Chaos In Motion 2007-2008(Deluxe Collector's Edition)(3 CD/2 DVD)
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.
2008-10-11 -- 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.
2008-10-05 -- 3/5:: Getting the 3 CD's makes up for this box set
I wrote a review for the set that just contains the 2 DVD's. So I won't go into how bad the video quality is. Having said that, having the 3 cd's is worthwhile as the band does a great job here, but the DVD production ruins it!
2008-10-05 -- 5/5:: Incredible set! Should have bought two so I could gift one set!
I pre-ordered this limited edition set mid last September and it showed up today for only $36.99! What a bargain for such a limited press! My hats off to Amazon again! You guys rock! This CD/DVD rocks!!! Thanks again!