Review of Eagles: Hell Freezes Over

Introduction

Before I start, I’ll let you know that this review is going to focus on the DTS soundtrack this disk offers as another of our reviewers has already done an in-depth review of the rest of the DVD.

So, what do we have here then?

We have the full Eagles ‘Hell freezes over’ concert that was performed for MTV back in 1994, some 14 years after the band claimed they would never reunite until hell freezes over. We also have a short ‘behind the scenes’ feature with some band interviews that generally explain why the reunited.
The concert contains all of the bands well known tracks such as the infamous ‘Hotel California’, ‘Tequila Sunrise’ and ‘Take It Easy’ along with some less well known ones and even the odd new track that was written for the concert.

Video

As noted in Mark’s review, the picture is a little soft and shows the effects of a fairly cheaply produced NTSC-PAL conversion. This is a shame as the audio is so good and the below par video does let the disk down.

Audio

OK, this is where things start to get interesting.

Firstly I played this disk using the PCM Stereo soundtrack (not DTS) on my normal HiFi amp and this is very good with excellent quality of sound (especially for a live concert), in my option this soundtrack alone makes the disk worthwhile to any Eagles fan and for stereo purists this is a very good example of the kind of quality good old stereo can produce.

Now for the nice bit.

This DVD is one of the few Region 2 DVDs to make use of the DTS surround format that potentially offers better sound quality then Dolby Digital due to it being less compressed.

If this disk is anything to go by then DTS gets my vote. The DTS 5.1 audio track is superb, offering a good workout for all 6 speakers, excellent clarity and defiantly one to show anybody what DTS is all about (Try ‘Take is easy’ to see what I mean).

My only gripe might be that the pitch seems slightly off, but that might just be me imagining it, and the fact that you really do need good speakers to get the most out of this as it works all the 6 speakers hard.

Features

Hmm, not much I am afraid. There is the ‘Behind the scenes’ documentary at the beginning and a DTS Audio bonus track tacked on the end.

Conclusion

Well, I am glad this disk is my collection. I am not a real big fan of the Eagles but this concert (In DTS) is just superb.
It’s just a shame that more effort could not have been put into the quality of the video as that inevitability lets down this disk but I understand the US version also has a ‘softish’ picture.
If you’re an Eagles fan this is a must, if your like me and like there music but not a real fan then get this to see what DTS can really sound like :-).