Mike Mettler

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Music Reviews
Bruce Springsteen Revitalizes the Promised Land with Wrecking Ball
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 06, 2012

Bruce Springsteen has always been a preacher at heart. Ever since he greeted us from Asbury Park back in ’73, he’s been spreading the good word of the healing power of rock & roll far and wide, testifying many a time and many an hour across the live planks, guitar slung back over his shoulder as he stomps, kneels, prays, pleads, and ultimately cajoles the enraptured to follow him down the open road.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
A Masterful Game of Thrones on Blu-ray
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 06, 2012

“Winter is coming.” That ominous mantra hangs heavy over the full arc of the inaugural 10-episode season of Game of Thrones, one of the best-looking and best-sounding shows on broadcast cable TV. And it’s even more fulfilling on Blu-ray — yet another high-water mark for HBO, undisputed kings of desirable packaging, high-def visual presentation, and fully engaging surround soundtracks.

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Live Review: Bruce Springsteen Reaches Higher Ground
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 04, 2012

“Church.”

That was how a musician friend responded shortly after I told him via iPhone chatter that it was 10 minutes before Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band hit the stage last night in the first of two dates at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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Live Review: Dr. John Unlocks His 21st Century Night Tripper
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 09, 2012

I knew I was in for something special as soon as I took my aisle seat in Row M in the orchestra at the Howard Gilman Opera House at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (a.k.a. BAM) last Friday. It was Night 2 of Dr. John’s 3-night stand, named for his new, supertasty album Locked Down, produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach.

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Professional Disc Hunter
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 20, 2012

If you know anything about me, you know how much I love going to record stores, and that I especially love taking my time sifting through everything they have in stock.

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The Avengers Assemble on Blu-ray
Mike Mettler  |  Jun 29, 2012

Yesterday, a rep from Disney came to the S+V offices to show me some of the coolest interactive features that will be on the Blu-ray edition of The Avengers, which comes out on September 25.

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Roger Waters Tears Down The Wall
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 09, 2012

With speakers strategically positioned all the way around The House That Ruth Built — a.k.a. Yankee Stadium — and buttressed by a multimedia visual presentation second to none, Roger Waters and his ace band tore through Pink Floyd’s seminal 1979 masterpiece The Wall in full on July 7 in the Bronx.

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Aerosmith Redraw the Line
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 25, 2012

Those wondering whether Aerosmith could still kick ass and take names live saw any lingering doubts dissipate with the band’s vibrant 107-minute show at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 24.

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Music Reviews
The Art Of Listening
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 18, 2012

“Anything that we sit down in, we’re good at.” This is Steven Wilson, 5.1 mixmaster nonpareil, discussing two of the gold medals that Great Britain won in the Summer Olympics — one in cycling, the other in rowing. If there were Olympic medals given for achievement in surround-sound mixing, then Wilson would own more golden hardware than Michael Phelps has collected a dozen times over.

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Music Reviews
Ian Anderson, "Brick"layer
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 18, 2012

It’s nice to feel that the music can be improved, and in the case of Aqualung [which saw a 40th anniversary box-set reissue in 2011 with new stereo and 5.1 mixes by Steven Wilson], that wasn’t difficult because it wasn’t a very good recording.

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