How could All Music Guide (AMG) give this album only 3 stars?!!! Sounds crazy to me and, to be fair, I'll have to assume they never reviewed the DVD-Audio version. Listening to this thing in surround sound is extremely satisfying. In fact, the 5.1 mix is definitely one of the best I've ever heard. Top-notch stereo can't even compare.
There are things the music does in surround that just aren't possible in stereo. Not only is there the obvious: discrete sounds all around. But the sound is just so massive. (Massive. Not muddy.) And the bass is just huge. It's been a while since I last had my body shaken with such pleasure by a subwoofer. Given enough volume, I fear my body might explode in a manner similar to which glass vibrates and, ultimately, breaks at the right frequency. What a way to go, though!
Thankfully we also have some quieter moments on such songs as "Krwlng" to help give our bodies some needed rest from the raucous "rap/metal" style that flows from track to track. Remember I only said some. Make no mistake. Reanimation rocks!
Aside from the wonderful 5.1 mix, there are some little things that make this disc the best DVD-Audio in my mind:
1. This disc has the best DVD-Video navigation I've seen for a music disc. Once the disc drawer is closed, it automatically starts playing the first track. This means there is no need to turn on the television.
2. There are three music videos. (Well, I can only confirm two of them since I had my eyes closed for much of the time; but I'm guessing the third one is there somewhere.) The videos are of high quality and also give me the chance to brag about the navigation sytem some more. I liked how the videos were selected. For DVD-Video, the screen would change to a different picture with each new track. On those tracks for which there was an accompanying video, an option would appear that let you listen to the 5.1 track while watching the video. Very slick. And much cooler than having to select it from the top menu. Hopefully, this is just the start of quality navigation for all DVD-Audio/Video music discs. In my mind, I envision a navigation system that cross breeds the best qualities from between Linkin Park's ReAnimation and Queen's Night at the Opera.
3. The Dolby Digital tracks are actually good! This is very important, not only because there are so many of us out there who don't yet have true DVD-Audio players; but because the music is so bass intense. Most DVD-Audio players don't provide any bass management for the true hi-rez DVD-Audio tracks, therefore, anyone trying to listen to Reanimation with a micro-sized sub/satellite speaker system will need to listen to the Dolby Digital tracks which provide decent bass management. So if you must listen in DD, at least it's better than many other DD tracks I've heard on other discs.
In closing, I'd like to note that I'm not pretending to be the first to discover ReAnimation. This DVD-Audio disc was discussed briefly on this forum a few weeks back. Everyone's positive comments helped me in my decision to give this disc a listen. This is an excellent disc for demoing studio-oriented surround sound on DVD-Audio. I'm just trying to return the favor; and, if you still don't have it, do yourself a favor and get it.
