DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Tori Amos - Fade to Red (Recommended) (2 Viewers)

[JeffreyDurbin]

Tori Amos: Fade to Red

•Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC
•Region: Region 1
•Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
•Rated: NR (Not Rated)
•Studio: Rhino / Wea
•DVD Release Date: February 14, 2006
•DVD Features:
oAvailable Audio Tracks: DTS surround, PCM stereo
oAudio commentary by Tori Amos

I was really quite pleased with this DVD. The first two DVDs I reviewed were a bit more obscure and the source material was older which certainly impacted the audio and video quality. This collection of music videos performed by Tori Amos over a period of about a decade and a half certainly reflect the professional quality one can expect when one is a major record label artist.

In some sense, this music video collection can be viewed as a companion to Welcome to Sunny Florida, a DVD of a live performance (in Florida of course). Of course, music videos are a much more controlled production and these videos certainly display that. Although I have never purchased a Tori Amos album, placing her in the same category as all the other Lilith Fair artists (great to listen to on the radio but not worth a $10 CD), I have enjoyed her occasional song on the radio (although she was never as ‘radio friendly’ as that shooting star Jewel.) Fortunately for her fans, Amos has more talent and durability than Jewel.

The collection of videos here is comprehensive representing her entire career.

Past The Mission
Crucify
Jackie's Strength
A Sorta Fairytale
Winter
Spark
Sleeps With Butterflies
Cornflake Girl (U.S. Version)
Hey Jupiter
Silent All These Years
Caught A Little Sneeze
1000 Oceans
God
Bliss
China
Raspberry Swirl
Talula
Sweet The Sting
Pretty Good Year
Professional Widow (Remix)
Cornflake Girl (U.K. Version)

Audio Quality:

The quality varies with both stereo and 5.1 mixes depending on the time frame of the original video. Nonetheless, all videos display a high degree of professionalism and I didn’t notice any hiss, static or other distractions. **** (4 stars out of 5)

Video Quality:

Like the audio quality, the video production varied in quality but was highly professional throughout and didn’t display anything that would distract from the pleasure of the experience. **** (4 stars out of 5)

Extras:

The main extra is an interview with Amos as she discusses the context of the videos and what they mean to her. It’s an excellent addition and really makes the collection of music videos much, much more than just a collection of a bunch of videos. ****1/2 (4.5 stars out of 5)

Final Thoughts:

Style of music is such a subjective issue. To some extent it is a lot easier for people to come to a consensus on audio or video quality as opposed to the underlying talent of the artist. Although I would not consider myself enough of a Tori Amos fan to purchase this DVD at the local big box retailer I am quite pleased to have received a review copy. My wife enjoyed it even more than I did and I am certain that it will get much more use in our DVD player. Tori Amos fans will certainly feel they got their money’s worth. **** (4 out of 5 stars for the talent she displays. Whether or not that style is your cup of tea is strictly up to you.)

 

[Michael Osadciw]

Welcome to Sunny Florida was a terribly produced DVD.

It had non-anamorphic widescreen video and sub-par audio performance. I thought it was my biggest waste of $22 and that is a shame because I love Tori Amos.

Two excellent albums are 100% worth the purchase:
[*] Little Earthquakes[*] from the choirgirl hotel

Both are phenomenal albums and sound great too.

Mike

 

[Grady Reid]

Could someone please elaborate on the audio? I'm curious about the quality of the 5.1 remixes. Are they truly redone from the ground up (like Peter Gabriel's Play) or simply "enhanced" from the two channel mixes.

 

[seanOhara]

Except it doesn't include her first music video, The Big Picture, from when she had a band called Y Kant Tori Read. You can see it occasionally on VH1 Classic, and it's totally surreal -- it's shot almost like a heavy metal video, with Tori in the role of Tawny Kitane prancing around in various provocative outfits (including a very sexy nightgown).

I know Tori doesn't like to talk about that part of her career, but it would've been a great bonus feature.

 

[Michael Osadciw]

Grady

Good question. It would be nice if these videos are remixed for 5.1 rather than 'enhanced'. Also, I'm curious about the video if it's from a composite video source. It seems that every video collection I have comes from a bad looking composite video master...full of moire and dot crawl. They never look to great and I think there must be a better copy of these somewhere...

Mike

 

[JeffreyDurbin]

I apologize for the delay in returning to this review. The audio was of varied quality. I didn't get the sense that it was universally remixed to 5.1 across the board for this presentation. I think (but do not know for sure) that the videos retained their original audio quality - stereo in some cases and 5.1 in others.