Sound City
Composite Score: 81.73
Featuring: Trent Reznor, Tom Petty, Mick Fleetwood, Frank Black, Lindsey Buckingham, Mike Campbell, Kevin Cronin, Rivers Cuomo, John Fogerty, Stevie Nicks, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Barry Manilow, Paul McCartney, Shivaun O’Brien, Keith Olsen, Rick Rubin, and Rick Springfield
Director: Dave Grohl
Writer: Mark Monroe
Genres: Documentary, Music
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Box Office: $521,181 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
I don’t know what it is about music documentaries, but they just feel like peak documentary filmmaking – alongside food docs of course. Sound City is an excellent example of a quality music documentary, following the rise and fall of the famous Sound City music studio in southern California – all thanks to an unplanned acoustics phenomenon and one really nice sound board. It watches almost like fantasy, as Dave Grohl chronicles the incredibly unlikely rise of the studio alongside the many famous rock and roll acts that made it possible. The documentary is equal parts a who’s who of rock since the 1970s, homage to “acoustic” music recording, and glorification of the “good ol’ days” of rock and roll.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
The film’s final act is much less exciting than its first two, following the Neve Board (the sound board used at the studio) after Dave Grohl purchases it from the closing studio and his work making a new album with as many of the artists who were a part of Sound City’s growth as possible. It watches more like a Tiny Desk Concert than the documentary that is the rest of the film. Obviously, the music that Grohl makes with all of these musical acts (like Stevie Nicks, Paul McCartney, and Rick Springfield) is quality music, and it’s cool to see all of these acts working together on one album, but it’s not as interesting as the story of the Music Studio itself. Definitely not a huge knock, but it is worth noting that the film feels like two films put together.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
The music history contained in this documentary is enough to get any music fan excited. The technical aspects that get explored are informative and clearly crafted by someone who loves the music being made (Dave Grohl). The actual music that was recorded at Sound City is a major part of rock and roll history – the studio is literally the reason that Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mack and is where Nirvana recorded the album Nevermind. I sat there fully engrossed for the entire length of this documentary, which, if you read my EX LIBRIS review, you know is not necessarily a given for the medium. This film is documentarian filmmaking at its finest, providing new, niche information, being fully engrossing entertainment, and showing off the filmmakers’ hobbies all at once.
