Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 4, 1990                   TAG: 9004040243
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

MUSIC VIDEOS ARE AS DIVERSE AS THE SOUNDS THEY SHOWCASE

Both "Portrait of England, Treasure Houses and Gardens" and "Portrait of Africa" are heavily influenced by New Age music, or whatever it's called these days. Though the music itself is not particularly New-Ageish, the tapes were produced by Dan Moss, who also has made videos for the Windham Hill label.

These tapes present idealized mixtures of image and music designed to evoke nebulously pleasant responses in viewers, and they succeed quite well. "Portrait of England" presents a beautiful country, photographed with a mix of close-up and aerial footage, where it's always sunny and there are no powerlines or people. It's a land filled with incredible cathedrals, castles and homey cottages; crystal-clear streams, velvet emerald lawns, exquisite gardens and luscious flowers. All of the glorious images are backed up by Wynton Marsalis waxing baroque on his trumpet.

The musical selections are Vivaldi's concerto for two trumpets and strings in C Major, Handel's "Eternal Source of Light Divine," Haydn's concerto for trumpet and orchestra in D major, Telemann's Concerto for three trumpets and orchestra in B flat major, Purcell's "Sound the Trumpet - Chaconne," Pachelbel's Canon for three trumpets and strings, and Molter's Concerto No. 2 for solo trumpet and strings.

Where "Portrait of England" aspires to a certain stateliness, "Portrait of Africa" is livelier, focused more on the breath-taking landscapes and the wealth of animal life. Most of the film was shot in Kenya and Tanzania; some of the images are startlingly vivid and clear. All of them are fascinating.

More than half of the music is by Vangelis, from his albums "Mask" and "Opera Sauvage," including the theme most viewers will recognize from the Gallo "Chariots of Wine" ads that were broadcast on commercial TV a couple of years ago. Miriam Makeba and the group Ladysmith Black Mombazo provide three numbers each.

It's easy to criticize this kind of work for being slick and shallow, but viewers predisposed to appreciate the subjects will enjoy the tapes. They create and sustain a mood in a way that "pure" music, without the images, could not.

Yes, they romanticize their subjects. But again, that's the point. Arguably, the same thing could be done with Southwest Virginia. To us, pileated woodpeckers and deer may not be as exotic as flamingos and zebra, but that's simply a matter of perspective. If someone filmed these mountains with the same care and attention to detail, and then overlaid ethereal music and pictures with the same thoughtfulness, the result would be equally lyrical and elegaic.

It may be rushing the season a bit for "The King's Christmas," but this 1983 production is still worth mentioning. The King's Singers, an a cappella sextet, define Christmas music in the broadest possible sense. The tape was made at Harewood House, a fair-sized mansion. Besides such conventional seasonal favorites as "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," the group also performs Randy Newman's "Short People" and Noel Coward's "The Stately Homes of England."

Their harmonies are tight, but the staging of some of the numbers is blatantly hokey and overstated. The six singers, with their archetypal British features, have clearly geared their performances to the concert stage. They and producer/director Vernon Lawrence didn't completely understand the more intimate and then-new medium of music video. That's not to say that the tape isn't appealing. It is, but even the group's fans will wince at some of the hammier numbers.

Last and certainly least, we have "Hard N' Heavy, Vol. 4." It's 80 uncensored minutes of heavy-metal music and heavy-metal talk from such masters as Aerosmith, Vixen and Lillian Axe.

I'll admit that I do not appreciate heavy-metal music, and I fast-forwarded through long portions of this tape. I understand that metal is meant to be offensive and loud and non-conformist. I know that it appeals to the confused sexuality and adolescent angst of misunderstood teen-age boys. I believe that most fans of this brand of knuckle-dragging rock will probably outgrow it within the next few weeks.

At the same time though, I have to confess a certain surprise. When some of these people on this tape talk about their "art," it becomes obvious that they really do believe the stupid, sexist things they sing about. These guys, most of whom are old enough to know better, emphatically endorse and promote an immature view of themselves and the world, and they've got the tattoos to prove it.

But, for all their efforts, they're neither shocking nor offensive; they're just embarrassing. How strange.

\ THE ESSENTIALS:\ `Portrait of England' Paramount. Unrated, contains no offensive material. 55 min.

\ `Portrait of Africa' Paramount. Unrated, contains no offensive material. 56 min.

\ `The King's Christmas' 1/2 Proscenium, distributed by Videotakes. Unrated, contains no offensive material. 27 min.

\ `Hard N' Heavy, Vol. 4' MPI. Unrated, contains strong language, sexual material. 80 min.