Secret World

I have a few Genesis and Peter Gabriel music DVDs: This is by far the best I've watched and listened to. I can't seem to stop playing when I'm doing chores around the house. Can't decide which I like better. The Blu-ray remastered edition excellent sound or watching Paula Cole. she is captivating musically and visually . I had the rare chance to see Genesis back when they started out in the early 70's but unfortunately My wife was 9 months pregnant at the time and we had to leave the show due to the fact the sound system was too loud and I was in fear for my wife's & baby health. It was a shame that they had come to our city and played at a WAY TOO SMALL venue rather than at a larger arena. But maybe the other larger venue was unavailable due to our minor league Hockey schedule. That being said, Watching this at home with Blu-ray and surround system is as pleasurable as it gets without being there. One other aspect I noticed; unlike some other concert DVDs I have watched the cameramen concentrated mostly on the artists rather the too many long boring shots of the audience. Something that seems to be a normal trend in filmed concerts( I. E. McCartney's films) since live concerts have long ago become too expense for a person like me on a fixed budget , When you get an excellent concert captured as well as this was is a true delight. ( before fans accuses me of being stingy "Cher's" final tour comes to mind- I had to pay some one 6X the cost of tickets to a scalper in NYC who bought tickets on line and where sold out in my small city (Rochester, N>Y.) only to my dismay she came back the next year for another "Final Tour" I don't write lot of reviews but felt this Blu-ray was so superior to many other music DVDs I have purchased I just had to let others know. Thanks and God Bless

I have always been a fan of Genesis and Peter Gabriel. I already own his live concert DVD he released a few years back with him performing with an orchestra. I was just browsing on Amazon and was reading up on some of his other live DVD set's. This one caught my eye for one reason that it was Peter in his prime. The other reason being that it has Paula Cole singing back up vocals. I have been a fan of her for many years. Paula has a beautiful voice that stands out over your average backing singer. Check out her solo CD's if your not familiar with her. This DVD looks and sounds excellent. Peter's stage show and lights are amazing. I wish I got to see him in concert for that tour. If your a fan at all take a chance and buy this. You will LOVE IT !!

This has been on my personal hi-def wishlist since HD was invented. Overall I'm very happy with the presentation, and relieved not to be disappointed after the long wait. I'll break my specific observations down by category:Performance: In short, if you've even heard of Peter Gabriel, you don't need me telling you this is him at his peak. Not that I don't love the more recent work, and see the artistic merit, but he has the fire here, and it's blazing up strong. He assembled an amazing cast of musicians for these shows, and Paula Cole in particular is gorgeous and gives as good as she gets vocally all the way through playing against Gabriel (a true achievment for any singer). It just doesn't get better than this...Video: A lot of work was apparently invested in cleaning and digitizing the original 16mm film. There is not a scratch or speck of dirt to be seen. Overall it looks great. There's a little image softness especially in longer shots, but it's largely due to the hazy auditorium environment as much as the small image size of the base film stock. A small amount of grain is noticable now and again but that's to be expected with the 16mm original. Colors are vibrant and beautifully saturated.Audio: There are two audio tracks, an LPCM stereo track and a DTS-HD surround track. Neither is a bad choice for listening. The LPCM track is clean and smooth. The DTS-HD adds some very restrained ambience effects, but nothing that becomes distracting. Personally I slightly prefer the stereo track, but it's a close call.Overall I consider this BD a bargain at the price, and am thrilled to finally have a superior version in my concert library.Track listing:Come Talk to MeSteamAcross the RiverSlow MarimbasShaking the TreeBlood of EdenSan JacintoKiss That FrogWashing of the WaterSolsbury HillDigging in the DirtSledgehammerSecret WorldDon't Give UpIn You EyesBonus Tracks:Red RainSteam (remixed "quiet" version paired with tour photo montage)The Rhythm of the Heat (New Blood Live performance)Special Features:Behind the Scenes documentaryTime Lapse film of stage setup

Not long ago, I played the regular DVD of SWL and was reminded how amazing the concert was. Especially since I got to see the show live myself. My only disappointment was the quality of the video now on the flat screen. But now, that issue has been solved to with the Blu-ray release of Secret World Live. It's has all the great songs from the original concert DVD, remastered in phenomenal HD sound; and, the video has been remastered from the original 16mm film to blu-ray quality. Now, it's not going to be eye popping HD, but it's the best transfer of film to HD that I've seen. You also get a bonus concert footage of "Red Rain" (which was on the concert CD... but not the DVD).This is a must have for any PG fan..Now... Will they do the same for POV?

I originally bought the cassette version of this concert and took it with me to Vietnam to listen to. While Dai' Lat, a large outdoor bar asked if I had brought any American music with me and this concert recording brought out the whole entire town to this bar, what a night! It's the raw live concert feel of the music that seems to sink into your soul and it's simply unforgettable! I bought the DVD later on, not knowing there was a DVD video concert of this tour. One of the best purchases I've ever made. I saw Peter Gabriel in a front role seat at the very first VH1 program ever in Los Angeles along with Don Henley of the Eagles. What a concert and what a great guest bag of goodies under each seat to take home. Buy this, crank it up and enjoy!

I bought this to get a hi def version of the DVD, The DVD was really poor picture quality from having been squeezed onto a single DVD. The low bit rate was especially evident during blood of eden. The sound on the DVD was really good so was looking forward to this. Well the Picture quality of the bluray is outstanding, but the sound has been completely remixed and for me it was a real disappointment. I really liked the mix of peter and the female vocalist on both the dvd and cd. On this bluray, however, she is mixed so low down that it sounds like she is at another concert. This makes the duets, sound totally out of balance. I dont know the reason but the mix has definitely reduced the volume of her vocals. So now I have a dvd with fantastic sound and terrible picture quality and a bluray with amazing picture quality and really poor sound. A real shame as this is a fantastic show.

Yes, like many, I cut my teeth as a teenager on early Genesis, and Gabriel has lived on musically with me to this day, through all his modified musical styles, and never tires.I love listening to his music, but seeing him perform in concert footage takes it to another level.As is to be expected with a professional musician who has been at the top of his game for so many years, he gives everything he does 110%.The choreographed moves Gabriel has, particularly with long time stalwarts Levin and Rhodes, makes me laugh. Very whimsical.The stage and set is (as ever) designed with lot's of moving walkways, reveals, pyrotechnics, imaginative lighting etc etc.His interpretation (intro's particularly) of his songs goes some way off the mark in his live performances at times, but nonetheless doesn't suffer for this.And the female vocalist Paula Cole is really very good indeed, especially on the song Don't Give Up.A great way to spend a couple of hours, well worthy of the 5 stars I award this.

Peter Gabriel is, I feel, much maligned and under appreciated as an artist in his own right but anyone with even a passing interest in his more well known hits will be blown away by this record of his live work. Not only is it a brilliant recreation of his music in the live environment, it features a large number of world class musicians. Though perhaps they're not familiar to everyone, they simply excel here.Additionally, the backing singers, particularly Paula Cole, she of 'Where have all the cowboys gone' fame, knocks it out of the park, no question. Apart from some rather dubious 'choreography', this concert is a must see, everyone clearly enjoying themselves, both the artists, musicians and of course the crowd! The quality of the performance is all the more remarkable given it was recorded in 1993, when musical technology wasn't anywhere near as sophisticated as today - no auto tune ! None needed here, this is how it should be done - todays 'artists' would do well to appraise themselves of this performance. Only criticism I have is of the picture quality for the concert, due perhaps due to low transfer resolution between the original recorded format and that shown here. That issue is the only reason for four and not five stars

Was worried that the Blu-ray of this iconic concert would not match the sound and vision quality of the old VHS version that I bought after attending the concert in Glasgow in May 1993: no need to worry! The Blu-ray has more clarity and has certainly had its sound tweaked, but in a good way. Watching the Blu-ray at times was akin to seeing the concert with new eyes! It has been cleaned up so well that I could even spot audience members at the back of the hall finding their seats. Indeed, if they had been in an identity parade I would have been able to point them out!I swear I could also hear subtle sections of music that I had not noticed on my beloved VHS version! So, in conclusion you can rely on the Blu-ray, the inclusion of Red Rain is a bonus, oh yeah I can also recommend Peter's Growing Up Live DVD which complements Secret World and is all you will need for representation of his best live work.

"Secret World Live" is a fantastic live concert film originally released on video in 1994. That was the version I was familiar with. It first appeared on DVD in 2003 with re-mixed audio which was criticized for not having a great picture transfer (I never saw it myself). Now the film has been fully restored from the original 16mm negatives, re-scanned at 2K cinema resolution and the colour/contrast fully restored frame by frame. The result? As you might expect, a vastly improved image with much more visual information than was evident in the original VHS. The audio is also fantastically clear and much improved (better than the double CD, even), supposedly this uses the same audio as the previous 2003 version. There are some overdubs and re-mixing that are noticeably different to the original in places, but on the whole I was too busy being impressed with the picture quality to have any real issue with that. Of course, this is just the DVD, it has also been released on Blu Ray which I imagine looks even better than this!There is also a selection of bonus features, a short yet interesting documentary on the show and timelapse footage of setting up the stage/the concert/dismantling the stage which is amusing and gives you a glimpse of just how much work went into setting up this elaborate stage show night after night. You also get a photo montage of the tour set to the "quiet" remix of "Steam". These were included on the previous DVD release, however. The real bonus here is at last, the footage of "Red Rain" which wasn't on the previous versions of this film (like "San Jacinto" was never on the album), which makes it feel more complete. I'm not sure why they didn't integrate it into the main feature, but whatever. There's also a preview of the "New Blood" DVD. I am a huge Peter Gabriel fan and have always viewed this film as a high point of his career, and now it can finally be seen as it should be seen.

I am putting this comment against both of the Peter Gabriel blu-ray discs I have just bought, not because the sound is bad, but rather because the disc descriptions suggested more then the chosen encoding can ever deliver.When I close my eyes and just listen to these recordings, the restrained sound is exactly what I have come to expect and love of Peter Gabriel recorded music over many years. The problem comes when I open my eyes and compare what I am hearing with, for example, all the effort the drummer is putting into his kit and especially the cymbals, and yet of which so little can be heard.The disc packaging says LPCM stereo and HD Master Audio 5.1 surround, and in my ignorance I had assumed that these both indicated high quality sound. What a mug I had been! In fact, these names simply describe particular encoding techniques, each capable of supplying a whole range of differing sound qualities from the basic 16 bit/ 48kHz sampling rate used for most ordinary blu-rays of films, up to an amazing 24 bit/ 192kHz.Both techniques can provide amazing sound when the higher data rates are employed - just check the Blu-ray Audio disc from Patricia Barber, or the audio on the 'The Dark City' blu-ray disc - but not at that lowest spec which my player tells me these two discs use.This disappointment was part of what prompted me to check all my music blu-rays, and around half of them use the same basic encoding.The difference provided even by the 24 bit/48kHz used by most of the others is so clear when playing the discs through half decent kit, what a shame PG didn't choose to take that simple step up the quality ladder.

I bought this for my husband for his birthday - we went to see this concert at the SECC in Glasgow waaaaay back in 1993, the year we got engaged and I thought it would bring back some happy memories for us both (yes - I know it was for me as well!!) Anyway, the picture quality was a bit disappointing and I had to fiddle about a bit to get the right setting for the sound. I played it thru our hi-fi on the Dolby setting and had to turn it up quite loud (ahem!! 'course you did!!) Have these been mass produced or something, 'cos I know that quite a few folk have said the picture's very grainy. However, apart from all that - I was glad to receive it - it came well packaged and protected and I'm sure hubby will love it just the same - I mean - how can you go wrong with Peter Gabriel - let's face it!! Too many favourites to highlight, but "In Your Eyes" just makes my tummy go funny!!A fantastic concert, all the band members clearly having a ball and just great music - what more could you ask for (apart from a better picture!!) 4 out of 5 stars!! xxx

My decision to purchase this blu ray after I purchased the DVD many years ago was because the whole concert was so well done. Peter Gabrial is a great musician The whole performance made me watch the dvd over and over with the excellent DTS audio. The release of this concert on Blue ray just made me wonder if it could be restored to move into HD league, well I have taken a quick look having just received this Blue ray, The grain has gone which was evident in the DVD, the whole production looks so much better over the DVD, I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Peter Gabrial to anyone thinking of upgrading to blue ray do it, you will be well pleased, Also give "New Blood live in London" a blue ray worth having in 3D or standard 2D it look very good

Others have already mentioned the reduced audio output and so I won’t go on about it, I’ve got a lovely 7 channel hifi separates system and I just turned the volume up and it worked. Awesome picture, great sound, fantastic gig.

Amazing! I got this although I did have the original DVD, the difference between this one and that is huge. The picture quality is massively improved and not grainy as the original was, and sound is also much better which you can really hear on a surround set. It would appear a lot of time and effort has been spent on this reproduction which falls in line which the same efforts made on the Growing Up DVD, Back to Front and the video collection. If you have the original Secret World disc, this is well worth trading up to.

The following is not the fault of this seller or indeed anyone selling this Blu-ray. What I take issue with is the expected difference in quality between the dvd and the Blu-ray. In this case there was not a lot of difference. I don't know if any other keen fans of Peter Gabriel have noticed this. Don't get me wrong, the concert is superb and I have been watching the dvd for years. The update to Blu-ray however, was nowhere near what I expected it to be and compared to the Blu-ray version of his 1987 concert actually pretty poor. So my advice would be 'If you have bought a Blu-ray player and expect the Blu-ray version of this concert to be a step up in picture quality' then stick with the dvd and save yourself a few quid!

I enjoyed this concert (in spite of Tony Levin's knee pads) as a DVD and wrongly thought the the bluray version would be a good update and a great excuse to watch the concert again. But no. This is not bluray as I understand it. The video quality is standard res and no more. They've gotten rid of some of the noise of the DVD version but that's about it. If you have the original save your money and stick with it. Pity. I thought PG had higher standards than this.

Just love this concert and have watched it several times now and do not get bored with it at all instead I get so involved time flies over.

Having followed Gabriel since his early days I bought and adored the VHS of this concert when I had a rubbish and small TV. Years later, when they made the DVD version I assumed they would have cleaned up the picture, frame by frame, as has become the trend. In this regard this is a big disappointment because the picture is very very snowy on a big screen. The sound is fantastic.So, Peter, if you are reading this, we all love you and I will buy it again if you can get the picture cleaned up, so that we can see the best ever Talk to me, the best ever Steam, the best ever Secret World etcetc until the end.

Okay, so I'm a fan of PG and the music on this disc. I had the original DVD version for many years which was great. Then the BluRay came out and I couldnt resist it. Still the same materials which I was expecting but what left me disappointed was that the source material doesnt seem to have really warranted a move to Blu-Ray, so for me a little disappointed. I shouldnt have bothered 'upgrading'. Otherwise, superb concert and performance, great audio, great tracks. Definatley my favourite PG concert.