Particle – Transformation Live
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C Concert: B-
I had not heard of Particle before seeing their new
Transformation Live concert on DVD, so the idea that they were debuting
a new line-up felt more like the result of a “reality TV” show than anything
else. Joe Satriani and DJ Logic are
among guests that even join them. They
give a good concert with 15 songs here, including Robbie Krieger joining them
on an awfully unnecessary cover of LA Woman, but the whole program has a
disjoined feel and something should have been said about the previous
incarnation instead of treating the audience like they came off the boat.
The conclusion is the new band with all the guests singing
the Stevie Wonder classic Superstition, which made me feel that perhaps
the whole project was somehow cursed.
The Lucky Man here is sadly not the Emerson, Lake & Palmer
classic, yet that may be a good thing.
When all was said and done, I was bored and found the whole experience
lacking a live feel. It does have the
“let’s watch the train wreck” feel at times.
The anamorphically enhanced 16 X 9/1.78 X 1 image is not
so good, with Video Black and detail troubles throughout. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not much
better, typically Dolby-weak and more about recreating the audience experience
than focusing on the music enough.
Extras include stills and two featurettes, which you might look at if
you have survived the main concert.
This all runs about 2.5 hours!
- Nicholas Sheffo
