You won’t find a bigger collection of Classic Rock hits played by the groups who made them famous than on HEAVY ROCK MASTERPIECES. Retro DVD label Classic Rock Legends have gone through their massive archives to come up with some massive hit performances by the likes of DEEP PURPLE (Highway Star), URIAH HEAP (Easy Living), THIN LIZZY (Whiskey in the Jar), SAXON (Strangers in the Night), and LYNRYD SKYNRD (Freebird). Classic Rock Legends has re-mastered both the audio and video for these performances, including the welcome addition of DTS 5.1 sound that will put even the best sound system through a serious workout. Viewing HEAVY ROCK MASTERPIECES is like taking a time machine back to the Rock clubs of America, England, and Europe circa the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980’s, when these bands were at their creative peak.

Here is the complete lineup of HEAVY ROCK MASTERPIECES:

• ASIA - Soul Survivor

• THIN LIZZY - Whiskey in the Jar

• URIAH HEAP - Gypsy

• DEEP PURPLE - Child In Time

• SAXON - 747 Strangers in the Night

• DEEP PURPLE - Child In Time

• UFO - Boogie

• MAGNUM - Vigilante

• SAXON - Ride Like the Wind

• URIAH HEAP - Easy Livin’

• DEEP PURPLE - Highway Star

• FREE - Alright Now

• LYNYRD SKYNYRD - Freebird
  
  

All in all, a superb collection of classic rock hits performed by the original artists. There is one major glitch in the overall presentation that I would like to bring to your attention. Let me begin by stating that DEEP PURPLE rocks. THIN LIZZY rocks. SAXON rocks. URIAH HEAP rocks. Every band on HEAVY ROCK MASTERPIECES deserves their position in the roster. Except, one band does not belong among all these legendary rock acts. What the hell is POISON’s cheesy video for Talk Dirty to Me doing on here? These pop-metal poseurs give Rock n Roll a bad name. What was Classic Rock Legends thinking? I can only guess they going after the female or drag queen demographic to attract more buyers beyond the true Rock n Rollers. Every song on here is a killer live performance by a truly jamming band, and thrust in the middle of things we have an out of place video for Talk Dirty to Me. Well we discussed the low-lights; what about the highlights? Check out SAXON’s cover of Christopher Cross’ Ride Like the Wind. See DEEP PURPLE’s awesome rendition of their epic song, Child in Time. Witness ASIA’s cool performance of Soul Survivor. View FREE’s (with Paul Rodgers) penultimate Rock anthem of Alright Now. And LYNYRD SKYNYRD’s emotional live version of Freebird will bring tears to your eyes.

As you would image, the video quality for each clip varies depending on the source material. All the footage on HEAVY ROCK MASTERPIECES is presented in the original 1.33.1 ratio. Nearly every performance here was shot on videotape or film which preserves that live feel and nicely captures the groovy visuals and funky backgrounds. Some of the older material exhibits some flaws, but Classic Rock Legends has done a great job restoring these old clips by removing dirt and speckles, punching up the clarity and contrast, and re-saturating the color schemes. From the Setup menu, you can select from Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 sound mixes. Both sound options deliver tight, clear, and powerful audio presentations. We’d have to give the edge to the DTS mix in terms of actual sound field activity and higher frequencies. More recent performances (like the ones from the 1980s) sound better than those from the previous decade. It was good of CLR to include a sidebar on the back of the packaging that states the source materials are not up to today’s standards. There are no supplements on HEAVY ROCK MASTERPIECES.

If you love blistering guitar, thundering drums, and songs with hooks (and who besides whiny alternative freaks and death metal morons do not) , then you should check out HEAVY ROCK MASTERPIECES. Classic Rock Legends offers up live performances from some of the best bands, musicians, and songs in the industry, all served up with house-shaking DTS or Dolby Digital sound. If you dig these kinds of anthology discs, then you may be interested in other CRL re-mastered compilations such as CLASSIC ROCK: THE ULTIMATE ANTHOLOGY, GUITAR LEGENDS: THE ULTIMATE ANTHOLOGY, PSYCHEDELIA: THE ULTIMATE ANTHOLOGY, STADIUM ROCK: THE ULTIMATE ANTHOLOGY, or BLUES ROCK: THE ULTIMATE ANTHOLOGY.

  HEAVY ROCK MASTERPIECES is available from DVDEmpire.com