With Foo Fighters on hiatus, Dave Grohl has undertaken the ambitious task of highlighting the tale of Sound City, the famous LA studio where classic records by Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, and Nirvana were all recorded. In addition to making an acclaimed documentary, his first directorial work, Grohl decided to make an album using the now-defunct studio’s famous Neve soundboard, inviting various friends and luminaries to participate, hoping to create a soundtrack that illuminates the “human element” of recording that Grohl feels has been lost in an era of Pro Tools and Auto-Tune, and that Sound City is the antithesis to.
Unfortunately, Sound City: Reel To Real is an extremely scattershot offering, a direct result of it’s “let’s invite a bunch of my friends to make a record” idea. The participants range from all across the rock gamut, from classic rock legends like Paul McCartney and Stevie Nicks, to Slipknot singer Corey Taylor, and everything in between. Luckily, the talent on hand does means that the album doesn’t go by without some strong recordings, but Sound City: Reel To Real mostly exists as an ambitious, heavily flawed, curio.
The best songs here, almost in line with the decidedly old school mentality on display here, mostly come from the classic rock participants. Paul McCartney’s “Cut Me Some Slack,” recorded with the surviving members of Nirvana (and famously performed at The Concert For Sandy), is a loud, ferocious rocker, with McCartney tearing it up over a dirty slide guitar lick. He sounds more invigorated than he has in years, decades even. It’s no classic, but just hearing McCartney wail away with abandon makes it worthwhile. Whereas that song succeeds due to its surprising nature, Stevie Nicks’ “You Can’t Fix This” works because it is a seamless continuation of her solo work and with Fleetwood Mac, a dark, slowly building number that works within her gypsy woman milieu. Once again, nothing groundbreaking, but still worth a listen.
Sound City’s biggest surprise arrives with Rick Springfield’s “The Man That Never Was,” providing the one hit wonder with his best song in years, bringing his big 1980s pop sound into the modern era, removing the reverb and adding some much needed grit, especially in Springfield‘s vocals. It almost sounds like a Foo Fighters song, honestly, but that’s a big part of what helps it succeed.
However, as mentioned earlier, with an album of this nature, for every good song, there’s a mediocre one to answer for it. Corey Taylor’s contribution, “From Can To Can’t,” is typical alt-rock, morose and melodramatic, and could have just as easily been recorded by Stone Sour, Taylor’s other notable band. Almost predictably, this is the song that has been blowing up rock radio (103.3 The Edge plays this song in constant rotation).
Elsewhere, “Heaven And All,” a collaboration between Grohl and members of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, rides an endless riff and goes nowhere in its almost five and a half minute runtime. The closing “Mantra,” recorded by Grohl, Josh Homme, and Trent Reznor, is a dreary acoustic track reminiscent of Grohl’s work on Foo Fighters’ half rock/half acoustic In Your Honor, one of that group’s weakest records.
Elsewhere, “Heaven And All,” a collaboration between Grohl and members of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, rides an endless riff and goes nowhere in its almost five and a half minute runtime. The closing “Mantra,” recorded by Grohl, Josh Homme, and Trent Reznor, is a dreary acoustic track reminiscent of Grohl’s work on Foo Fighters’ half rock/half acoustic In Your Honor, one of that group’s weakest records.
All of the songs on Sound City are given a clean, shiny sound, which actually highlights the biggest problem here: production. While Grohl’s intentions are noble, he severely undercuts his whole “human element” argument by making the record sound as neat as it does. It honestly sounds like any Pro-Tools or Auto-Tuned album being made today. This inherent issue ends up defining Sound City as a whole: Grohl tries to have it both ways, making a record representing an ideal, then shaping it to meet his own needs, with his signatures riding over everything. In the end, this makes Sound City: Reel To Real a half-successful record, but Grohl’s commitment to his cause must be applauded, even if he can’t seem to get out of his own way.
Grade: B-
Grade: B-
0 comments
Post a Comment