Dream Theater's Chaos In Motion World Tour kicked off June 3rd, 2007 in Milan Italy and ended on June 4th 2008 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Chaos In Motion 2007-2008 captures it all. Legendary drummer Mike Portnoy has assembled over 3 hours of live performances spanning the globe. Complete with a behind the scenes documentary, live screen projection films, music videos and a never before seen photo gallery, Dream Theater bring their fans the ultimate tour souvenir. This Deluxe Collector's Edition 5 disc set is limited to 5,000 pieces. It includes the standard double DVD set plus three audio CDs of the entire live performance featured in the DVD.

2008-10-14 -- 4/5:: A must-have for DT fans. Not the best place to start for the uninitiated
A disclaimer first: I am a really big DT fan. To me, they are the most talented band in the world and by far my favorite. I was traveling in Europe for business the week Chaos in Motion was released, and I was shocked to find the 5-disk edition in an airport electronics store in Italy. As a result, I got to watch it on the flight back.

DT had warned that the video quality would not be as good, so I was prepared for that. Considering the price (less than $40 for two DVDs and three CDs) I think the trade-off of footage from lots of shows instead of cinema-quality from one like the last two DVDs was a good choice by MP, especially when - for a band like Dream Theater - it's all about the music. I find the audio quality to be very good and I really enjoy when they revisit classics - especially the projects from the pre-Jordan days and given them a more current treatment. Throughout all of the songs, the musicianship is nearly flawless, of course.

Looking at the other reviews, what some may not understand about DT fans is that we simply cannot get enough of the band. I really enjoyed the 90 minutes behind the scenes. As one reviewer noted, there are not tons of endearing anecdotes, but it is still a glimpse inside the touring of my favorite band. After the 4th Indiana Jones movie came out, a friend asked what I thought and I said that no matter what, I was happy for another evening with an old friend and that Indy could probably do no wrong for me. Dream Theater is much the same...just thankful for another evening (or set of evenings) with my favorite band. If there is such the things as a casual DT fan, don't start with this one...definitely start with SCORE or Budokan or even Scenes from New York. For those of us that get it, we love the chance to learn more about their personalities and hear them accomplish the impossible live yet again.

2008-10-13 -- 4/5:: Mixed Bag
I'd lean more toward 3.5 stars for this collection. As others have mentioned, the video quality is subpar, though I suspect that was done intentionally to make the DVDs seem "grittier." It sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. As for the audio, there are moments when James LaBrie strains to hit or hold a note. His voice sounds tired at times. The rest of the guys are, as always, pretty much flawless. Particularly worth mentioning is John Petrucci's soaring solo on "Surrounded," which is the must-listen track of the set. Petrucci and the other guys are sometimes accused of being technicians who don't play with emotion, but this solo alone has the power to quiet much of that misguided criticism.

Ultimately, "Chaos in Motion" is probably for hardcore DT fans only, who will enjoy the different takes on songs they know by heart. Casual fans should probably purchase "Score" if they want to know what this band can do live.

2008-10-11 -- 2/5:: In Motion Sickness Chaos
It all started with NYPD Blue. Someone had the brilliant idea of tossing away the tripod that held cameras steady. Then, they moved the camera to the shoulder, zoomed in 10x and started walking around while recording.

It's a shame that this "technique" has spilled over Dream Theater's productions. After a DVD like SCORE where the production is good, the cameras are anchored on tripods and the sound was decent, now we have here a bundle of chaos in motion sickness where the viewer has to suffer through various inconsistencies in sound quality and avoid having any food prior due to the roller coaster effect that amateur like image recording can cause.

After enduring through 180 minutes of motion sickness, I was reluctant on watching the DVD #2 but finally I saw something interesting - the story of the unsung heros on the daily routines on the road.

If you are a DT fan yes I recommend this because after all it is another volume for the collection. If you are not a DT fan or just a recent one, don't bother. Buy the Budokan and Score shows.

Two stars because if I wanted to watch a bunch of amateur videos I'd go bootleg. From DT I expect Kevin Shirley to be thrown out off a cliff (worst live mixes ever) and I expect them to buy some tripods for cameras instead of spending 20 grand in starbucks coffee.

2008-10-10 -- 3/5:: Not their best.....
You all know Dream Theater right? Complex time signatures, soaring melodies, unrivalled musicianship, epic songs and quality products no matter what's released.

I am a huge DT fan, I love them to bits and of all the 700 albums I have I would say DT are in my top 3 favourite bands ever. So like any other DT fan I was counting down the days to receiving this little gem, the tracklisting looked really interesting and couldn't wait to see their live versions of some of my favourite DT tunes (Take The Time and Lines in the Sand).

To be honest though, I am a little disappointed. To put it bluntly the sounds and pictures are average at best, the concert clips are effectively 'raw footage' from camcorders, and the sound just seems muddy and a little distorted - too much drum on one track, not enough drum on the other, too much guitar, too little guitar - you get the picture.

I suppose my expectations are a little high, a) because this is DT and b) because their previous live DVD efforts (Score and Live at Budokan) were visually and sonically superior to anything I have seen from other bands.

However, if you are a proper DT fan then this is essential, as is anything else they have done, because the live versions are still cool to listen to and there are some interesting interviews with the band.

If you are new to DT then I would definitely recommend buying 'Score' and 'Live at Budokan' first as a real indication of how damn good this band are.

2008-10-08 -- 4/5:: "LIMITED" edition?
hey! wasn't this deluxe boxset supposed to be a limited edition of 5000 copies only??!! why is amazon still selling it! i thought all the 5000 copies were already sold! i hope they haven't tricked us...i bought this boxset because i'm a DT fan and i wanted to be one of the lucky 5000, but now i realise that amazon is still selling it =S...this dissapoints me.