The power of classic rock cannot be denied. If you love blistering guitar, thundering drums, and unrestrained melody, you’ll dig these compilation discs by Classic Pictures. Yeah, these are clips we’ve all seen dozens of times over the years, but you’ve never seenthem like this. Throw away all those faded VHS tapes with the wandering mono sound. LET IT ROCK features fully re-mastered Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 sound and restored video. The visuals are completely psychedelic with fully saturated colors; and the two soundtracks are loud, clear, and ambient (I pity you if your sound system is not equipped to take advantage of these two sound formats). The end result is like a time capsule through the Rock clubs of America, the U.K., and Europe circa the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980’s, with you front and center.

Many of the performances here are lifted from other Classic Pictures releases, but there are some exclusives on LET IT ROCK as well. Either way, its a major treat to experience these legendary greats like DEEP PURPLE, THE WHO, ALICE COOPER, MOTORHEAD, MOUNTAIN, STEPPENWOLF, YES, & JETHRO TULL alongside lesser known but equally entertaining acts as MAN, FAMILY, and STONE THE CROWS. Okay, you asked for it, you got it. Here is the complete lineup of LET IT ROCK:

• FREE - Alright Now
• DEEP PURPLE - Highway Star
• MEATLOAF - You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth
• MOUNTAIN - Don’t Look Around
• ALICE COOPER- Under My Wheels
• MOTORHEAD - Ace of Spade
• STEPPENWOLF - Born to Be Wild
• THE WHO - Pinball Wizard
• JETHRO TULL - The Witches Promise
• GINGER BAKER’S AIR FORCE - Early in the Morning
• NAZERETH - Morning Dew
• FAMILY - The Weaver’s Answer
• SPOOKY TOOTH - That Was Only Yesterday
• HEART - Barracuda
• BACHMAN TURNER OVERDRIVE - You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
• STONE THE CROWS - Danger Zone
• JOAN JETT -Crimson & Clover
• DEEP PURPLE - Hallelujah
• MAN - Daughter of a Fire Place
• YES - Yours is No Disgrace
  
  One of the coolest things about this compilation is the amount of pure psychedelia involved in the production of these performances culled from these bands’ appearances at the famed Beat Club, Musik Laden, and Old Grey Whistle Test television tapings. Swirling colors, lavalamp projections, and elf-like graphics help transport you into the state of mind these performers are in. JETHRO TULL introduces some classical music arrangements like Ian Anderson’s patented flute playing, but many of the other groups on this compilation contribute wind instruments as well. Despite all the great songs on LET IT ROCK by the groups like DEEP PURPLE, FREE, MOUNTAIN, NAZARETH, MOTORHEAD, JETHRO TULL, etc., my favorite performance would have to be Early in the Morning by GINGER BAKER’s AIRFORCE, a band I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing live. If you thought Ian Anderson introduced innovative qualities to Rock N’ Roll, you haven’t seen anything until you see GINGER BAKER’S AIRFORCE live. Baker includes in his ensemble a multitude of international flavors that includes accapella, wind instruments, exotic keyboards, and three lead vocalists two of which are sexy ladies. YES’s Yours Is No Disgrace also establishes them as a leading contender to Pink Floyd’s status as the Kings of Progressive Rock. Some observations about LET IT ROCK:
• Classic Pictures bookends each performance video with the LET IT ROCK logo, and trust me by the end of the disc you’ll be sick viewing these graphics.
• Many of the performance clips appear to be truncated in order to make room for the above mentioned graphics.
• Not every performance on the disc are live performances; a couple of them are only promotional music videos including MEATLOAF’s You Took the Words Right Out Of My Mouth, HEART’s Barracuda, and Joan Jett’s cover of Crimson & Clover.
• Some of the live performances are not actually live. With the exception of the music videos mentioned above, nearly every clip is obviously live though I did spot a couple of cases of clever lip synching in the cases of THE WHO’s Pinball Wizard and STEPPENWOLF’s Born To Be Wild. The dead giveaway is the loud and canned audio for these songs when compared to the raw, imperfect live tracks that highlight LET IT ROCK.

As you would image, the video quality for each clips varies depending on the source material. All the footage on LET IT ROCK is presented in the original 1.33.1 footage. Again, keep your TV remote handy to make adjustments. Nearly every performance here was shot on videotape which preserves that live feel and nicely captures the groovy visuals and funky backgrounds. Some of the older material display some flaws, but Classic Pictures has done a great job restoring these old clips by removing dirt and speckles, punching up the clarity and contrast, and re-saturating those psychedelic 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. Again, the performances vary; some older clips like ALICE COOPER’s Under My Wheels produces almost no bass, either on the DD 5.1 or DTS 5.1 options. Some other songs have lyrics with too much reverb, though this is mostly on the part of the recording engineers who originally taped the material. The music videos and lip-synched performances offer better acoustics because of the polished studio production. There are no supplements on LET IT ROCK.

If you are into live classic rock, (and who besides whiny alternative freaks is not) , then LET IT ROCK is something you should check out. This disc offers live performances from some of the best bands, musicians, and songs in the industry, all served up with digital picture and sound quality. The compilation produces a time-machine effect where the viewer goes back in time to witness Rock n Roll’s greatest performing at their peak. It should also be noted that Classic Pictures has also put out LET IT ROCK VOLUME 2, featuring 22 more classic performances that get the digital re-mastering process.

 LET IT ROCK is available from DVDEmpire.com