Review of Train: Midnight Moon

Introduction

I don`t know about you but often a song defines a year. For me, 2000 was defined by David Gray`s "Babylon" (and 1986 was defined by Nu Shooz`s "I Can`t Wait" but that`s a long and sorry story). 2001 on the other hand, was the year of Train`s "Drops of Jupiter". A distinctive opening, euphoric chorus (and lyrics that demanded you listened carefully every time to try and figure out just what the heck they were on about) made for a truly enjoyable song. It well and truly wormed its way into my consciousness and onto numerous CD compilations I made last year. Oh, and it won a Grammy.

And the album of the same name was almost as good. It never quite maintained the soaring heights of Jupiter, but most of the other songs were thoroughly enjoyable. Not earth shatteringly original, nor high art. Just good intelligent rock music with a hint of alt.country and a bit of soul.

The band is five guys from San Francisco (it`s their adopted town anyway) who have struggled to get to where they are. This isn`t a manufactured overnight sensation. These guys have made their name touring small venues all over America, and later the world. They write good songs, can play their instruments and can really cut it live. This DVD recorded live at their big homecoming concert in San Francisco last year gives them a chance to prove it.

Video

Visually, the 4:3 image is less than inspiring. It`s a bit grainy and a bit soft. It`s better than VHS but the difference isn`t as pronounced as you might like.

Also, there isn`t much going on on-screen. It`s a straight presentation of the concert. No trickery. Nothing arty. Just blokes playing their instruments and singing. And, thinking about it, that`s OK. The complete band get a fair treatment - lead singer Pat Monaghan isn`t given an undue focus. If you haven`t seen Monaghan live, he comes across as a bit of a poseur and a bit fey. Initially, this is grating but after a few viewings (and taking in the interviews) you start to warm to him.

By no means the best video quality possible but it`ll do.

Audio

Audio comes in DD 5.1 and PCM flavours. First impressions of the DD 5.1 track are good. The sound is expansive with all channels being used but you soon notice that something doesn`t sound quite right. On most music CDs the lead vocals tend to be locked into the centre speaker. Not so, in this case. The centre speaker gets the drums and some percussion and the vocals are split equally across the left and right speakers. The vocal split shouldn`t be a problem - after all this is what stereo does - but it`s noticeable. Additionally, the mix doesn`t have quite the impact that it should have. It`s a bit sterile; a bit weak.

The PCM Stereo mix is more enjoyable to my ears. It has greater bass and general weight and sounds more detailed - percussion fills sounds clearer. It will boil down to personal preference but I suggest that you give the PCM track a chance.

The performance can`t be faulted. The band have played these songs a thousand time and remain faithful to the album performances that we know and love while giving them a distinctive live spin. The standout tracks are "Drops Of Jupiter" (slightly spoiled by some inept audience participation), "It`s About You", "Meet Virginia" and an excellent cover of "Ramble On".

Features

The extras are compact but perfectly formed. Aside from a cursory discography, the only extras of note are textual bios and video interviews with the band. And these are remarkably well done. The bios are obviously written by the band themselves and not some faceless copywriter and are personal and informative. Even better are the video interviews. These last over 10 minutes and pack a lot of information and detail into this time. Again, they are personal - almost confessional - and you get a real sense of knowing the band. They appear to be just a decent bunch of lads who enjoy playing music together.

Rounding out the disc is a video of Drops of Jupiter. This cuts some footage of the boys larking around San Francisco into the live footage of the song that you`ve just seen during the concert proper, making it less than essential viewing.

Overall, though the features (slim in running time they may be) give the disc a well rounded feel to the disc.

Conclusion

If you enjoy intelligent rock songs that have real tunes and lyrics worth listening to, give Train a chance. If you enjoy Train`s music, the Midnight Moon live DVD is an essential complement to the studio albums. The performances are excellent and the sound (on the PCM track, at least) is very good. The disc gives you a good insight into the band and background information into some of their songs.

Mind you, I still can`t make head nor tail of the "Drops of Jupiter" lyrics.

"Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey"

What on earth does it mean anyway?

Tell Me.