BEFORE: This is about as far off of the reservation as I get, because at least I knew the songs of Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister during the 1980's, but I've never listened to anything by Motorhead. But I remember this movie getting pretty good reviews when it came out, and I don't have to buy a film tonight, because someone posted this on YouTube, so it's a freebie.
Dee Snider carries over again from "Quiet Riot: Well Now You're Here, There's No Way Back".
THE PLOT: A documentary on the life and career of revered heavy-metal musician Lemmy Kilmister.
AFTER: And I still don't know any Motorhead songs, even after watching the film. Oh, they play a couple, but I didn't really pick up anything I could identify as a title, except maybe "Ace of Spades". But this still works as a portrait of the man, who's alternatively referred to as both the nicest guy and the baddest mother-effer of rock. How can he be both? It's all about the lifestyle, and the connections this guy made over a lifetime of gigging, playing a hard-driving bass that's just plain louder than everything else. Remember what I said about rockers growing older and becoming sort of elder statesmen? This guy's like the grandfather of heavy metal, he's been around that long.
He started out in some band called the Rockin' Vicars, where the members dressed up in priest-like gear, then shared a flat with Noel Redding and worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix. Then he spent some years during the 1970's as the bassist for Hawkwind, a sort of hippy-dippy space/prog rock band, and things didn't work out between him and the other band members, because they weren't taking the same sorts of drugs - the others favored psychedelics and he favored amphetamines. I'm not sure I understand the difference, but they said in the end they just weren't on the same wavelength. Plus Lemmy got arrested at the Canadian border for drug possession and missed a couple shows, and it seems the band moved on without him at that point.
After 15 years with Motorhead he moved to Los Angeles, and became a regular at the Rainbow Bar and Grill, where many younger rockers would come, half expecting to bump into him - it seems if he wasn't on tour, he was hanging out at the Rainbow, drinking and playing their trivia machine. And there are plenty of bands that appear in this film to say how influential his music was, everyone from Anthrax to Metallica, Black Sabbath to Motley Crue. He also had connections in the wrestling world, and made appearances in everything from Troma films to Guitar Hero video-games.
It's somewhat fascinating to hear the opinions of a nearly 70-year old rock guy, who's part son of a bitch and part cranky old man, but again, the music's not really my bag. And I don't really see how dressing up in Nazi gear and riding in a tank makes someone feel cool, if that was his hobby I guess I've got no right to knock it, other than to question WHY that felt good to him, if he claims to not be a racist in any way, that's a funny way to demonstrate that. But I guess nobody felt they were in a position to enlighten him on this point? Like, maybe a better way to prove you're not racist is to NOT collect Nazi memorabilia? Just saying.
Also starring Lemmy Kilmister (last seen in "We Are Twisted F--king Sister!"), Phil Campbell, Mikkey Dee, Alice Cooper (last seen in "Super Duper Alice Cooper"), Ozzy Osbourne (also carrying over from "Quiet Riot: Well Now You're Here, There's No Way Back"), Dave Grohl (ditto), Matt Sorum (ditto), C.C. DeVille, Dave Ellefson, Lars Frederiksen, Kirk Hammett, Rev. Horton Heat, James Hetfield, Scott Ian, Ice-T (last seen in "Ricochet"), Mike Inez, Joan Jett, Mick Jones, Duff McKagan, Dave Navarro, Jason Newsted, Slim Jim Phantom, Marky Ramone, Henry Rollins, Nikki Sixx, Slash (last seen in "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives"), Robert Trujillo, Lars Ulrich (last seen in "Hemingway & Gellhorn"), Steve Vai, Captain Sensible, Dave Brock, Fast Eddie Clarke, Peter Hook, Tony James, Nik Turner, Pepper Keenan, David Vanian, Mike Catherwood, Jarvis Cocker, Jason Everman, Paul Inder, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, Adam Parsons, Geoff Rowley, Todd Singerman, Shel Talmy, Billy Bob Thornton (last seen in "Eagle Eye"), Kat Von D.
RATING: 5 out of 10 slot machines
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