Peter Frampton - Live in Detroit - Region 1 DVD

Those virtues won't entirely neutralize the initial shock of seeing the former rock heartthrob as he crowds 50. The shoulder-length locks that made him a poster boy (and supplied a then-chic androgyny) are gone, his hair now close- cropped and white, and he wears small wire-rim glasses that reinforce a comparatively clerical look, even in dark jeans and T-shirt. But when Frampton and his current quartet launch into old arena workhorses like "Baby (Something's Happening)," or signature hits like "Show Me the Way" and "Baby I Love Your Way," he shows his singing and lead guitar playing are both unchanged.

In short, meat-and-potatoes musicianship, an eager-to-please affection for his audience, and that archetypal song book of '70s radio favorites all play to Frampton's strengths and to his audience's expectations, right up to those talkbox effects that sounded anachronistic until Cher dusted them off for her Europop-inflected comeback. For DVD music fans of a certain age, that translates to a canny mix of nostalgia and show-biz professionalism. --Sam Sutherland