Hell Freezes Over has to be the most realistic concert sound yet available on DVD. I have the DTS encoded six-speaker surround system with a 55" Widescreen HDTV, so the video is better than what I can see or hear at just about any motion picture theatre. I have found no other DVD that can match the production quality and sound, yet. Mostly due to the DTS encoding which is noticably superior to the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround on the home theater system. Above technical quality, the Eagles themselves perform their best yet. Comparing Hotel California on this DVD with their original is like comparing an old Chevy with a Rolls. The old Chevy is a great classic, and attractive, but the Rolls has the ride and the class. Don Felder and Joe Walsh perform better than I have ever before heard them, and playing the Alverez classical guitars on the Hotel California cut is hands-down, just the best version ever. Glenn Frey and Don Henley give impressive performances, and Timothy B. Schmidt also is at his best ever on bass and vocals. I watch it again and again. There is just no comparison to the sound of the DTS DVD and the CD of this same album. I have both and the CD is always a letdown after hearing the DVD. Well worth the price, and a DVD you will listen to again and again.

############################################################### This review is for those of you who are unaware that a dts version the DVD is available, I am actually posting the review for the dts version of the DVD here. If you have a dts capable DVD player/receiver combination buy the dts version of the DVD. It is available on Amazon. ################################################################

Now Read on ....

Among other tracks, this DVD has Hotel California, Tequila Sunrise, The Girl from Yesterday, New York Minute, The Last Resort, Take It Easy and Desperado. I enjoy these the most. This DVD is the most excellently produced DVD in my collection. The video and audio quality are outstanding. When played on a DTS capable receiver, you are "immersed in " and " surrounded with " music. You can hear the twang of the guitar-strings, the beats of the drums and the vocals from distinct speaker channels. As one song rolls off to another, you can hear the audience's claps and whistles in the background come through the rear-speakers. The home theatre experience is awesome. This DVD has no drawbacks at all.

If you have a dts decoder in your receiver or on your DVD player, don't forget to select the dts option. It plays Dolby by default. If your receiver is not dts capable, don't worry - the DVD is worth buying, regardless : You'll one day upgrade to dts capable equipment.

This DVD is the best concert available. Both technical production and the band's performance are excellent. Don Henley freezes the hell over. The only missing thing is a video clip for "Seven Bridges Road". I've read a comment about the absence of stereo version of this song. The only way to understand the reason is to have DTS compatible DVD player and amplifier. Simply pump up the volume and stand in the middle of the room. You'll hear each member of the band from each speaker. 5 members, 5 speakers. There's no better way to demonstrate DTS. That's why it is available in this format. Listen to this song every morning before you get out for work. No other medicine needed for the rest of your life.

This is by far the best concert DVD that I've come across in a long time. The quality of performance is simply matchless.

The set opens on a darkened stage with a few guitar notes played in tremolo style, then unto a guy setting the pace on a percussion instrument making way to Don Felder and Joe Walsh alternating on classical guitars that shortly turns into the familiar opening strains of 'Hotel California' - giving this rock standard a classical air so far removed from the electric treatment in its original studio version - before Don Henley takes over in his wailing vocals. What a way to open a concert!

Don Henley, Glen Frey, Timothy Schmit, Joe Walsh and Don Felder never sounded better. In fact the songs sound far superior in this concert than in the original studio versions, which in itself is a novelty considering that studio versions are supposed to be more polished and refined than live versions. This only attests to how great performers The Eagles really are.

Some of the Eagles standards are performed in this concert, from the high notes of 'I Can't Tell You Why' featuring Timothy Schmit to the fine harmony of 'Take It Easy' with Glen Frey taking the lead. Joe Walsh's rapid fire guitar work in 'Life In A Fast Lane' is a thing to behold, not to mention the mandolin-flavored 'Tequila Sunrise' with Don Felder tinkering with his stringed instrument. 'Desperado' is simply outstanding in its simplicity, with the bulk of the instrumental work focused on the piano ably played by Glen Frey.

New materials, some of them lifted from Don Henley's previous solo album releases, are also featured, showing to full effect Don Felder and Joe Walsh's guitar virtuosity, Don Henley's prowess on drums and Timothy Schmit's subtle but fine bass playing. Timothy takes the lead in the uplifting 'Love Will Keep Us Alive' and Joe does his thing in 'Pretty Maids All In A Row' before Don takes over in 'New York Minute', the somber 'The Last Resort' and the fast and exuberantly danceable 'Get Over It'. What a pleasant surprise that a rock band like The Eagles could be so effective doing a pure country tearjerker, the sad and melancholic 'The Girl From Yesterday', with Glen Frey emphatically taking the lead with full orchestral backing. The guy can obviously give those Nashville folks a run for their money! One has to wonder though why Don Felder did not take the spotlight as lead vocalist in any of the songs in this program, just contentedly concentrating on his electric/classical/slide guitars and mandolin.

As singers and musicians, The Eagles are difficult to match. In 'Hell Freezes Over', the group really soared to new heights!

After weeks of searching for the perfect DTS demo disc on either DVD or LD, it would seem almost anti-climactic that my search ended with a live performance of a classic rock group instead of an explosions-and-gunshots assault on the senses.

Instead, this disc proves without a doubt that while any program can be loud just for the sake of being loud, it's only through the subtlety and detail of a DVD like this that shows just how superior the DTS surround format really is. From the sound of the picks scratching the guitar strings, to the soaring harmonies of the vocalists, to the downright eerie way that bongo drum in the beginning of "Hotel California" seems to hang in the air just right of the right speaker, this DVD will show off your DTS-equipped rig more effectively than any other program could.

If you're even half as fanatic about your rig as I am, do yourself a big favor and get this disc. You will not be disappointed.