Review of Eagles: Hell Freezes Over

Introduction

The Eagles, one of the super groups of the Seventies, originally said they would only get back together ‘when hell freezes over’. Well their huge fan base did not have to wait quite that long, as this concert took place in 1995, some 14 years after the group split.

The concert opens with probably their most well known track ‘Hotel California’, and includes 18 tracks in all, including ‘Tequila Sunrise’, ‘Take It Easy’, ‘Desperado’, one of my personal favourites ‘The Last Resort’, and the final track on the DVD is a DTS only version of ‘Seven bridges Road’.

As a bonus, as the end credits role, you get the acoustic version of Hotel California.

Video

I first viewed this film on a promo VHS copy that was sent to us here at Reviewer. We were amazed at the quality of this VHS recording when we watched it some 5 weeks ago. It really goes to show how poor modern mass high speed duplication is (this VHS tape was real time duplication), and that VHS can often surprise you given good source material.

But enough of the VHS version, the DVD is not quite up to a such a high standard. Picture quality is rather soft, and suffers from being an NTSC source transferred to PAL format.

Audio

Both 5.1 DTS surround and PCM stereo sound tracks are included. However the final bonus track is DTS only. Not being able to test the DTS track, I only listened to the PCM stereo version. Though I did not experience the concert in full surround, the stereo tracks are crystal clear and bring across the guitar solos and percussion with amazing clarity.

The live concert is a joy to hear on this format, as most people would only have experienced this groups music from 70s recording standards. I have a couple of the old Eagles CDs and this DVD is such a contrast! It really shows what music on DVD is capable of, and we are seeing more and more music DVDs being released, not all of this high standard however.

Features

Initially you get the choice to select one of the two sound tracks, PCM stereo or DTS surround, and then the animated menus appear.

Before the main concert begins, the interviews with each of the band members are played, which can obviously be skipped past if you want to get straight to the music. The reasons behind the reunion and the efforts involved to get the group back together are revealed, as many of the band members were not in regular contact with the others. Much of this footage is hand held camcorder stuff, so the quality is not always as you would expect, but it gives a real sense of ‘being there’, especially at the rehearsals of not only the group, but the orchestra also.

Conclusion

This DVD really shows how to put together a recorded version of a live concert. It must have been truly awe inspiring to have been at the concert itself if you were a true Eagles fan, as 14 years later this concert was certainly worth waiting for!

Video is acceptable, but Audio quality is excellent, and if you have a DTS audio system it really is a DVD you should consider buying to show off what your equipment is capable of. The Eagles are one of those groups that most people would have heard some of their work, and even if you do not know many of the tracks, this DVD is unlikely to disappoint.