artist: Jonatha Brooke    album: Steady Pull format:    DVD-Audio label:    Bad Dog Records release year:    2001 performance:    9 sound    9 reviewed by:    Richard Elen The latest album from Jonatha Brooke was a real killer on CD. Now that it’s out on DVD, with 5.1 and stereo mixes on a DVD-Video and a DVD-Audio side, it’s made all the more incredible. This release is on Brooke’s own Bad Dog Records label and it’s quite astonishing in many ways. How on earth did she manage to put a project like this together, for example? And how on earth is it that such a brilliant artist and such an exceptional album have not excited the slightest bit of label support? This lady should be signed to a major label and should be one of the most popular artists in the land, and it is a sad commentary on the state of the U.S. ...

artist: Willie Nelson album: Night and Day format: DVD-Audio label: Surroundedby Entertainment release year: 2001 performance: 9 sound 9 reviewed by: Richard Elen Most manufacturers of DVD-Audio discs go to great lengths to make their releases as accessible as possible. These efforts extend to, for example, including a DVD-Video side to create a "DVD Universal A/V" disc that will play on any machine with a "DVD" logo on it. My traditional view has always been that if you have the room on the disc, this IS EXACTLY what you should do, so that the discs will be compatible with any DVD player and don’t oblige the consumer to rush out and buy a new player. The same philosophy informs the SACD hybrid disc, which has a Red Book CD layer to allow the disc to play on a standard CD player.

artist: Nashville Big Band Jazz Ensemble album: Big Band Christmas Vol. 2 format: DVD-Audio label: DTS release year: 2002 performance: 7 sound 8 reviewed by: Brian Kahn The first two tracks of “Big Band Christmas” start off sounding like the opening band for a late-night television show. I was waiting for a host to jump out on the screen. I first thought this to be a bit cheesy and then thought back to the era of the big bands and how they were used as introductory devices in television’s infancy. The second track, “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear,” after getting past the late-night television-style introduction, comes into its own. I felt myself being moved by the music, as the horns were particularly well rendered, sounding much better than most recorded horns.

artist: Tchaikovsky album: 1812 Overture Performed by Erich Kunzel; Cincinnati Pops Orchestra; Kiev Symphony Chorus; Children’s Choir of Greater Cincinnati format: DVD-A & Hybrid Multichannel SACD label: Chesky Records release year: 2001 performance: 9 sound 10 reviewed by: Richard Elen Caution! DSD Cannons! Telarc International made recording history in 1978 when they used digital audio technology to record the 1812 Overture for an album that essentially launched the company. The album – apparently the first digitally recorded and mixed project – was a landmark in many ways. With its live cannons and astonishing dynamic range, it quickly became the ultimate demo disc – and the ultimate test for a home sound system.

Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliot, So Addictive (DVD-A), Warner/Elektra Records, 2001 | Performance 7 | Sound 8 | Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott’s latest album So Addictive is a funky and very updated blend of hip-hop and R&B. Elliott continues to work with Timbaland as mixer and producer. On So Addictive it appears that Timbaland has overcome any blandness that some critics have accused him of lately. So Addictive is a very unique-sounding album, featuring an infectious beat and a bass line that manages to work well, combined with futuristic strobe-like staccato rhythms.