Vanden Plas Live Bluray!

[venidominefan]

Coming soon 8/5 on Frontiers:

Godmaker:


Scarlet Flower Fields:

[prog_powermetal99]

wow that's awesome! I may have to get this!

[LarryD]

F@##%$^g finally !!!!!!!!! Yesssssssssssss ! Symphony X are you watching ?

[LarryD]

Ordered from The Laers Edge !!!!!!!! In honor of this, I grabbed some of my favorite VP discs from the past and played them start to finish ....... It really got me back into the spirit of this band, and I'm energized for this bluray show ...... here is what I picked from the rack:

Chronicles of the Immortals / Netherworld -
After playing this, I thought that this could be my favorite VP disc yet. While The God Thing and Christ 0 have always been my talked about discs, this one just blows me away to no end. I know a lot of people prefer Part 2 to this one, but this one is more melodic and powerful to my ears.

Christ 0 -
Since this disc came out, it has been one of my favs from them, if not the fav. Then Chronicles came out. This disc showcases just how dramatic their music is, and how powerful Andy's voice really is.

Accult -
I would guess that many people don't even have this one, although I could be wrong. Some called it an EP yet there are 10 songs on it. This is VP basically "unplugged" with them doing some cover songs, and a couple of their own. This is a very young Andy singing, and although he has aged like the rest of us, he still sounds awesome to this day.

The Spirit of Live -
The great live disc that just captures the excitement of this band, especially with the crowd noise really dominating the sound, as it should be with live discs. Besides the stellar vocals, what really shines is the talent of the vastly underrated Stephan Lill, whose sound and performance steal the show.

Strangely, I picked up Beyond Daylight, which has one of the better CD artwork of all VP discs, and I looked at it, and could not remember one single song on the song listing. I didn't play it, but I remember when it came out, how little buzz there was about it, and that I didn't care for it at all, which is the only disc in their catalog I can say that to. At some point I will re-visit and see what happens these many years later.

This band still manages to excite me after all of these years, even though I didn't care for their last two as much ...... but hearing these discs above and knowing the bluray is on the way has sparked my excitement again for this band that has always been one of my favs ......

[Sir Exar Kun]

Chronicles of the Immortals / Netherworld -
After playing this, I thought that this could be my favorite VP disc yet. While The God Thing and Christ 0 have always been my talked about discs, this one just blows me away to no end. I know a lot of people prefer Part 2 to this one, but this one is more melodic and powerful to my ears.

I don't think, aside from you, I've seen ANYONE that high on this. I honestly don't even remember it, and need to revisit it. Everything post Christ0 has been that way for me though.... I enjoyed them all as they are all paint-by-numbers VP, but don't really REMEMBER any of them!

Christ 0 -
Since this disc came out, it has been one of my favs from them, if not the fav. Then Chronicles came out. This disc showcases just how dramatic their music is, and how powerful Andy's voice really is.

To me, this is their masterpiece, although by the narrowest of margins. "Seraphic" Is right there, but "Colour Temple" is probably still my most listened to.

Accult -
I would guess that many people don't even have this one, although I could be wrong. Some called it an EP yet there are 10 songs on it. This is VP basically "unplugged" with them doing some cover songs, and a couple of their own. This is a very young Andy singing, and although he has aged like the rest of us, he still sounds awesome to this day.

I love this album! Just the fact that they covered "Spanish Rain" is absolutely BRILLIANT in my book. This really showcased how dynamic they were early on in their years, and I'd love to see them revisit this idea with a new acoustic / covers album.

Strangely, I picked up Beyond Daylight, which has one of the better CD artwork of all VP discs, and I looked at it, and could not remember one single song on the song listing. I didn't play it, but I remember when it came out, how little buzz there was about it, and that I didn't care for it at all, which is the only disc in their catalog I can say that to. At some point I will re-visit and see what happens these many years later.

To me, this one just sort of got "lost" as it sounded just like their previous efforts.... There are several really good songs on here, but it felt like much more of the same.... "Seraphic" felt a bit more refreshed and had more of the theatrical element come into the writing..... Can't imagine you NOT CARING FOR IT though.... Everything you could want in a VP album is on here.

[LarryD]

Got the live bluray show today !!!! Thanks to The Lasers Edge for sending this down to me at warp speed ............

Ok - so if you already have the Live at ProgPower dvd (Seraphic Live) then you know what to expect ...... that dvd has 9 songs on it, this new bluray has 15 songs and 4 bonus dvd clips. Some of the songs do carry over ........

The stage looks about the same here as it does with the PP stage ...... maybe a little more lighting, but not much ....... I was hoping for more of an "epic" style staging, considering this is (what I think) is their last time putting out a concert video ... just a gut feeling. However, VP has always been about the music - not the showy thing. They deliver here.

This was filmed in Kaiserslautern, their home town, so it is no surprise that they filmed it here as a homecoming - so Andy does speak in German in between songs ..... there are some bits of English around but for the most part, German. The highlight of the show (to me) is Andy's voice - which doesn't seem to age. He is hitting the high notes with ease, and holding them as well without even looking like he is straining ..... Stephan Lill is superb once again, not sure why he isn't talked more about in the guitar world, and the songs are performed effortlessly ......

Sure - I think they could have added 4-5 more songs.... especially some of the more well known songs. Putting How Many Tears on instead of Rainmaker doesn't make sense to me - and some other choices as well, but this is all personal. The crowd is once again on the quiet side - except when Andy taunts them during songs, or towards the end when they are leaving .... this must be a European thing, as the last two Euro band concerts I watched did the same thing. Quiet crowd.

Video quality = 9. It's a bluray - the video quality itself is a 10 but I took a point off for the too-many up close shots of the show instead of panning out so I can see the whole band at the same time .... seeing every single band member at different times of the song does not sit well with me .... I hear a solo but I don't see it.

Audio quality = 7.5-8. This is because Marcus Teske mixed it, and he also does their discs. and, there is too much compression used here as he does with their discs....bluray audio should sound much better than this. They should have used someone else who specializes in bluray recordings ..... my personal opinion. Those who don't are about this will enjoy it as much as they do their disc sound.

Overall - if you are a Vanden Plas fan, you know what you are getting, and if you love them live as I do, you will want this hands down ...... if you are a casual fan and don't care if you ever seem them live again, then you won't want this. Andy still rules - and just to see him belting out these songs like the day they came out, is worth the price alone of this one.

[RickyRock]

This is great! Stephan Lil is so flawless and spot on in his delivery. These guys are tight as hell and sound awesome live. And yes Andy especially sounds like he hasn’t lost a thing.
Just giving my two cents. Solid stuff all the way through.

[MeTuLHeD]

I just gotta chime in and say this disc is awesome. I played it on my home theater/stereo of doom, and my rap lover son came down to the basement and watched the entire performance with me absolutely mesmerized. At the end, he said "Man, those guys are great!" Put a huge smile on my face. An amazing performance by an amazing band which is getting better with age.