David Gilmour – Remember That Night: Live At The Royal Albert Hall (Blu-ray Set; Sony/BMG)

 

Picture: B     Sound: A-     Extras: B-     Concert: B

 

 

So much has been made of Roger Waters' solo career and all the projects he has successfully launched, including some interesting solo albums, that you would think the other members of Pink Floyd only did the occasional album and tour together.  However, others have had their solo projects and in one of the most ambitious High Definition music releases to date, David Gilmour has a double Blu-ray set with plenty for everyone to enjoy called Remember That Night: Live At The Royal Albert Hall (taped Summer 2006) and it is one of the hottest and most in-demand hi-def titles to date.

 

That turns out to be for good reason, living up to the hype around it, including a delay in release that drove fans of both the music and format crazy with even more anticipation.  The songs/set from Blu-ray One include:

 

1)     Speak to Me

2)     Breathe

3)     Time

4)     Breathe (Reprise)

5)     Castellorizon

6)     On An Island

7)     The Blue

8)     Red Sky at Night

9)     This Heaven

10)  Then I Close My Eyes

11)  Smile

12)  Take a Breath

13)  A Pocketful of Stones

14)  Where We Start

15)  Shine on You Crazy Diamond

16)  Fat Old Sun

17)  Coming Back To Life

18)  High Hopes

19)  Echoes

20)  Wish You Were Here

21)  Find the Cost of Freedom (featuring David Crosby and Graham Nash)

22)  Arnold Layne (featuring David Bowie)

23)  Comfortably Numb (featuring David Bowie)

 

 

Though some purists might find some of the covers a problem, while others might just simply prefer the originals, this is still a fine set fans should be happy with and the guests do not hurt.  Gilmour is as talented, skilled, proficient and exciting as ever and if anything, has just become better with age as a musician.  I liked the songs for the most part and there is something exciting about the events on stage that is captured well enough here.  You can hear that in the sound too, but the picture is another issue.

 

Like the Sony/BMG Chris Botti Blu-ray reviewed elsewhere on this site, this 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition footage is just softer than an HD recording should be.  After long thought in the Botti case, it is as if he was having the camera people use the kind of filter David Letterman uses to make himself look better on his talk show at the expense of definition and detail.  Here, the footage is soft for different reasons, inconsistent throughout and is like watching the makers learn how to use HD with some complications.  Motion blur is also an issue, but it is still better than a DVD would be and is easier to overcome with the great soundtracks included.

 

At 96/24, you get PCM 5.1 and slightly better Dolby TrueHD 5.1 throughout, plus a lesser Dolby Digital 5.1 mix for older systems that is flat by comparison.  For fans of Floyd who have their audiophile vinyl albums, Gold CDs or the SA-CD (Super Audio Compact Disc) of Dark Side Of The Moon (the biggest seller in the format to date, despite controversy about the remixing) will find the PCM and TrueHD worthy of the Floyd tradition of superior sound and is easily among the best audio for music concerts in either HD format to date. 

 

 

Bonus Features on Blu-ray Two include more from the Royal Albert Hall including:

     1) Wot's...Uh The Deal
     2) Dominoes
     3) Wearing The Inside Out featuring Richard Wright
     4) Arnold Layne featuring Richard Wright
     5) Comfortably Numb featuring Richard Wright

 

 

You also get two Music Videos (On An Island and Smile), stills section, Breaking Bread, Drinking Wine documentary, Dark Globe from the 2006 tour, Astronomy Domine Live from Abbey Road, This Heaven from the AOL Sessions, The West Coast documentary, The Making of ‘On An Island’ documentary, Island Jam 2007 and BBC Mermaid Theater concert with these tracks:

 

1)     Castellorizon

2)     On An lsland

3)     The Blue

4)     Take A Breath

5)     High Hopes

 

 

Despite the picture issues, this is one of the most ambitious Blu-ray releases to date, music, film or otherwise, delivering much entertainment and is easily one of the most collectible releases in the format to date.  Gilmour is in rare form here and boy, does he deliver!  Remember That Night is worth the effort to go out of your way for.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo