Saturday Night Live: 25 Years of Music

Even with over 1,000 songs and 400 artists to choose from, you'd think the Rolling Stones would have made the cut, not to mention Devo, Pearl Jam, Prince, or James Taylor (any of which would have been fine replacements for The Bangles, Rick James, Ricky Martin, or Garbage). Still, this five-disc set celebrating a quarter century's worth of live music (1975-1990) on NBC's once groundbreaking show Saturday Night Live features more than a few jewels (including Jewel's "Who Will Save Your Soul?"). Here's a sampling of highlights from bands who--in the words of executive producer Lorne Michaels--"used their time well": Joe Cocker and John Belushi (eerily aping Cocker) singing "Feelin' Alright," Elvis Costello interrupting "Less Than Zero" to perform "Radio, Radio," Talking Heads ("Take Me to the River"), Patti Smith ("Gloria"), the Blues Brothers ("Soul Man"), Neil Young ("Rockin' in the Free World"), Fine Young Cannibals ("She Drives Me Crazy"), R.E.M. ("Losing My Religion"), Aretha Franklin ("Chain of Fools"), Paul McCartney ("Hey Jude"), Sinead O'Connor ("War"--with the infamous Pope picture-shredding), Nirvana ("Rape Me"), Dave Matthews Band ("What Would You Say"), and more. Even the Spice Girls ("Wannabe") and Backstreet Boys (an a cappella "All I Have to Give") sound great. The downside is that you have to wade through oodles of inane comments by the hosts (Chevy Chase, Martin Short, Al Franken, etc.) and sketches that run the gamut from inspired to downright lame. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo, each of the discs includes an "extra" from a later disc, with the exception of the final disc, which features a bring-down-the-house performance of "Elevation" by U2. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)