INXS - I'm Only Looking: The Best Of (2 Discs)

[neil wilkes]

Please post your thoughts, comments and observations

[bobou2]

Great set....great DTS sound. There is a single GH DVD that they just released..not sure if it is in DTS.

[YmSeb]

This DVD-V has one of the best remixes in DTS 5.1 I've heard.

I loved INXS in the past (I still have all their albums) and due to nostalgia I gave it a try and it put me back on track !!!

The surround speakers are not too much aggressive but serve well INXS' music, especially the backing vocals. On the atmospheric tracks (Mediate, Need You Tonight), the surround speakers manage to catch you in the mood and it serves the songs so well !

The resurrection of the old tracks (pre-1985) is also pretty incredible. From a pure sound quality point of view, this is a really a high-quality work that really needs to be congratulated. This is were it truly cries for DVD-A.

I did not buy the DVD for this, but if you add the fact that the video clips themselves are pretty nice (INXS won several prizes for their innovative clips), plus the extras full of documentaries and rare live performances (also in 5.1 ! and very well done !), I would rate this 2 DVD set a good 9 out of 10.

[Chris Gerhard]

I just received this 2-disc DVD-V set. Although I was aware of INXS during the 80's and early 90's, I really wasn't aware of how this group made videos and MTV their key to success. Taping all over the world, early rudimentary use of computer effects, old fashioned sex appeal of the lead singer (alright, that one doesn't do much for me), and catchy pop songs are used to make this new art form work. These guys sound like ordinary musicians and Michael Hutchence is an ordinary pop singer of songs that are only ordinary but lively and well produced. He is a less than ordinary dancer as well, but somehow the sum of all these parts are better than you would think. My exposure had been just the few hit songs and I have always liked those so I am going to have to play this another time or two before voting. Right now I don't have a clue if this has any chance of being something I will play often but the sound quality is good and the mixes acceptable although I don't find anything exceptional about what surround adds to the experience.

Off topic but surely Hutchence committed suicide and was not the victim of autoerotic asphyxiation. A man who has been with some of the world's most beautiful women doesn't accidentally kill himself while imagining being with a woman, does he?

Chris

[splinter7]

Chris, no one ever proved he was alone at the time.

[Chris Gerhard]

I will give this one a 7. It is pretty well done and I actually like the videos.

Chris

[daved64]

Off topic but surely Hutchence committed suicide and was not the victim of autoerotic asphyxiation. A man who has been with some of the world's most beautiful women doesn't accidentally kill himself while imagining being with a woman, does he?

Chris

Ever hear about how Kevin Gilbert died? These guys are pretty messed up.

[Chris Gerhard]

Ever hear about how Kevin Gilbert died? These guys are pretty messed up.

Yes, way after the fact early this year, and I really hadn't heard of him or Toy Matinee at the time of his death. I do like the Toy Matinee DVD-A a lot and wonder what he might have been able to do had he not died so young. Yes, rock stars can die young for a number of reasons, it seems the artistic mind is a little different from the norm. The list of sad endings like those is long.

Chris

[John Svensson]

O.K.- I'll bite, how did Kevin Gilbert die? Make the reply as non gratuitous violent/perverse as ettiquette dictates. John

[bobou2]

O.K.- I'll bite, how did Kevin Gilbert die? Make the reply as non gratuitous violent/perverse as ettiquette dictates. John

Gilbert, 29, died at his home outside of Los Angeles on May 18. The coroner listed the cause of death as "asphyxia due to partial suspension hanging."Friends and MTV more explicitly reported the cause as autoerotic asphyxiation.

[daved64]

And he was wearing women's clothing at the time, or at least that is what was reported.

[Chris Gerhard]

For what it is worth, and I am sure has no relevance to the reasons, but Sheryl Crow was Kevin's girlfriend for sometime although I believe they had broken up before Kevin died.

Chris

[haikubass]

Gave it a solid 8 and put it right behind similar outings from Queen and Peter Gabriel on my shelf (sorry John and Michael).
Thanks for opening my eyes here, otherwise I'd probably miss this one. What a discovery - almost as surprising as Illuminations by The Tea Party. This is the way video compilations like this should be done, really - very good sound quality, dedicated surround mix & interesting extras (though there should be an option to skip the band commentary). Will buy it once again if ever (re-)released as hi-rez!

[Big Stevie]

it took me AGES to get hold of this 2-disc-version at a resaonable price (the single disc seems to be available more easily) but yesterday I did and completely loving it - if all video-compilations were done with so much care as this one...
makes me remember seeing INXS playing at the Open Air St. gallen in Switzerland in summer 1997 - must have been one of their last gigs ever.

[YmSeb]

makes me remember seeing INXS playing at the Open Air St. gallen in Switzerland in summer 1997 - must have been one of their last gigs ever.

Well, not exactly. The ultimate gig they had with Hutchence was on Sept. 27 at the Star Lake Amphitheater in Pittsburgh.

The Open Air St. Gallen gig in Switzerland, was on June 28, and they toured extensively the USA that summer. They did more than 30 concerts in the USA in July, August and September of that year.

And, of course, INXS did other tours without Hutchence.

Glad you found this gemm, it's worth it !!!

[MyCuff]

I have a question, but first for all of you regulars, I have been a huge fan of this site for over a year now. Excuse my bad manners - never posted, just a lurker. I did learn a few things, and have found some really good titles thanks to the posts I have read. My DVD-Audio, SACD and DTS list has expanded to over 150 discs, almost all rock and roll. I promise to contribute posts more in the future.

Now for my first question: My version of this disc is in 4.0, and really seems like dual stereo (like in a car). Why can't I hear a discrete 5.1 mix? Played a regular dts mix right after (Don Henley) and it works fine as do other discs. The Sub does not even activate (no signal) and I hear nothing from the center either. Menu options are limited to Stereo, 51. Dolby and 5.1 DTS. Dolby also came out as 4.0.

Anyone else come across this? As a side note, I also just got the Play disc from Peter Gabriel, and over HDMI to my Pioneer VSX-LX52 my DTS signal is 30 db low. This is a known problem with the NTSC version, but wondering if my OPPO BDP-83 will process at the right volume over the dedicated analog outs (will have to put them on and a pain to get behind my components if no benefit).
Regards,
Mike

[Bender]

Now for my first question: My version of this disc is in 4.0, and really seems like dual stereo (like in a car). Why can't I hear a discrete 5.1 mix? Played a regular dts mix right after (Don Henley) and it works fine as do other discs. The Sub does not even activate (no signal) and I hear nothing from the center either. Menu options are limited to Stereo, 51. Dolby and 5.1 DTS. Dolby also came out as 4.0.

Anyone else come across this?
Regards,
Mike

I just bought a copy of this and found the same issue, though when I had borrowed a copy from a friend his was truly 5.1, with all 6 isolated tracks. The one I got yesterday is from Rhino. I will check Steve, my friend's, copy later and post.

[The Bright Side]

Interesting. Will try this when I get home tonight. Wonder if I've been listening to 4.0 all this time :-)

[MyCuff]

Interesting. Will try this when I get home tonight. Wonder if I've been listening to 4.0 all this time :-)

Mine also is from Rhino. The "discussions" in between the tracks do use the center speaker, by the way...

[The Bright Side]

Checked a couple tracks and my Oppo says "English DTS 5.1". But I can confirm that nothing it all is coming from the center speaker during the songs, only during the chats in-between.

[The Bright Side]

I just bought a copy of this and found the same issue, though when I had borrowed a copy from a friend his was truly 5.1, with all 6 isolated tracks. The one I got yesterday is from Rhino. I will check Steve, my friend's, copy later and post.

Hey Bender, when you check your friend's disc, can you make photos of the discs and cover? I wonder if there are indeed two different versions of this out there, with different mixes (or perhaps faulty tracks) on them.

[Bender]

Hey Bender, when you check your friend's disc, can you make photos of the discs and cover? I wonder if there are indeed two different versions of this out there, with different mixes (or perhaps faulty tracks) on them.

Sadly, it appears there is no real 5.1 edition...

Here is what I found out after much time on this issue....

Issue ... My DVD copy of this is 4.0, not 5.1 as advertised. My DVD-A copy I made for the car has all 6 channels. So, how did this happen???

My initial thoughts were I had possibly ripped the tracks from a friend's copy of the DVD and theirs was truly 6 channel. (in my early days of this I needed to use a PC as I had not discovered a way to do this on a Mac-- so maybe that is whappened.
Answer - No, all three copies are 4.0, mine and the only two sources I could have gotten the tracks..

However, I remember when I made my car copy, I had initially forgot to cut the extra "artistic direction" that is on Listen Like Theives, Mystify, Suicide Blonde, and Need You Tonight. So I had redone it somehow.

When I make a 4.0 DVD-A from the DTS DVD and then extract the audio using DVD audio extractor, it somehow creates the other two channels. Definitely not discreet, but still sounds way better than the straight 4.0 mix, that is labelled as 5.1 surround.

This makes no sense to me whatsoever, but I have thrice tested now, and this is indeed what is going on.

It's still a great DVD collection. Strongly recommend, but I am not sure what the issuer means by remixed in 5.1, if all we get is 4.0.

If anyone can add to this I would love to know what's happened with this one.