Music, musings and miscellanea

Don’t let the title of this DVD fool you. This is neither a live document of New Jersey’s favourite son, nor does it tackle any of the material he’s produced since his Born In The U.S.A. peak. This two-disc affair chronicles the Boss‘ career assent through the ’70s and offers a critical appraisement of his recorded output running up through his disbanding of the E Street Band.

Road Trip is one of the growing number of DVDs to examine an oeuvre without the artist’s consent. So, due to legal issues, the filmmakers weren’t allowed to use any of Springsteen’s music. They got around this not-so-slight technicality by using archival live footage and the odd interview. But to truly appreciate this film, a certain level of familiarity — say knowing more than “Born To Run” and “Dancing In The Dark” — is required.

Viewers who fit these criteria will enjoy insights from noted music critics like former Village Voice editor Robert Christgau and Rolling Stone‘s Anthony DeCurtis, as well as an informative series of interviews from Springsteen’s formative years playing in bands along the Jersey shore.

This review originally appeared at Chartattack.com

Some would argue that trying to give a complete history of a musical genre is next to impossible. Others would say framing a genre through the lens of one band is just stupid. But that’s not stopping the makers of Metal Machine Music: Nine Inch Nails and the Industrial Uprising, which tries to accomplish both at once. The film begins with a brief but informative history of industrial music from its ’70s art-rock beginnings up through its fusion with dance and metal cultures in the ’80s. Heavy emphasis is rightfully placed on Throbbing Gristle, whose singer (Genesis P-Orridge) is included in the film’s small number of interview subjects, and Ministry, whose Al Jourgensen is not. Focus quickly shifts however to Nine Inch Nails, who as far as the filmmakers are concerned, are the be all and end all of the genre — save a brief mention of ’90s NIN-aping acts Stabbing Westward and Filter, the history of industrial music stops with them. It should come as a shock to no one with even a modicum of knowledge about Nine Inch Nails that Trent Reznor didn’t authorize this doc; he being a notorious control freak. So immediately we’re denied any sort of definitive account of Nine Inch Nails’ rise to stardom since the main dude involved is conspicuously absent. The filmmakers manage to dig up former band-mates Chris Vrenna and Richard Patrick, who offer the only first-hand accounts in the film. The rest of the critical analysis is given by music media types, including Toronto’s own Alan Cross. An extended interview with Genesis P-Orridge is included in the package, as are a handful of other extended interviews. But save for a rental out of curiosity, this one’s better left alone until Reznor decides on his own legacy.

This review originally appeared at Exclaim.ca

Nine Inch Nails – “Perfect Drug”

Stabbing Westward – “Save Yourself”

If All Goes Wrong is part documentary and part concert film, both linked by Smashing Pumpkins feted — if incomplete — 2007 reunion.

The 100-minute documentary follows original Pumpkins Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin and their trio of young hired guns as they prepare for a pair of concert residencies in Asheville, N.C. and San Francisco. Corgan discusses the band’s legacy, the contributions of original members D’arcy Wretzky and James Iha (they apparently didn’t make many) and the difficulty in balancing fan expectations of a reunion with an artist’s desire to push forward.

It would be easy to believe Corgan’s desire to focus on art rather than commerce if he didn’t spend half the film agonizing over why fans won’t accept sets filled with new, unreleased material.

Enjoyment of the concert filmed at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium hinges on your opinion of the new material. The show mixes obscure tracks from latter-day Pumpkins records with post-reunion tunes, most of which weren’t on their last album. It will slowly squeeze the last bit of patience left in all but the most diehard Pumpkins fans.

If you’re one of the few, then this is the Holy Grail. As for the rest of us… I hear Alice In Chains are touring again.

This review originally appeared on Chartattack.