Judging from the front cover, I assume I’m not the target audience for this Rock S’Cool III DVD, as the photo is obviously aimed at men, although the lady does look awkwardly young, and the slogan “A spanking good clip collection” isn’t exactly how I would describe it. If you ask me, it seems odd that they would cancel out possible female audience members by choosing this image for the cover.

Bands featured on Rock S’Cool III originate from England, America, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Brazil, and Poland, so with that diversity, there’s bound to be something on here for all rock/metal fans.

Brilliant opener ‘Lay Down Your Love’ from Whitesnake is a great 80’s hair metal live performance clip, with backstage footage, promo work and concert clips. The track is a nice entry into the DVD, unfortunately though it does precede a lull of about 6 videos that are boring and uneventful.

I’ve never heard of Type O Negative before, and I actually find myself stifling a burst of laughter at the tackiness of the ‘September Sun’ video. The members are a greasy, awkward mix fronted by what looks like a Mexican Josey Scott wannabe.
I guess someone found the ‘convert to cartoon’ button when making the ‘Ten Thousand Strong’ video for Iced Earth, as it’s some random, budget looking Stars Wars inspired video, looking more like Conan The Barbarian than hard rock genius.
Helloween’s ‘As Long As I Fall’ and Kamelot’s ‘Rule The World’ have me perplexed again as to why rock/metal videos tend to be extremely tacky. The overacted mouthing to the song and story lines which start nowhere and end nowhere are starting to wear thin, and I’m only ¼ the way in.

Starting off very Blair Witch-like, Skinny Puppy’s ‘Haze’ from their 2007 album Mythmaker, is actually one of the best storyline videos on Rock S’Cool III, with the culmination being a mob of children burning their child-hood toys. Hatesphere’s ‘Floating’ clip is genius. The entire 4-minute video is taken up with slow motion, sweaty, aggressive head banging; nothing more, nothing less, and yet surprisingly interesting.
The first of two tracks each from Engel and Saxon are less than spectacular attempts at cinematic genius, both of which fall well short and I loose interest within moments.

Why!? Why, is all I’m going to say in response to Rhapsody’s inclusion on this DVD. I actually have no more words for how out of place the Italian “metal” band are here with ‘Magic of the Wizard’s Dream’. The song is actually quite good, but when there is a Sean Connery look alike, in a suit, singing opera in this clip, and an Emily the Strange-like cartoon stabbing at a bloody grave in Moonspell’s ‘Luna’ directly afterwards – you know someone cocked up somewhere!

Amplifier plays it safe with the standard ‘band playing in a room’ video for ‘Neon’. The cockiness of Rollin’s Band lead singer Henry Rollins is apparent with the ‘Your Number is One’ video, as it’s mostly him with no shirt on performing the song at different shows. The youngest looking bunch on the DVD, Zebrahead, are next with ‘Postcards from Hell’, a punk influenced comedic clip, which is pleasantly watcher-friendly, even if it doesn’t flow as well as it could from British metal legends Saxon’s ‘Lionheart’ video.

After the full 120 minutes of clips has past, I think back to when I first pushed play on this DVD, being greeted with Whitesnake, and am bewildered as to how we got where we are now, considering the majority of the videos were, in all honesty, completely forgettable drivel. The special features on the DVD are quite cool, giving you a 30 second preview of the back catalogue for each band that features, plus extra DVD trailers and iPod friendly downloads.

As with most compilations in their second series, I have to wonder why these clips didn’t make it onto the first release…

1. WHITESNAKE: Lay Down Your Love
2. TYPE O NEGATIVE: September Sun
3. ICED EARTH: Ten Thousand Strong
4. SAXON: I’ve Got To Rock (To Stay Alive)
5. HELLOWEEN: As Long As I Fall
6. KAMELOT: Rule The World
7. MOONSPELL: Scorpion Flower
8. SKINNY PUPPY: Haze
9. KREATOR: Phobia
10. GAMMA RAY: Into The Storm
11. HATESPHERE: Floating
12. ENGEL: Next Closed Door
13. SAXON: If I Was You
14. RHAPSODY: Magic Of The Wizard’s Dream
15. MOONSPELL: Luna
16. SEPULTURA: Ostia
17. AMPLIFIER: Neon
18. ENGEL: Casket Closing
19. ROLLINS BAND: Your Number Is One
20. SAXON: Lionheart
21. ZEBRAHEAD: Postcards From Hell
22. RIVERSIDE: Panic Room
23. SYMPHONY X: Serpent’s Kiss
24. UNLEASHED: Black Horizon