Muse - H.A.A.R.P.: Live from Wembley (Region 2 DVD)
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.29 You Save: $11.69 (59%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $6.13 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for H.A.A.R.P.: Live from Wembley (Region 2 DVD)
Free Music Review: A Must-Own for Any Muse Fan!
Hit: 5 Stars
The last time Muse toured through my city, they were the opening act for My Chemical Romance. Such a thing doesn't seem fair for a band that can sell out Wembley Stadium, one of the world's largest sports facilities, twice in two days. This CD/DVD set is from those two famous shows and contain almost every great song Muse has ever written.
Unfortunately, I've never been a fan of live CDs. Why pay money to hear a band perform something live when you can just pay the same amount and get a better, studio-quality recording? The same holds true for the CD in this set. Though the songs are performed greatly and it has one song that the DVD doesn't (boo), "Microcuts," it's just not the same experience as watching the DVD. A live show, especially one on this scale, is equally about visual stimulus as it is audio. That's why I'm focusing this review mainly on the DVD, because it's amazing, awe-inspiring, and it make me wish that I actually went to the Muse show the last time they came through my town.
In a word, this performance is massive. The band enters the stage from the middle of the stadium, rising up onto a platform, before making the long walk down to the absolutely gigantic stage. Once there, they embark on a nearly 2-hour long concert that is one of the most mind-blowing spectacles I have ever witnessed on a DVD. The set goes through different phases, opening with huge numbers like "Knights of Cydonia" and "Hysteria" and really pumping the crowd up. Matt eventually moves over to a grand piano where he plays "Apocalypse Please," "Hoodoo," and "Feeling Good." Things pick back up soon after and the band plays a couple of their more heavy tunes before leaving the stage for a brief intermission.
They reenter shortly after, Matt carrying an acoustic guitar on which he plays "Soldier's Poem" and "Unintended." This is really the most flawed portion of the act, as "Soldier's Poem" isn't really a crowd pleaser by any means. Fortunately, this section is followed by the performance of "Blackout" which is truly breathtaking. During this amazing number, there are actually trapeze artists suspended from gigantic orbs overing hundreds of feet over the crowd. It is worth buying this DVD to witness, as it"s probably the most beautiful thing I've ever seen at a concert.
Overall, I've found Haarp to be an awesome piece of media to add to my collection. Though the experience given on the CD is nowhere near as impressive as that found on the DVD, for the price, you really can't go wrong. Though I'm a little upset that "Citizen Erased" is nowhere to be found on this set, I'm more than happy with it. After seeing The Flaming Lips live, I was pretty much sure that I would never see a show quite as entertaining. After viewing this DVD, however, I can safely say that they have some stiff competition. If you call yourself a Muse fan, you owe it to yourself to pick up this set. Disappointment is not an option.
Key Tracks:
1. "Knights of Cydonia"
2. "Butterflies and Hurricanes"
3. "Invincible"
4. "Microcuts"
5. "Take a Bow"
CD: 7 out of 10 Stars
DVD: 9 out of 10 Stars
Free Music Review: Spectacular
Hit: 5 Stars
Wow. Definitely in my best of 2008 already. The band I'm in and I watched this for the first time yesterday afternoon. We made an occasion of it, just like we were all going to the actual show, and boy did Muse bring the rock to my living room. My heart rate was up, I was bobbing my neck and tapping my foot along the whole time, almost as if we were there. I felt the same good-kind-of-tired euphoria after watching as I do after seeing a great show in person. And my TV and stereo ain't even all that great.
This is an immensely satisfying DVD. Muse are a spectacle, yes, which makes them just a bit impersonal with each other onstage and with the audience. But I find this an acceptable sacrifice to the sheer epic power of their music, which would suffer a bit I think if it betrayed itself as a touch more mortal. The grandiosity and the mild distance of the stage (felt even in extreme closeups on the DVD... you never forget you're in Wembley Stadium) also keeps Muse within the geneaology of the symphonic music they clearly love (barely, I admit).
So the stage visuals and feature-film-quality editing, which starts out slowly and draws you in to the show's power, are spectacular. But the real awe is for the effortless, jaw-dropping talent of all three band members. Matthew Bellamy sings so well live I spent half the time looking for clues he was lip-synching (as far as I can tell, he was not). And thousands of young bass players must have a new hero to admire in Chris Wolstenholme, who has it all: speed, taste and groove. This show would be almost as stunning under a couple coffee-can spotlights on a corner stage in a pub, thanks to their musicianship.
It's amazing to me how every Muse song is an anthem, how they make every song sound like the first or last track on the CD, yet I never got fatigued with the formula while watching all two hours straight. (All the anthems will keep me from watching constantly, though; I'm more inclined to make an infrequent but exciting event of it from time to time.) Also illuminating were the small but significant departures from the CD versions, always beautifully chosen and expanding on the artistry of the original recordings. Finally, this is also the best integration of audience footage I've ever seen in a live video. You really feel like you're there. And all the complaints in other reviews about omitted songs on a two-hour DVD just shows how deep and well-loved their repertoire is.
I'm glad this was captured on video, becuase I think this set is going to be talked about for a long time and establishes Muse as a legend. Anybody who thinks rock music is dead or modern music sucks NEEDS to at least check out this DVD.
Free Music Review: This album solidified my love of MUSE.
Hit: 5 Stars
I was a pretty good fan of Muse before hearing this album. I had first encountered the band when I played Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, on when I got to "play" their track, "Knights of Cydonia." Instantly, I fell in love with the sound of the band, and was impressed by the difficulty by which they play.
I first learned of this album when I was playing with my iPhone one day during a quick morning break. I was looking through the YouTube App, and was checking out the "Featured" tab, of which was a video from the H.A.A.R.P. DVD - the video to "Knights of Cydonia." It was the first time I saw the band perform live, even though I was in my apartment here in the USA. I was amazed at the quality of the recording. I thought it was going to be a user-created video of the concert, complete with barely-audible music due to the screaming crowds, but boy, was I wrong. The very stylish video opened with Matthew Bellamy coming out on stage in black and white, with his red jacket and pants colorized vividly. He then played those three distorted notes and that chord, repeated, and broke down into the "surfer intro" to Knights of Cydonia. I was sucked-in. The whole stadium got colorized, and the song kicked -so- hard!
I learned that the H.A.A.R.P. CD came with the DVD with footage of the concert. I bought it. I spent a whole weekend watching the concert and listening to the album. I loved it. I looked into their other albums and realized that because of H.A.A.R.P., I became a bonified fan of MUSE.
If you like Muse, or alternative rock splashed with a little bit of techno, grunge, and classical influences, then you will _LOVE_ Muse's H.A.A.R.P. album. If you want to know what Muse is like - look up one of their videos on Google Video or YouTube. They can be best described as a mix somewhere between Radiohead meets Rage Against the Machine meets Gershwin. I wish I would've been a fan sooner, and could've gone to this concert. Hopefully I'll get to see them live one day!
The album is great. There are a few songs that aren't on the album that are on the DVD, and vice-versa, since concert took place over two days, and footage/audio is used from both concerts.
I hope and pray that this album will get released on Blu-Ray, because it is truly worthy of it! And if it does, I hope it includes complete footage and/or audio from both days of both concerts! We should get the whole picture! If anyone reads this who has influence in getting things moved to Blu-Ray - this is a -must-do!
Free Music Review: The next best thing to seeing them live
Hit: 5 Stars
I've had the pleasure of seeing Muse live twice so far. I intend on seeing them live whenever they come around. It's really not an option for me. Once you have seen this band perform live, you are addicted. Now watching a DVD is not the same as being there of course, but this is the closest to being there as you can get. At least until an HD release. I've seem many live concert dvds and they usually have one of two problems. They overuse quick cuts and try to make it as exciting as they possibly can or they linger on shots too long and it becomes dull. With H.A.A.R.P. they have a perfect balance of great camera angles, quick cuts when they need it, but you still have time to see everything.
Being a musician I love watching each person play their instrument and with most concert dvds I have watched, they never seem to focus on that. Not with H.A.A.R.P. though. Here I got to see all of them playing and enjoying their instruments. In that aspect it was actually better than being there since you wouldn't get to see the concert from so many angles and up close. You get to watch as Matt Bellamy does his crazy tapping on Invincible, as Chris finger picks that great bass line to Hysteria, and as Dom effortlessly lays down solid beats for every song. It definitely focuses on Matt however, since he is the showman here. Granted they didn't play every song I wanted them to play, but they had a good mix of songs from all their albums.
The visuals are all great too. Muse knows how to put on a show. Giant screen behind them? Check. Giant satellites on stage? Check. Custom Manson guitars with built in KAOSS pad? Check. Girls hanging from floating balloons? Wait, what? I mean... Check. When you see these guys live it's like you are watching a live music video and when you see this dvd of them live, it really captures that feeling. Get this dvd playing on the biggest screen you have with the best sound system you have and you are going to love every minute of it. I've shown it to so man people and they always think that it was 30-45 minutes long at most, when really it's over an hour and half long. If you love Muse or if you just love music. This is the dvd for you.
As for the CD. It is a nice companion to the DVD. If you're a Muse addict like me then you'll have it on repeat in your car for a good month. It's from a different day so it's slightly different than the concert on the dvd and of course much shorter too. The reason you are buying this is for the DVD though. Think of the CD as a bonus.
Free Music Review: Awesome concert video, not sure about the DTS sound
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm a big fan of Muse but wasn't sure about getting a DVD of a live performance, since sometimes they're not as good as studio recordings. Well, in this case, Muse goes all out and puts on a show that grabs you by the throat in the first moments and doesn't let you go until the very end. There's not a dull moment in the entire concert, and the tracks are all outstanding.
The quality of the video transfer is excellent, with superior clarity and color that's much better than what you'd expect on a DVD (compared to Blu-Ray, which isn't available). Some reviewers have complained about the quick cuts in the editing, but I liked it and felt it was consistent with the way the show was put together. The same thing is true of the shots of the crowd, which I don't usually care for, but in this case, it added to the realism and the excitement. So I give it a score of 10 out of 10 for video quality and a visually appealing show.
I listened to the DTS track the first time and felt that the bass was overdone and the instruments overwhelmed the vocals, at least on my system. I also felt that there was too much echo or reverberation. I think maybe they wanted to duplicate the sound you'd have heard if you'd been there, which it probably does, so by all means give it a try, and then compare it to the PCM stereo track. I tried various adjustments but was unable to get a good balance with the DTS track. I ended up listening to the PCM stereo track instead, channeling the sound through all 5 of my speakers, and I was much more satisfied with the balance and the overall sound listening to it that way. For audio, I give it a 9 out of 10, just because I'm not sure what to think about the whole DTS thing.
Overall, this is one of the best live performances I've seen on a DVD, and definitely one that I'll watch and listen to many times.
The CD is also outstanding, though I agree with those who have said they wished that "Plug In Baby" had been included on the CD. Having said that, it hardly seems fair to complain since they managed to get almost 72 minutes on the CD. The sound is much better than many live CDs, with good balance, clear vocals, and without excessive crowd noise. You hear the crowd but they don't overpower the music.
So, this package offers both a video and audio reproduction of a high-energy, well-produced show that ranks with the best live performances by any band, ever.