DVD Review #2: It Might Get Loud

It Might Get Loud (2009)

It Might Get Loud is either a love it or hate it proposition. I've heard the criticisms from a lot of other people about how "boring" it is or that nothing much comes from having 3 generations of guitar players in the form of Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White sitting around ruminating about the past and their influences. I am not one of those people that has a problem with this. I actually enjoy listening to people talk about what drove them as musicians to pick up the instrument and create music.

If you love the guitar and music in general, I think this is a great film. Sure, it would have been nice to see the 3 of them jamming for 90 minutes on as many songs as possible, but that's not what this film is about. This isn't a wank fest to show off their guitar chops. If you want that, then just stick to any one of their Live DVD's to fill in what you are missing here.

But I will say this, the moments when they all do jam together, it is the crown jewel for me as a fan. And I got a huge kick out of seeing The Edge and Jack's eyes literally popping out as soon as Jimmy started playing Whole Lotta Love. The look of sheer excitement that came across their face is equal to being a kid and opening the biggest wrapped present, knowing full well what's inside. Seeing The Edge jump up and moving closer to Jimmy to see exactly how he was playing the riff shows that even the biggest Rock stars on the planet are still just kids at heart wanting to learn as much as they can.

I think the best thing about this film is that as you are watching it, you really feel inspired to pick up an instrument, be it a guitar, bass or drums and just play something. Anything. If a movie can get you to create something out of thin air or to jam with other musicians or a group of fiends, then I think it's definitely a success as a movie.

One thing I found myself thinking about when watching this is why such and such wasn't also in the movie. The longer the film went out, my laundry list of guitar players that should have been included got longer and longer and ranged from: Joe Satriani, Brian May, Steve Vai, Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons and on and on. This led me to think that this would have been a cool documentary style series where each new episode would have guest guitar players sit in and share their stories. Well, so much for wishing, huh?

I highly recommend this to any and all fans of guitars and music.

Rating: 5 Stars out 5

Review by Chiprocks1

It Might Get Loud (Trailer)

Book Review #18: Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock

Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock (2009)

Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock is definitely a labor of love for those that put the book together. There are tons of pics that I had never seen before till this bad boy came out. The book is exactly what the title claims itself to be, but it's so much more than that.

Most coffee table books are all pictures and nothing else, which you end up "reading" inside of 30 minutes and then your done with it. But The Ultimate Illustrated History is both a picture book as well as a retelling of the history of Queen, with input from Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon. And there are a handful of testimonials from the likes of Rob Halford and Slash just to name a few that expound on the greatness of Queen and what the band means to them.

Along with the recounting of their history, there are discography reviews of all their studio albums. Yes, even the one with Paul Rodgers is included. The only thing that's really missing from the book are the insights into the music videos they made. It would have been nice to hear some stories about behind the scenes stuff here. Only a couple of videos are mentioned and not much is said about those in great detail. Oh well.

I highly recommend this book to any Queen fan and non-fan. There's a lot to take from the book and it will take you awhile to read through it. FYI, the book is heavy. This can be used as a doorstop or a destructive weapon. Your choice.

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1

Book Review #17: Is This The Real Life? The Untold Story Of Queen

Is This The Real Life? The Untold Story Of Queen (2011)

Is This The Real Life fails to live up to my expectations. Once again I fell victim to reading a Biography from someone not in the band and paid for it with sheer boredom. The thing about books like this, especially coming on the heels of a wide assortment of other like-minded Bio's about a group like Queen, is that once the well has been tapped, the latest author then has the task of coming up with "new" stuff to justify reading his book about a band that has be written about countless times.

This book falls in line with Bon Scott's Bio that I recently read. If you checked out that review, then you have a pretty good idea of what Real Life is like when it comes to reading a bloated book. Too much time is devoted to stuff that Queen fans or just readers in general really don't need to know or even want to know.

It's unfortunate that authors feel the need to pad pages and make a book bigger than it really is. There is nothing new or revealing here. This was a waste of my time.

I do not recommend this to anyone. Don't believe the hype surrounding this book. All the 4-5 Star reviews you may find out there in internet-land are from people that will give better reviews simply for being a fan of the band. I'm the biggest fan here, but even I know a terrible read when I come across one. 

I need to get rid of this bad taste in my mouth and read Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History Of The Crown Kings Of Rock.

Rating: 2 1/2 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1

Book Review #4: Freddie & Me

Freddie & Me (2008)

I had read a few reviews about Freddie & Me prior to checking it out for myself. I love comic books and I love Queen. So how can you lose when combining the two? Ya can't. Straight up, this was a very cute, touching and fun autobiography about Mike Dawson and his life as it related to his favorite band of all time: Queen. Even though all the reviews I had read were overwhelmingly positive, I was still a bit iffy on how this would play out before reading it. 

I will admit that the first 1/4th of the book was a bit slow and left me unsure where it was going. But somewhere along the way I got sucked in by the story that was unfolding. Fun book and I can recommend this to anyone else that's looking for a good, fun read.

It's not a perfect book, mind you. Some of the dialog, especially during the family scenes or general chi-chat scenes are a little too literal and on-the-nose for my taste. Other than that, you can't go wrong here. And another thing, about the artwork, it's not going to blow you out of the water if that's what you're looking for. It is what it is. But you can see the artist style start to really improve the further you get into the book and the amount of love he put into drawing it. 

I've come away from this book a fan. 

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1