In the fourth season of the Mary Tyler Moore show, we really start to see a transition in the characters as new ones are introduced and conflicts arise in the existing ones. Georgette makes her first appearance as Ted's love interest, and since then became a regular in the cast. All these classic episodes are here, although without any of the great bonus features that we saw in Season one and two. That is really the only disappointment in this set, the episodes are restored nicely and the discs are kept in individual cases. A great buy for those who loved the show!

So what exactly to we have contained in this three disc set that proudly claims to be Eighties Hair Metal? To make a seamless compilation is somewhat of a daunting task. Many commercial record companies saw a lot of these Hair Bands as a marketing gimmick that could make them all very rich so it was only natural that dozens upon dozens sprang up during the time period in the Eighties.

Deadline records doesn't really go as deep as they should when it comes to presenting a fair picture of the Hair Metal scene. Several bigger named bands are missing from the set, though most of them are there: LA Guns, Warrant and Faster Pussycat all have their moments to shine on this collection. Deadline had an interesting concept when creating this set: they decided to use each CD to examine different aspects of the Hair Metal sound. Disc one contains studio recordings only, while disc two sticks to live recordings and the final disc is pure power ballads. Unfortunately, MOST OF THESE SONGS ARE NOT THE ORIGINAL RECORDINGS! This weakens the overall effect of the presentation and might go as far as to mislead or disappoint buyers. The songs are by the original artists, but they are updated versions, re-recorded in the nineties or later. While some miss the mark (most of the Faster Pussycat remixes sound terrible), the others aren't that bad. The live recordings are all decent except for one or two tracks that suffer in sound quality.

As I said before, some fan favorites in terms of groups are missing. Deadline records plugged these holes with lesser known acts or obscure cover-versions of songs. This too lowers the quality of the set, but at the same time makes it great for avid collectors to get some of those rarer tracks. Want to hear Great White cover a Zeppelin tune? This collection has got it.

The CDs come in sturdy 3-CD case, with paper slip to protect it.

While I wouldn't say that this is exactly everything Hair Metal had to offer, it is an interesting collection, even if it is terribly flawed at times.

Although they were never that popular with critics, Nintendo (in partnership with DIC entertainment) produced several animated adventures in the late eighties/early nineties, based on the two big games at the time: Super Mario Bros. and The Legend Of Zelda. Shout! entertainment has now brought them back to DVD with the release of several box sets. The Legend Of Zelda show was no exception.

Lets start by being totally honest. If you just know the Zelda series from picking up the newest release at the store a while back, you're not going to enjoy this. If you're only a casual gamer who maybe remembers playing Zelda a few times as a kid, you're not going to enjoy this. The Legend Of Zelda box set is more like a speciality release, aimed mainly at nostalgic adults who remember watching the show religiously on TV during their youth or (like myself) are AVID Zelda followers.

I actually enjoyed the show a lot more than I originally thought I would. Many of the episodes are fun to sit through and packed with plenty of action and adventure. The picture quality is painfully so-so. It doesn't seem like much was done to restore the image, but thanks to DVD the colors are vibrant and the image is clear enough.

The packaging is sturdy and keeps the DVDs together well in a fold-out box. There are three discs in all, with some interesting bonus features such as the original art work and a trivia quiz about the game and show.

It's a nice little package that you'll enjoy if you're a huge Zelda fan. If you're just a casual passer-by looking to pick this up, either pass it by or save it for your kids.

Triumph's Progressions Of Power seems to have been the album that was unlucky enough to have gotten lost between two popular albums: Just A Game and Allied Forces. Still, despite not managing to yield any hit singles, it remains a surprisingly powerful album when listened to more closely.

The first thing most people notice is that Rik Emmett seems to take a back seat when it comes to the vocals on this album. Instead he works extensively on his guitar playing, and it shows through time and again, especially in the ferocious licks on the lead off song I Live For The Weekend. The should have been hit, I Can Survive continues this hard rock journey with surprising strength. When Emmett finally does inject something into the album, he does it with the more melodic Take My Heart, which after all that riff driven rocking, comes off as a beautiful song. There is no doubt that it is. If you enjoy hard rock, and want to hear some Triumph songs that you probably missed out on, get this. You won't be let down!

If you're a fan of the genre, American Hair Metal will be an amazing journey for the visual person. The book is loaded with photos of the time when Hair Metal acts would rule the stages, and the airwaves. If you're looking for more of a written history, don't look here. The book doesn't included that many facts, but it does have a fair share of testimonies from people who were there, or quotes of the time. It also includes an index of bands in the back with mini-biographies. Some bands however, I noticed were left out.

Up until the point of Just A Game's release, Triumph had yet to make it big with any of their singles. This album changes all that, as the band really begins to mature as their own act.

Those who have constantly compared the band to Rush should really take a careful listen to the work here. While it is easy to make comparisons of the band's early work to outside influences like Rush, here Triumph really starts to break away these barriers and works on their own style of sound. The two obvious smash songs here are Lay It On The Line and Hold On, both penned by Rik Emmett. These singles, namely Lay It On The Line makes Triumph stand on its own in terms of hard rock identity. Drummer Gil Moore adds to this with his own songs. American Girls is an amazing solid rock song with great licks on the guitars, and the opening track Moving On is appropriately titled, as if the band was aware of its own transitions. Since Rock `N' Roll Machine, the band has really moved on in terms of its identity in the music world.

Of course, mixed in with all that fist pumping hard rock, Triumph doesn't totally shake its progressive rock feel. It is more common in Emmett's songs, and this would eventually lead to his departure with arguments relating to the band's style, usually with Gil Moore. Still it's not a bad thing. Just A Game is an example of that, a longer but more political and melodic song. The real weakness of the album is where the band runs too far in the direction of other genres. For example, Moore's bluesy Young Enough To Cry comes off as long winded and tedious, with poor songwriting. It feels like it was included just to pass the point of "look we're not Rush, WE CAN do other styles of music." Suitcase blues, though a bit better than Moore's YETC isn't exactly something that fits in with the rest of the dynamics, but it's a pleasant little song to groove with.

A must have for Triumph fans or those who want to go a bit deeper and see where the original hits came from.

Triumph didn't start to reach their full potential until the release of the album following this one, Just A Game. Rock & Roll Machine, though not an album to forget, is an important stone on the road of the band's development to bigger things.

In fact, Rock & Roll Machine seems to pick up where their first LP left off, though with more experience and a much more focused effort. Obviously trying to shake the comparisons away and get out from under the shadow of Rush, this album tends to explore a more hard rock path than the first, though they can't resist returning to some of their more progressive styles. This doesn't to all that much for the band here, as their dabbing into the genre makes their lyrics come off as tedious and musically you won't be experiencing anything that startling. The City "medley" is a large bump in the album, breaking up the pace of a hard rocking first half that includes some great songs like Takes Time, Bringing It On Home and Little Texas Shaker. With the City's long guitar intro and relatively predictable riffs, you'll be yawning before its nine somewhat minutes come to an end. Fortunately, they round up the album on a high note with an excellent cover of Rocky Mountain Way, and the amazing title track. Rock & Roll Machine shows off the band's vicious hard rock chops, with a huge guitar solo that will leave anyone in amazement. Remember this is PRE Van Halen work!

It was clear that Triumph was really starting to get it together as a group, and it wouldn't be long before their breakthrough came. Again, some fans may enjoy the less polished production, but it is still not their greatest work.

Is it Led Zeppelin or is it Rush? No, it's Triumph's In The Beginning: the album that started the career of this Canadian power-trio into classic Canadian rock history. This CD takes any listener back before the time of their huge radio hits to when the band was still trying to place themselves and find their own real sound.

I won't try to ignore it...Triumph has been compared to Rush since the beginning of time, and for good reason. They were both from the same part of Canada, both had a progressive rock tone to their music, and they were both a trio. As they matured as a band, Triumph finally managed to hold its own territory in more of a hard rock vein that kind of broke the ties with Rush, who veered a lot deep into the progressive side of the genre. It is easy to see that In The Beginning is really what the title implies: a band with talent in its infancy, still starting out with its sights set on bigger things. The music reflects that innocents, but it doesn't mean that it is lacking in skill. The band tends to drift into that progressive rock experimentation often, expect for the first track which the the hard rockin' 24 Hours, an obvious attempt at a single and the slightly more commercial sounding Street Fighter. The other tracks dabble this way and that, obviously heavily influenced by Rush. Blinding Light Show/Moonchild is their best attempt at capturing that melodic progressiveness with vocalist Rik Emmett's piercing, Geddy Lee inspired vocals. Because the are still testing their own capabilities, it shows through into the music and makes a large part of the record come off as a little unfocused. The music doesn't lack catchy hooks or great beats (except for the odd real clunker), and some people will enjoy a more edgy, unpolished Triumph. But better things were defiantly to come.

It's great to see Kim Mitchell back at work in the studio. Being a big fan of his first two albums: "Go For Soda" & "Shakin' Like A Human Being," Kim returns to his rock 'n' roll roots with a slightly more modern sound. Don't expect the same Mitchell here though. His voice has aged a little over the years and that dosen't provide the same sound fans might expect. The difference isn't THAT much thankfully though, as his songs still rock as hard as ever. A great idea for any longtime fan.

Like many others who got the season three set of The Mary Tyler Moore show, I was suprised to see that absolutly no bonus features were tucked in with this set. Seasons one and two did a great job with this, and were loaded with features, so I guess we can't be terribley dissapointed. After all the picture quality and sound is still excellent as is with the other sets.

The best thing about season three is that the menus have all been reworked to make them more user friendly and easier to find your way around. This is a great improvement!