Mariah Carey – The Adventures Of Mimi (DVD Concert Set)

 

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

 

 

When Mariah Carey arrived, I was amazed by the instant audience connection to material that sounded like everything I had heard back in the 1970s.  Like Madonna, I was not a fan at first, but hoped maybe she would do more interesting material (as Madonna would) and grow into her success.  She did, but the material never really did anything for me.  Then, when she left Columbia after her divorce from then chairman Tommy Mottola, the music finally developed character her brand of Pop/Soul (with more rolls than Hostess Ho Hos production) that was never memorable.

 

So it is to my surprise that her Adventures Of Mimi DVD Concert set was as good as she can sing, dance and is excellent with her audience.  Fifteen years later (and already!!!) has built a repertoire of hits that are familiar and one of the strongest in Pop music, but I actually found her more interesting than her songs.  Her personality is amazing, fan base makes total sense and as far as material goes, still has not peaked yet.  She has not abandoned her early material and is generous in its performance.  The 18 songs include:

 

1)     It’s Like That

2)     Heartbreaker

3)     Dream Lover

4)     My All

5)     Shake It Off

6)     Vision Of Love

7)     Fly Like A Bird

8)     I’ll Be There

9)     Fantasy

10)  Don’t Forget About Us

11)  Always Be My Baby

12)  Honey

13)  I Wish You Knew

14)  Can’t Let Go

15)  One Sweet Day

16)  Hero

17)  Make It Happen

18)  We Belong Together

19)  Butterfly (reprise)

 

 

If anything, her performances make often weak material come alive and despite a period where some tried to destroy her, is far from finished with her work, stronger that ever and could top all this easily.  She’s got her act together on her own and it shows here.  Good for her!

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image was shot in HD video and has some minor flaws in this transfer that hold it back, but it has some good camera angels and use of color that makes one want to see it in actual HD of some kind.  The sound is here in DTS 5.1, Dolby 5.1 and PCM 16/48 2.0 Stereo, the PCM being the best as the 5.1 mixes tend to be a bit out of balance and not quite creating the soundfield we have come to expect from other such concert releases.  The PCM with the picture is the best playback option.

 

Extras include DVD 1 offering a jukebox feature and DVD 2 including karaoke function, Spike Lee’s silly comedy tie-in piece Lovers & Haters and a documentary on the tour.  There is also a nice color booklet in the case with tech details and some nice pictures.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo