'Toto: Live in Amsterdam' – High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

Peter's review of 'Toto: Live in Amsterdam' is up. Aside from their 80's hits, he's not a big fan of the band. He says this Blu-ray release is on the lower-rung of next-gen music releases, with a middling transfer and generic behind-the-scenes footage. Still, Toto fans may want to take a look.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/toto...amsterdam.html

[NYRedBullFan]

I saw this on PBS HD/Voom music channel a few times and boy they recorded this thing way too flat. At first I tought the cable 5.1 sound was to blame, but I guess who ever recorded the event.

[damonous]

Well, I happen to be a big long-time Toto fan (even through all those years where they "disappeared without a trace" --according to Bracke-- that is, if you call releasing 8-9 albums stateside "no trace"). I've owned this disc since it came out way back last year, and I've always thought the quality quite good. Certainly a dramatic improvement visually over the DVD. I haven't watched it since getting my larger panel, so I won't absolutely deny Peter's claims regarding macroblocking.

But, for anyone who enjoys Toto, I would just have to say that he's real wrong on this. They still sound great, and original part-time lead singer Bobby Kimball is even in the lineup (who actually did "disappear without a trace" for a number of years). There's a great show-stopper in the end set of songs where Kimball provides quite a fearsome vocal completely without mic.


Sure, the stage isn't flashy. Is that a requirement now? For example, I found all the funky set-pieces to just take away from the enjoyment of Destiny's Child Live in Atlanta. Those whole digital 'interlude' skits between songs was just annoying. ---I'm glad Toto didn't employ something like that just to look more 'current'.

If anything, Toto is one of the few "aging" bands who still knows how to actually rock. No sitting down on a stool & making their former hits into ballads (ala Eagles, Clapton, etc.). --And, yes, I've even seen them live in concert a couple of years ago. Just as good. My only regret with Live In Amsterdam is that the songlist is essentially big time 80's hits. When I went to see them live (in Canada; although they occassionally play in the States too), they played a great assortment of fan-faves from across the years (including those "disappearing days").