We’ve written of the wonders of Jools Holland’s long-running BBC series Later… before, so we’ll spare you any repetitiveness and just get down to it...

Only two of them and all those royalties, but The White Stripes still look down...

As the name quite succinctly suggests, Later… Louder gathers together all manner of musical acts who have appeared on the show in the last decade with a penchant for amps that go up to 11, showcasing them warts and all in the live environment. And it’s a marvellously thorough cross-section of acts that feature amongst the 30 grabs on offer. The old guard and the likes of Foo Fighters, Screaming Trees, Metallica, Sonic Youth (Kim Gordon is officially one of the coolest chicks ever, BTW), The Jesus & Mary Chain, Rollins Band, Alice in Chains and Porno For Pyros are given good focus, but so too are the up and comers (or those who have already come) such as Queens of the Stone Age, The Hives, New Zealand’s The Datsuns, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The White Stripes and Sydney’s The Vines. Add to this collection a few who don’t always amp things to the point of insanity like New Order, The Cardigans, PJ Harvey, Ash, Garbage and Mercury Rev and there’s certain to be much here to please anybody who hasn’t succumbed to the evils of full time ‘classic’ FM listening.

Track listing…

This sure beats the hell out of slinging prefab burgers...

It plunders around ten years of performances, and as such includes ones which would surely have been shot in 4:3, however Later… Louder on DVD comes to us in a 1.78:1, anamorphically enhanced ratio. Despite assumed cropping on some clips, there’s little in the way of telltale signs, and the vision we get is for the most part reasonably good, without ever sending jaws hurtling towards the floor. Naturally it varies a little depending upon performance vintage; some will notice the odd spot of aliasing, but generally for this type of presentation things are pretty decent.

The standard broadcast Dolby Digital stereo is all that’s on offer sonically, which is authentic if not as encapsulating as the music featured here really deserves. Still, give the volume a prod 11-wards and it sounds pretty good, and even better through Prologic encoding. There are no noticeable synch issues, and really little else to comment on. So I won’t bother waffling.

Like the other Later… releases the extras package offers no great treats, although the snippets of interviews – sorry, “routine inquiries� – which range in length from around one and a half to three and a half minutes do offer up the odd intriguing factoid. Acts featured here are The Hives, Courtney Love of Hole, Peej, two of Metallica, New Order, Shirley from Garbage and Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes. A longer (8:55) interview also features, giving us the Foo Fighters speaking of their experiences performing on Later…, but with someone other than Mr. Holland doing the questioning. The regular pick-a-few-fave-tracks-and-have-them-play-in-a-big-lump jukebox feature is also present, as are music credits for those into such things.

Not only featuring some great bands, but also some killer live performances – and a few examples of those who just aren’t so hot without the studio trickery - Later… Louder is a superb continuation of what is rapidly becoming an ever expanding collection of vital music compilations.