User Reviews

7.5/10

I thought that Live Forever was an excellent documentary capturing the phenomenon of the Britpop passage. It is worth noting that I think that even if you didn't get the whole Britpop experience it is still worth watching to try and understand exactly what the period of time tried to encapsulate. Dragging Britain from a period of being totally dormant, to generating great music and creating an aura of genuine invincibility.

Live Forever features the obvious candidates that are Oasis and Blur as the battle for number one captured a nation, whilst also giving an analysis of movie culture and the feel good factor that took over Britain during those 2/3 years. Massive Attack were also undoubtedly another factor in the way that Britain seemed to transcend itself to another plain, and although many will be put off by some of the language used it is worth remembering that the laddish behaviour of that period was a factor that boosted the industry and re-ignited interest in British pop/rock.

The documentary also takes perspectives from a political sense whilst also highlighting perhaps a more sinister undercurrent to Britpop and the way it was used by stragglers and then dumped once the period was over. Whatever your perspective, it made me feel alive and was more than happy to re-visit that golden few years where the music was on another level and the country was swept with the feel good factor. Nirvana was the catalyst for the whole period that saw the change, and I was more than happy to re-visit Cobain's angst ridden voice, Oasis' brilliance and the competition that was Blur.

This documentary about Brit Pop of the 1990s could have been great. As I was a teenager in the 1990s it felt like the next big thing had happened. It felt like our Sex Pistols. But this is no Filth and the Fury.

All the way threw it is made out like the whole thing only started because of the Stone Roses forgetting other important bands like the Happy Mondays.

It also misses out great moments from the time such as Noel Gallagher saying that he hoped Damon Albarn died of AIDS and other such classics.

There are some great moments along the way and some funny. Mostly all with the Gallaghers. The sad moment when Robbie Williams started making music that sounded like Oasis and Noels love of S Club Juniors.

But you don't feel like you are transported back to the 90s like you were the 70s in the Filth and the Fury.

Flawed but funny and occasionally interesting.

PS Listen for Damon Albarn's accent as it goes from Cockney to middle class and back again.

...it's odd how this story about the best of 90s Britpop (although it claims to be about more than just music) starts at about the time I'd pretty well lost interest in pop. It wasn't a feeling of 'the music was better in my day' - I was in my early-to-mid 30s in the early to early-to-mid-1990s - just that I'd grown up. It was a strange feeling when one day I realized I'd heard a lot about Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, but had no idea what it sounded like.

But, having seen Live Forever, I now can't stop thinking about the song Live Forever (which I'd never heard before), Wonderwall, and Blur's Parklife (which I'd also never heard before). And some internet research has revealed that the song I'd heard just once, years ago, and never been able to get out of my mind, was Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy (sic).

I did have some contact with the music - indeed, virtually the only pop album I bought during the period was the Trainspotting soundtrack, which features in this film. (Pulp, Blur and Sleeper are on it, and all their lead singers are interviewed here.) But my knowledge of Oasis was limited to Wonderwall (including the Mike Flowers easy listening version, which I appropriately first heard on supermarket muzak) and Don't Look Back in Anger. I could take them or leave them. And the Oasis/Blur Battle of the Bands? Never heard of it. See what I mean about Rip van Winkle? Noel Gallagher's (and others') comments that 'Britain was dead in the 80s', musically as well as politically, are of course nonsense. But I can't get too worked up over that: they're par for the course for any British pop act over the last 40 years that takes itself oh-so-seriously. 'Yeah, well, there was nothing happening, know-what-I-mean?' Nevertheless, the best of their music does still stand up.

By the way, Noel Gallagher is not interviewed sitting in his Georgian mansion - the director's commentary on the DVD reveals he's actually at Knebworth Castle.

(Personal postscript - during 1990 Trafalgar Square Poll Tax Riot that features at the start of the film, I was just a few blocks away at Leicester Square. I saw smoke in the distance, and people coming into the Tube station carrying anti-poll tax placards, but didn't put the two together till I got home and saw them on the news. Damn, missed A Defining Moment in the History of Modern Britain.)

In the mid 1990's British music exploded within the country to produce an unique scene called "Britpop". Against a backdrop of Tory government, the energetic and youthful bands of Oasis, Blur, Feeder, Pulp, Suede and so on dominated UK music sales and became inexorably linked to the rise of the ambitious and youthful New Labour political party, sweeping to power as led by Tony Blair. Featuring contributions from many of those involved, this documentary looks back at the period, the music and the politics.

Sold to me as a good movie by another user I was looking forward to seeing this film as I was a teenager in the 1990's and did love the music. I had hoped the documentary would capture the sense of time and place, act as an introduction to those not around and evoke memories from those that were – a big ask perhaps but it has been done before with other subjects. On one level the film did work because it does have plenty of little nuggets and amusing moments courtesy of the main contributors. This is all well and good but it isn't enough to hold the whole subject together and the lack of cohesion is a bit of a problem. Many viewers have complained that many bands have been left out, which of course they have, but I didn't think that this was a major problem because the film was going for a general sweep and thus got the main players. However what was a problem for me was the film's failed attempts to link the music with the politics of the time. Of course their was a connection but it was nothing important or socially meaningful, it was merely Blair jumping on a bandwagon and being seen with the people of the day – something he continues to do whatever the popular trend is.

It remedies this problem towards the end but for a big early section it is like a love letter to Blair's Britain. The film also fails to really get to grips with the whole sense of impact that the time had – it does it to a degree but not as much as perhaps the subject deserved. The talking heads are interesting but only their contributions don't dovetail together that well – instead each of them is worth seeing but they don't help the film move forward – in fact the film very much just relies on the passage of time as its driving force, which was natural to a degree but it does get a bit "this happened, this happened then this happened" in a way.

It is still worth seeing though if you know the music and the period. It is funny and interesting and it is a shame that it couldn't have done more with the delivery to produce a more cohesive documentary. It does work reasonably well despite this but it is more an enjoyable jaunt down recent key moments in recent UK pop history rather than a comprehensive or insightful documentary.

Come on, cut this film some slack!

I watched this at the Stockholm Film Festival and the audience

were clearly warmly amused.

It's an entertaining, brief documenarty about those at the forefront

of Britpop, and that's it.

My main reservation is that I would have liked to have seen a lot

more of the music - for example, we get about a 5 second cut of

Sleeper, the same for Oasis' first national tv performance (which

would have been interesting and probably almost impossible to

track down). In that sense it is akin to if someone made a

documentary about the 1966 World Cup but only showed the goals

from the Final.

Hilarious is what this often is, and often enough to make it good. The Wikipedia article on it complains that Radiohead and the Verve aren't given much coverage, but really I don't think they had much to do with the aspects of Britpop that are dealt with in the film, indeed the aspects that make Britpop interesting to documentarians, and are therefore the reason this movie exists. Had they been interviewed, I can't imagine Thom Yorke or Richard Ashcroft having much to say about the subject beyond "We never really considered ourselves part of Britpop, and I don't think many other people did either," which would be pretty much right. What's good in this movie? Noel Gallagher sitting on a throne talking about being working class; Jarvis Cocker doing an imitation of a person on cocaine; Liam Gallagher responding to questions about his supposed androgyny ("What, so I'm a bird?") Hilarious.

Live Forever takes it's title from a 1990's song from the band Oasis, one of the premier English acts from the period 1991 - 1997, which is roughly the era this film hopes to chronicle. It does a fine job of highlighting the major players of the period, especially the bands Oasis and Blur.

The problem here is that sometimes the film feels as though it is only the "Blur and Oasis Show". Other groups of the period, such as Supergrass, Elastica, Pulp, Suede, etc., are mentioned, but one sometimes has the feeling that they are perceived as supporting players to the big story. In addition, if you are not of a political bent, you may find the linking of the movement to future British Prime Minister Tony Blair to be a drag on the film. While it is relevant to what was going on, you may find yourself wishing for a few extra minutes of band footage, or footage of the audience of the times.

In addition, you may be put off by the (quasi) American bashing of some of those being interviewed. In England, Britpop was king, but in America it skimmed the surface for the most part, which will make some of the claims of a worldwide phenomenon seem grandiose. Still, as a primer for those interested in discovering something new, this film is a solid place to start.

There`s a saying that " If you don`t read newspapers you`re uninformed. If you do read newspapers you`re misinformed " and that`s the problem I had with LIVE FOREVER , if you`re uninformed about Britpop you`ll be misinformed if you use this as your starting point , dangerously misinformed . The very first caption is from Alistair Campbell needs clarifying : yes in 1996-97 Britain was exporting music ( To the USA )again but this was only down to a select handful of artists namely The Spice Girls , Bush , Elton John , The Prodigy and Radiohead and in no way was this period a golden age for British record exports . Noel Gallagher follows this caption by saying " The eighties were f*** all " - NO THEY WEREN`T . In terms of record sales they were the golden age of British musical export . One week in July 1985 had eight of the top ten acts in the US billboard charts by Brits while 40% of the billboard 100 were by British artists . At the Band Aid concert held the same month each and every act at the London concert was from the British Isles while over 30% of the acts appearing at the JFK stadium were Brits . " The 80s were f*** all " ? I don`t think so Noel

The other thing I disliked about this documentary is it`s political bais towards Tony Blair`s New Labour government where we`re force fed Peter Mandelson`s opinions of Mr Blair`s standard of guitar playing ! Completely superflous in my opinion , though there is a bit of irony in all this when Noel Gallagher ( Yes him again ) tells us Oasis songs sum up the 1990s . Yeah well I think Heartland by The The ( Written in 1986 ) sums up Tony Blair`s New Labour government and life in modern Britain perfectly , at least compared to the drinking songs Oasis released , and make no mistake that`s all they are - drinking songs

Despite falling international sales British music in the mid to late 90s was far superiour to ten years earlier , but let me just repeat very very few British bands sold any records in the USA at this time which means LIVE FOREVER works only as a nostalgia piece with a good soundrack and not as a historical or cultural document since it leads us to believe Britain was the centre of the musical , cultural and political universe which sadly it isn`t and probably never will be again

This could have been good...and some of it was, but first of all, someone should have told this filmmaker that there were more than five bands involved with the Britpop scene, for heaven's sake! And before I go further I must ask...what in the world has Massive Attack got to do with anything? The filmmaker obviously is a big Massive Attack fan, while the rest of us just do not care. Actually, I like Portishead but the mention of them was out of place as well.

So, wouldn't you think a documentary about Britpop would be about the whole scene? There are a million bands that could have been mentioned. Where was Supergrass (except for the brief video clip)? Where were the Charlatans UK?

They showed us Louise Wenner talking a lot but never showed us Sleeper. And not once did anyone mention the word "Madchester." Oh, there was the slight nod to the Stone Roses but everyone knows that Britpop is the direct result of Madchester and to not mention that scene (or Shaun Ryder) is a crime.

Who cared what the guy from Loaded had to say? Shees! Could have gotten rid of that useless Damien Hirst as well. There was too much talk about New Labour and Thacherism...blah, blah, blah. Sure it was a factor but this is supposed to be about Brit-POP, not Brit-TAIN. Princess Di...totally irrelevant to the topic. This documentary about music needed a heck of a lot more MUSIC.

How can you talk to Jarvis Cocker and never mention that brilliant Michael Jackson incident?

So what did I like? First of all, it was a hoot to check back in with the Gallaghers since my mid-90s fanship has fallen off. Noel was a bit more articulate and bright then I remembered him, and Liam was a whole lot dumber. Boy, is that kid stupid. But that is what makes him a rock star. He is absolutely pure...a good looking ape that is dumb as a post...but it works. I loved the interview with Damon Albarn. He is the epitome of a really bright, talented guy who is completely fed-up with all the crap. He was so wonderfully disgusted with everything. And rightly so.

On the whole, I was disappointed with 'Live Forever'. Angered by some of it. It seemed to be crafted with a similar lack of creativity as the much of the actual music from the phenomenon itself ... I expected more than a 90 minute interview montage. But anyway, Britpop itself was an invention of the tabloid press and yet we only get one interviewee from a publication of the time (the editor of 'Loaded') which to my knowledge had little say in that tabloid invention, merely jumping on it's bandwagon as I recall. Also, to make matters worse this guy didn't really know what he was talking about. Maybe nobody else was available ... however .... that's no excuse for some of the distorted facts and angles portrayed in the film. For a start, they present to us that nothing in the UK culture happened or emerged in the 80's. Nonsense. That's simply the angle portrayed because nobody in the film liked what was done in the 80's. I could quite easily come along in 2010 and make a film about whatever the next cultural phenomenon may be and dismiss the 90's as dull and boring, simply because I didn't like it. Truth is, Britain has always had a music scene develop through every generation or decade ; most recently, late 70's punk - the 80's new romantics, the early 90's madchester scene. Britpop was just the next one in line and yet it is presented as some kind of saving grace that nobody ever expected or imagined. Now, I hated the 80's music scene, hated the new romantic phase, hate looking back on it I should say (I was born in the 80's afterall) and I was very much the standard 'Britpop kid'. But I'm not gonna say that it awoke a dreary, sleepy Britain like the documentary did, because Britain was not like that. They wish it was but there was great British music happening in-between all phenomenons and continues to be today. A positive side of the film is that it does present to us the one thing Britpop did do which was say to a lot of people, mainly 'the kids' as Oasis would call them, that they could all pick up a guitar, write a tune, get on top of the pops as they were. the bands in britpop made you feel that way (the songs were easy, anthemic, had mass appeal and the look was so easy to achieve) the music in retrospect wasn't great but the message was. it defined the era. but unfortunately the only sniff of this we get in the film are tedious interviews with a bunch of losers who still play in an Oasis tribute band. Basically, the only other truthful statement made by this film is that between 1994-1996, two or three good records by mediocre British bands were made (and were for a change, given some press). The rest of it is garbage. At the end you're meant to think 'what a wonderful thing that Britpop was' but whereas if you overlook the spin and representation of the thing - the only thing you're left thinking is 'was that really ALL britpop was?!' example : the political issues the film deals with. This documentary would have you believe that Britpop was all about the bands that made the music. Nope. The people that really made the scene (aside from the press who just invented it) were the people like myself who went out and bought the records. did we think we were making some political statement? no, we thought these were cracking good tunes with a great image to them. you can't add weight to this thing by coinciding Britpop with the fact that Britain elected a new political party into power around about the same time (a good 3 years AFTER the phase had started). Are we to think that Labour would not have been elected if it were not for Britpop? nonsense .. the man in the street with no musical interest was always gonna do whatever they could to get that tory government out. the makers of this documentary would love you to think otherwise. Also, they include the topic of Diana's death. Excuse me, but with the greatest amount of respect to Princess Di (think what you might of her) I never saw her with a guitar and I don't own any one of her albums. we mourned for Diana and so Britpop died?! B**locks. Britpop didn't die suddenly, it merely faded away due to a number of things, not least with the press who were bored of it and wanted to present something fresh (which just happened to be attractive solo artists and/or more subtly marketed and manufactured music) Not a bad thing either as we were all quite frankly tired of hearing the same tune re-written by 40 different bands. Like all cultural phenomenons, they do as much harm as they do good in the long run ... but this documentary wouldn't dare reveal that to us. the only down side of Britpop presented here are the drugs that went along with it (as if they didn't happen with most Rock n Roll bands all over the world for many a generation) There also really aren't many interviewees here worth anything. Liam Gallagher is a big name and yet as much as I admire his voice, he doesn't really know what he's talking about. Of the rest, Noel Gallagher and Jarvis Cocker give the film some depth .. Damon Albarn seems lost and as if he doesn't give a s**t anymore (fair enough but it doesn't make interesting viewing), the girl from Sleeper is cute but has nothing interesting to say apart from some rubbish about Noel apparently killing Britpop by visiting Downing Street ..... sour grapes most likely .... And yet if all the serious stuff above fails, well surely it rescues itself with the much promised humour and comedy tag that comes with the teaser poster or cover .... well it would have had it just been Noel and Liam sitting in a room talking and/or arguing for the duration (they are genuinely funny people together but here there are hardly any great, amusing anecdotes or opinions that I've heard from them over the years). And I really don't know why they didn't do this ... at least 65-75% of it is about Oasis. Maybe on a second viewing I'll lighten up. But I feel a bit cheated having just seen it. For me, 'Britpop' wasn't about any of this. And even if it was, this wouldn't fill me with pride. 5/10

Liam Gallagher is a wonderful human being. You don't believe me? Just watch Live Forever and witness the Manchunian ape-boy respond to the interviewer calling him 'androgynous'. At first he's puzzled, but when the word is explained to him he wonders whether he's being called a girl. But then when this curious word is explained in even greater detail, he admits that yes, he is indeed a pretty boy. "I take care of me hair." What a guy.

But even more endearing than this is when Liam is asked what the characteristics of a great rock band are. "'aving it," he replies. And then after a lengthy pause he continues, "And by us 'aving it, hopefully some other people will learn how to 'ave it." And as he says this, he turns to the camera and does a sly 'Bang, bang' with his fingers. Liam, can I give you a hug?

But Liam isn't finished. Just when the dumb bastard couldn't get any more lovable he says that the S Club Juniors are: "Good little kids, man." I have no idea what goes on in that man's head, but the words he incoherently pukes out are pure gold.

Further evidence of Liam's genius is in his reaction to 80s pop stars. "You ain't got nowt to say. You don't look like rock stars. You look like dicks in tights." And then to cap everything off, during the end titles, he tells a bizarre story of how he fought his brother as a child and came home with broken limbs and a shotgun over his shoulder(?!?). That's life on Planet Liam, I guess.

But it says a lot for Britpop when a man of Liam's limited mental capacity became a cover boy. Here's a guy who can barely string a sentence together and who thought he was playing one night at Knebworth instead of two. It wasn't really a movement forged by insight and intelligence.

Having said that, Jarvis Cocker does pop up to prove that not everyone involved was brain dead. And Noel Gallagher is good value, too. And although he seems to take himself far too seriously, Damon Albarn (when he decides to stop fiddling with his ukulele) has some reasonably intelligent thoughts to share as well. But having said all that, was the music any good? Well, like any scene, some of it was and some of it wasn't.

Of the bands that are featured, I think the early Oasis stuff still holds up. It has tons of energy, and unlike Nirvana, there's no whining. But I have to say that I can't stand songs like 'Parklife' and 'Country House' (even 'Common People' is grating) – they sound to me like novelty records. And of course, while idiots like James Brown (not THE James Brown) were talking about the glory days, I couldn't help but think of bands like Dodgy and Menswear.

But it's notable that almost all the more interesting bands of that era only get a brief mention. You hear a snatch of The Verve, you hear a few thoughts from 3D out of Massive Attack and Portishead is quickly referenced. And it's also worth noting that while various media figures talk about how big Oasis became, they never really were the biggest band in the world. If anything, Radiohead were bigger (they were the only British band of the era to crack the States). However, Radiohead only get a brief mention. (It's probably to their credit that they're never really associated with 'Britpop'.)

And another band that only gets a brief mention is The Stone Roses; you'd think 'The Second Coming' never happened, even though everything else in the film pales in comparison. But thankfully the Roses ignored Britpop and produced a record that had more in common with Led Zeppelin than The Beatles, thus ensuring that music critics quickly wrote it off. But the band's influence is mentioned at the beginning of the film when Spike Island is referenced. And it's a shame that they weren't the ones to make it big. They were smarter than Oasis, they wrote better songs and they were better musicians. Indeed, Oasis are just Stone Roses Lite. I mean, as cocky Liam and Noel are, beneath it all they're quite respectable. Sure they swear a lot, but they constantly doff their cap at their favourite bands, appear on chat shows and play the game. The Roses on the other hand were little bastards. Their arrogance was through the roof. But they also had integrity. They certainly wouldn't have turned up at Downing Street and they certainly wouldn't have chugged Tony Blair's genitals at The Brits.

And it's the whole sorry episode of Noel going to visit the new Prime Minister that shows how empty the Britpop movement was. It wasn't about rebellion, it was about new rock stars acting like old rock stars; as dangerous and rebellious as they want to be, they also want to be part of the establishment. And it was truly sickening to see Noel's mug on the New Labour magazine proclaiming that a speech Tony Blair gave made him cry. These were people we worshipped at the time…and they were f***wits! (Just as stupidly, Damon Albarn says he once thought that New Labour were actually interested in what he had to say.)

But although Britpop was a superficial movement (we see lots of shots of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Jo Guest and Loaded Magazine, and people like Damien Hurst are interviewed – wow, those were certainly halcyon days!) and the music wasn't as good as we all remember, it at least gave us Liam Gallagher, a man who is as dumb and blindly confident as all good rock stars should be. He certainly beats Chris 'Fair Trade' Martin and Tom 'Touchy-Feely Fat Boy' Chaplin.

Why was this film made? 'Britpop', as a phenomenon (if it was that) finished less then a decade ago. Indeed, it hadn't even started a decade ago according to this film. At least some time should have been given to see how history remembered certain events, rather than embellishing them almost as soon as they've occurred. Why would anyone would want to see or hear the views of 'wonderwall', a shockingly witless oasis tribute band, when the film can afford more insightful perspectives of Jarvis or even Noel? Damon does himself no favours in this documentary. as the frontman of blur, one of the greatest pop bands we've had in the last 20 years, he tries to come across too much as a social commenatator, rather than the purveyor of just simply great pop songs. His refusal to comment on certain events merely riles the viewer, and his self-importance is rightly satirised in the closing sequence as we see him losing himself as he plucks away at a banjo(?). Noel, however, is the main source of interest, and his brother provides the humour and arrogance which made oasis so exciting in the first place. Louise Wener is perhaps the most articulate of the lot, the frontwoman of sleeper-turned-author retains a sense of keeping her feet on the ground.

Although some of the music is indeed brilliant and some events were as equally exciting (common people came at a perfect time, and pulp heroically headlined glastonbury at the last minute), the inclusion of massive attack (although my favourite group) just furrowed my brow - why include them and not radiohead, not the spice girls? Radiohead in particular, who have gone on to arguably greater success than oasis. maybe they had a few problems getting interviews with the actually relevant people of the time?

There are too few interviewees for this to be a broad essay on the scene in the mid '90's (maybe this is why they had to include Wonderwall?). whereas 24 Hour Party People managed to entertain, excite and sympathise with some of the absurdities and fickleness of the music world, this film fails to be a worthwhile exercise in anything other than over-glorifying a period which has effectively only just ended.

Although as i've said, some of the music is great...

John Dower's Live Forever documentary is a funny and brilliant insight into the Britpop huge phenomenon which took place from the early to the late nineties, a time when Britain wasn't "great"… it was cool!

Among other icons such as Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Massive Attack's Del Naja or Sleeper's Louise Wener, we find the stars of the film: Oasis Gallagher brothers (in fact, the documentary is named after their probably biggest anthem ever) and Blur's Damon Albarn. Listening to their interviews, we clearly remember a time when the working-class heroes Liam and Noel Gallagher leaded the fierce rivalry with the middle-class bohemian Blur boys.

Far from being a one-sided documentary, Live Forever also reflects the political and social framework during the days of the Cool Britannia, and so show us how Blair's New Labour seized upon Britpop to bolster its own public image, leading it to its end.

A simply hilarious Liam Gallagher, an often puzzled Damon Albarn, an honest and always stylish Jarvis Coker and a witty and sarcastic Noel Gallagher, together with the superb soundtrack of the film, take the nostalgics back to the "madferit" days of not just a musical phenomenon but a way of life.

If you liked "24 Hour Party People", don't miss this masterpiece.

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.

First off let me say that Theo Robertson makes a crucially key point in his post below.

While Britpop was a great period for music in the UK, they sure as hell weren't exporting much of it to the US. Bush, The Spice Girls, Elton John, and Radiohead. That's pretty much it. One of the Elastica songs got some minor air time in '95, and Oasis had some so-so hits with Wonderwall and a couple others...but that's it.

As for Blur? Ha. The only Blur song known by the average American is "Song. 2" and that hardly fits into the Britpop mold.

Pulp, Suede, Gene, the Manics, Supergrass...forget it. Anglophiles and transplants were the only people in the US celebrating the Britpop phenomenon at the time.

I even remember listening to a couple of "face-offs" on 91X (influential modern rock station in San Diego) in the summer of '95. This is where the DJ plays two new songs, and callers vote on which is their favorite. The winning song then goes temporarily into rotation.

Anyhow, the two songs I remember being featured were "Common People" by Pulp and "Country House" by Blur. Both songs got obliterated (one by, I believe, a White Zombie song and I can't remember the other). Both actually had listeners calling in and saying how much they hated them and how cheesy and British they sounded.

Just for the record, I called in a voted for both. For "Common People" I think the DJ said something like, "Oh, you're the first for that one."

The 80's on the other hand, were HUGE for British music. Whether it was Duran Duran or The Cure, the early and mid-80's were easily on par with the British invasion of the 60's as far as records sales and popularity goes.

With that said, I was lucky enough to live in London from January '95 through May '95 and if you were IN Britain, well, it was pretty cool. The movie nicely encapsulates the sense of excitement happening in the UK at the time. Every week it seemed like the NME had either Brett Anderson, Damon Albarn or the Gallaghers on the cover (although Richie James of the Manic Street Preachers, who had just gone missing, was probably the second biggest story next to the "Britpop thing").

I personally loved the music...just about all of it...but that's also because I really dig British culture. And that's really what I think Britpop was all about - Brits celebrating being British in their music for the first time (in a mass way, anyway).

The guy from Massive Attack makes a good comment early on in the film which was not only insightful, but also tied his band in with the rest. Essentially he said that prior to the Britpop era, most big name British bands adopted a certain Americanized sound...in most cases with their voices and in their lyrics. He hated doing that and, like Jarvis and Damon and Justine and all the others, instead celebrated being British in his music.

And that, really, is what makes Britpop "Britpop" - it's British Pop music. It's by, about, and for Brits.

Americans didn't get it. Then again, it wasn't for them.

This insight into britpop is not really as insightful as it fancies itself as being.

I'm not saying that this film is without its good points. It explores the politics behind the era (interesting in itself) and to a lesser extent, the youth culture. The main problem I have with this film is I was expecting so much more! It really only explores Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Sleeper and Massive Attack (who is a great artist nonetheless, is not britpop). Where is Kula Shaker, Manic Street Preachers, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Catatonia etc. They didn't even explore Placebo, The Verve or even Radiohead.

It is not an impossible task. Look at the way Hype! explored Seattle grunge/indie rock. It is pretty much definitive. Live Forever is not.

Check out films like Hype!, 24 Hour Party People or The Filth and the Fury for brilliant looks at alternative music. Live Forever just doesn't compare.

"Live Forever" is a brave attempt to document what has come to be known as

'Britpop'. Unfortunately, it fails miserably. Most of the 82 minutes running time is devoted to the band Oasis, and the band's frontmen, Noel & Liam Gallagher - is Liam Gallagher that much of a dimwit? While Damon Albarn, and Jarvis Cocker,

leaders of Blur & Pulp, respectively, don't get too much of a look in. In fact, after sitting through "Live Forever", you could be forgiven for thinking these were the only bands around.

Live Forever is a worthwile attempt at documenting the interesting post-Thatcher revival in British music exports to the US, labelled as Britpop by the NME and other such music magazines. Previous comments have already highlighted the emphasis that the film places on Oasis, and especially on Noel Gallagher's commentary on the scene and the times, but what else (realistically) could you expect from a film that uses an Oasis song as its title, made by a director that makes no secret of his adoration for the band. Nevertheless, I was shocked to note that the film earmarks a Stone Roses festival gig as the genesis of Britpop, and makes no reference to the debt that the Gallaghers, Liam especially, owe to Shaun Ryder's bands the Happy Mondays and Black Grape.

Petty gripes aside, the film makes a clear and unashamed attempt to link the musical revival of Britpop with the revival of the Labour ideology - an easy task when Noel Gallagher is a valued customer at number 10. However, I believe that the political link that the film tries to make is at best tenuous, and at most non-existent. Specifically, Live Forever falls victim to its own hyperbole - that the music, created by youngsters who grew up during Thatcherite rationalisation, was among, if not the most important aspect to the general political and social change that ended God-knows how many years of Tory rule. I believe that the film deflates a little with this argument - it sort of chokes on its own self-importance.

As for the rock stars, only Jarvis Cocker comes out of the film with an improved stature. Damon Albarn seems bitter, twisted and fed up (all traits of the archetypal great artist I might add), Noel Gallagher is the original hypocrite as he puts on his best working class whinge while sitting in an antique armchair surrounded by the trappings of newfound wealth, and I won't even bother with Liam.

Before I close, I should mention that despite my own whinges, I actually did like this film. It was funny, poignant and affecting in turns, and it dealt with a subject that was very close to my heart. I can only say that I am glad that no mention was made of Radiohead or PJ Harvey.

"They've never been on a building site. Not to say that that's, you know; not to say that the dirt under your fingernails is some sort of badge of honor. It's not. It's just a fact, you know. They never had a paper route, you know. I had a milk route and stuff like that. I've working on building sites. That fundamentally makes my soul a lot more purer than theirs." --- Noel Gallagher on the rivalry with Blur. The best part is that he said it with a straight face.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

As a documentary and study of how the British music scene evolved throughout the decade I was growing up in,the 90s,Live Forever is a nigh-on unmissable filmic experience,detailing all the music and events that shaped this unforgettable period,and ,for me at least,delivered an effective and affectionate piece of nostelgia.From the doped out Stone Roses gig at the start of the decade,to Oasis's What's the Story? (Morning Glory) becoming the fastest selling album of all time,the subsequent Blur vs. Oasis rivalry that ended up getting a mention on the News at Ten,Noel (but not Liam) Gallagher's invite to No.10 and,right toward the very end of the decade,the non-stop taking over of manufactured pop bands such as S Club 7,and their spin offs,er,S Club Juniors.And of course,other country/world shaping events such as the end of Thatcher's reign,Kurdt Cobain's suicide,Tony Blair being elected the new Prime Minister and the death of Princess Diana.All these important events are played out absorbingly to the distinctive,memorable soundtrack of the times.We get to hear from the singers who shaped the period,and their thoughts and feelings on what they thought of it and how it changed their lives.Blur are described as a band that epitomised the culture of lads who'd left school with no qualifications,were doomed to a future drawing the dole and who would only be likely to hang around in parks drinking cider all day,with melodies like Park Life,Girls and Boys and Country House.Their frontman Damon Alburn ends up coming across in real life as ultimately shy and undisclosing,in contrast to his band's rivals Oasis,whose frontmen the Gallagher brothers are infamously opinionated ond out-spoken.Noel has a big mouth on him,that's for sure,but he's without question the more diplomatic wing of the brothers Gallagher.Liam is a bit more articulate than usual here,but still comes across in his usual yobbish manner.Still,poetic justice is served up when he's made to look daft by not knowing the meaning to the term 'androgynous',and when he ultimately shoots himself in the foot in the end by singing the praises of,of all people,S Club Juniors.And Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker appears to have become retiring and disillusioned in comparison to his hey-day of extroverted stage antics (not least the Michael Jackson incident).He provides some interesting commentary on how his music was inspired and how music shaped events during this period.

The over-riding feeling throughout it all,however,is that the Brits were tired and felt patronised by all the overseas American music that was dominating the charts and how we wanted to show we could produce damn fine music of our own,thank you very much.And indeed we did.

For anyone who has affectionate memories of or who grew up in this time,this is absolutely must see stuff.But even if you don't fall into either of these categories,it's still a well-researched,absorbing,insightful,thorough and funny experience.And thankfully (though undeniably weirdly) there's not a mention of the Spice Girls in it.****