First Review of Death on the Road DVD
Death on the Road DVD reviewed by Iron Dutchman:I finally managed to watch the whole Death on the Road concert DVD and here's my review.
First of all, your enjoyment of the concert is really going to depend on if you can stand the editing. I didn't have problems with the editing in Rock in Rio but I think it can be really distracting on this DVD. Sometimes the editing works (Journeyman) and sometimes it's a complete chaotic mess with cuts every second (Wildest Dreams and Rainmaker).
You do get used to it while watching but I'm sure it's going to get a lot of complaints from people.
As for the actual concert, it's an excellent gig in which you can clearly see the band enjoying themselves onstage and the crowd is really into it. Bruce's rants have been cut though, but the song introductions (Dance of Death, Fear of the Dark), the band introduction (before Journeyman) and the band leaving the stage are there.
Also worth knowing is that for the first time Adrian has lots of time on screen. That has been a complaint in the past of some fans and I know at least one person who'll be very happy to hear this.
The audio and video of the concert is the best it's ever been for an Iron Maiden release. The video has deep backs and excellent colours and it's finally widescreen, unlike Rock in Rio. The audio is in PCM (uncompressed stereo) and Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbs for the technophiles). I've mostly listened to the disc with the stereo track through my headphones and it's awesome! It's in my opinion the bext Maiden has ever sounded on a live release. I haven't compared it to the cd yet though but it seems better than what I remember from the cd.
I've also listened to the DD 5.1 track and it seems to be a really great mix. I've got to wait for my neighbours to leave before checking that out some more.
Then there's the disc with bonus materials. The documentary (in widescreen) is the best I've ever seen on a live release! It covers everything from creating the album to preparing for the tour and the tour itself. It has interviews with people like Kevin Shirley, Bruce's wardrobe assistent, the guitar techs and loads more. I can't think of anything that I wanted to know that was left out. It even answers the question how Dance of Death the album was mastered.
There are also two bonus documentaries: Life of the Road and The Fans. These seem mostly like leftovers from the main documentary but they are pretty interesting. The Fans interviews lots of fans waiting in line for a gig. That can get a bit boring because they keep on asking the same questions (how did you get into Maiden?, which songs do you hope they'll play? etc.)
Life on the Road is completely about the road crew. It's a nice documentary which really shows you what these people do.
There's also an EPK, some promo video's and some photo galleries on the disc but I haven't checked those out yet.
All in all I think if you can get past the editing it's an excellent release of a great gig from the DOD tour with great audio and video and an awesome documentary.
1 Comment
i enjoyed reading your preview of that expected dvd ! i'm a bit angry about the editing as it was already boring on rock in rio
also : why didn't they put a dts track ?
well, i 'm happy in spite of these shits and expecting my dvd delivering !