Shout Factory presents

Heart: Dreamboat Annie Live (2007)

"There was no mold for women rockers at all. So when Nancy and I thought let's have our own band, we kind of made our own mold."- Ann Wilson

Stars: Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson
Other Stars: Ben Smith, Craig Bartock, Debbie Shair, Ric Markmann, Darien Sahanaja, Jeffrey Foskett, Libby Torrance, Mailin-My Nilson, Andreas Forsman, Erik Holm, Nora Roll, Anna Landberg Dager, Lena Bergstrom
Director: Ivan Dudynsky

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nothing objectionable)
Run Time: 01h:22m:52s
Release Date: 2007-10-23
Genre: music

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B	B+	B	B+	C

 

DVD Review

Heart released their debut album Dreamboat Annie—yes, still vinyl in those days—in 1976, and it was a fairly important step forward for women as fronts for mainstream rock and roll.

Sure, there had been others who had made major inroads (Grace Slick and Janis Joplin come to mind), but sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson began a substantive career assault on rock with a first album that featured what would become radio staples like Magic Man and Crazy 0n You. And as part of Shout Factory's Legendary Albums Live collection, this disc captures the Wilsons performing Dreamboat Annie in its entirety in an April 2007 concert recorded at The Orpheum in Los Angeles.

It's an interesting approach for a concert, especially for a band that would eventually spawn a number of bigger hits, and though the Wilsons are the only members from that original lineup, for all practical purposes, they are Heart. Ann Wilson's Robert Plant vocal overtones are still as strongly evident as ever, full of well-placed throaty growls and high notes, while Nancy manages to make the delicate intro on Crazy On You sound fresh, to say nothing of her penchant for impressively high leg kicks. With a rather sprawling supporting band—including a string section for songs like Soul Of The Sea—they step through track-by-track very faithfully, and with the exception of just a couple of tunes that haven't quite aged so well (the bluesy overtones of White Lightning & Wine sounded out of place in 1976), the performance is spot on.

And the weight of that falls largely on Ann Wilson, whose vocal strengths really show no sign of having diminished. Slower acoustic moments like the title track sound pitch perfect, and even during the encore portion, where the obligatory Led Zeppelin covers (Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop) are trotted out, only serve to reinforce the notion that her vocal chops haven't been significantly tainted by age. Aside from the Zeppelin, the encore also features a nice version of Mistral Wind from Heart's Dog & Butterfly, as well as takes on Pink Floyd's Goodbye Blue Sky and The Who's Love, Reign O'er Me.

Set List:

Magic Man
Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)
Crazy On You
Soul Of The Sea
Dreamboat Annie
White Lightning & Wine
(Love Me Like Your Music) I'll Be Your Song
Sing Child
How Deep It Goes
Dreamboat Annie (reprise)
Mistral Wind
Goodbye Blue Sky
Black Dog
Misty Mountain Hop
Love, Reign O'er Me

Rating for Style: B
Rating for Substance: B+

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.78:1 - Widescreen
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	yes

Image Transfer Review: The concert is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. Some modest bloom courtesy of the red and blue stage lighting, but fleshtones look warm and natural. Black levels are decent, and band members stuck back in the less well-lit areas are discernible, with no significant loss of detail.

Image Transfer Grade: B
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	yes
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: A pair of audio options, in either Dolby Digital 5.1 surround or 2.0 stereo surround. The 5.1 does the best job recreating the live experience, utilizing active rear channels for audience cues and the like. Ditto for a more pronounced instrument separation across the front, with Ann Wilson's vocals locked in the center. Voice quality is clear, with no issues picking out lyrics or nuances from any of the assorted guitar work.

Nice.

Audio Transfer Grade: B+ 

Disc Extras

Animated menu with music
Scene Access with 17 cues and remote access
Music/Song Access with 15 cues and remote access
2 Other Trailer(s) featuring The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons, X: Live In Los Angeles
1 Featurette(s)
Packaging: clear plastic keepcase
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extra Extras:

1. Photo Gallery

Extras Review: Not much in the way of extras, though the intro before the main concert portion (and then just before the encore) serves as a nice history of the Wilsons and the band, straight from Ann and Nancy. Actual bonus content consists of Heart Mongers Speak! (04m:41s)—with longtime fans proclaiming their adoration of Heart—and a fairly extensive photo gallery, though the image quality is a little sketchy.

The disc is cut into 17 chapters.

Extras Grade: C
 

Final Comments

A classic rock album performed live in its entirety 30 years (!) after its original release—with a few bonus covers of Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Who for encores—show that Ann and Nancy Wilson can still crank it up pretty hard when they want to.

An easy recommendation for Heart fans.

Rich Rosell 2007-10-22