Problem #1 - Although the DVD advertises great, original bands like Massive Attack, Portishead, Radiohead et al, we get cheated. This documentary is almost entirely focused on Oasis and Blur. It gets old fast, especially with the Gallaghers acting like first class idiots and Damon Albarn's accent constantly changing from cockney to gentry. Another graduate of the Madonna School for Poser Accents, I see.
Problem #2 - What's with the American bashing? In the first 20 minutes, at least 4 different people made the statement that American music was "f--ing rubbish" in the late 80s and early 90s. Right. Nirvana, the Chili Peppers, Tracy Chapman, Sophie B Hawkins, heck even MC Hammer had a fresh sound to represent the Yanks on the pop charts. What about the Smashing friggin Pumpkins? If you think these bands are rubbish, then I can't help you. No one can help you.
So are you prepared to listen to a bunch of haters with obvious Yank-envy talk about how they single handedly rescued the music scene from the Americans? If you're a music lover, then by definition you should be somewhat irked by someone bashing other music.
Problem #3 - the filmmakers' weak attempt at drawing a correlation between Britain's pop & political scenes. This was probably the most interesting promise of the DVD, but it failed to provide any substance. Just a few wisecracks at Margaret Thatcher and a very random scene of a protest-turned riot.
I'm interested in all types of music, if not for the music itself but for its social impact. I've watched and thoroughly enjoyed documentaries from "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" to "Christina Aguilera: Genie Gets Her Wish" to "The Bee Gees: In Our Own Time" to "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" (the best one). What makes each & every one of these documentaries fun is how these musicians, whose talent speaks for itself, come across as funny, odd and thoroughly likable. "Live Forever" made me want to punch a few people.
All I learned from this documentary was that in the 90s there were some very jealous & catty British musicians who thought they could do a better job than what was coming out of America. The documentary goes so far as to say they "filled the void after Kurt Cobain died". How pretentious can you get. Oh possibly more than that... The documentary tells us that the fall of Brit pop was a conspiracy by the record companies to capitalize on Princess Di's death. *smacks forehead*
In all, this was a total waste of time. Actually there was 1 quote from the movie which was funny and summed up the entire spectacle. A British record promoter speaks about how the public's musical taste is like a pendulum swinging back & forth from American bands to British. Then as an afterthought he adds: "I'm talking about the British public's taste. America couldn't give a toss about what we're doing."
That was the only laugh I got out of this supposedly "hysterical" documentary. Sorry, Brit poppers, you can keep your Oasis. I'll stick with the bands that should have been featured but weren't: Portishead, etc. And I might just pull out some of my "f--ing rubbish" American records and pull down the shades so nobody sees.
For a sensational music documentary, whether you're a fan of the genre or not, check out "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" ...a shaggy dog story cleverly told with a lot of humor, drama and tons of heart--that's how a musical documentary should be.
Problem #2 - What's with the American bashing? In the first 20 minutes, at least 4 different people made the statement that American music was "f--ing rubbish" in the late 80s and early 90s. Right. Nirvana, the Chili Peppers, Tracy Chapman, Sophie B Hawkins, heck even MC Hammer had a fresh sound to represent the Yanks on the pop charts. What about the Smashing friggin Pumpkins? If you think these bands are rubbish, then I can't help you. No one can help you.
So are you prepared to listen to a bunch of haters with obvious Yank-envy talk about how they single handedly rescued the music scene from the Americans? If you're a music lover, then by definition you should be somewhat irked by someone bashing other music.
Problem #3 - the filmmakers' weak attempt at drawing a correlation between Britain's pop & political scenes. This was probably the most interesting promise of the DVD, but it failed to provide any substance. Just a few wisecracks at Margaret Thatcher and a very random scene of a protest-turned riot.
I'm interested in all types of music, if not for the music itself but for its social impact. I've watched and thoroughly enjoyed documentaries from "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" to "Christina Aguilera: Genie Gets Her Wish" to "The Bee Gees: In Our Own Time" to "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" (the best one). What makes each & every one of these documentaries fun is how these musicians, whose talent speaks for itself, come across as funny, odd and thoroughly likable. "Live Forever" made me want to punch a few people.
All I learned from this documentary was that in the 90s there were some very jealous & catty British musicians who thought they could do a better job than what was coming out of America. The documentary goes so far as to say they "filled the void after Kurt Cobain died". How pretentious can you get. Oh possibly more than that... The documentary tells us that the fall of Brit pop was a conspiracy by the record companies to capitalize on Princess Di's death. *smacks forehead*
In all, this was a total waste of time. Actually there was 1 quote from the movie which was funny and summed up the entire spectacle. A British record promoter speaks about how the public's musical taste is like a pendulum swinging back & forth from American bands to British. Then as an afterthought he adds: "I'm talking about the British public's taste. America couldn't give a toss about what we're doing."
That was the only laugh I got out of this supposedly "hysterical" documentary. Sorry, Brit poppers, you can keep your Oasis. I'll stick with the bands that should have been featured but weren't: Portishead, etc. And I might just pull out some of my "f--ing rubbish" American records and pull down the shades so nobody sees.
For a sensational music documentary, whether you're a fan of the genre or not, check out "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" ...a shaggy dog story cleverly told with a lot of humor, drama and tons of heart--that's how a musical documentary should be.