Customer Reviews

Roy Orbison - Greatest Hits

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Roy Orbison's widow Barbara has put a lot of thought and effort into packaging compilations of his work and there is a wide selection available now, so you may want to visit his offical website and peruse what's available before deciding what to buy, but one thing is for certain; you cannot go wrong with this particular DVD. It has a great selection of concert tracks from various stages in his career, then when you switch to the special features you find almost a whole disk's worth of video and audio extras. There are even original and remastered versions of one audio ("An Empty Cup"), for comparison. So it is a great DVD for the serious collector as well as a perfect introduction for those new to Orbison.

Between tracks, Roy says a few words about each song. He comes across as personable, modest and sensitive.

He was at times a bigger star in Britain and elsewhere than in his native US, and his contribution to Rock 'n' Roll has only recently been fully acknowledged. This DVD should help put the record straight.

This is defenitely not the best overview of Roy Orbison's amazing talents, but it is a great way to get a quick glimpse of all that set him apart from the rest - the heartfelt lyrics, the superb musicianship, and above all else, that magnificent soaring voice.

Roy Orbison's widow Barbara has taken a lot of care to put together this package which combines 12 live performances spanning Roy's career from the 1960s to the late 1980s and an early promotional video (for "Walk On") from the 1970s.

The video and audio quality is fairly spotty but a great deal of care has been taken to clean up these clips and upgrade them to 5.1 sound. In most cases, the refurbished tracks sound great and there is no gimmicky processing of old mono clips into surround sound. (For proof, check the mono-to-5.1 comparison of "Crying" that is included as a bonus feature.)

The surround sound comes in two flavors - Dolby Digital and DTS, but it's the latter that really shines. And there's also the original mono sound on some clips for the purists.

Even the old mono clips sound terrific, and have great presence. But of course they aren't a patch on the 5.1 clips from "A Black And White Night" and "Live At Austin City Limits" remixed by Elliott Scheiner.

The down side? If you already own the two above-named DVDs, this one has a lot of material in common with them.

The up side? The great care that has been lavished on this set, including little touches like the snippets from a Roy Orbison interview that play between the songs and let you hear from the man himself about he created and recorded some of his best known songs.

You also get two bonus videos - "Mystery Girl" and the duet version of "Crying" recorded with k.d. lang that have been remixed into 5.1 sound, and two electronic press kits.

One of the kits features interviews with the musicians who helped finish "King Of Hearts", Orbison's posthumous album, and the other focusses on the making of the video for "I Drove All Night" featuring a very young Jennifer Connelly and Jason Priestley. As a real bonus, this kit features the complete video for the song too.

Not a bad choice if you're looking for a DVD that introduces you to the many charms of the Big O.

His greatest hits and truly a great DVD. I first viewed this as a special on TV and had to have it. The clips chosen are superb. The three from A Black and White Night, with Orbison backed by other music greats, are a treat - the contributions from Springsteen, Costello, Souther, Burton, et al are absolutely magical. And if you love "You Got It", you will have to get this DVD, if only for the exciting and memorable performance of that great song. Orbison introduces most of the clips, with interesting and witty stories behind the songs, including a great anecdote about how he hit that final high note on Running Scared. There's also a lot of extra value, including press kits with more interviews and music, tributes from those who knew and worked with him; and also the She's a Mystery to Me video. On Amazon's 1 to 5 scale, I'd like to give this 10!

this is a great dvd,excellent quality all the way,great footage and sound. a lot of comments by roy himself on different songs
ENJOY!!!!!

This is a great DVD. Two versions of 'Crying', the first version is alone in the 60's and the second version is with K.D.Lang in the 80's. Look early TV performance of 'Only the Lonely'. You also can see in this DVD the excellenet promo video made for 'She's A Mystery To Me'.
Another highlights: 'I Drove All Night', 'Blue Bayou', Live performances of 'Running Scared' and 'In Dreams' from 1982, 'Pretty Woman' from 'Black An Night'.
You should buy this DVD.

If you don't own any Orbison footage on DVD, this is no doubt a great way to become acquainted with him via DVD. However, if you are an Orbison fan and own his other DVD's and videos (which are few in number), then the "Greatest Hits" DVD offers little in the way of footage you don't already own.

The DVD relies heavily on footage from "Black and White Night", the "Combo Concert" from the 60's, his "Austin City Limits" show, and clips from the "Anthology" collection, all of which have already been released on DVD (and in the case of "Combo Concert", VHS only). The only totally "new to DVD" songs included in the main feature are two songs from an early 80's live show (probably a year or two before his "Austin City Limits" performance).

The bonus features on the DVD offer some additional "new to DVD" footage, which is a good consolation considering all but two songs on the main feature are common for any Orbison fan.

This DVD is still a must-own for Orbison fans for the new material that is presented on this DVD, and the price is somewhat fair. I just wish they would have taken the opportunity of this DVD to include more footage that Orbison fans didn't already own.

MY ALL TIME FAV-O-RITE SINGER/SONGWRITER!!!
I first met Roy in a high school auditorium in Madison,WI where he was performing. This was the early days for him and I have been a fan of his ever since. The last time that I saw him perform was at the Paramount Theater in Denver, CO shortly before he died. He is one of the legends of Rock-n-Roll.

Although I thought this was going to be a CD it turned out to be a DVD. It was very enjoyable and it came quickly in the mail and was in perfect A-1 condition. Thank you

I found this DVD of Roy Orbison performances to be a disappointment. I am a big fan of his music, but I enjoy having his singing supported by the full orchestrations of the original hits. Too often this was not the case on the videos. I did enjoy the video with k.d. lang on Crying. It is the best part of the entire selection of performances.