If there is one Cirque du Soleil show I might could possibly tolerate, it would be "Love". Sure, there are all those annoying acrobatics, dancing, and whatnot; but when it's done to the music of the Beatles there's always a chance for enjoyment. Heck, it's not just their music. It **is** the Beatles. George and Giles Martin, with the approval of the Beatles, have tenderly sifted through the original session tapes from Abbey Road Studios to come up with fresh takes on many of the old familiar songs.
Often there are "mash-ups", where we might hear recordings originally intended for say, "A Day In The Life" mixed in with another song, such as "Get Back". Sometimes alternate takes might be used, as well. In most cases, the individual tracks are fairly lengthy and, in a way, could be considered complete versions---albeit, with some slight changes. The result is a tasteful new treat that all but the most stubborn purist will enjoy. These re-worked songs were put together with care and don't sound gimmicky at all. And, thankfully, now we can enjoy the Cirque show's soundtrack in our own homes on a CD+DVD-Audio set with 5.1 surround sound.
It's essentially treated as a brand new Beatles album. The liner notes do make some mention to the Las Vegas show; however, the on-screen menus for the DVD-A make absolutely zero mention of Cirque du Soleil. There are no video clips or pictures or anything at all related to the show. So it actually does feel like it was always intended to be a Beatles record. Though, the ugly orange and yellow artwork from the Cirque show does give away the secret that there is, indeed, a connection between the two.
The DVD-Audio was engineered by Paul Hicks and mastered by Tim Young, with the 5.1 surround mix encoded at 96 kHz / 24 bits MLP. The overall sonics are decent enough. I've read some complaints about there not being enough top end, but I've not noticed this. If anything, I thought maybe some tracks could've used just a bit more bass.
As for the surround mix? It's fairly discrete in the rears and fairly active, too. I love the screaming crowd noise from "I Want To Hold Your Hand". In fact, pretty much all of the songs have wonderul sounds coming from behind. The best thing, though, is that I never feel as though the soundstage has moved too far to the back. The soundstage often feels like the entire room, yet my focus typically stays toward the front. That's quite an accomplishment!
Not all is perfect, though. My biggest complaint concerning the surround mix is a decision to place lead vocals primarily into the center channel. In the past, I have expressed a displeasure for this mixing technique. It is my opinion that the center channel should typically be used only in a supportive role for vocals, with the main left/right sharing most of the load. But I can usually still enjoy a disc that utilizes the center channel more heavily. It all comes down to a matter of degrees of tolerability. And, I must admit that---in some instances---the folks involved with "Love" might have made the right decision to put vocals there. The center channel seems to work well for some of the older material. Likewise, "For The Benefit of Mr. Kite" sounds quite appropriate. However, there are other tracks that I occassionally find myself wishing for the vocals to be spread out into a wider presentation. "Something" doesn't sound quite as beautiful as I think it should and I suspect opening up the vocals a bit more would help.
Ultimately, the DVD-Audio album of the "Love" show is one of the best discs available. It will no doubt continue to get frequent spins by me. It is so close to being perfect. I just can't help but to wonder if adding a bit more bass and widening the vocal presentation would've resulted in a slightly fuller sound. As it is, I'm quite happy with it; but do see room for some slight improvement.
