If you were expecting this latest DVD opus from progressive metal giants, Dream Theater, to follow in the footsteps of their previous two masterworks, Score, and Live At Budokan, then you are probably going to be disappointed. Chaos In Motion is closer in style to their 5 Years In A Livetime video, which features a mix of pieced together live performances, video clips, and behind-the-scenes footage. GRRRR.
I didn't realize that Chaos In Motion was not a complete concert performance until I read the back of the DVD case and then plopped the thing into my player. As the back of the case explains, "Dream Theater's latest live DVD features raw footage captured throughout the entire World Tour." Although I had been expecting another complete concert recording that met the high production standards of their last two releases, us Dream Theater fans really cannot complain - too much.
Dream Theater has already released four excellent concert videos over the last 15 years, with Images And Words: Live In Tokyo, Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York, Live At Budokan, and Score, and this time around they just wanted to present something a little different. I think only Rush and Yes can top that, and they've both been around nearly twice as long as Dream Theater has. If this was the only type of concert video that they were putting out, then we might have a more legitimate right to piss all over them.
My initial disappointment with the patchwork production format of this DVD wore off pretty quickly after watching some of the knockout performances of songs that had never previously made it to official Dream Theater video. This includes a couple of my all-time favorite Dream Theater tracks like "Scarred" and "Lines In The Sand", along with all of the great new Systematic Chaos tracks. I have a whole new appreciation for that album now.
The live performances were taken from shows in Rotterdam, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Boston, Bangkok, and Vancouver during the band's year-long Chaos In Motion World Tour, which ran from June 2007 through June 2008. The audio and video quality from each of these shows was by no means equal either. I remember hurling a few F-bombs at the TV after seeing the pathetic video quality of the first song, but fortunately for us some of the other songs saw a marked improvement.
Article comments
1 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and PCM stereo audio tracks were provided, and the video was presented in 16x9 widescreen. As I mentioned previously, the audio and video quality varied greatly depending on the venue that the performances were recorded at.
If you have an LCD or Plasma @ 1080P then you are going to be disappointed with the 480P video. Like most of these concert DVDs, the 5.1 surround is mastered rather poorly with odd sounds coming from all angles. Though, I think Paul is correct that it has to do with the venue at which this footage was recorded. I suggest utilizing the PCM track to enjoy this pretty cool release from DT.
Still, I'm rather bored with the direction that DT has taken to attract a younger audience(Down tuned Nu-Metal approach that only Roadrunner records recognizes as marketable). Just my opinion....
Honestly, I'd save your money for either the new Cynic album or pick up Blotted Science.
2 - indodreamtheater
Nice post!
thumbs up for you n keep rocking..