Dead End Drive-In: Now Showing – Inside Metal
Written by Gaz E
Sunday, 19 April 2015 04:00
Inside Metal: Pioneers of L.A. Hard Rock and Metal (Metalrock Films 2014)
There was quite the buzz about the theatrical release of Inside Metal last autumn, so what better time to see what all the fuss was about than the impending DVD release?
Inside Metal is a documentary series devoted to all things hard and heavy, with ‘Pioneers of L.A. Hard Rock and Metal’ the first of an initial two volume set that will eventually form part of a trilogy devoted to the Los Angeles metal scene.
Devoted to the time period of 1975-81, this first eighty minute film focuses on the originators of a scene that would eventually explode all over an unsuspecting public and leave them looking like German Goo Girls… apparently.
A veritable who’s who of big names from the L.A. rock scene appears to talk the viewer through a pivotal era of American music, and they’re joined by a veritable “who’s that?” of lesser-known musicians who could shuffle past you in the street and you’d never even realise that they were a part of your teenage record collection.
Lars Ulrich, Carlos Cavazo, Jack Russell, Michael DesBarres, Dave Ellefson, Don Dokken, Marq Torien, Paul Shortino and Dave Meniketti share screen time with Legs Diamond’s Roger Romeo, Angel’s Frank Dimino, Hellion’s Ann Boleyn, Armored Saint’s Joey Vera and Autograph’s Steve Plunkett amongst others and, after you’ve marvelled at how well/bad (delete where applicable) they’ve aged – how old must Plunkett have been when Autograph were turning up the radio? – you’ll laugh with or raise an eyebrow to some of the candid interviews undertaken.
Torien speaks of Angel and how Gregg Giuffria became his musical mentor when he arrived in L.A. before eventually, via stints in Ratt and King Kobra, finding success with BulletBoys. Boleyn impresses with a suitably ludicrous Kim Fowley story, suggesting that she was asked to play some keyboards for The Runaways when, in fact, the late svengali had her earmarked as the band’s new bass player… even though she couldn’t play a note on the ol’ four string.
Both ends of the crazy scale are dealt with: the positive side being Romeo detailing how Legs Diamond played just one back yard show before landing a KISS support slot; the negative side being Don Dokken talking down the then-burgeoning punk scene and describing the Ramones as “just bad” without a hint of irony. Footage of him jumping around in his garden with his dog will upset anyone who ever paid for a ticket to see Dokken in the ’80s as he moves around more with his four-legged friend than he ever did on a stage.
To be fair, Don throws out a couple of decent tales, as do all of the talking heads, but it’s only really Michael Des Barres who puts a bit of swazz into his stories, and that’s where you’ll find this film’s only real weak spot: there’s no real character here, no larger-than-life personality who demands the attention. Shortino’s laugh is infectious, but it obviously didn’t catch up with the majority of the others whose segments are, though informative, very formulaic.
There are chapters dedicated to the Starwood, Sound Barrier (the first all-black metal band to get a record deal) and the punk/new wave explosion, with the only bands truly having a section all to themselves being Van Halen and Yesterday & Today.
The eighty minutes flew by and, though I got the feeling that I was only being told part of the story, I could watch this shit all day – band members talking about the pioneers of a scene that, essentially, put me where I am today, alongside vintage footage and concert ephemera. I’m sure that the second instalment will go some way towards fattening the story and I look forward to seeing it.
Special features on this DVD – my review copy a Region One NTSC disc – include interview footage from last year’s premiere, which features the return (to my eyes at least) of London’s Nadir D’Priest, and a host of deleted scenes which detail everything from Lars Ulrich’s metal pilgrimage to the UK at the dawn of the ’80s to Roger Romeo describing how he saw the MC5’s Wayne Kramer dry-hump a girl pulled from the audience rather than play a guitar solo.
Get Inside Metal inside your DVD player.
http://www.wienerworld.com/inside-metal-pioneers-of-l-a-hard-rock-and-metal.html
To pick up your copy of ‘Inside Metal: Pioneers Of L.A. Hard Rock And Metal’ on DVD – CLICK HERE
