Opaline was the first major U.S. album to be released day-and-date in both CD and DVD-Audio versions. As such, it was said to herald many other day-and-date releases to follow. Still to follow would probably be a better way to phrase it because, more than a year later, there haven't been many similar releases. That aside, "Opaline" represents a nice opening salvo for the DVD-A format.

Dishwalla's third studio album is a pleasantly thread-bare, personal and heartfelt examination of some rather tough emotional issues. Its tracks touch upon loss, depression and even obsession, while always maintaining a sort of hopeful quality. J.R. Richards' soulful vocals intone the listener to buck up and soldier on, while the band around him explores a surprising variety of musical styles and influences. "Opaline" feels very much like the sound of a band finding their identity, coming into their own at a time when so many other groups churn through the pop grinder and fail to maintain their relevance.

Highlights of the album include "When Morning Comes", "Mad Life" and the mournful "Candleburn". Of all the tracks, "Somewhere in the Middle" perhaps most captures Dishwalla's signature sound, while the title track itself is a glossy and hypnotic confection. It's also damned infectious. With a slightly Middle Eastern flavor and fluid percussion, "Opaline" is unique on the album and is still haunting my brain's short-term song buffer.

In terms of sonic presentation, both the high-resolution 5.1 and 2.0 mixes are clean, well-layered and nicely melodic. It's been my experience thus far that Meridian Lossless Packing Compression (MLP) just isn't quite as transparent as the Direct Stream Digital (DSD) mastering process employed by SACD discs. That said, the sound presented here is completely rich and smooth in quality. The surround mix is sparing and relaxed, but effective, with the front soundstage widened into the surrounds. The result isn't particularly active, but it's nicely enveloping and pleasant. I prefer the stereo mix, but it's close enough to be a toss-up.

Those with standard DVD-Video players can choose between Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and PCM 2.0 stereo options. DVD-Audio players default automatically to the higher-resolution audio options and, unfortunately, you can't down-select the lower-resolution options via the disc's menus (the choices you get are an automatic function of the type of DVD player you have). The menus are surprisingly cumbersome, taking their sweet time to grind from page to page. They're also not anamorphic compatible (which makes little sense when you consider that most consumers savvy enough to have DVD-Audio capable players are likely also to have anamorphic displays). Also, whereas with a DVD-Video disc the "menu" button on your remote is the one that takes you out of program material, it's useless with many DVD-Audio discs. "Title" or "Top Menu" are the non-intuitive choices you must make instead. These are weakness typical of the DVD-Audio discs I've sampled thus far... and indicative of the progress than still needs to be made with the format.

In terms of bonus material, you're given the option of viewing either lyrics or band photos during each song (lyrics appear by default). There are two photo galleries, one of the band on stage and one of them in the studio, which collectively contain 24 images. There's also a 4-minute Studio Scrapbook video of the band in the studio set to the song Home. The best feature by far is the commentary, in which brief audio snippets of the various band members can be heard, with the particular song they're discussing playing in the background. Commentary with all-audio content is a real challenge, but it works fairly well here. Also included is an Easter egg demo track of "Opaline" (44/16 PCM 2.0) - just navigate left from the "Opaline" selection in the playlist to highlight the statue's eye.

While it's not the best DVD-Audio release I've experienced thus far, Dishwalla's "Opaline" is good in terms of overall presentation and production quality, despite its clunky video interface. It's also a damned solid album from a band that has what it takes to hang around a while. Definitely worth a look.

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Dishwalla
Opaline

Released: April 23, 2002
Origination Year: 2002
Time: 45:00
Tracks: 11
Produced by: Gregg Wattenberg
Engineered by: Brian Scheuble
Mastered by: Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering/Portland
Style: Studio
Format: DVD-Audio
Enhancement: Video
Label: immergent Records
Website:
www.dishwalla.com

Opaline
Angels or Devils
Somewhere in the Middle
Every Little Thing
When Morning Comes
Home
Today, Tonight
Mad Life
Candleburn
Nashville Skyline
Drawn Out