Beyoncé – The Beyoncé Experience Live (2008/Sony Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: C- Concert: B-
Is
Beyoncé overexposed, overrated or both?
Actually, the overexposure waters down how good she can be, even as she
branches out into film acting. Some
wondered if Destiny’s Child folding would be a bad thing, but she survived that
into a fine solo career, but the songs are not always consistently good. This is on display in her new concert The Beyoncé Experience Live (2008) as
she sings just about every hit she ever had, including with her former
group. Even when the songs are not
always memorable, she gives it her best, even when the vocals could be a bit
better. Now on Blu-ray, those tunes
include:
1)
Crazy In Love (Crazy Mix)
2)
Freakum Dress
3)
Green Light
4)
Baby Boy (Reggae Medley)
5)
Beautiful Liar
6)
Naughty Girl
7)
Me, Myself And I
8)
Dangerously In Love (He Loves Me
Mix)
9)
Flaws And All
10) Destiny's Child Medley (Cops
And Robbers Intro)
11) Independent Woman, Part 1
12) No, No, No Part 2
13) Bootylicious
14) Bug A Boo (H-town Screwed Down
Mix)
15) Bills, Bills, Bills
16) Cater 2 U
17) Say My Name
18) Jumpin’ Jumpin’
19) Soldier (Soldier Boy Crank Mix)
20) Survivor (Destiny's Child
Reunion)
21) Speechless
22) Ring The Alarm Intro Skit
(Jailhouse Confessions)
23) Ring The Alarm
24) Suga Mama
25) Upgrade U (feat. Jay Z)
26) Bonnie And Clyde (Prince Mix)
27) Check On It
28) Déjà vu
29) Get Me Bodied
30) Welcome To Hollywood
31) Deena/Dreamgirls
32) Listen
33) Irreplaceable
Needless
to say the money is also up there on the stage in the musicians, dancers, her
clothes, the backup singers and sets.
There is not doubt she is a class act and this is the kind of A-level
production all the record labels used to deliver when they had dozens of such
talents they knew how to market. That is
one of the reasons why Beyoncé is the hit she is, because she is good at a time
when so many are not, which gives her less competition, so that is part of what
seems like overexposure.
However, on
top of the points where things become less engaging, it is odd to think her
hits with her group are now nostalgia already and despite all of her current
hits, not enough of them seem like they’ll hold up in the long run. I will say that some very good songs like Freakum Dress could have been larger
hits and even become an amusing catch phrase of some kind, so some fun is not
happening here despite her best efforts.
So that leaves the playback of this disc to elevate its shortcomings.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image is the biggest disappointment is how
flat the detail and depth are here throughout.
I expected this to look better than her Destiny’s Child Blu-ray, but it
is sadly no better and is sometimes worse.
What happened? The liner notes
say this was filmed, but in what? Color
can also be undermined and if this were any worse, I’d lower the rating. Sound was the problem with the Destiny’s
Child Blu-ray, but the PCM 2.0 48/24 Stereo and PCM 48/24 5.1 mixes are better,
but there were still sonic limits that held back what is otherwise a
good-sounding show. There is also a
lesser Dolby Digital (640 kbps) 5.1 mix, but unless you love the picture
problems, skip that mix.
Extras include
the paper pullout with liner notes with very tiny print and a jukebox function
so you can rearrange the songs any way you want.
For more Beyoncé,
try our coverage to the Blu-ray Destiny’s Child – Live in Atlanta at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5110/Destiny’s+Child+–+Live+In+Atlanta
- Nicholas Sheffo
