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The three videosare interesting because they represent the wide spectrum of classic rock and pop.Pink Floyd’s “The Making of The Dark Side Of The Moon” explores the magic that went into the longest-running album on the US Billboard Charts. “Eric Clapton and Friends Live 1986”, on the other hand, chronicles a landmark performance. The BeeGees “One Night Only” concert, at the other end of the spectrum, is a video of the group’s 1997 performance at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Of the three DVD releases, “The Making of Dark Side of the Moon” promises the most in terms of insight and illumination. Directed by Matthew Longfellow, this documentary takes an in-depth look at the album, meticulously dissecting each song and providing varied perspectives on each little nuance.Not only does it feature interviews with Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright, but also obtains significant inputs from Alan Parsons, the sound engineer who helped create much of the magic on the album.

One of the most interesting parts of this documentary is the way it tracks the evolution of many of the tracks on the album, from original demos to the final published song, breaking down each song layer by layer, capturing the power of simple ideas such as allowing for spaces within songs and not rushing to fill up every second. Insights into how some of the complex sound mixes were created manually gives an excellent sense of history.

And with short solo performances by David Gilmour and Richard Wright to boot, this is a rather comprehensive DVD that is sure to click with any Floyd fan.

“Eric Clapton and Friends Live 1986” was filmed at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, and features Clapton with Phil Collins on drums, Nathan East on bass guitar and Greg Phillinganes on the keyboards. Not only did the concert bring four brilliant musicians together, it also rather nicely chronicled Clapton’s career, featuring music from his Cream, Derek and the Dominoes and solo days. Kicking off with a rather funky version of “Crossroads”, the concert features some of Clapton’s greatest hits including a full version of “Layla”, “Sunshine of your Love”, Tearing Us Apart” and “Holy Mother”. It even features a special performance of the hit song “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins. However, the big problem with this DVD is that it ends almost as soon as it begins. With only nine tracks and no extra features, this is a DVD that one must watch but will never quite be satisfied with.

“BeeGees One Night Only” occupies a completely different space, revelling as it does in the tribute atmosphere it occupies. It looks back at almost four decades of work at a time when the band had just been inducted into the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame and had received a slew of lifetime achievement awards. It features over 30 songs created by the Gibb brothers, including some written by the band for other artistes such as Islands in the Stream, Guilty, Heartbreaker and Immortality. Although the sound quality of the DVD isn’t as rich as some of the other BeeGees videos, this release has a much higher retrospective value, particularly considering the special interview with the band members, where they look back at the many memorable moments in their career, and discuss their music and style of working.

For details on these and other DVDs, log onto www.timesmusic.com.

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