The video is the final release to include the Nothing Records logo, and the label's last album, since it was declared extinct after the release date.
Background
Prior to the concert dates, Trent Reznor announced on the message board for the band's official website, The Spiral, that two consecutive shows on the Live: With Teeth Tour (namely, March 28, 2006 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and March 30, 2006 in El Paso, Texas) would be filmed in high-definition video for future release. The footage from these shows was used for the main feature of Beside You in Time. Several songs played at the filmed concerts in March were not included on the official track-listing:[1] "Sin", which was played on March 28; "Every Day Is Exactly the Same", "Even Deeper" and "Suck", which were all played on both dates; and pre-recorded intro tracks "Pilgrimage", as used on March 28, and "Pinion", as used on March 30.
Footage of the band's summer 2006 amphitheatre tour (featuring a significantly different light show than the arena tour), which was filmed "sporadically" on hand-held consumer HDV cameras throughout the last thirteen shows of the tour, supplements the main feature. Including this bonus footage, Beside You In Time features high-definition video and surround sound for 8 songs from With Teeth, 2 from The Fragile, 4 from The Downward Spiral, 3 from Broken, 3 from Pretty Hate Machine, 1 standalone single ("Burn"), and 1 previously unreleased song ("Non-Entity"). Six of these songs overlap with those in the previously released live footage on Closure, and seven overlap with the And All That Could Have Been DVD.[2]
Differences between formats
Though the video content of each format does not vary (aside from variances in resolution, bitrate and functionality), the Blu-ray disc is the most technically advanced product ever released in that format and has a "slight technical edge" over its HD DVD counterpart, according to comments made by video director Rob Sheridan on The Spiral. High-Def Digest reviewer Peter Bracke described both of the high-definition versions as "the best music performance yet released" in the consumer HD format.[3][4] To accommodate the highly frenetic and difficult to compress video imagery of a live Nine Inch Nails show, Microsoft modified its high-definition VC-1 video encoder and Sonic Solutions also accelerated development of their Sonic Scenarist authoring software especially for this release.[5]
Each version of the video contains closed captioned on-screen lyrics and video content in the 16x9 aspect ratio; however, only the standard DVD contains an interactive discography due to time constraints. All three formats have Dolby Digital soundtracks for the main feature, in both stereo (mixed by Dave Ogilvie) and 5.1 surround sound (mixed by Elliot Scheiner); in addition, they include higher-resolution versions of the surround audio mix: either DTS on the DVD, or Dolby TrueHD on the Blu-ray and HD DVD.
The DVD packaging is housed in a digipak, whereas the other two discs are in format-labeled plastic cases (i.e. red for HD DVD and blue for Blu-ray); more specific differences between formats are detailed on the release's micro-site FAQ. The packaging insert for the Blu-ray and HD DVD releases contains a hidden message related to the Year Zero ARG, which does not appear on the DVD release's insert.[6]
Issues with certain Blu-ray players
The Blu-ray release is encoded at 1080p30, which is not supported by the Blu-ray specification. For this reason, the disc had to be flagged as 1080i60.[7] This means that Blu-ray disc players that only read the flag to decide the format, rather than also checking the content, are only able to play this disc at 1080i60 or lower (e.g. the SonyPlayStation 3).
Critical reception
Tim O'Neil of PopMatters described the album as "the most impressive and meticulous live music DVD presentations ever released."[8] Peter M. Bracke of Hi-Def Digest wrote in his review that Beside You in Time was "a must for any Nine Inch Nails fan" and described the Blu-ray edition of it as "true next-gen event."[9]
There is also an image gallery (available in high-definition) and several standard-definition bonus videos included on the release: two music videos with surround sound, which were previously released on DVD singles, and three songs filmed during band rehearsals (in stereo only).[11]
Personnel
Trent Reznor – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, tambourine
Jeordie White – bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, vocals
^N.B. These counts do not consider "Closer" two separate songs, though in these performances it includes an interpolation of "The Only Time," which only appears in full on both Pretty Hate Machine and Closure.
^Bracke, Peter M. (2007-02-26). "HD DVD Review". High-Def Digest. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
^Bracke, Peter M. (2007-02-26). "Blu-ray Review". High-Def Digest. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
^ abcThese performances employed projected video imagery on stage; the official website track-listing advertises an alternate angle feature that allows the viewer to see all of them from a fixed vantage point (as on the And All that Could Have Been DVD). This alternate angle can not be switched to in real time on the HD DVD, where it is only accessible as a standalone feature (as on the DTS version of And All that Could Have Been)
^In 2005, a brief video clipArchived September 30, 2005, at the Wayback Machine (QuickTime format) of "The Collector" was released on NIN.com; the complete rehearsal audio of "Love Is Not Enough" previously appeared on the "Only" single and the Japanese "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" EP.
^"Archívum › Kereső – előadó/cím szerint" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2017. Select "dal/album cím", enter "Beside You in Time" into the "Előadó/cím" search box and press "Keresés".
