BluRay Music Video Poll King Crimson - MELTDOWN: LIVE IN MEXICO [Blu-Ray]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this 2018 release from King Crimson entitled "Meltdown: Live in Mexico".
This Blu-Ray was recorded in Mexico City last year on their 2017 tour, and it features a 2.5 hr concert film as well as a 3.5 hr extended audio playlist, all mixed in discrete 5.1 surround sound!

 

[H.A.L.]

Voted 9 (Mel Collins' hair looks more natural compared to his in MONKEY MIND).

Oh, the music. Haven't done an A/B with MM but the surround seems more interesting in this one -- instead of rigidly placed like the musicians on stage, the instruments have a mix of left to right and switching from front to back in their placement, and like a camera lens, the mix will focus on them at times, but not to distraction.

What a blast to get two LIZARD tunes early on! "Prince Rupert" medley has a brilliant arrangement, and Fripp manages that plaintive opening lament on keyboards; was surprised how eagerly the Mexican audience welcomed it! "Circus" likewise was welcome beforehand, although the band seemed to need to loosen up a bit at first. Mining the early more obscure albums they did an ok "Pictures of a City" and a surprisingly moving version of "Islands," which, face it, could get awfully boring. The "money" tune was of course "Epitaph," and man, does JJ sound like Greg Lake! Wonder if that was a tribute, r.i.p. . . .

I stopped at the intermission -- gotta save something for later. Very much welcomed the 3 keyboards (how many drummers switch to keyboards effortlessly? I'm impressed). In the first set, at least, they have brought back the mellotron sound, woohoo. Fripp was rather restrained, but hey, at his age . . . and maybe he's saving it for the second set!

At first I thought the video was hideously grainy, but that was hand-held as they walked in; improved greatly once the band was in place. The background curtains at times seemed to return to the grain.

In the long run I suspect I'll play this much more than MM. Yea!

 

[César]

I'm on first listen and while the performance is miles ahead of To Unseat..., I find the mix a bit unsettling. I guess it had the intention to place the listener just in the middle of the band, but Pat and Gavin are placed in FR and SR and at FL and SL respectively (same happens with Jakko and Robert) and Jeremy's drums are in a kind of phantom back center. Don't know how to explain it, but the listening experience is a bit confusing. It's not double stereo, but close.
I also wonder why having so many players in action the center speaker is left unused (Jakko's vocals are in the center, but also on all the rest of the speakers at the same time!)
Enjoyable, but strange.

 

[blue.monk]

Lordy, nearly 3 hours 40 of surround audio on the Blu-Ray! I've listened to 90 minutes thus far and watched only a sample of the video. I saw both their shows here in Atlanta last year and was floored. I absolutely loved it. It's a tall order trying to capture the intensity of the live experience, particularly in how best to present the three drum kits. I think the solution here, localizing them more or less to three distinct points, is valid but overall I was hoping for a more visceral impact from the drums. But of course it's unrealistic for me to expect the same experience from a recording. Nonetheless I'm thrilled for this release and enjoying the audio tremendously. I look forward to sitting down with the video soon and will then cast my vote.

 

[Albert Dagger]

I voted 9. Performance is excellent. The stereo and surround mixes are well done. Video is also very good, and works much better than Radical Action, IMO. In this video, you can clearly see how important Jeremy's contribution is to this band.

It could easily be a 10, but there's something that stopped me from saying: "hey, this is perfect!". I don't know whether it's Jeremy's drums, that were mixed in the rear speakers (exactly in the centre), or the vocals and Fripp's guitar which are too low in the mix, at times.

I have to confess that once I got used to the mix choices, I stopped thinking about having one of the three drummers coming from the rear speakers. It is strange though, especially in Indiscipline and other tracks where there's a pronounced dialogue and interaction among drummers. Vocals are a bit recessed at times, or it might be the echo (which is different in the stereo mix). Good to hear Mel moving from FL to the rear speakers, that's good.

Overall, I think the 5.1 mix works best in combination with the video. I've listened to it in audio-only mode, and doesn't work for me. I don't think the bonus tracks were mixed from multitracks. To me, they sound like soundboard recordings, but I am happy to be proved wrong. On this regard, I'm wondering how they came up with the 5.1 mixes for these bonus tracks... which don't sound particularly good. Performance-wise, they are excellent though. Discipline is great.

Other great tracks: Pictures of a City (I generally skip it, but this one is great), Fracture, Meltdown/Radical Action/Level 5, Neurotica, Sailor's tale, Schizoid Man, Indiscipline (the intro). This is a must-have for KC fans.

Note: all tracks are included in hi-res stereo and 5.1 on the blu-ray, which is great!

 

[beerking]

I have a confession.
After digging 21st century Schizoid Man, all those moons ago, I couldn't really get into the resulting King Crimson. I do have all their surround releases, just not voted on them yet, as only listened to each one once.
I read the reviews of this live album and thought it's time to give them another shot.

These are real musicians at the pinnacle of their careers.
A total musical masterpiece.
To see Robert Fripp sitting there with that 'can it get any better than this' look on his face, just about sums up this fantastic performance.

To quote Roberts wife:
Its a 'mystery' as to why I have found them, at times, hard going.
Not any more!!

A Cool Jamming 9

 

[4-earredwonder]

I have a confession.
After digging 21st century Schizoid Man, all those moons ago, I couldn't really get into the resulting King Crimson. I do have all their surround releases, just not voted on them yet, as only listened to each one once.
I read the reviews of this live album and thought it's time to give them another shot.

These are real musicians at the pinnacle of their careers.
A total musical masterpiece.
To see Robert Fripp sitting there with that 'can it get any better than this' look on his face, just about sums up this fantastic performance.

To quote Roberts wife:
Its a 'mystery' as to why I have found them, at times, hard going.
Not any more!!

A Cool Jamming 9

I have a confession to make. Have always been a KC fanboy since In The Court of the Crimson King and LOVE all the Steve Wilson brilliant 5.1 DVD~A remixes but watching the entirety of Meltdown in Mexico, I found the static stage presence....well static and prefer to listen to it with the video OFF.

Still a 9.........AUDIO only!

 

[rugene]

I really enjoy this live release, but I am not a fan of Jacko for his vocals and I hate the way they change the vocals on "Indiscipline".

 

[H.A.L.]

I really enjoy this live release, but I am not a fan of Jacko for his vocals and I hate the way they change the vocals on "Indiscipline".

At times he can sound like John Wetton (r.i.p.) . . . can be jarring!

 

[Marplot]

I enjoyed seeing the current Crim live. I like Jacko's voice but have to agree with rugene. He doesn't bring the same energy to Indiscipline making it a lounge version of the song. They would be better off not playing it live and selecting a different 80's Crim track instead.

 

[riskylogic]

Here's my review

For QQ purposes, it's a 9. I dinged 'em for being statues. I also think Indiscipline and Jakko don't mix.

 

[Marplot]

Here's my review

For QQ purposes, it's a 9. I dinged 'em for being statues. I also think Indiscipline and Jakko don't mix.

Having seem them live recently, I am rather smitten by Jakko's versatility. You are spot on however, Indiscipline loses the building panic and chaos of Ade's presentation; it is more of a lounge version and who wants to see a band play one of their own songs as if it is a cover song?

 

[IMachine]

My biggest wish concerning KC is the comeback of A Belew to replace Jakko.

 

[V96GLF]

Jakko is perfect for this Crimson, and he is now the 2nd-longest serving lead vocalist!

 

[kenbefound]

^I was unsettled by his vocal interpretations at first but have gotten use to them, unfortunately no one can provide the subtleties a song like Epitaph require like Greg Lake.

 

[riskylogic]

Jakko is way better at interpreting Lake and Wetton than he is at Belew.

 

[Marplot]

Surround 8 (2.4)
Audio 9 (2.7)
Content 9 (2.7)
Package 10 (1)
8.8 rounds to 9

Great set list, very jazzed that they are able to cover the entire catalog (ignoring the lounge version of Indiscipline).

 

[Plan9]

An orgasmic sound experience. 10 from me, and I'm stingy with 10s.

 

[Albert Dagger]

An orgasmic sound experience. 10 from me, and I'm stingy with 10s.

I have to agree with you here, and before this came out I was thinking the same of Radical Action.
The only problem I have with this one is that it took me a couple of songs to get used to Jeremy's drums in the rear speakers. But it only takes about ten minutes and then you are fully immersed. Or there's the stereo track...

 

[bookofsaturdays]

I realize this is the wrong thread but I see no poll for the Meltdown: Live in Mexico City blu ray release. Anyone have any issues with the menu on this thing? Really difficult to navigate and quite laggy on my UBPX800. Whenever I hit the “display” button on my remote to pull up codec info, audio stream etc. it becomes really laggy, for lack of a better term. Any reports of a defective blu ray on this one?