2008 is the year of the voyager
Michael | FL United States | 11/25/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Man, I can't believe it's been two years since I first read of a Nevermore dvd in the works. 2006 wasn't a great year for Nevermore due to illnesses left and right, the worst being former guitarist Steve Smyth experiencing kidney failure due to a congenital birth defect. This show was originally set for September 12 in Bochum, Germany. Unfortunately, Warrel had an infection, and had to be hospitalized. The show was later rescheduled for October 11. After it was filmed, the last thing I remember reading was a post online from Jeff Loomis talking about the show and possibly doing some post-production touchups here and there. Nothing new came up after that. Two years later, it resurfaced not only as a 2-dvd set, but as a 2-cd set for those that want listen to it in the car, or on their walkman or ipod. Of course, the meat of it all is the main concert filmed in Germany. 20 songs from all of the band's albums spanning their career, plus you get to catch guitar-shreddage from Jeff Loomis, who was joined by Jag Panzer guitarist Chris Broderick before he left to join Megadeth. As expected, the live audio is crisp, clear, and super loud thanks to Andy Sneap (Arch Enemy, Exodus, Testament). Some may be turned off a little by some fancy editing, but as long as it sounds killer, should you really care?!? The extras on disc 2 are kinda simple: additional live footage including Gigantour in Montreal, Canada in 2005 (from the first Gigantour dvd), the Metal Mania Festival in Katowice, Poland in 2006, Wacken Open Air 2006, and the Century Media USA 10th Anniversary Party in Los Angeles in 2001 (from the Century Media USA 10th Anniversary Party dvd), all of the band's music videos, and an interview with Warrel Dane. Sadly, what's lacking is a documentary on the band's history from starting out to where they are today. Because I am a fan of the band, and the concert is so awesome, I can overlook this. This has been a long time coming as I've always thought they should have a live dvd, so to finally see this is a wish granted. If you're looking for sonic insanity, get both the dvd and cd now."
Great concerts - incredible value!
M. Leuzinger | 12/26/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"1 star ratings?!?... I dunno... I don't get it. I guess it really bugs me for when people rate a DVD for what it COULD have been or what THEY WANTED it to be - but if you rate this DVD for what it IS, I don't see how you can possibly give it one star... or really any less than four stars. I could see maybe taking one star away for the quick edits, etc.
The sound is great (I'll take "sounds too much like the album" over the tin-can sound most concert DVD's have any day), the editing isn't THAT bad (I personally enjoyed it), and most-importantly, the video is clear enough to see the true energy Warrel puts into his vocal performances! And as a guitarist, of course I enjoy seeing the fretboard wizardry of Jeff and Chris.
The main concert would have made the DVD enough of a value, but then add the other concerts, the promo videos, and the Warrel interview (kind of surprising to see how shy he is in front of a camera after being a performer for so many years) all makes this an incredible value for even a casual Nevermore fan.
Highly recommended!"
Wow.
Courtney | Melbourne, Australia | 12/12/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Holy crap, best dvd ever.
When I was watching the previews before this came out, I thought the editing was annoying, but now watching the whole thing on a big screen it seems to work. The actual performance is fantastic. If you haven't heard much of Nevermore's stuff, and are looking to get into them, start with this. Partly because there are songs from every album, and party because they are just so damn good live. Anyway, buy this. It's worth far more than the AU$50 I paid for it."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1