Review of Sugar Ray: Music In High Places

Introduction

Sugar Ray are a funk-metal/rock band who have been around since 1992, releasing their first album "Lemonade & Brownies" in 1995 and have followed it with a new release every two years since then.

This DVD sees the band travel to Australia to discover the history and culture of the country as well as play some of their music.

Video

The video comes in full-frame and is of above average quality throughout.

Visually the disc consists of a mixture of the band playing nine songs in various picturesque locations in Australia, footage of the country its people and wildlife and various interviews and footage of the band members acting cool and trying to appear intellectual with various deep and meaningful comments made about Australia…

Audio

The sound comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 and, like the sound, is of above average quality throughout. The nine songs are performed acoustically and the sound of the instruments and vocals is well reproduced.

Rock bands are rock bands because they play drums and guitars and generate a powerful sound. Consequently, when rock bands decide to play acoustically, in general the resulting lack of power turns what were good songs into tedious drivel that is difficult to enjoy. I`ve not heard any of Sugar Ray`s "real" material, but their acoustic songs were not to my liking at all, and in honesty didn`t sound as if they would be any better if performed on a proper stage with all their instruments.

Features

The extras consist of band interviews, an option to dispense with the program and watch only the music, a featurette, some promo spots for the show, location footage and a biography.

The menus are static but colourful and easy to navigate.

Conclusion

To be honest there is nothing I dislike more than pop star vanity projects of this type - they should stick to playing and making music and leave programs about countries and history to someone who knows what they are doing. In this case we have a group of hat-wearing tattooed morons with a collection of bad acoustic songs wandering aimlessly around Australia drinking beer and trying to come over as cool, talking about the good vibes they are getting. Pass the sick bucket please.

Whilst the presentation and extras are fine, the content is particularly unappealing, and I urge fans of the band to seek out a proper collection of music videos or a real live performance instead.