Showing posts with label johnny depp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label johnny depp. Show all posts

When You're Strange (Songs From The Motion Picture) Review

When You're Strange (Songs From The Motion Picture)
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When You're Strange (Songs From The Motion Picture) ReviewThe Doors have spent years finding new ways to re-package and re-sell the same basic songs from their six studio albums. Now they have a new excuse for yet another release, a documentary about the history of the band which of course opens the door for a "soundtrack."
The album for "When You're Strange" is basically the same recordings a Doors fanatic or casual classic rock listener probably already has in earlier releases, such as the much superior "The Very Best Of The Doors" and of course, the albums themselves. For die hard members of the Jim Morrison cult the only noteworthy new material here are the poetry readings by actor Johnny Depp (who narrates the film), most of them only last a few seconds, but does that matter to Morrison's disciples? It is a shame though, how short the poetry tracks are, because Depp's voice adds a nice, dark atmosphere to the words, like a fellow literary rebel reciting strange visions and ideas.
The other "new" material here are "live tracks" basically lifted from TV performances such as the notorious "Light My Fire" performance from the Ed Sullivan Show and a scorching "When The Music's Over" from European TV. But the quality of these tracks is so scratchy and fuzzy that you're better off with the actual performance footage found in Doors DVD releases which have much cleaner audio. The Doors fanatic will no doubt want to get them just for the sake of having them but the casual listener will find little reason for adding the recordings to their iPods. The same goes for the "interview clips" featuring the band, short clips which, again, are simply lifted from video sources most fans purchased long ago.
The music of The Doors is of course classic, powerful and timeless. Songs like "Moonlight Drive" and "People Are Strane" retain their dark, poetic power while "Break On Through" and "Soul Kitchen" are exciting numbers with killer rhythms. The beautiful "The Crystal Ship" is here as well with its wonderous visions and lush melodies and "The End" remains the band's epic masterpiece. But of course anyone who loves The Doors already knows all this. And those who loved 2007's remixed albums will find the original recordings which of course, they probably already own.
Some are saying that criticisms of this release are unfounded because hey, it is a SOUNDTRACK to a film after all. True, but reviewed as a product, it has little to offer Doors fans and for the newly initiated, they are better off getting the band's albums which are the true testament of any musical group. Wouldn't a new fan prefer the actual studio versions of "Light My Fire" and "When The Music's Over" anyway? "When You're Strange" is no doubt a fascinating film, but as a soundtrack, it's just more recycled product which you probably already have sitting somewhere in your CD collection or downloaded into your iPod.
When You're Strange (Songs From The Motion Picture) Overview

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Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (Soundtrack) Review

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (Soundtrack)
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Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (Soundtrack) ReviewWhat a wonderful snapshot of the work, passion, and attitude of Hunter S. Thompson. Even when he misses the mark, for my money, you can't go wrong with HST.
The glue that holds this compilation together is soundbites of Hunter himself and his old friend Johnny Depp reading some of his brilliant writings.
For the most part, this is a great collectin of wonderful songs that inspired the man and, perhpaps, the madness.
My two beefs are:
1 - As Johnny Depp and Douglas Brinkley boldly point out in their well-written liner notes, WHY-WHY-WHY is Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing" on here?!?!?!? This is almost an unforgiveable sin regarding an otherwise excellent representation of HST.
2 - As other reviewers have pointed out, the most glaring omission is Spirit in the Sky. The song was vital to both the Gonzo documentary and to HST himself. I understand that legal issues sometimes prevent music from being released in certain fashions, but it would have been the cherry on the top of this compilation.
Other than those two complaints (#1 an UNforgiveable one, and #2 a bit more understandable), this is a wonderful collection. Feel the vibes and take Hunter's words to heart.Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (Soundtrack) Overview

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When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors (2010) Review

When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors (2010)
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When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors (2010) ReviewIn the short 4 ½ years that keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robbie Krieger, drummer John Densmore and lead vocalist Jim Morrison enjoyed an artistic collaboration, they produced six timelessly resonant studio albums and the classic Absolutely Live (which still holds up as one of the best live albums ever by a rock band). The Doors were also one of the first rock bands to successfully bridge deeply avant-garde sensibilities with popular commercial appeal. It was Blake and Rimbaud... that you could dance to.
Surprisingly, it has taken until 2010, 45 years (!) after UCLA film students Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek first starting kicking around the idea of forming a band, for a proper full-length documentary feature about The Doors to appear, Tom DiCillo's When You're Strange. You'll notice I said, "about The Doors". I felt that Oliver Stone's 1991 biopic ultimately lost its way as a true portrait of the band, because it was too myopically fixated on the Jim Morrison legend; Morrison the Lizard King, the Dionysian rock god, the drunken poet, the shaman. Yes, he was all of that (perhaps more of a showman than a shaman), but he was only 25% of the equation that made The Doors...well, The Doors. That's what I like about DiCillo's film; he doesn't gloss over the contributions of the other three musicians.
In fact, one of the things you learn in the film is that Morrison himself always insisted that all songwriting credits go to "The Doors" as an entity, regardless of which band member may have had the dominant hand in the composition of any particular song (when you consider that Morrison couldn't read a note, that's a pragmatic stance for him to take). The band's signature tune, the #1 hit "Light My Fire" was actually composed by Robbie Krieger-and was allegedly the first song he ever wrote (talk about beginner's luck). He's a great guitar player too (he was trained in flamenco, and had only been playing electric for 6 months at the band's inception). Manzarek and Densmore were no slouches either; they had a classical and jazz background, respectively. When you piece these snippets together along with Morrison's interests in poetry, literature, film and improvisational theatre (then sprinkle in a few tabs of acid) you finally begin to get a picture of why this band had such a unique vibe. They've been copied, but never equaled.
The film looks to have been a labor of love by the director. Johnny Depp provides the narration, and DiCillo has assembled some great footage; it's all well-chosen, sensibly sequenced and beautifully edited. Although there are a fair amount of clips and stories that will qualify as old hat to Doors aficionados (the "Light My Fire" performance on the Sullivan Show, the infamous Miami concert "riot", etc.), there is a treasure trove of rare footage. One fascinating (but all too brief) clip shows the band in the studio constructing the song "Wild Child" during the sessions for "The Soft Parade". The real revelation is the interwoven excerpts from Morrison's experimental 1969 film "HWY: An American Pastoral". Although it is basically a bearded Morrison driving around the desert (wearing his trademark leather pants), it's mesmerizing, surreal footage. DiCillo must have had access to a pristine master print, because it looks like it was shot last week. It wasn't until the credits rolled that I realized this wasn't one of those dreaded recreations, utilizing a lookalike. As a matter of fact, Morrison has never appeared so "alive" on film. It's eerie.
When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors (2010) OverviewWhen You're Strange, written and directed by the award-winning Tom DiCillo, is the first feature documentary released on The Doors. Graced by the narration of Johnny Depp, it carries the audience through the journeys of vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. This 90-minutepresentation features never-before-seen rare archival film,pulled from their inception in 1966 to Morrison's passing in 1971.These snapshot scenes of the band's history is as much an intimate experience, as it is revealing. After being featured at the Sundance, Berlin, Deauville, and San Sebastian Film Festivals, music fans who didn't catch this in theaters can now relish in this extraordinary documentary. It celebrates the collaborative power of this illustrious rock quartet and their revolutionary fusion of creativity and thought-provoking rebellion.

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