The Corrs - Live in London

Since releasing their debut album Forgiven Not Forgotten in 1995, The Corrs have gone on to sell more than 20 million albums worldwide, making them one of the most successful acts to come out of Ireland. Their universal appeal, the novelty of them being a family act and their sheer good looks have propelled them to great heights and this release captures what all the fuss is about.

The Corrs Live In London was recorded in December last year in front of a sold out Wembley Arena during the European leg of their successful 'Breathless' tour. This DVD release is their fourth, which is quite prolific for a group who has been releasing music for only six years. The four Corrs - Andrea, Caroline, Sharon and Jim - seem to have all bases covered; catchy songs, model-looks and talent that sees them swapping instruments throughout this entire performance.

No less than 23 songs are featured on this release spanning all three of their album releases Forgiven Not Forgotten, Talk On Corners and In Blue. A great cover version of Fleetwood Mac's Dreams is also performed as is John Lennon's Merry Xmas (The War is Over) which is included as a bonus track.

The tracklisting is ;

1. Only When I Sleep
2. Give Me A Reason
3. Irresistible
4. Forgiven Not Forgotten
5. What Can I Do
6. Joy Of Life
7. Hurt Before
8. Somebody For Someone
9. Dreams
10. The Right Time
11. I Never Loved You Anyway
12. Runaway
13. All The Love In The World
14. Old Town
15. All In A Day
16. Queen Of Hollywood
17. Paddy McCarthy
18. Radio
19. No More Cry
20. Breathless
21. At Your Side
22. So Young
23. Toss The Feathers

This is a wonderful performance and really exemplifies just how good this band really is. At first it is really quite difficult not to be taken aback by just how beautiful these girls are, and the DVD format is perfect for doing this. However, the focus here is the music, and what great music it is. The group is tight and their catalogue of songs is very respectable, whether it's the hits such as Forgiven Not Forgotten and Breathless, or the Irish-flavoured instrumentals of Toss the Feathers and Paddy McCarthy, the viewer is kept entertained from start to finish by the relentless pace that The Corrs seem to keep. Along with a fantastic light show and great all-round performance, Live in London is a gem of a DVD.

This is a simply stunning transfer and is one of the best I have seen on a concert DVD.

The show is presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio and is 16:9 enhanced. Some sections are edited split-screen style with two camera angles intercut in which the aspect ratio seems to switch to 2.35:1. While this does not happen too often, this produces a very sleek effect that only adds to the overall visual experience. Being a dual-layer RSDL formatted disc, I was expecting a layer change but did not notice one - which is always a good sign.

The detail and the sharpness of the image is astounding - whether it's the individual hairs on Andrea's arm or the droplets of sweat on Jim's face - every nuance of the performance can be seen in this fantastic transfer. The first-class stage lighting featured during the performance is captured perfectly here - glaring reds and strobing powerlamps do their best to wash out the picture but do not succeed. Colour bleeding and saturation are not a problem while black levels are rich and true. The highlight of the show is the final song in which silver confetti is exploded from the ceiling and smothers the arena in a sea of reflective light. While one would expect this to be a prime candidate for aliasing and compression artefacts, all that is presented is a dazzling display of light and colour that really does leave you breathless.

There are three soundtracks included on this release - Dolby Digital stereo, Dolby Digital 5.0 and DTS 5.0. I was a little concerned at the lack of a '1' after the DD and DTS 5.0 track listings, but after having now experienced all three soundtracks I can confirm that this is not a problem. All three soundtracks are rich and clean and do sound fantastic. The stereo track provides a strong up-front mix with all vocals and instrumentation clearly defined and provides a great two channel representation of the show.

The two surround mixes on this release are spectacular and highlight what music DVD's are all about - putting you right in the heart of the performance. Both the DD and DTS tracks are loaded with detail and the separation of the instruments and vocals and border on reference quality. All vocals are mixed to the centre channel and are very clean yet rich in tonal expression. The instrumentation is mixed to all 5 channels which creates an amazing soundfield that envelops the viewer, and with the audience noise heavily mixed into the surrounds, putting you front row during the entire performance. Even though the audio menu advises of there being no .1 LFE channel, my subwoofer was adequetly worked out during the entire show with bass lines and kick drums giving a nice punch to all three soundtracks.

Both the DD and DTS soundtracks were very similar, however the level of detail and in particular seperation was just that more complete on the DTS mix, making it my choice during the performance.

There are a few extras included to help make this release more complete, but additions such as music videos or a discography would have helped balance up the amazing feature performance.

Access All Areas - This 20 minute documentary seems to have been lifted from a UK SkyOne special and features backstage footage of the Corrs along with interviews and clips from another of their live releases Live at the Lansdowne. It is presented in 1.33:1 full screen ratio and is in Dolby stereo.

Multiple Angles Feature - This feature can be accessed during the main peformance for three songs; Breathless, Radio and Dreams. There are four angles to choose from - with each one focusing on each member of the band.

Bonus Track - The performance of John Lennon's Merry Xmas (The War is Over) is a nice addition but I don't know why this wasn't included with the main performance as it is taken from the same show. Still, a great version of the song that has everyone's lighters lit.

DVD Rom Features - As well as the usual web links to the Corrs official website and their respective record label, we get a video clip of the performance of So Young with the ability to toggle the camera 360 degrees which is a nice feature.

With an abundance of region 4 music titles now available on DVD, the difference between an average release and a first-class release is becoming greater all the time. The Corrs Live in London sits firmly at the top of the pile in regards to visual and audio experience, and both fans of the group and music lovers in general will be able to thoroughly enjoy this release from start to finish.

I have no hesitation in recommending this release to all who wish to experience the DVD format in all it's glory, with an amazing transfer and awesome DTS soundtrack to match, The Corrs have never looked or sounded this good.