Every decade, there is an ocean of bands that get their 15
minutes and quietly disappear. It seems there are fewer and
fewer bands with staying power, and even those that have that
special something rarely stay in the spotlight. One or two
hit albums and then poof, gone. Often this happens at the
very height of their popularity.
 While
I am biased as a fan of Berlin, I can understand how someone
would lump them in the above category. The new wave band started
out in San Francisco (not Germany) and had a few club hits
such as Sex (I’m a). An EP was released called Pleasure
Victim which collected their 12” hits up to that point
(though not the 12” versions) and they found a modest
radio hit called The Metro which still gets an awful lot of
airplay to this day.
In 1986, they scored a huge hit with Take My Breath Away,
the love theme to Tony Scott’s mega-popular film Top
Gun. It was slapped on their third major album release, Count
Three and Pray, and consequently disappeared into ‘80s
obscurity. The lead singer Teri Nunn went solo and had little-to-no
success in doing so. Despite several attempts to reunite the
band, a reunion never materialized.
Until 2002.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Berlin was reformed, touring and
promoting their first major release in years, Voyeur. It was
a surprisingly solid album for a group of ex-rock idols now
in their 40s and working with a line-up change. Most fans
that have heard it dig it quite a bit. So distributor Image
Entertainment, a long-time supporter of the digital format,
got with the band to record one of the shows from the Voyeur
tour.
The product that they came up with is Intimate and it’s
as fitting a title as any. The set is a very nice balance
of old and new, as well as a few covers.
• Masquerade
• The Metro
• Drug
• No More Words
• Shiny
• Pleasure Victim
• Lost My Mind
• Stranger on the Bus
• The Dope Show (a Marilyn Manson cover)
• Blink of an Eye
• Take My Breath Away
• Sex (I’m a)
• With a Touch
• Never Let Me Down Again (a Depeche Mode song)
 The
show was recorded in front of a very small audience. If there
were even 50 members, I would be shocked. The best part, and
what really makes it Intimate, is that before every song,
we are shown parts of a pre-recorded interview with lead singer
Teri Nunn. Teri explains the meaning behind the songs. Being
very familiar with the material, a lot of this was great to
hear. Songs like No More Words and The Metro, which most fans
of ‘80s music can sing by memory, take on new meaning
and seem even more fresh, even over 20 years later. Hearing
how Drug, written by Teri and ex-Smashing Pumpkins frontman
Billy Corgan, was about Michael Hutchence adds an entirely
new sense of realism and emotion to the lyrics.
The whole bit is really a fantastic show. If I could wish
for anything more, it would mean wishing I was there.
Presentation
 I
have absolutely no gripes about the transfer. The image is
perfect; there are seemingly more cameras on the set/stage
than the house has on Big Brother. Why should it be bad? The
whole program was shot for DVD, and so I would expect DVD
quality. Thankfully, I got a better transfer than I ever imagined,
and it’s anamorphic widescreen to boot! Even with the
video being amazing, the audio is incredible. There are three
audio tracks available: Dolby Digital 5.1, 2.0, and even a
DTS 5.1 track. The DTS track is a marvel, and if ever a DVD
has succeeded in putting you in a show, this is it. The menus
are animated but simple to navigate and attractive, and you
can skip to a specific song with ease using the chapter selections.
Extras
There are none. A behind-the-scenes thing might have been
nice, but I can’t complain given the awesomeness of
the actual program. On a personal note, I would love to see
a video compilation so I can replace some shitty old VHS tapes.
Other than the Take My Breath Away video that is on the Top
Gun – Special Edition, I don’t believe any other
videos of theirs exist on the DVD format. Maybe in the future…
Encore!
I really could sing the praises of this disc all day. Really,
it just boils down to one thing. Do you know and care about
Berlin? If you need to brush up on your Berlin before deciding
on a purchase I recommend this site: Berlin
page. If you like what you hear, you should buy this with
no hesitation. Fans of Berlin will eat this disc up with a
spoon. This is on the level with a great record, and can be
played over and over again. For non-fans, I wouldn’t
even bother to recommend it. It’s called Intimate for
a reason. Who wants to be intimate with something they don’t
like?
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