Alter Bridge: Live from Amsterdam

Although quite competent, the four musicians of Creed offshoot Alter Bridge cover thoroughly trod ground in their first live-concert DVD, with music that sounds like the perfect laboratory-constructed composite of alternative metal and post-grunge—a Nickelback-meets-Alice-in-Chains hybrid (with a little Soundgarden and Metallica on the side). Clichéd song titles like “Come to Life” and “Find the Real” say it all, as do by-the-numbers lyrics such as “Hold on for your life / because only the strong survive” (from “White Knuckles”). Throughout this 18-song 2008 set (filmed at Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam), guitarist Mark Tremonti does the requisite face-scrunching, bass player Brian Marshall keeps his legs appropriately splayed, drummer Scott Phillips pounds out the plodding beat, and photogenic front man Myles Kennedy easily handles the hackneyed rock-star moves. “Let's see those hands,” he yells before launching into “Before Tomorrow Comes,” later repeating the same exact command, even though the power ballad “Brand New Start” doesn't exactly benefit from handclaps. A couple of exceptions to the musical rule include “Watch Over You” and Robert Johnson's “Traveling Riverside Blues,” which Kennedy performs solo on acoustic and electric guitar, respectively. This concert, which draws from 2004's One Day Remains and 2007's Blackbird, comes off as a polished, professional product with little distinguishing personality or originality. Presented in DTS 5.1 and stereo, this is an optional purchase, at best. Aud: P. (K. Fennessy)