Comparing Theatre of Death to Montreux .......

[evil syd]

First of all, I love, and I mean love, the Montreux show, the band sounded real great, the sound itself is fiery, heavy, and Alice was at his best! Now, if you compare the two, Theatre's of Death's sound is kind of low, where is the guitar? Man!....Second, his present band lacks the intensity, the solos are so average. Third, Alice sounds exhausted. When Alice sings "Vengeance Is Mine", the guitarist has to at least step it up somewhat, being that slash wahs wahs so intensely on the studio, and fails. It's not that it's bad, I mean most bands would sell their sould to sound this good, but it's not great. I think his present band doesn't do much for me. Alice has had better choices, and that's for sure,

oh well..
..I still like it, the songs are awesome!

[Si]

Wow, couldn`t disagree more.
Firstly the current band is is probably the best Alice has had in years. Hammersmith wasn`t the best show of the UK tour but they are still on fire!
Never really liked Montreaux. No atmosphere and very much a TV show (which it basically was) more then a proper film. Only watched it a couple of times since it came out. ToD is better in pretty much every respect IMHO.

[The son of Don Quijote]

I am on Si's side. The Black widow jam features incredible guitar solos, it is very amazing. The guitar sound is in my opinion fine, definately not thin at all. Generally speaking the whole band is very tight. The show was Alice's most theatrical in a long time, definately his most theatrical show of this millennium. Theater of death DVD has a movie kind of quality and also one of my favourite setlists.

[A_MichaelUK]

>Second, his present band lacks the intensity

It's fifty per cent the same as the one you love.

[sparkinthedark]

I also agree with Si - have only watched Montreux a handful of times since it's release, yet have had ToD in the player more times already. As Si said, Hammersmith wasn't the best gig of the UK leg of the tour but I think just the entusiasm of the ToD crowd alone makes it a winner over Montreux for me.

If I'd had my way I'd like to have seen a few of the UK shows recorded in order to get the best, but appreciate that to record a show can be an expensive business and of course they didn't play more than one night in any venue, which can add to the complication (I think).

[evil syd]

Well, first off all, Cooper isn't just all about theatrics to me. When you put on a cd, he doesn't leap into your backyard and perform, it's all about the music. The evil clown to me is secondary. Actually the more and more I read about his devotion to God and his teachings, the more it takes away from his evilness on stage, but that's just me. Of course, I do love it.
I really don't care about how the crowd looks or sounds like to me, that has nothing to do with the performance, crowds react differently in different venues. Montreux was all about the music, less theatrics and that's cool, let's see how talented you are, Alice? and he proves it! it reminded me why alice is so great and it's all about the songs he sings too. I also found, as I said before, the sound of the guitaring more in your face, heavier. Theatre of Death has more of a bass donminated sound. Listen to the solos in TOD and Montreux on I'm Eighteen, no comparison,absolutley none.
ALL HAIL MONTREUX!
Anyway.......RUFF! RUFF!

[A_MichaelUK]

That's all well and good but you should make yourt mind up. You started by saying "his present band lacks the intensity" but now you say "Theatre of Death has more of a bass donminated sound." So is your complaint with the musicians or the audio mix? It's not clear. It might be with both, for all we know.

[mestreech]

ToD is much better. I fall asleep when I see the Montreux show.

[RemarkablyInsincere]

Sounds like your issue might be more with Bob Ezrin's mix, rather than the band. But if you listened to the audio of any of the other shows it might shed light on that.

I think the band sounded great on the TOD, very aggressive in your face playing. And this may be blasphemy to some, but I prefer DeGrasso to Singer in the band. I like a looser, dirtier feel and I think DeGrasso brings that.

To me, TOD is far better than Montreux which I find somewhat sterile and lacking the personality of the TOD shows.

[Dave Conway]

Took the words out of my mouth there!

They are very different productions and I am not sure if comparison is really helpful.

I like the Montreux dvd, for its slick production, and softer feel. But you could say it seems 'sterile' as you say, when compared with TOD, which to me feels more gritty, and has lots more theatrics and, perhaps, more fun.

As TOD is a recent release, it has the benefit of still being fresh and new whereas the Montreux film has been around and watched over for a few years. At the moment TOD is very much my favorite but ask me in 5 years time and I may have a more even view. As I say, they are different.

Come to think of it, I have not watched the Brutal Planet or Welcome to my Nightmare dvds for a while, so should give them a spin too.

[evil syd]

That's all well and good but you should make yourt mind up. You started by saying "his present band lacks the intensity" but now you say "Theatre of Death has more of a bass donminated sound." So is your complaint with the musicians or the audio mix? It's not clear. It might be with both, for all we know.

it is both, too bassy and not as intense.
I don't care, I'll take you all on...
....muahahahahaha
But seriously, I still stick with my opinion.

[evil syd]

come on!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruoQEo3b97c&feature=fvst

[RemarkablyInsincere]

I think your qualms are with the mix, but maybe you like Ryan's leads more. I like a lot of bottom end myself so TOD sounds real good to me. They both sound great though, albeit with different mixes.

Performance wise, I prefer the atmosphere in the TOD show. Montreux is bathed in a whole lot of blue/purple lighting for some reason where TOD is more red/orange. I think the latter works better for Alice. The former seems too "happy".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQDxCOgidyo&t=1m57s

[Shoesalesman]

Alice sounds exhausted.

I say let him sound gruff and gritty. An older ghoulish Alice shouldn't sound clear, fresh and dainty. If he keeps coming back after they keep killing him, that's gotta affect the system, no?

I watch Montreux mainly to see Ryan Roxie in the later stages of his band involvement with Alice. Good band sound, not a fan of Alice's neck scarf-thing though.

TOD is getting lots of play lately. Keri's solo on From The Inside is flawless IMO.

[TeresofBlood]

All I will say is that Montreux has much better image quality than TOD. TOD looks smokey, soft, dull, out of focus, where Montreux is sharp, colorful, vibrant. I own both on blu-ray and I noticed this instantaneously.

[SKULLBOY]

Actually the more and more I read about his devotion to God and his teachings, the more it takes away from his evilness on stage, but that's just me.

I find this interesting (as I've heard similar comments before). What I have to as is What does his personal life have to do with the character he plays? You can love the art and not love the artist, and you can love the artist and not love the art. They aren't synonymous.

[evil syd]

I think your qualms are with the mix, but maybe you like Ryan's leads more. I like a lot of bottom end myself so TOD sounds real good to me. They both sound great though, albeit with different mixes.

Performance wise, I prefer the atmosphere in the TOD show. Montreux is bathed in a whole lot of blue/purple lighting for some reason where TOD is more red/orange. I think the latter works better for Alice. The former seems too "happy".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQDxCOgidyo&t=1m57s

Yes, I prefer the leads from Ryan and Damon, I thought they were great. One of Alice's best bands!

[evil syd]

All I will say is that Montreux has much better image quality than TOD. TOD looks smokey, soft, dull, out of focus, where Montreux is sharp, colorful, vibrant. I own both on blu-ray and I noticed this instantaneously.

yup! that too!

[evil syd]

Actually the more and more I read about his devotion to God and his teachings, the more it takes away from his evilness on stage, but that's just me.

I find this interesting (as I've heard similar comments before). What I have to as is What does his personal life have to do with the character he plays? You can love the art and not love the artist, and you can love the artist and not love the art. They aren't synonymous.

Sure, I understand that, but to me, especially in the horror world, which is real big to me, the more you know the identity of a character, the less creepy he gets. Like, let's say, for an example, Pinhead, or even, Micheal Myers,in their first movies, they were frightening, as the sequels went on, and the more and more you got to know about their indentities and origins, the less creepy they got. I guess it's me. I still love it and wouldn't want it any other way.

[NotSoPerfect]

not a fan of Alice's neck scarf-thing though.

Haha! By the time I saw the tour, he had gotten rid of that. And while I had seen pictures of it, when I got the DVD, I found my eyes kept focusing on that thinking "Why, Alice, why?"