Canadian singer and songstress Anne Murray... wait a sec, there is only one Canadian songstress, and Sarah McLachlan has taken that title... Let’s try that again: Canadian singer Anne Murray has added to her discography an album entitled What a Wonderful World. In order to promote this album, she has branched out into the DVD medium like many artists are doing today. Rather than a showcase of her works from over the years, fans are supplied with a short, sharp and shiny insight into the new (well, it was released in 2000, but anyway...) CD, and can see Murray teaming up with guests including Deborah Cox and Dawn Langstroth, as well as shedding some spotlight on the backup singers.

Murray’s vocal talent takes in such a broad range of styles, ranging from gospel to spiritual to country to pop. This is one woman who can really do it all. Her melodic and prominent voice can clearly be heard during the duets and group pieces, leaving a strong harmonic quality to the overall sound. For this performance, Murray teams up with her daughter, Dawn Langstroth, for a piece written by Amy Sky called Let There Be Love, which provides a more modern pop-song style for a more modern audience. Admittedly, the song is beautiful to listen to, and the presence of the mother-daughter team is great as Langstroth’s powerfully stunning voice takes the higher road. There are a few things with this presentation though, and lets start with the costume changes. Murray really must be magic, because while the audience is applauding one piece, she can instantly change into a new costume! Now ladies and gentlemen, this doesn’t happen just once, but five times in total. Not only can she magically change clothes, but she can magically make an entire gospel choir disappear off stage. Freaky... Maybe her bewitching good looks played a small part in this. And yes, the terribly poor pun was intentional...

A mate who sat through this one, and who is a fan of Anne Murray, said “don’t mention her age, you don’t need to.� Sorry, it needs to be said. Murray was a very pretty woman in the 1970s, and is now 30 years older yet looks as beautiful as ever. Let’s see how your maths is... 1970 where she was in her 20s, and add 30 years, yes that means she is now in her 50s. But she looks simply stunning. Her fashion sense is classy, stylistic and appropriate, and she captures the attention of the audience for the entire show. Some of us are not fans of Anne Murray (not mentioning any names), but this is one of the better music discs out there, and definitely one that is great to absorb.

Track listing:

1. Put a Little Love in Your Heart
with Sharon Riley and Faith Chorale, Expression of Praise
2. In the Garden
3. Elijah
4. The Other Side
5. I Can See Clearly Now
with Deborah Cox
6. In the Round Medley:

• Amazing Grace
• You’ve Got a Friend
• Lean on Me
• Just a Closer Walk With Thee

7. Song of Bernadette
8. Softly and Tenderly
9. Let There Be love
duet with Dawn Langstroth
10. Put Your Hand in the Hand
with Sharon Riley and Faith Chorale, Expression of Praise
11. What a Wonderful World

The video is presented in an aspect of 1.33:1, so obviously it's not 16x9 enhanced. When watching this disc, the big question came up – is this a PAL transfer, or an NTSC one? Well, after plenty of “umms� and “ahs� it was discovered that this is in fact a PAL transfer, but it just holds some of the NTSC qualities (or lack thereof shall we say?).

The image is slightly soft throughout the entire duration, giving the appearance of an NTSC transfer. This isn’t a problem though, and it's at no point distracting. Detail levels are quite high, and even the finest details in the image are mastered with an exquisite precision. Oddly, the video bitrate was fairly constant and surprisingly high, stable at around 8 Mbps (compared to 4–6 for many other DVDs), which then meant the video was free from any compression-related artefacts. While we’re talking about artefacts, it appears that the show was recorded onto a digital source, as there are no examples of grain or film artefacts of any kind.

Colours are bright and vibrant, with no bleeding. However, the odd one or two scenes do have some dispersed colours due to the filming filters, but these are atmospheric rather than problematic. Blacks are solid, with no low level noise, but do suffer from a slight blue tinge. Shadow detail is adequate, yet fairly murky... and this is the biggest fault of the transfer.

This single-layered disc doesn’t have a layer change, and subtitles have been included featuring both dialogue and lyrics.

Two audio tracks have been included, and these are both Dolby Digital tracks, one in 5.1, and the other in 2.0. As is often the case, the 5.1 track does reign supreme.

As you would expect, the 5.1 track is enveloping, and creates a large and solid soundstage. The discretion of the surround channels is great to hear, as the subtle yet atmospheric effects penetrate through, such as audience noises. Dialogue and vocals are directed to the centre channel, with the front left and right channels carrying the bulk of the music. The only quibble with this track is the lack of lower-end sound, yet this isn’t a dance disc that needs pulsating bass to survive.

The 2.0 track sounds very ‘stereo,’ and is remarkably bold in comparison to the 5.1 track. This boldness does give off a rather harsh sound, which is rich to listen to, but lacks all of the depth and clarity of the 5.1 track.

The quality of sound is superb from both tracks, yet the enveloping quality of the 5.1 track shoots it forward above the 2.0 track.

The menus are presented in the aspect of 1.85:1, and feature various music clips on nearly every page. Navigation is simple, well thought out and, best of all, fast.

The Discography is your stock-standard list of recordings for Murray, and catalogues her history of released albums. These appear as text, which is clear and easy to read. The Biography is text as well, and gives a brief history to Murray and her career. Now what career would be complete without Awards and Achievements? These are text only screens of various awards she has won over the years including Grammys and Juno Awards. The Electronic Press Kit is a five minute advertising spot where the making of the What a Wonderful World album is discussed. As a bonus, which is accessed through the main menu, is the video clip of Let There Be Love, presented in the non-enhanced widescreen aspect of 1.85:1. The cover advertises a Bonus Booklet, but sorry, a piece of paper folded in half with printing on both sides doesn’t really count as a ‘booklet.’ Why not put this sheet in as the inner cover behind the plastic? Oh well...

Overall, the video is just a stone’s throw short of brilliant, and the audio too is of a high standard. The extra features are fairly plain and uninteresting, yet is a great catalogue for fans. Murray’s diverse musical talent is bound to have something in store for everybody.