Billboard DVD review: Josh Groban

ARTIST: JOSH GROBAN

DVD: AWAKE LIVE

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Josh Groban's third live DVD chronicles one stop during his 2007 tour in support of 2006 set "Awake," with a host of creatively retouched arrangements, world music instruments and towering vocals, testifying again that the tenor-tainer is far from your average pop star.

"Awake Live" features 20 visual performances, with an accompanying audio CD sampling nine of them. The CD tracks demonstrate Groban's far-reaching versatility: "Machine" verges on raucous with its driving, jazzy template; anti-apartheid anthem "Weeping" makes a dramatic call for global peace; and an extended version of latest hit "Awake" turns lyrical morning dew into a pounding thunderstorm of emotion.

The album's highlight, a five-minute take on 2007's "February Song," somersaults with one soaring build after another -- as frenzied as a ballad could ever be. A dazzling display.

Reuters/Billboard