Janet Jackson – The Velvet Rope Tour (DTS)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: D     Concert: B

 

 

Though it did not have the commercial success it deserved, Janet Jackson’s daring Velvet Rope album is one of the peaks of her career and this DVD of her Velvet Rope Tour concert is now out in a DTS edition that really brings home what a prolific point of her work this really was.

 

The tracks are as follows:

 

Velvet Rope

If

You

Let’s Wait A While

The Control Medley:

          Control

          The Pleasure Principle

          What Have You Done For Me Lately

          Nasty

Throb

Escapade Medley:

          Escapade

          When I Think Of You

          Miss You Much

          Runaway

          Love Will Never Do Without You

Alright

I Get Lonely

Anytime, Anyplace

Rope Burn

Black Cat

What About

Rhythm Nation

Special

That’s The Way Love Goes

Got Til It’s Gone

Go Deep

Together Again

 

 

That is quite a list for a single concert, but it also reflects how she has built an amazing catalog of truly great, memorable songs that will hold up decades from now when most of her contemporaries and new challengers will be long forgotten.  I also dare say that it is stronger than any other performer in her family.  Scandals aside and incidental, she has absolutely surpassed Michael, and that is honestly not easy, especially when you include the Motown days.

 

Throb is an instrumental that gives the audience a chance to see each of the dancers in Janet’s troop go solo, a moment that could have went on for 25 minutes and still been very entertaining.  It is easy to forget, but when you are a big name like Miss Jackson and have good taste, you land up with some of the best dancers around.  Then, the more they dance the same sequences together, the tighter they get as a group, which is a rare exception in the still-rushed world of Music Video and lesser concert tours with a “just dance and who cares how it looks” attitude.  The regular singing and dancing numbers, medleys included, are no less impressive.  That makes this one of the best concerts on DVD yet.

 

The full frame videotaped image is the shortcoming of this DVD, shot on late analog NTSC video.  Too bad there was not film backup of this show, as it was so good.  What is an improvement is the DTS 5.0 mix, which is a step above the Dolby Digital here and from the previous edition of this title.  This is warmer than before, as well as the DTS Hawaii DVD Eagle Vision issued previously.  That is despite that it was a later concert.  Only the Design Of A Decade video collection (import or domestic version) currently has sound as memorable.  We’ll have to see which of Janet’s albums come out in DVD-Audio and/or Super Audio CD to hear her better.  The only extra is a very brief text biography.

 

Of course, there are those who are still hung up on the 2004 Super Bowl half-time incident, for which Justin Timberlake has still neither apologized nor taken a gram of responsibility for his part.  Ultimately, it is unimportant, like virtually all the records Timberlake has cut as of this review.  It is talent and greatness that survive best, and that is why we will have Janet Jackson for a long time to come.  The Velvet Rope Tour in DTS is worth your time, with plenty of rewatchability.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo