The Ultimate Anthology, Uriah Heep`s latest DVD release, features fifteen songs ranging from the early beginning of the band to recent days. The songs have been filmed at five different occasions. The first couple of songs are from the 2001 Magician’s Birthday, the annual Heep convention. The video footage shots of that night are crystal clear but the fact that a lot of lights were used to film the event this way has some negative aspects as well. It’s hard to capture the atmosphere when the stage and the venue are literally filled with light. If you’d compare the pictures with the footage shot at the 20th Anniversary show, you must admit that despite the fact that the images are paler and the musicians disappear into clouds of smoke from time to time, the latter footage is probably a better representation of the actual Heep experience.

The songs ‘Questions’ and ‘Tales’ on the DVD are shot at the International Classic Rock Festival (Trenton New Jersey). This footage is my favourite on the disc, it really captures the beauty of the band, and the joy these guys still have after over thirty-five years of performing. Most film footage on the DVD has not been released before; some of the previously released footage has been remastered or has got a different sound mix (the Legend Continues Sessions). Despite the fact that this is a compilation DVD there is not much difference in sound quality between songs. This makes this DVD a nice addition for collectors but also a nice introduction to the band for everyone that has heard of them, but never had the opportunity to listen to their music.