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Recent Music Documentaries


ScarletMacaw

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Saw via Netflix two really good, fairly recent music documentaries: "Muscle Shoals" and "Sound City." They are both about recording studios, needless to say, but they were really about so much more. I thought the story of the founder of Muscle Shoals was very dramatic. Dave Grohl did a great job as a first-time director on "Sound City." Great interviews in both.

On the other hand, I did not like at all the doc that won the Academy Award, "20 Feet from Stardom." I thought it was kind of boring and had a whiny tone to it. There were one or two good stories in it, though.

Did anyone else see them and what did you think? Have there been other recent docs you recommend?

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I was lucky enough to catch the doco "Sonic Highways" - FF on free to air Saturday.It's an excellent inside look on the making of the album.

Rick Nielson guests on the album and it was news to me that he had such a diverse musical background before Cheap Trick.

And Pat Smear's guitarability gets better everytime I see him!

Steve Albini who produced Sonic Highways at his studio is paid for the time he puts in because he doesn't believe in royalties.His reasoning is that why should a band pay tribute to a producer forever when all monies should go to the band.

Lightning In A Bottle may be old news to some here but it was also on FTA here recently.I'll highly recommend it for the outstanding blues performances by all on it,some of which are no longer with us.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396705/

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Check out the new David Bowie Documentary 5 YEARS... It was real good.

Covers from Aladin Sane through Let's Dance .. It's currently on Showtime.

I also watched the new Genesis Documentary, which is also on Showtime..sorry don't have the name in front of me.. that was also real good.. edit Genesis: SUM OF THE PARTS..

The 6 key members are all interviewed.. Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hackett, and original guitarist, Anthony Phillips..

as well as Chester Thompson and Daryl Stermer.

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Check out the new David Bowie Documentary 5 YEARS... It was real good.

Covers from Aladin Sane through Let's Dance .. It's currently on Showtime.

I saw that recently too,it's excellent viewing for Bowie fans or for anyone wanting to gain an insight into the changes :stereo: DB's gone through over the years.

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I too watched "Sonic Highways" - pretty good.

Last weekend I saw "20,000 Days on Earth" in the theater. Here's a quick synopsis:

Drama and reality combine in a fictitious 24 hours in the life of musician and international cultural icon Nick Cave. With startlingly frank insights and an intimate portrayal of the artistic process, the film examines what makes us who we are, and celebrates the transformative power of the creative spirit.

I did not know much about Nick Cave before seeing the film, may have given a quick listen - a recommendation from our Strider. I am now a fan, been listening to his music all week, trying to decide which records I'd like to buy.

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I too watched "Sonic Highways" - pretty good.

Last weekend I saw "20,000 Days on Earth" in the theater. Here's a quick synopsis:

Drama and reality combine in a fictitious 24 hours in the life of musician and international cultural icon Nick Cave. With startlingly frank insights and an intimate portrayal of the artistic process, the film examines what makes us who we are, and celebrates the transformative power of the creative spirit.

I did not know much about Nick Cave before seeing the film, may have given a quick listen - a recommendation from our Strider. I am now a fan, been listening to his music all week, trying to decide which records I'd like to buy.

Didn't catch the first episode of "Sonic Highways" but I'll watch it on OnDemand. Looking forward to tomorrow's episode as it was done in DC.

As far as Nick Cave goes, my friend Carol took me to see him this past May. I knew she'd been a fan for quite a while, but I knew nothing about him. The man puts on a fabulous show, but I'm not convinced I want to own any of his music. I would like to see the documentary, though. He's an interesting person, and quite the showman.

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Check out … Last Days Here - The story of Pentagram frontman, Bobby Liebling. This raw documentary covers Bobby from the depths of addiction, sprawled out on his parents couch to getting his act together, falling madly in love and bringing the underground metal pioneers Pentagram triumphantly back to the stage.. Disturbing, but a must see. Much better than the Anvil documentary, which was also real good..

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The weirdest documentary I have ever seen is Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster," which I just found out is being re-released with "additional footage." It was too long already! I'm not really a Metallica fan and rented it because I had thought it showed sessions with their therapist, but that's not what it's really about; it's mainly about their album "St. Anger." But it does have a lot of footage of James Hetfield crying, an uncomfortable conversation between Lars Ulrich and his father, and some other embarrassing moments. Why they wanted the public to see this isn't completely clear to me.

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The weirdest documentary I have ever seen is Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster," which I just found out is being re-released with "additional footage." It was too long already! I'm not really a Metallica fan and rented it because I had thought it showed sessions with their therapist, but that's not what it's really about; it's mainly about their album "St. Anger." But it does have a lot of footage of James Hetfield crying, an uncomfortable conversation between Lars Ulrich and his father, and some other embarrassing moments. Why they wanted the public to see this isn't completely clear to me.

I've see that too.Some parts were cringeworthy but for the most part I found it interesting,only being a casual Metallica fan.

I'd recommend it on the basis it gives excellent insight into band dynamics.

Additional footage?

More door slamming by James Hetfield? :P

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