Toto – Falling In Between (DVD-Video + CD Set)
Picture: C Sound: B/B- Extras: C/D Concert: C
Toto, the
band whose hits streak from 1978 – 85 still offers songs people talk about,
recently had a hit concert on home videos that managed to be popular enough
that it was issued in four formats! A 25th Anniversary concert in Amsterdam arrived in CD and three home
video formats and showed that Eagle Vision was not just a video company
releasing music titles, but a potent mini-major filling in where the major
labels have been falling off. Here are
the links to the three editions eventually issued of that release:
DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/502/Toto+25th+Anniversary+in+Amsterdam
HD-DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4894/Toto+-+25th+Anniversary+Live
Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4583/Toto+-+25th+Anniversary+Live
Captured
Live at The Zenith in Paris on March 26, 2007, the band hopes to continue that
success with Falling In Between – Live
now on DVD and separate CD Set. First,
the tracks played:
1)
Intro
2)
Falling In Between
3)
King Of The World
4)
Pamela
5)
Bottom Of Your Soul
6)
Caught In The Balance
7)
Don't Chain My Heart
8)
Hold The Line
9)
Stop Loving You
10) I'll Be Over You
11) Cruel
12) Greg Solo
13) Rosanna
14) I'll Supply The Love
15) Isolation
16) Gift Of Faith
17) Kingdom Of Desire/Luke Solo
18) Hydra/Simon Solo
19) Taint Your World
20) Gypsy Train
21) Africa
22) Drag Him To The Roof
The order
is the same in both formats and once again offers just about all of their
hits. Oddly and especially with the Get Smart remake feature film on the
way, I was surprised 99 was not
here. However, I expected it to be
better than the previous multi-format release and it was sadly poorer. The big hits in particular (tracks 8, 13, 21)
are very flat and unless you are a diehard fan and might enjoy the lesser-known
track better, this is better off skipped.
So that leaves the performance.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is softer than expected for even the DVD
format, with major detail issues and a general inconsistency I was not happy
with. Fortunately, the sound is
better. The CD’s PCM 16/44.1 2.0 Stereo
is not bad, but sounds rougher than it should.
Thinking this was going to be as bad on the DVD, that format delivers
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo as poor, but the Dolby 5.1 is better and DTS 5.1
really shows that this is a good recording.
What happened to the CD?
The CD
only has a booklet as an extra, repeated in the DVD, but the actual DVD disc
adds an interview with the band.
Overall, this is rather basic and only the most interested should go for
it, and the DVD only at that. We’ll see
if a Blu-ray is released with even better performance and more content.
- Nicholas Sheffo
