New releases: REVIEWS DVD - 05.05.07.

Frank Zappa

Classic Albums: Apostrophe (`)/Over-Nite Sensation (Eagle Vision EREDV625)

The acclaimed Classic Albums format has spawned many imitators, but none can match the authoritative, concise nature of the original, nor its ability to utilise the original recordings and get the co-operation of those closest to the project. That is partly due to the fact that Classic Albums is a TV series as well as a DVD project, and the most recent to hit the screens is this engrossing examination of two of Frank Zappa's most acclaimed albums. An expanded version of a programme screened on BBC Two earlier this month and encapsulating Zappa's musical diversity, these albums - issued in 1974 and 1973 respectively - are given a thorough and thoughtful dissection with the aid of the late legend's wife and children, and friends like Steve Vai and Alice Cooper. Archive footage of Frank abounds; in performance, in interviews and in home movie footage and, to complete a superb package, his children Dweezil and Ahmet, both musicians in their own right, play their own version of his Camarillo Brillo.

Tangerine Dream

Live In London At The Shepherd's Bush Empire 11 June 2005 (Voiceprint VPDVD29)

Distilling 250 hours of recordings into a 167-minute concert, Tangerine Dream celebrated the 35th anniversary of their classic breakthrough album Phaedra with this gig at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire last June. Bathed in blue light and surrounded by banks of synthesizers, Tangerine Dream are among the least animated of bands and, although the images are thus somewhat tedious, the multi-layered krautrock, electronic and new age musical textures sustain interest. The band's only surviving founder member Edgar Froese has assembled a fine collection of musicians to interpret his cerebral music though, ironically, the most energetic piece performed is an incendiary version of Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze.

Santana