The Doobie Brothers: Toulouse Street Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

The Doobie Brothers: Toulouse Street Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 11, 2024

A bit over four years ago (as this review is being written), Rhino released the excellent multi disc The Doobie Brothers: Quadio Boxed Set, which is now apparently going for some hefty prices, at least according to our Amazon link. For those who didn't pick up that set and who don't want to drop a small fortune to get it, Rhino has come at least partially to the rescue by offering Toulouse Street as a standalone entry in their ongoing Quadio release regimen.

The album's track list can be seen in the screenshots of the disc menu I've uploaded to accompany this review.

The Doobie Brothers: Toulouse Street Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As can be seen by the screenshots accompanying this review, the video content of this AVC encoded disc is simply a static menu. This disc features the kind of authoring I personally prefer, where using the colored buttons on your remote allows you to toggle between audio codecs, so it's not strictly necessary to even have a monitor or display on to enjoy the disc.

The Doobie Brothers: Toulouse Street Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Doobie Brothers: Toulouse Street offers another wonderfully immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 track (along with the customary DTS- HD Master Audio 2.0 option). Separation is immediately noticeable beginning with the very first notes of Listen to the Music, with the guitar initially erupting from the front right speaker, and then suddenly the rest of the rhythm instruments joining in from the left front and rear channels. Vocals are well prioritized and understandably tend to be mixed toward the front, though backups are often clearly emanating from the rear speakers, as in the opening of Jesus is Just Alright. That song also has a fun opening with its percussion instruments, which are scattered around the four channels. Some of the phased material offers some quasi-panning effects.

The Doobie Brothers: Toulouse Street Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with every Quadio release I've reviewed, there is no on disc supplemental material. The insert booklet recreates the original album's cover information, while offering the Quadio standbys of a picture of the boxes holding the master tapes, as well as Rhino's typical verbiage on setup.

The Doobie Brothers: Toulouse Street Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rhino has been on such a (commendable) tear lately with its hi-res audio releases, including typically great Quadio outings, that I frankly wouldn't be surprised if all of the Doobie albums from that old Quadio set receive standalone releases, but in the meantime, Toulouse Street is an awesome sounding start. Highly recommended.