Running on Empty (CD & DVD Audio) [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Jackson Browne

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 15, 2005)
• Original Release Date: November 15, 2005
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000803PKY
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,286 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
On 1976's The Pretender, Jackson Browne confessed to enough distractions from his craft and disenchantment with the world around him to make a candid and contemporary rock album that set an optimistic stage for what was lying on-deck. And though Running On Empty would become Browne's quarter-century meal ticket, it was no favorite to the hard cores who found commercial contrivance in its "rock-star-on-the-road" concept. Yet nearly three decades after its release, the remastered and repackaged live album sounds as innovative and unsullied as ever (complete with a DVD that includes audio of two previously unreleased songs from the era). Recorded on stage, on motel room furniture, and aboard the tour bus, the songs served as Browne's diary of a mad musician, including womanizing in Danny O'Keefe's "The Road," drugs in the Rev. Gary Davis' sermonette "Cocaine" and the enduring anthem of roadies and crowd adoration (and a Top 10 hit), "The Load-Out." Though Browne's commercial appeal would never again rise to this level, his legacy in his generation of popular music was sewn, and the record that put him there is still running on endurance. --Scott Holter

Product Description
Quintessential California singer-songwriter and 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jackson Browne has created some of the most literate and emotionally resonant compositions in popular music. Rhino's new version of Running on Empty is an incredible sonic reinvention, visually augmented with the brilliant photography of Joel Bernstein, shot during the historic tour on which the album is based.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a DVD Audio NOT a DVD Video, December 2, 2005

By	K. Parker (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a DVD AUDIO release so don't make the mistake of expecting to see video footage like an earlier reviewer did. DVD Audio is all about the sound - much higher resolution than CD plus a choice between stereo or 5.1 surround. If you've got a DVD-Audio player and you're a Jackson Browne fan, consider this purchase essential. The 5.1 surround mix is like hearing the album for the first time. Consider the still images a bonus but buy it for the music.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Differences between LP, CD, and DVD-A Stereo sound, March 23, 2006

By	Carson Wilson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I spent several hours comparing the sound of my original LP phonograph record of Running on Empty with the CD and two-channel DVD Audio disks included in this package. I wasn't able to sample the multichannel DVD Audio.

The music and tempo are identical on LP, CD, and DVD-A, but the sound is quite different. The LP and the CD sound very similar, and are apparently from the same original mixes for these tracks. However, the 192kHz 24-bit two-channel DVD Audio tracks are apparently a completely new mix, probably made just for this release. The differences are very interesting: the CD/LP mix at first sounds much clearer and brighter than the DVD-Audio, just the opposite of what I would expect. Also, in some portions the CD/LP contain reverb of Browne's voice missing on the DVD-Audio. By direct comparison, many DVD-A vocals at first sound muffled compared to the CD/LP mix.

However, a closer audition reveals that DVD-A often has more content than CD/LP. For example, a backup vocal barely audible on CD/LP is clear and distinct on DVD-A. And left-right channel separation is usually better on the DVD-A. (By the way, many DVD-A tracks also have much more leadin material).

I can only conclude that the originals were recorded with multitrack equipment and the DVD-A is taken from microphones that the original album obscures with material from other tracks. It sounds to me like the CD/LP uses microphones that recorded sound coming from stage speakers, and the DVD-A favors the musicians' microphones instead. Also the equalization is probably boosted on the CD/LP to compensate for typical record players of the 1970's, making the sound artificially brighter, but obliterating much detail.

The CD/LP sound is as you may remember it from the radio, the DVD-A sound is quite different. Browne himself runs a sound studio, and probably had a hand in mixing the DVD-A. In a recent Stereophile magazine he says the surround DVD-A is remarkable. Possibly the two-channel DVD-A is derived from this mix.

So, the two channel DVD-A mix should be regarded is a separate work from the LP/CD. Therefore, if you're hoping DVD-A is an enhanced version of the original LP/CD mix, you'll be disappointed (as I initially was). However, the DVD-A, though not as bright sounding, is possibly even better than the LP/CD. I'm still deciding.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DVD-Audio Content, November 17, 2005

By	S. M. Robinson "High Fidelity Review" (Chester, Cheshire. United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The reviewer who writes: "the music is great, but the DVD is nothing more than a collection of pictures..." fails to understand the concept of a DVD-Audio disc. Along with that "collection of pictures", there is a high resolution 192kHz 24-bit stereo track and a brand new 96kHz surround mix. Each of those alone is worth the price of admission.