History repeats itself on DVD, with better sound

By GRAHAM REID

The first clip on the exceptional Who bio-doco The Kids Are Alright captures the band at their unpredictable best. It is late '67 and they are being interviewed on the US television show The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour by the very straight Tommy Smothers. They are witty and slightly heretical and - we now know - prankster drummer Keith Moon was drunk. So drunk, he and the stagehands packed his drums with explosives for that final sonic flourish.

So as My Generation crashes to a halt with Pete Townshend smashing his guitar and amp, there is an unexpected boom with clouds of smoke and a thunderflash which singes Townshend's hair. Actress Bette Davis, waiting in the wings, fainted into the arms of fellow guest Mickey Rooney. A stunning finale - and it damaged Townshend's hearing for the rest of his life.

The Who were not only one of the loudest bands of the 60s but, like the Kinks, one of the most stylish. But while the Kinks adopted English foppery and frilled collars, the Who dressed in the pop art of the moment. Their first album cover is iconic with bassist John Entwistle wearing the famous Union Jack-et. They looked good, sounded even better and delivered a series of classic singles before gearing up for the groundbreaking "rock opera" Tommy at the close of the 60s.

This non-chronological collection of performances premiered at Cannes in '79 and has been considered one of the great rockumentaries. It doesn't get bogged down in talk, analysis or backstage filler but intercuts television and live performances with revealing soundbites and slivers from interview shows.

The second disc in this beautifully packaged double set (with booklet) has some tedious stuff about the technology used in the restoration, bassist Entwistle's extraordinarily fluid playing isolated, extra footage and audio commentaries, plus interviews with singer Roger Daltrey.

This beautifully restored DVD treatment reminds you of what a visceral, thrilling group they were, and how sad and strange it is that a version of the Who, now down to half these original members, still stalks the planet. Remember them this way. Brilliant.

The re-formed Pixies touring the States and Europe are finally getting their due as the bridge between post-punk pop and Nirvana. Their DVD, Pixies 87-91, looks back to May '88 for a powerful live show at London's Town and Country Club and gathers seven of their impressive videos, including Monkey Gone to Heaven and Dig For Fire.

What time reveals is their rare fusion of the melodic and the manic. The On the Road footage is tedious in the extreme, and hardly a bonus: see Kim buy fridge magnets, listen in to a press conference where the questions and answers are inaudible, watch them sit in a bus driving through Paris ... The Pixies were always the band to namecheck (Kurt Cobain thought so) and their return to the ring is welcome. Here's your backgrounder.

The Stone Roses' '89 debut album changed the shape and direction of British rock and inspired Noel Gallagher (among others) to get off his chuff. Unfortunately the Roses lost it by the time of their long-delayed second album so all that's left are memories, and brilliantly lysergic songs. Their double-disc DVD sums up their early years: a live show in Blackpool (Ian Brown singing flat), half a dozen videos (some recycling Blackpool), seven television appearances and some blood-from-a-Stone interviews. Great songs, pre-Oasis Mancunian wit and impenetrable monosyllables, and a sartorial style that launched a thousand hoodies.

American singer-songwriter Josh Rouse has loosely been in the alt.country area but his last album 1972 was a nod to the singer-songwriters of the 70s, and was damn fine. That said, The Smooth Sounds of Josh Rouse is hardly going to win over those wavering. The concert footage illuminated the lovely songs but as a performer Rouse is hardly a roof shaker. In the accompanying film, The Many Moods of Josh Rouse, Rouse is opaque and it is mostly over to others to speak for him. A man of variable weight and hairstyle, he comes off as a nice fellow if a little short in the soundbite or anecdote department. The real winner with the DVD is the CD of 10 rarities which offer persuasive evidence that Rouse could take masterclasses in songwriting.

In theory, Elvis picked a bad time to make a comeback as a leatherclad rocker. In '68 the world was going to love-bead hell and hippies ruled so rock'n'roll of the Elvis kind looked dated. But the King reclaimed his throne with a TV performance where he prowled like a panther, was in top form vocally and looked sexually charged.

The Deluxe Edition DVD of Elvis: '68 Comeback Special might be more than most can take (with two extra discs of out-takes, versions of parts of the show which went unaired, and a jam session, it runs for a whopping seven hours) but this was a defining moment in rock, and the show that resuscitated Elvis' career.

THE WHO: THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT (SANCTUARY)

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The Who were, often literally, the most explosive band from Britain in the early 60s

THE PIXIES: PIXIES 87-91 (4AD)

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Boston's breakout band who might have been just too much, too soon for most, here captured at their peak

STONE ROSES: THE STONE ROSES DVD (BMG)

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Baggy clothes and tight songs, a sense of style and a shower of colour. Then they were gone

JOSH ROUSE: THE SMOOTH SOUNDS OF JOSH ROUSE (RYKO)

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Mr Mumble may write great songs but footage shows he doesn't have much to say without a guitar

ELVIS PRESLEY: '68 COMEBACK SPECIAL (BMG)

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The King reclaiming the crown in style