Rockthology Presents Hard ‘N' Heavy, Vol. 1

The wit, wisdom, and music of rock heavyweights such as Aerosmith, Nirvana, the Smashing Pumpkins, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are on display in this entry from the Rockthology series (currently, 10 volumes are available), which mixes familiar clips from the bands' videos with interview excerpts in eight segments of varying lengths. On second thought, let's limit that "wit, wisdom, and music" to just the music, because the first two commodities are in very short supply--unless your particular cup of karma happens to be listening to Nirvana's Krist Novoselic (hands down the most embarrassingly moronic interviewee here) and Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell, to name just two, spout their numbskull nihilism, or the latter band's Dave Navarro and Aerosmith's Joe Perry drone on about the horrors of (and subsequent recovery from) their respective drug addictions. In fairness, they're not all that bad; Alice in Chains' Layne Staley sounds as if he possesses a brain (though he would die of a drug overdose at the age of 34), as do the Black Crowes' Robinson brothers. But most of these people are simply stoned 'n' stoopid, notable mostly for their appalling lack of articulateness, and their “who cares?” affectation, which quickly loses its charm. Add to that the poor program format--in which the interviews keep interrupting some pretty good videos (like Nirvana's classic “Smells Like Teen Spirit”)--and this is not a vital purchase, to say the least. Aud: P. (S. Graham)