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 #3: Led Zeppelin: When Giants Walked The Earth

Led Zeppelin: When Giants Walked The Earth (2009)

As with KISS And Make-Up, I never really had a desire to read the history of Led Zeppelin because I pretty much knew all the stories from various sources over the years, be it from on-camera interviews with members of the band or interviews from magazines and such. As far as When Giants Walked The Earth, I was even less inclined to read it for the simple fact that it was written by someone other than a member from Led Zeppelin.

This isn't a knock against the author Mick Wall. The dude did his research, albeit flawed and then some, with extensive interviews with people in and out of the band. But for me as a reader, it always loses something in the translation when another person writes about something as big as Led Zeppelin. What we are left with is the author's interpretation of what happened.

The book itself is a decent read when it's talking about the band in present day, reflecting on all the stories and myths synonymous with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. I actually couldn't put the book down reading it from page to page when it's all about the Zeppelin mystique and it's place in Rock history. But there were a couple of things that I absolutely did not like or even think was needed in the book. 

Whatever momentum I was getting reading the present day stuff, always came to a screeching halt when the book shifts to a narrated flashback as Mick Wall sees it. His words, not mine. Suddenly the book is now reading like a screenplay for a potential movie. This works fine if it were formatted as a screenplay. But for me, this just became unbearable after awhile. Whenever I could see that another flashback was about to rear it's ugly head, I started dreading having to read it.

This is a pretty fat book at 467 pages. So there were a lot of instances where I was beyond frustrated regarding the flashbacks. Sure, some people can and will argue that it's there simply to further flesh out that person's character and where they came from. But for me, it just doesn't work in a book/novel format. For you other readers, you may enjoy it. I for one do not.

The other thing that I found unnecessary was the amount of time spent on Aleister Crowley. It was just way too much and took me even further away from Led Zeppelin and all the crazy stories that went down on their Tours over the years. Sure, once again other readers will say that it belongs in the book because of the profound influence he had on Jimmy Page and his music regarding all that "Black Magic" crap. For me, I could care less. I get it. But I don't need to read page after page of what Crowley was like as a child and growing up to become this wizard and all that. It was totally unnecessary and a waste of time. 

And do we really need to know that Jimmy bought such and such castle and how he decided to give all the rooms it's own different theme? No. Stuff like this should have been cut out to make it tighter and more precise (i.e. a better read).

I was also curious as to just how far and how much of the Led Zeppelin legacy was going to be addressed in the book. It's all here from it's humble beginnings as The New Yardbirds all the way to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' Raising Sand, which by the way is the sole reason why there is no reunion as of 2011. Yes, even the reunions of Live Aid, Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary and O2 are dissected here.

I'm a huge fan of the band and thought I knew it all. But there were very few things that were new to me in this book. Overall, the book simply retells everything that even a minor fan of the band already knows. So, I would only recommend the book to those that have to have everything with the name Led Zeppelin plastered on it. Personally, I would never read this one again.

Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks