I'll Do Anything Jackson Browne Live In Concert

I hate to sound like everyone else when I say I've seen Jackson Browne in concert many times over the past 35 plus years. I was lucky to catch on at the time his second record (For Everyman) was current, and so for many years have enjoyed his talent. Late For The Sky is surely one of the most important records of the historic era of stereo records/rock and roll/FM radio. By purchasing and listening to his records, I can confirm that there are many great songs in his catalog. But saying so, I'm no more qualified to rate this dvd concert than any other fan.I ordered it a couple days ago, it arrived yesterday, I watched it last night. I last saw him in concert a couple years ago when he was touring solo/acoustic/small venues. This concert is more recent, with a complimenting group of younger musicians backing him up. Like many older fans probably feel, there's no substitute for David Lindley in my opinion for the violin/pedal steel flavor of the early Jackson Browne records. In this dvd, these younger back-up players allow the older songs to be re-visited with a familiar, yet fresh, presentation. There's a violin player, an electric guitar soloist, and a acoustic guitarist that each provide a partial tribute to David Lindley's original contributions. They're not the same, but it works pretty well.As a particular example, "A Child In These Hills" is a song from the 1972 debut Jackson Browne album. If you are truly a fan, then you know the record, and you know this cut is not one of his radio hits. This dvd concert includes this song, with a slightly different rhythm and presentation as compared to the album version. It's a highlight of the dvd. It's great, and if it had sounded like this 40 years ago, it would have rivaled Doctor My Eyes or Rock Me On The Water as a radio hit. I had the same sensation with the dvd version of "Naked Ride Home". While only slightly different in rhythm, I much prefer it to the original album version.Jackson Browne is known for, and greatly admired by many for, his melancholy lyrics. This dvd concert represents that characteristic of his catalog. But there's upbeat feeling as well. "Running On Empty" is well done here. Really, it's all very well done. I can't see anyone complaining about the selection of songs included in this particular evening concert. This man is a music talent phenomenon. This dvd entertainment is well worth the dollar expense. His earlier dvd title, "Going Home" is also very good. I've never been disappointed in any investment of time or expense in Jackson Browne. If he happens to ever read this review, I'd like to say how sincerely grateful I am to him for the contribution he made to my happiness and understanding in life.

I've followed JB since his first LP "Saturate Before Using" and have seen him in concert 4 times, absolutely phenomenal live. This BD is no exception on concert performance, probably better now than ever, not to take any thing away from his old band mates. The picture quality is excellent too, crisp, clear, and focused from my OPPO BDP-105. Every thing about this BD is perfect and right on the money, EXCEPT the audio, it is stereo 2.0 only! The sound quality of the 2.0 is very clean and detailed but lacks the .1 for the sub. This is most notable when he plays the piano and is a little thin on the bottom, as well as the rest of the bass. A concert Blu-ray with 2.0 sound ONLY is like having a Ferrari that is governed at 55 mph, lots of show but no go! It seems to me that JB is not a big fan of making concert recordings as this is the only official all concert recording he has out. His "Going Home" DVD is just short concert clips and has no complete song on the whole disc! What's that! This would be a truly amazing recording but falls short of providing that concert experience at home. I understand the whole purest stereo concept, but also the surround benefits, especially on concert recordings. It's a shame that who ever made this decision made it with no or little regard for those who like surround sound, and to not even give an option? Must be a soundbar owner or have a poor audio system. I will say again that the audio that IS there is very clean and detailed so it's better than a lot of crappie 5.1 DD concerts out there. It's worth owning and is a great concert regardless. Read my comment to a reply.I wish Amazon had a 3 Criteria rating system, that would make for a quicker and more accurate rating of Cd's DVD's and Blu-ray's.1. Performance: *****2. Quality of Audio: ***** (subtract 1 for audio options): ****3. Quality of Video (for DVD's and Blu-ray's): *****Bands that wish to have there performances recognized and recorded should be held to a standard. Poor audio, no matter how good the performance, is still a bad product. Those who would still purchase sub-standard audio quality recordings and rank that product highly are not doing the industry, the band or others justice. Demand better and we will get it.

I've been a fan of Jackson Browne's from the time of his first album. For a frame of reference, Late For the Sky is my favorite album of his with The Pretender as the runner up.Regarding song selection, some reviews were critical because it was not a "greatest hits" collection. Well, I think the song selection is just fine; with so many excellent works, there will always be disagreement as to which songs should have made it to the disc. So it doesn't have "Somebody's Baby." Well, too bad, eh? I am happy that there is Blu Ray concert available for Mr. Browne and that it's a solid performance.Video-wise, the picture is fine. I buy concert Blu Rays more for the audio and not the video so I'll just say that I didn't detect anything that doesn't look right. It's tastefully done and the picture quality is good.Audio-wise, the sound is excellent. It is recorded in Dolby TrueHD 2.0 96K. Some have lamented the fact that there is no surround soundtrack, only two channel and while I would have liked to have had the option of surround, I didn't really miss it since the stereo track is so good. Instruments are well-placed and defined in the mix and everything is clear. I found I had to turn up the volume higher than normal but perhaps that is because it is 2 versus 5 channels.Performance-wise, Mr. Browne is very much at ease with the audience and looks totally comfortable during the show. So does his backup band. His age shows more in his face than his voice. He's still able to hit the higher notes like he did on the originals and doesn't have to sing alternate ones instead, and his voice is still unmistakably that of Jackson Browne. If you are a fan of his, then I highly recommend this disc.