Customer Reviews

Toto - 25th Anniversary, Live in Amsterdam [HD DVD]

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Not much to add to what has already been said at long and at large from this mega band. If you're here, you probably know a lot about them. Even so, I can only recommend you to get this DVD if you don't have it...

Why should I bother, would you say, if I already have several of their records (or even all of them) ? For lots of reasons. First, the sound is amazing. I played this on my system thinking that it would be fine. It's not, it's outstanding. Also, the filming is excellent. No blurry shots, no silly angles, no focus on who isn't playing. The production is irreproachable. Another reason you should get this is the incredible atmosphere surrounding the concert. I was trying to see the people in the crowd, and to my surprise, the people there range from 20 to 50 (and apparently a majority of 30ish). In the States, Toto doesn't get any airplay, doesn't perform much, and they seem to be viewed as fossils, remembrance of the west coast style of the 80's. Not so in Japan or Europe, where they are always welcome and fill in large theaters. Amazing, don't you think ?

On stage, you have Bobby Kimball with the rest of the band and two backup musicians. Bobby is like the rest of the regular members. With wrinkles, but in great shape. What a voice! Simon Phillips is probably second best to Jeff Porcaro, Paich shows he can play anything from classic to blues and funky (we already knew that), Mike Porcaro, even though he's not Verdine White, Stanley Clarke or Mark King, is very passionate in his playing, and Luke is... well, just in case you still wondered, the true leader of the band. Just look at how everyone is positioned. The lead singer is on a second row podium half of the concert and Luke is the one walking around. He even gets to play a piano solo with David Paich having fun watching him from behind. Yet, no doubt at who is the leader there... The two cover versions ("While my guitar..." and "Bhoddisatva") are examples of what covers should be. Majestic, incredible. And with special words from Luke to his brothers George and Jeff (to me, the best drummer ever). The band shows they master all styles, from Hard Rock to Jazz, Pop, Blues, Folk, you name it.

The only thing a bit annoying is the sometimes quick blending of some stellar tracks (99 deserves more than a few notes), but they have been doing this in concert lately. All the tracks are either blended or follow each other with almost no timeout. Be ready because you're in for a two hour visual and musical treat !!

Don't miss the two bisses : home of the brave and White sister. Good, old powerful rock'n roll. By the way, I've seen this dvd several times, and I just can't help getting goose bumps on two instances : when they play I won't hold you back, and when Bobby Kimball does his solo stuff. I don't know if that can get any better. What I do know is that I will do all I can to attend their next concert. I'm going to their website to check that out. In the meantime, let's enjoy this super dvd.

P.S. I really agree with three messages the fans in the crowd show during the concert : "never enough Toto", "I could sit here forever", and "Paich for president". Thanks for the music fellows !

I have seen at least one show of every Toto tour since 1986, and for me this captures one of their best. Whilst the hits were necessarily included to appeal to a wider fan base, there is ample album material and new arrangements for musicians and discerning music fans. Toto fanatics and cynics alike can get a flavour of the humour of this band on their own backstage video footage. Even if Toto don't achieve the recognition they deserve in their lifetime's, this DVD will be an excellent testimony to what Eddie Van Halen described as "collectively the best musicians on the planet". Fantastic post-production on both visual and especially the surround sound audio mixes.

When I first got this I wanted an HD DVD of a concert just to see if the audio was just as great as people said it was. So I popped 'er in and WOW, was I impressed. They still got it. When Bobby Kimball starts singing you know you are in for a ride.

The third song, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, is easily a new favorite. I found myself popping this in just for this one song alone. Watching Lukather rip it up on this track is exciting every time.

It looks awesome for the majority too, especially on the close ups. The only real problem with HD is that I it seems I'm always noticing when the camera goes out of focus. Not a big problem, but can get annoying when you are trying to focus on how amazing the detail is on their shirts or guitar straps.

Overall the sound is great and the visuals just pull you in and you feel like you are actually there. Definitley a must have for any serious Toto fan or anyone who likes good live music.

Finally, a concert DVD to showcase what a great live band Toto is. Their music always sounds better live to me because it comes across a little more harder and progressive due to some great improvisation by all of the virtuoso band members. Steve Lukather has always been one of my favorite guitarists and this performance demonstrates why. The DTS and Dolby 5.1 surround both sound excellent. The video is crisp and clear, and the camera work was perfect, capturing closeups of solos, as well as various angles of the entire stage show. Highly recommended.

I have quite a few live music DVDs and from start to finish, this is one of the best. The musicianship is outstanding on all accounts. Vocals are in the zone. Lukather's guitar work is fantastic, but his bandmates shine as well. The finale of "White Sister" really rocks. The arrangement of "Africa" is excellent. If you like Toto and have a DVD player, especially one with Dolby Digital surround sound, crank it up. This one is well worth it.

First of all, Steve Lukather is AMAZING. Any hard rock guitar lover will truly enjoy this effort by the longtime group. Toto always gets a lot of flack because of their handful of radio friendly hits, but the band has always had progressive roots to go along with the couple dozen other styles they all enjoy.... and they wear them all on their sleeves for this concert. Simon Phillips is, as always, KILLER, and Mike Porcaro is a wonderful bassman. The band is extremely tight plowing through song after song making even their more lame radio songs soulfull. Bobby K's tenor voice is powerful and accurate, but gets relegated a bit too much as a background dancer when not singing lead. David Paitch's work is also featured heavily much to my appreciation. This is just a solid, solid concert by one of the best bands most of you probably never heard live. Go get it and be blown away.

As another reviewer said, I've never been a big fan of Toto. In fact, before I bought this dvd, I could only identify 4 of their songs. (Hold The Line, Rosanna, Africa, Stranger In Town)
I was curious about this dvd so I bought it and was very surprised how good their live show is. This is one of those bands that sound better live. I'll probably still won't get all their cds. The performance here is excellent. Bobby Kimball's voice still sounds good. Steve's guitar playing is excellent. The video editing is for the most part normal. Not that annoying MTV style editing like on most live dvds these days. The sound is perfect. These guys just look like they're having fun. Especially on the tour documentary thing. They're always wild and having fun off stage. Especially Steve Lukather. They just seem like a bunch of nice guys if you would ever meet them in person. It's a definite must for the Toto fans, and I also recommend it for the curious, even if you don't like the big hits, you might like some of the less-known songs.

If you are a Toto fan, this live concert is a must have!

I really love some of Toto's songs, and some of them can still bring it, but some of the band members are showing their age. The lead vocals in "Africa" just isn't the smooth, melodic voice you remember from the 80's.

Also, my personal opinion is that it's inexcusable to release a Blu-ray disc of a concert and not offer any type of lossless audio. This disc doesn't have 5.1 uncompressed PCM, nor Dolby TrueHD, nor DTS-HD Master Audio (or even high res, for that matter.) **IF YOU ARE A MUSICAL GROUP, WHY WOULDN'T YOU WANT YOUR MUSIC PLAYED IN THE BEST AUDIO FORMATS AVAILABLE?** I just don't get it.

If you love classic rock and concert DVDs this is a MUST HAVE for your collection. And it won't gather dust either. You will bring it out again and again because MUSIC RARELY GETS ANY BETTER. Africa is probably my all-time favorite song and while it is phenomenal on this release, it is probably my least favorite on this dvd (That's how good the the other songs are)
But there are 50 other reviews telling you about the concert and track list. I want to focus on the video quality which is rarely treated in these type of reviews.

I was excited about this DVD and watched it in Hi-def at 3am in the morning when it was released on INHD about 1 1/2 years ago. The video quality was excellent, and the sound suberb. However, when I purchased the dvd/live cd combo recently, I was a little disappointed that the hi-def video bit rate seemed to be compressed and showed traces of graininess in the picture on my hd widescreen. I think if Toto had released the concert on 2 dvds, they could've chosen to keep the higher quality video feed w/o as much compression. Or they could've done a better job compressing the HD originals. However, the concert overall looks fantastic and unless you're using hi-end equipment you won't have any complaints...

But I wanted to include that for any of the purists out there who are also disappointed by the many concert DVDs that claim to be filmed in hi-def yet when they get compressed to DVD seem to lose the added resolution they promised.

Also, both the DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are perfect. As is the live cd. which I purchased together with the DVD for only $15.99 at Circuit City in Jan. 2005.

The Music is unbelievable - these truly are the best musicians in the business.