Disco de Eagles: “Hell Freezes Over [DVD]”

The music in the concert, filmed in April of 1994, is lovely and exquisitely performed, but somewhat underwhelming in its presentation.

The strength of the Eagles is in their wonderful songs and masterful musicianship, but anyone looking for a razzle-dazzle performance should look elsewhere; these are laid back performers to the point of sometimes being as exciting as watching a CD spin. It would have helped had they ditched the stools for the first 6 songs, varied the lighting a bit in the middle section, which is cast in an almost steady dark blue, and mixed in a few up-tempo songs, instead of the first 12 selections being of approximately the same speed and mood; it picks up with last 5 songs starting with "Take it Easy", with brighter lighting and more energy projected from the musicians, and even a rousing new song, "Get Over It".

Highlights for me are a gorgeous arrangement of my favorite Eagles song, "Hotel California", "New York Minute", with its Gershwinesque string section intro and jazzy horn solo, and "Life in the Fast Lane", one of the 3 up-tempo songs.

The first 15 minutes of this film are about the preparation for this concert, and include interviews with the Eagles who are: Glenn Frey / Don Henley / Joe Walsh / Don Felder / Timothy Schmit. The sound is great and total running time is 100 minutes.

Song list:

"Hotel California"

"Tequila Sunrise"

"Help Me Through the Night"

"The Heart of the Matter"

"Love Will Keep Us Alive"

"Learn to be Still"

"Pretty Maids All on a Row"

"The Girl from Yesterday"

"Wasted Time"

"I Can't Tell You Why"

"New York Minute"

"The Last Resort"

"Take it Easy"

"Life in the Fast Lane"

"In the City"

"Get Over It"

"Desperado"

People who can't distinguish the difference between DTS and DD probably can't distinguish the difference between mp3 and cda format by ear. there is a difference only can be distinguished by sensitive ears. difference between 20bit audio and 16 bit audio can be compared to digital graphic images. picture looks the same at glance but if you look carefully 20bit has sharper image and more brilliant colors. On this eagles DTS dvd, you will not only hear guitar sound but you will also hear plastic pick strumming against each strings. that's the difference. I close my eyes when i listen to this dvd and i can visualize sonic images of each instrument precisely. i'm not just talking about multiple channel audio mixing. but actual sonic image as something almost tangible being created before my ears. with DD, sound move from speaker to speaker. with DTS, sound goes beyond where speaker doesn't even presence. so far I've listen to VH1 Divas(DD), sarah mclachlan mirror ball(DD), tina turner(wild dream tour)(DTS),3 mozart DTS audio cd, Sting(ten summoner's tale)(DTS),BoyzIImen(DTS) all 5.1 audio dvd or cd.

nothing has matched quality of audio mixing or sonic realm of this dvd.

The other reviews have already said it: this is the most superb-sounding DVD available. I have no Eagles in my music collection and am not even that interested in their music yet:

1. Attention home theatre types: the fidelity of sound in DTS mode is the finest you'll find on any DVD at this time (Feb 2002) - this is the DVD to impress your friends with how great the sound can be on your home theatre.

2. The picture quality is amazingly sharp (I've been asked by friends if it was shot on HDTV - it wasn't but it looks that sharp).

3. It's assuredly composed and edited...which is much more than I can say for 99% of the concert videos out there. The cuts make sense, the angles aren't crazy or weird and the flow is excellent.

4. Finally, but not least, the band sounds (and even looks) every bit as good as they did 20 some years ago. Don Henley's voice in particular is completely "there" - he hits every high note and never falters.

I'm no fan but I am completely blown away by this DVD. As far as I'm concerned it sets a standard for all other concert DVD's.

This reunion concert of The Eagles is a memorable event, from 1994, when the guys decided to get back together after many years apart. The opening song has a brilliant rearrangement in a deelectricfied set....Hotel California! The sound of the guitars' strings being plucked are crystal clear, in the incomparable DTS format, and after the synchronized guitar intro - Don Henley's voice hits his "On that dark desert highway...." notes superbly, with the center speaker solely devoted to him on this track! An incredible version of this classic song - which, of course, received favorable airplay on the radio! My favorite song: I Can't Tell You Why, has bassist Timothy B. Schmidt singing his lead vocals, dead on, to the 1979 studio recording....Glen Frey soothes the listener with his keyboard playing, on this one. Overall, this is The Eagles best concert recording, ever! I own the first 1999 DVD release of Hell Freezes Over, which happened to have the DTS audio! The sound on this disc is phenomenal....you'll have to hear it to believe it! I treasure this DVD of mine; I know you will too! Take It Easy!

Recently a Fellow wrote that there was only one DTS track on the DVD. By now he has hopefully learned of his mistake. The ENTIRE concert is in DTS and boy, oh boy, is it cool. Technology is fabulous, do yourself a Big favor and buy this concert. There are not that many titles currently available in DTS but this one is definitely a "Must Have." (And I would like to apologize to my neighbor for listening to this too loud. I just bought it. Give it a few days and I'll turn it down... maybe.)