The audio and visual quality of the Chaos in Motion DVD’s are very poor. One would think at some points that it was filmed by an amateur with a personal video camera!

The “Live at Budokan” and “Metropolis” DVD’s have far superior audio/visual quality. Rather spend your money on those before you buy Chaos in Motion.

Well I’m writing another review as Amazon hasn’t posted my first one. Maybe it’s a good thing since I’ve had a few days to process my thoughts on this DVD and CD set. Before I start I would like to point out that I am no novice on Dream Theater and own pretty much everything to date, save the bootlegs! Here are my thoughts:

Things I don’t like
1. Video quality is literally pathetic and whoever came up with the idea to release them raw, should rethink their strategy. You DON’T release something like Score and Budokan and then this, you DON’T.
2. Audio mix is not great. Some songs sound ok whilst others sound thin and there is no bass. I will mention that the playing is exeptional though, except LaBrie but I’ll get to that.
3. James LaBrie – seems like a great guy but as for his live singing, bad, very bad. He obviously can’t hit all the notes anymore (perhaps he was just sick or something). His straining is obviously, especially when he dashes for the water after a series of high notes. The guy can sing no doubt and I can’t fault him in the studio. I will say that his singing on the Score DVD was exceptional. Is it only me or does he go flat sometimes?

Things I like:
1. The playing by the musicians as always is exceptional.
2. The bonus disc documentary is great and really gives you insight into a tour.
3. Studio stuff was nice, but again the filming was subpar, especially on Myung. Also it was very uncreatively done. A studio tour would have been the ultimate bonus feature for me.
4. The stage tour by MP is cool, but a little unecessary as they cover all that stuff in depth in the documentary.
5. The audio discs are a plus, but not essential for me as I prefer to watch a live show than listen to it.
6. Great packaging!!! But I can’t help thinking that the nice “wrapping” and extra 3 audio discs were added to cover up for this sets many flaws.
7. Live projections and music videos are super!!!!

Let me say that if the video quality was as good as Score, I would have given this Set 4 (-1 star for LaBrie’s bad performance). Hardcore DT fans should buy this and will find it a worthy addition to their collection, but if you are new to DT, start with Budokan and Score.

I’d lean more toward 3.5 stars for this collection. As others have mentioned, the video quality is subpar, though I suspect that was done intentionally to make the DVDs seem “grittier.” It sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t. As for the audio, there are moments when James LaBrie strains to hit or hold a note. His voice sounds tired at times. The rest of the guys are, as always, pretty much flawless. Particularly worth mentioning is John Petrucci’s soaring solo on “Surrounded,” which is the must-listen track of the set. Petrucci and the other guys are sometimes accused of being technicians who don’t play with emotion, but this solo alone has the power to quiet much of that misguided criticism.

Ultimately, “Chaos in Motion” is probably for hardcore DT fans only, who will enjoy the different takes on songs they know by heart. Casual fans should probably purchase “Score” if they want to know what this band can do live.

A disclaimer first: I am a really big DT fan. To me, they are the most talented band in the world and by far my favorite. I was traveling in Europe for business the week Chaos in Motion was released, and I was shocked to find the 5-disk edition in an airport electronics store in Italy. As a result, I got to watch it on the flight back.

DT had warned that the video quality would not be as good, so I was prepared for that. Considering the price (less than $40 for two DVDs and three CDs) I think the trade-off of footage from lots of shows instead of cinema-quality from one like the last two DVDs was a good choice by MP, especially when – for a band like Dream Theater – it’s all about the music. I find the audio quality to be very good and I really enjoy when they revisit classics – especially the projects from the pre-Jordan days and given them a more current treatment. Throughout all of the songs, the musicianship is nearly flawless, of course.

Looking at the other reviews, what some may not understand about DT fans is that we simply cannot get enough of the band. I really enjoyed the 90 minutes behind the scenes. As one reviewer noted, there are not tons of endearing anecdotes, but it is still a glimpse inside the touring of my favorite band. After the 4th Indiana Jones movie came out, a friend asked what I thought and I said that no matter what, I was happy for another evening with an old friend and that Indy could probably do no wrong for me. Dream Theater is much the same…just thankful for another evening (or set of evenings) with my favorite band. If there is such the things as a casual DT fan, don’t start with this one…definitely start with SCORE or Budokan or even Scenes from New York. For those of us that get it, we love the chance to learn more about their personalities and hear them accomplish the impossible live yet again.

EDIT: For those of you that commented on my review, please… I am a die-hard DT fan. But don’t you understand that in our era of huge plasma TVs, amateur and unstable pictures are just too tiring to endure after 5 minutes? They could have put out a “raw” production without carrying cameras fully zoomed in on their shoulders. This DVD is just impossible to watch more than once, unless you’re still using a 12″ TV and you don’t mind AM Radio sound quality.

MY ORIGINAL REVIEW:
It all started with NYPD Blue. Someone had the brilliant idea of tossing away the tripod that held cameras steady. Then, they moved the camera to the shoulder, zoomed in 10x and started walking around while recording.

It’s a shame that this “technique” has spilled over Dream Theater’s productions. After a DVD like SCORE where the production is good, the cameras are anchored on tripods and the sound was decent, now we have here a bundle of chaos in motion sickness where the viewer has to suffer through various inconsistencies in sound quality and avoid having any food prior due to the roller coaster effect that amateur like image recording can cause.

After enduring through 180 minutes of motion sickness, I was reluctant on watching the DVD #2 but finally I saw something interesting – the story of the unsung heros on the daily routines on the road.

If you are a DT fan yes I recommend this because after all it is another volume for the collection. If you are not a DT fan or just a recent one, don’t bother. Buy the Budokan and Score shows.

Two stars because if I wanted to watch a bunch of amateur videos I’d go bootleg. From DT I expect Kevin Shirley to be thrown out off a cliff (worst live mixes ever) and I expect them to buy some tripods for cameras instead of spending 20 grand in starbucks coffee.