Music Documentaries...

[MC Bad Genius]

End Of The Century - All about the Ramones. It's a great story and the documentary has been done really well, giving a glimpse into all aspects of the band. The rivalry between Johnny and Joey is fascinating and Dee Dee is pretty much hilarious the whole way through.

Some Kind Of Monster - I have never been a fan of Metallica (and am still not), but this is an awesome film. So petty and ridiculous.

The Devil And Daniel Johnston - This is the sad story of one of the most unique songwriters around. Even if you can't appreciate his music, this documentary will still move you. Also, if you can't appreciate his music, your either a robot or you have lost all innocence of your youth.

Stones In Exile - The talking heads are a bit annoying (although my favourite is the singer from Kings Of Leon having literally NO idea about the album at all!), but the stories are great. Who wouldn't want to live in the south of France and record rock'n'roll. Nobody. Except maybe Charlie ...

Who Is Harry Nillson? - The answer is a prolific musical genius that almost had the world in the palm of his hand. This doco covers his entire life, including the highs of winning Grammys and being loved by The Beatles, to his eventual spiral into substance abuse. Really interesting guy.

 

[Harmichael]

This looks interesting:

http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/03/the-arsehole-glory-of-ginger-baker

 

[Ron The Bear]

This looks interesting:

http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/03/the-arsehole-glory-of-ginger-baker

Ah, I'd heard they were making this but forgot about it. Seen a couple of Cream docos - very colourful and forthright interviewee.

 

[Mitho]

Theres a few I like and have watched recently.

Lemmy - as said before bloody good
Flight 666 - Iron Maiden doco... awesome
Sound City - Just got done watching this the other night, awesome to see so much passion for music, really well done by Dave Grohl

Theres one called (I think) A headbangers guide to heavy metal, or something like that, that is bloody brilliant

And the best one I've seen probably ever is...

God Bless Ozzy Osbourne.

You've got to be a bit of a Sabbath/Ozzy fan to get into it. Follows Ozzy around for 2 years sober and talks about what it was like being Ozzy in the hazy days. Made by Jack Osbourne I think. Bloody ripper.
Though I am a massive Ozzy fan so I might be seeing it through Ozzy coloured glasses.

 

[bradrowe#32]

"15 Minutes to Rock" - documentary about Aussie band The Favues who had a few minor hits in the early 90s, but have a cult following. Shows their struggles with record labels, band tension, and sparsely attended gigs. It's funny and depressing.

 

[Chewy]

I didn't like "Some Kind of Monster". I thought it was an overlong, overrated boring study of a band in the doldrums. They were competely uninspired, sick of their job and at the end of their tether. Anyone could see those guys should've just quit or taken a break for six or seven years. I don't think it made particularly riveting viewing. It could've been edited right down.

I think the people who liked it are mostly non-metal fans who enjoyed seeing the world's biggest metal band make total arseclowns of themselves after a decade of cocaine abuse and having competely lost the plot. It was just tedious more than anything listening to their narcissistic drummer talk bollocks for 3 hours.

I would've preferred to see a Metallica docco from any other period in the band's history. Seeing James Hetfield all sober and snarky was no fun.

The Anvil movie was a far better film, both as an insight to the music biz and for Spinal Tap type laughs

 

[Chewy]

Three good punk doccos:

Punk: Attitude - directed by Don Letts, a London dub reggae DJ from the mid 70's who was mates with a lot of the early punks and managed The Slits for a while. He doesn't cast the net right around the globe, but it's a fairly definitive look at the roots of punk rock in Detroit and New York and it's progression from CBGBs in New York in the 70's to London in 1976-77 to the 80's hardcore punk scene in LA and New York. Great interviews and soundbites from many of the main players and lesser known musos and artists who were there amongst it. Very entertaining.

Filth and the Fury - great film about the Sex Pistols, which shows how they formed, built the hype, captured the attention of a nation and then imploded on a disatrous tour of USA. Hard to believe it all went down in the space of 2 years - they came and went like a comet. Classic clips from back in the day and some good latter day interviews with John Lydon, Steve Jones and Glen Matlock. John at his sneering best as he tears down all the Malcolm McLaren-propogated myths and says what was really going on. It's well worth a look if you never saw it.

Hated - a disturbing film about GG Allin, the self-destructive junkie madman who was prone to cutting himself, smashing bottles n his own head, getting into fights with people in the front row and taking a dump on stage and throwing it at his audience. It's worth watching the raw footage of his last ever gig (dvd extras) which descends into sheer chaos. This gig/debacle was filmed just hours before his fatal overdose.

 

[Chewy]

I really liked the Classic Albums series. They have a list of all the episodes here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Albums

You can probably find most of them on youtube

My favourite episodes were Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", Deep Purple's "Machine Head", Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" and Iron maiden's "Number of the Beast".. Some great story-telling and cool insights to their creative process, recording methods and band chemistry.

I never saw an episode of Classic Albums that I didn't enjoy, even bands and artists I didn't like much: eg Duran Duran "Rio" and Paul Simon "Graceland"

Really good show, I reckon.

 

[d33my]

I was already a Cream fan before I saw it but the Disraeli Gears episode changed the way I listened to that album.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

Some great nominations here. I watched the Minutemen doco and it was great. Loved Punk Attitude and Filth and the Fury. I'm hanging to see this. One of my favourite bands.

 

[LIONOFZION]

The latest Bob Marley Doco by Kevin MacDonald is an inspiring watch



Time Will Tell is an old favourite of mine



Rocksteady - The Roots of Reggae is also another good one - here's the full doco

 

[Harmichael]

Reminds me a bit of the "Heavy Metal in Baghdad" doco from a few years ago:

 

[skilts]

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned Standing in the Shadows of Motown. A magnificent piece of documentary making, about arguably the greatest house band ever, who reform for the film, after thirty years of never playing together, and play note and intonation perfect. The only band in the world whose lead (and, at the same time rhythm) instrument, is a tambourine. Look out for the two drummers, and the pianist - perfect. Quote from one of the drummers who was enlisted to appear in the doco., "Deputy Dog would sound good singing in front of the Funk Brothers".

 

[Neese]

^ great one, saw that at the cinema when it came out and loved it

 

[IAMDASH]

Some great nominations here. I watched the Minutemen doco and it was great. Loved Punk Attitude and Filth and the Fury. I'm hanging to see this. One of my favourite bands.

I just watched this on a Qantas flight (of all things!). Pretty amazing life story and well worth a look.

Lately I have also seen:
Crossfire Hurricane - The Stones
Blokes You Can Trust - Cosmic Psychos
Stories of Me - Paul Kelly

Interestingly I think Crossfire Hurricane was probably the weakest of these but they are all sensational.

Gimme Shelter is the best Stones doco I reckon.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

How was Blokes You Can Trust? Hanging to see this one.

 

[IAMDASH]

How was Blokes You Can Trust? Hanging to see this one.

It was bloody fantastic, as was the whole day, firstly at Mia Mia on Knighty's farm, then at Castlemaine, which kicked on until around midnight (at least that's when we left!).

Hopefully the film will get a run a the MIFF or something like that.

I am a massive Psychos fan, but still learned a lot. It's centered around Knighty, but features Dirty, Bill, Robbie (RIP) and the current line up

 

[La Dispute]

Anybody who likes Modest Mouse should definitely have a look at this.

Mostly on The Lonesome Crowded West, but also covers TIALD..

 

[Woodson]

I'd like to give a plug to the Iron Maiden doco, Flight 666. It's quite entertaining and you don't have to be a Hard Rock / metal fan to enjoy it. Even though I listened to Iron Maiden growing up, I still rate myself as a passive IRONS fan. But this doco takes you another level to appreciating them alot more. To think Iron Maiden ARE MASSIVE in INDIA is quite impressive.

I also own Long Road To Cabo which is more a camera running whilst on tour about a humble musician known as the Red Rocker who had made a living doing what he enjoys, having a growing entourage of friends/ celebs and millions of fans worldwide who make the trip to Cabo San Lucas over the Mexican border annually to celebrate Sammy Hagar's birthday. Great to watch if you're a true Van Halen fan.

 

[Woodson]

Theres one called (I think) A headbangers guide to heavy metal, or something like that, that is bloody brilliant

Sam Dunn's Headbangers Journey. I have owned this for years and still think it stands the test of time.
About: A Canadian named Sam Dunn goes on a journey to document the origins, culture and appeal to 'heavy metal'. It includes interviews with various artists, musicians, groupies, music producers, critics & disc jockey's. Exploring further themes such as violence, death, sexuality, religion and satanism.

You don't have to be a Hard Rock/ heavy metal fan to enjoy this. FIVE STARS.

 

[Ironmonger]

I was a big fan of BBC's Dancing in the Street series from (I think) the mid 90s. I don't know if that's available on DVD anywhere.

 

[UpForGrabs]

I was a big fan of BBC's Dancing in the Street series from (I think) the mid 90s. I don't know if that's available on DVD anywhere.

I don't think it is. I had the VHS box set back in the day, but it was missing the episode which dealt with Phil Spector and the Beach Boys (among others) due to rights problems.

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Gimme Shelter is the best Stones doco I reckon.

Disagree. Apart from actually having the footage of the guy getting killed at Altamont, it's sooo slow and a complete bore. Seeing Charlie stare blankly at the footage for 90 minutes doesn't really thrill me.

As big a Stones fan as I am, I don't really dig Stones in Exile or Crossfire Hurricane either. Exile has far too much fake historical footage and talking heads with people who weren't there; while Crossfire (as well-intended as it is) completely ignores the formation of the band, the role of Ian Stewart, and stops dead at 1981 despite being a supposedly career-spanning doco. ********** Blues, now there's a doco.

 

[blackshadow]

Disagree. Apart from actually having the footage of the guy getting killed at Altamont, it's sooo slow and a complete bore. Seeing Charlie stare blankly at the footage for 90 minutes doesn't really thrill me.

As big a Stones fan as I am, I don't really dig Stones in Exile or Crossfire Hurricane either. Exile has far too much fake historical footage and talking heads with people who weren't there; while Crossfire (as well-intended as it is) completely ignores the formation of the band, the role of Ian Stewart, and stops dead at 1981 despite being a supposedly career-spanning doco. ********** Blues, now there's a doco.

Stones in Exile shits on ********** Blues and Crossfire Hurricane - I've got all three. Some of the footage in ********** is brilliant but IMHO it doesn't hang together well as a doco.

 

[IAMDASH]

********** Blues, now there's a doco.

Haven't seen it.

Will try to track down a copy and have a squiz