MojoLists

Genesis (1970-1975)  is a dream come true for any early Genesis or Peter Gabriel fan. The early works of Genesis, with Peter Gabriel at the helm showcases the artistic vision and showman ship Gabriel brought to every show, every song, and just about everything in his life.

Gabriel put on exotic costumes and brought shows to a standstill with 30 minute poetry readings or political rants. This made him a little hard to swallow, especially for his band mates, it eventually broke the band apart and ushered Phil Collins to the front of the stage from behind his drum kit.

This is where I left Genesis behind, no longer relevant in my  mind as they began to pump out pop candy like an 80s hit machine, a bad one, at least in my opinion. The early years hinted strongly at the creative powers of Gabriel, the showmanship, and the production mastery that became focused during the 80s and downright masterful in the 90s and beyond.

This 7-CD, 6-DVD box set sounds wonderful. The surround mixes are aggressive, letting Gabriel's artistic vision flow around the room, recreating the energy and feel of the music. The surround mixes are hit and miss, you will find favorites throughout. The CD versions are solid and well mastered, placing the listener at the front of the band.

If you are a fan of early Genesis and Peter Gabriel, this is a no brainer purchase. Order your copy today and let the music pull you back in time, to the birth of a master, a true artist who is finding his legs in these recordings.

Blu-Ray firmware updates are a regular part of life with a Blu-Ray player. Unlike DVD players, where firmware updates were a very rare occurrence, Blu-Ray players require constant updating in order to play the latest movies and the Java based extras they hold. Firmware also updates the audio and video capabilities of the player.

For some of us, the process is as simple as plugging a CAT 5 cable into the back of the player and letting the unit update itself. Others may have to turn their player on, prolonging the already long wait to see the movie menu start. The last way to update the firmware requires the user to either wait for the update in the mail or download it and burn it to a CD. Prior to setting u0p my wireless Ethernet bridge, I was the burn and update kind of guy.

Failure to update the firmware can cause movies to be unplayable or cause all kinds of unforeseen problems. Manufacturers commonly add features which keep the players somewhat future proof. It also allows them to bring a bug filled wreck of a product to market and fix it as they go along. I have not heard of any players that were bug free and just to make you scratch your head, the firmware updates often introduce additional bugs that have to fixed by later upgrades.

The firmware upgrade system isn't clean or even easy in many cases but it does allow Blu-Ray to continue to grow towards being a mature technology. Updates are a fact of life if you have a player and should be done on a regular basis to ensure your player continues to work properly. I don't see an end to the update cycle but hopefully, they will become far less frequent in the future.

Blu-Ray sale pricing has begun to show signs of coming down, not to DVD levels but it is still an improvement. Mainstream titles such as Black Hawk Down, The Shining and Underworld can be found regularly for $14.99 along with a smattering of other archive titles. I picked up MiB and The Fifth Element for $9.99 recently as well.

New releases still seem to be holding to the $22.99 - $29.99 pricing structure but I expect to start seeing these come down over the next year as well. Blu-Ray has continued to show market strength in a difficult economy and can only go up from where we stand today. Archive titles are at a price worth considering VS their DVD counterparts already, at least if you remain patient.  

I have found the best prices at Fry's and Amazon with some surprise bargains at Best Buy. On a side note, for those of us who still have HD-DVD players, Fry's has some very good deals on the remainder of their HD-DVD stock. I picked up Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 for $9.99 and a number of other titles for under $5 recently.

For true bargain hunters, the wait is nearly over and for those simply looking for a good deal to add to their collection, the time has come. Happy Hunting.