Has anyone got a ruler and wimple I can borrow?
This is volume 3 in the Rock's Cool series from the ever faithful and reliable metal label, Steamhammer/SPV. To be honest, I didn't even know they'd made a second so it was a surprise when this DVD dropped through my door. The first Rock's Cool video contained thirty-one promo videos from bands such as Moterhead, Biohazard and Kamelot. Not only did it include a wide spectrum of acts but the videos themselves were entertaining and were pleasantly short on 'Americanisms' such as American high school dramas wrapped around a half assed rock song, or an emotional break up smothering a nu-metal track, or scantily clad women dancing all over a poorly written sleaze tune. The only thing sleazy about the first DVD was the hot chick dressed in a school uniform, including short tartan skirt and knee high socks, bent over a desk, whilst her arse is being spanked by a nun with a ruler on the cover. Sadly, nothing as freakishly erotic graces the front of this third instalment, but the bare midriff of the naughty school girl does make an appearance.
Twenty-four videos line up on the track listing and once again the spectrum of bands range from Whitesnake to Hateshpere to Zebrahead. There's probably a good chance that the rock channels, in the United Kingdom at least, won't be putting the latest Gamma Ray or Symphony X video on their playlist anytime soon. Hell, even their top 100 rock anthems list are just the same videos they always play but in a different order, usually with Green Day, Guns n Roses and Marilyn Manson boring us all to death for the umpteenth time. It's the fact that Rock's Cool contains acts like Iced Earth and Moonspell that make this collection an attractive proposition.
You could argue that you can watch all of these videos on YouTube and you'd be right but I quite like being sat in my comfy chair with a cup of tea and a bag of crisps watching the likes of Saxon and Kreator in Widescreen. Plus, a DVD collection such as this will introduce you to bands, or videos, that you may not stumble upon whilst trawling through YouTube. Amplifier is one example of this. Their contribution 'Neon' is an excellent tune and caused me to check them out a little further. On the other hand the Rhapsody penned 'Magic Of The Wizard's Dream' is a video I wish I hadn't witnessed. I just don't think mixing pompus power metal, an overpowering orchestra and Christopher Lee works very well.
Thankfully, not all the videos are a montage of their live performances although this is certainly the case for Whitesnake and Saxon. With the new CGI age more elaborate videos are being created for the metal minnows. Kamelot, Moonspell, Engel and Iced Earth all have epic looking videos and are worth witnessing on your widescreen TV, but then again the Hatesphere contribution 'Floating' is three minutes of young people headbanging in slow motion. If I'm being brutally honest it's not the most entertaining three minutes I've sat and watched.
Like with all DVDs (not just this one) the question arises of how many times will you watch it? For myself, I tend to watch DVDs the once, then my favourite scenes again, before leaving it as a dust holder on the shelf. It's not that DVDs are a bad idea, I just think most music fans like to listen to music rather than watch and listen (unless you're at a show of course). That said, I can recommend this DVD if you fancy a couple of evenings watching largely unseen metal vids. I would've liked to have seen some Dio, or perhaps even Jon Oliva's Pain but you can't have everything can you. Has anyone got a ruler and wimple I can borrow?