In 1982, Anvil released Metal On Metal, the album was a minor hit, and landed the band a spot touring Japan with Hard Rock legend like Bon Jovi and Scorpions. It also inspired Thrash Metal, although it almost never gets any credit (much like another forgotten band, Raven), which is admitted here by members of Slayer, Anthrax and even Metallica.
It's the old tale of a band having all the right tools to make it big, but simply not being in the right place at the right time. Anvil is another story of a band that came along too early.
Whilst the similarity to the failed rocker of old from This Is Spinal Tap is clear, this is a documentary. The band is real, as is their human side. This film documents the tials and tribulations of an old band, who simply dissapeared from the radar, and how it affects their families, and themselves.
It first focuses on their disastorous European tour, where at one point they play in front of only five people, and the owner refuses to pay them. Lips and Robb Reiner are two of the most larger than life characters I have ever seen, and each displays a great level of determination to get this band to succeed, Lips woking for a childrens food delivery service, and eventually having to resort to working for a telemarketing company.
The film aslo shows them yearning for their glory years, contacting the man who produced their first few albums, and paying him money they don't have and doubt they will ever get back. They fall out, become friends again, and eventually get their album recorded.
The raw dissapointment of rejection is show perfectly when record labels try and let the band down slowly, so the band take even more initiative and get the album put out themselves, before getting a call from a Japanese promoter, and getting a spot on a major festival.
The film is full of both up and down emotions, and is funny as hell. It moves on from just being a look at a shitty band who never made it anywhere, to being a look at real people with a dream they've been trying to make come true for nearly three decades.
Pros
Funny as all hell.
You WILL like Robb and Lips by the end of the film.
Cons
Plays way too much like a Spinal Tap rip-off
Overall
One of the funniest, most heartfelt documentaries ever.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
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