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James Taylor - Live At The Beacon Theatre 1998 (2003) DVD9 PAL
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Sensitive singer-songwriter, soft-rock poster boy, boomer troubadour: James Taylor has outlived the stereotypes offered by fans and critics alike by simply staying his musical course and continuing to refine his familiar, deceptively mellifluous style. This 1998 concert displays Taylor's craftsmanship and easy rapport with both his band and his audience to satisfying effect, offering a repertoire that draws from his entire career while providing a generous selection of songs from his Grammy-winning 1997 set, Hourglass. Fans will love it, of course, but even jaded listeners can find fresh feeling and formidable expertise here.

By now, Taylor's skill at low-key love songs is a given, making him an archetypal "sensitive New Age guy" on the strength of his canny mix of emotional vulnerability, romantic imagery, and understated delivery. Less obviously, Taylor has gradually transformed the shadows of disillusionment audible in his earliest songs into a nuanced acknowledgment of his own age. "Line 'Em Up," from Hourglass, typifies his skill at limning disarmingly lucid, frankly philosophical vignettes, here woven around a recollection of Richard Nixon's last hurrah, while "Jump Up Behind Me" affords a testament to self-determination ultimately as serious in theme as it is buoyant in its musical framework. Throughout, Taylor's stage band proves a thoroughbred, its accompaniment rock solid and delicately detailed, and perfectly matched to a crack backing chorus.

Among the first video concerts produced with DVD in mind, Live at the Beacon Theatre has been in heavy rotation in home demonstration suites ever since its release, an achievement understandable after hearing the crystalline 5.1 mix engineered by Frank Filipetti, who shared a Grammy as coproducer on Hourglass and snagged a second award for his engineering of that album.

Actors: James Taylor, Valerie Carter
Directors: Beth McCarthy-Miller
Producers: Carol Donovan, Gary Borman
Format: PAL, Surround Sound
Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: English, French
Region: All Regions
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1:33:1
Number of discs: 1
Release date: February 3, 2003
Genre: Rock
Playing time: 109 minutes

Tracklist :
01. You Can Close Your Eyes
02. Another Day
03. Daddy's All Gone
04. Everyday
05. Mighty Storm
06. Only A Dream In Rio
07. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
08. Your Smiling Face
09. Jump Up Behind Me
10. Shower The People
11. How Sweet It Is
12. Fire And Rain
13. Me And My Guitar
14. (I've Got To) Stop Thinkin' 'Bout That
15. Handy Man
16. You've Got A Friend
17. Mexico
18. Little More Time With You
19. Line 'Em Up
20. Up On The Roof
21. Ananas
22. Steamroller Blues
23. Belfast To Boston
24. Wandering
25. Not Fade Away

Bonus:
- Intervie
- Bonus Footage
- Discography
- Biographies


Video: MPEG-2, PAL, 8340kbps, 720x576, 16:9, 25,000 fps
Audio: English, AC-3, 6ch, 448kbps, 48 kHz, 16 bits
Audio: English, PCM, 2ch, 1536kbps, 48 kHz, 24 bits
Subtitle: English, French
Playtime: 1h 50min