempo changes.

Despite those two items, I would really rate this at 4.5 stars, but that isn't available. It is definately better than "Classic Rock" but since half stars aren't available and it really isn't a perfect disc, I'll call this a 4 star disc.

While not related specifically to "Inside the Music: Women on Top", a good question is whether any DVD-Audio disc could really be perfect with the usability problems of the format? While sonically superior than a CD (and the difference really can be heard), a CD is a much easier format to use. Will DVD-Audio survive with the usability problems? Only time will tell...

Another omnibus of 5.1 music in the 96Khz DVD Audio, DTS and Dolby Digital form from Silverline, with Back Ground Video stills of the artist behind the songs as they are played. The 10 tracks include: Hold On - Wilson Philips (the most up to date track), Queen of Hearts - Juice Newton; Nutbush City Limits - Ike & Tina Turner; and the #1's: Heart Of Glass from Blondie, and Bette Davis Eyes from Kim Carnes - both of which are the longer album versions. Superb surround mixed by several different engineers - the outstanding tracks being (in my opinion): Blondie; Tina Turner; and Katrina & the Waves - Walking on Sunshine. A must for lovers of soft rock and surround music!

While Acura is still, in 2010, selling their tech-pacakaged vehicles with the ELS Surround Sound system that supports DVD-Audio that particular format is no longer being supported by artists and record companies, making it hard to build a decent collection to listen to in the car. In fact, it looks like the format died out about 5 years ago. For that reason I've been forced to troll on-line and came across this one, chock full of '70's and '80's era pop hits. The remixes re very good, especially the Pat Benetar title "We Belong" where the intro makes full use of the vehicle's various speakers. The only negative comment (and it is, admittedly, a nit-pick) is that the intro to the Katrina and the Waves hit "Walking on Sunshine" doesn't mesh well into the remainder of the track and sounds nothing like the original song. Having said that, most of these entries are well known and well done.

This DVD reminds me of the earliest CDs. The technology is there, but the artistry is not. The sound quality was very poor, even with my TV hooked into my stereo. While I wasn't expecting to see the actual videos (though that would have been really great) the still pictures they pasted on the screen were few, and none were from the videos. Guess I'll wait a few years until I buy another one of these.