Better late than never. Thirty years after the Raspberries blazed new trails in power pop and concise songwriting, they're back with a package that pulls it all together and gives their legacy its due.

It's not just the fine musical performances on the discs; it's also the liner notes by Bruce Springsteen (noting that Overnight Sensation (Hit Record) "should go down as one of the great mini-rock-opera masterpieces of all time") and a photo inside the package of John Lennon in a Raspberries shirt.

The Cleveland band regrouped in 2005 for a small run of reunion shows (including one in Denver) that's lovingly preserved on Live on Sunset Strip, a concert album produced by Mark Linnett, the Beach Boys engineer who knows a thing or two about mixing harmonies.

Those harmonies are here with the reunion of the classic lineup - Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti - augmented by enough backing musicians to give the songs their due. The radio classics are here - Let's Pretend, Go All the Way, I Wanna Be With You and more - along with album tracks and covers that perfectly fit the band, including a cover of The Who's I Can't Explain that should have Roger Daltrey worrying about job security.

With the band's breakup and Carmen's solo career, these songs never got driven into the ground like those of so many groups from the '70s, so both the band and the ecstatic audience are eager to make the most of them. The deluxe package has a bonus DVD with footage that, oddly, contains only five songs from the show. Fans certainly would have loved to see more. But as the DVD notes, "They said it would never happen," and it has. One hopes the band uses this as a springboard for more touring.

dvd of the week

Wild Hogs

Rated PG-13, 105 minutes, $29.99, Buena Vista Home Entertainment Grade:

C-

Four men struggling with midlife crises take their motorcycles on a cross-country trip. They eventually encounter a band of hard-edged bikers who view the four as pathetic wannabes, leading to a showdown intended to turn the weekend bikers into heroes with the help of an unsurprising cameo, says critic Robert Denerstein.

Considering the cast - John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, Tim Allen, William H. Macy - Wild Hogs could have been quirky and fun, says Denerstein, but instead the result is stereotypical characters and obvious humor.

The Lookout

Rated R, 102 minutes, $29.99,MiramaxGrade:

B+

This psychological thriller tells the story of a former star high school athlete brain-damaged in a car accident that killed two of his passengers and was his fault. Wracked with guilt and a damaged memory, he's working as a night janitor at a bank when he's approached by a man who proposes that he take part in robbing the bank.

Denerstein says The Lookout offers a first-rate cast, a no-frills script and a heist sequence full of tension, the framework for a story that "has been hard-boiled to near perfection."

new dvds this week

• Fracture: Anthony Hopkins stars as an engineer who murders his unfaithful wife and believes he can get away with it, though his guilt appears obvious.

• Vacancy:When a couple's car breaks down and they must stay in the only motel around, they discover that the slasher videos they find in their room were filmed in that room - and they might be the next victims.

• In stores next week: Perfect Stranger, The Lives of Others, Broken English, The Ultimate Gift, The Ex (Fast Track), Redline

top five dvds

SALES

1 Zodiac, Paramount Home Entertainment

2 The Number 23, New Line Home Entertainment

3 Premonition, MGM/Tri-Star

4 The Hills Have Eyes 2, 20th Century Fox

5 Stargate SG-1: The Complete Tenth Season, MGM Home Entertainment

RENTALS

1 The Number 23, New Line Home Entertainment

2 Premonition, MGM/Tri-Star

3 Zodiac, Paramount Home Entertainment

4 Shooter, Paramount Home Entertainment

5 The Hills Have Eyes 2, 20th Century Fox

new cds this week

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City Music Hall

• High School Musical Two (original soundtrack)

• Linda Thompson: Versatile Heart

Next week:

• Joe Bonamassa: Sloe Gin

• Nikki Sixx: The Heroin Diaries

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