Elton John – The Red
Piano (Universal/Mercury Blu-ray)
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: C Concert: B-
Not long ago, we covered a DVD/CD set from Elton John
called Rocket Man featuring many of
his #1 Pop hits. It was also issued as a
single CD, but the DVD has some classic Music Videos and also included clips
from a concert that had yet to be released in any format. It was dubbed The Red Piano and you can read my first impressions at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5290/Elton+John+–+Rocket+Man:+Number
Now months later, the show in on Blu-ray and the result is
mixed. Elton can still play the piano
and his showmanship is so that he can go a few rounds with the best in the
business, but his voice from this exclusive Las Vegas engagement is rougher and
more limited than ever. It is as
disturbing as it can be heartbreaking, even though he blew his voice out by the
early 1980s. The songs performed are:
1)
Bennie & The Jets
2)
Philadelphia Freedom
3)
Believe
4)
Daniel
5)
Rocket Man
6)
Answer In The Sky
7)
Tiny Dancer
8)
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me
9)
Candle In The Wind
10) Pinball Wizard
11) The Bitch Is Back
12) I’m Still Standing
13) Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting
14) Your Song
The 1080i 1.78 X 1 image is a little softer than expected
considering how good the footage looked on DVD, but color helps save the
picture, though this is dated from being an older HD shoot. Longtime concert & Music Video director
David Mallet makes this as exciting as he can, so this is as professional as
you can expect, if not up to the best work of all. Editing is a plus.
The DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 mix is a big
disappointment, sounding tinny and tiny more so than the Dolby Digital 5.1 from
the bonus DVD off of the Rocket Man
set would have suggested, while the PCM 2.0 Stereo sound is even weaker. What happened? The mix is too much towards the front
channels, the soundfield is weak and what should have been the best Elton John
audio since the classic albums were issued on SA-CD is not anywhere nearly as
good. You can read more about those
multi-channel SA-CDs at links at the bottom of the Rocket Man set review by going to the link above.
Extras include a nice color booklet inside the Blu-ray
case, a short documentary that shows how the show is put together and all the
films LaChapelle made for the giant video screen backing Elton. You can even switch between the films and
concert, making up for this disc’s shortcomings somewhat.
- Nicholas Sheffo
