Foo Fighters and Springfield collaborate on a tune, "The Man That Never Was," and it is only through repetition that they arrive at the riffs they really want. ProTools makes it too easy to fix things, which means that ideas might not get as much review as they would in an analog setup. The film suggests that music needs to be wrought from A) hard work and B) collaboration. Also, his tune with a reconstituted Nirvana, "Cut Me Some Slack," is the "Helter Skelter" sequel you didn't know you needed. Because he's Paul McCartney and he's talking about breakdowns. Because he's probably one of the most musically gifted people in the world.
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Because he's a got-damn Beatle in a room full of punks. That said, the best moment in the entire film is when Paul McCartney talks about breakdowns. This whole conversation is enticing but brief. It makes it easier for bad bands to make bad records, but it also enables good bands to make good records when employed tastefully. Reznor doesn't have any retro fetishes, instead observing that digital recording is a tool like any other. Homme is an analog guy all the way and even made the Queens of the Stone Age record Rated R at Sound City. Homme and Reznor also represent divergent ideals. It's an alt-rock wet dream for sure, but watching the way they jam out and discuss ideas for what will eventually become the song "Mantra" feels warm, genuine and human. The session between Grohl, Josh Homme and Trent Reznor, however, is amazing.
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The inclusion of Stevie Nix provides some nice circular storytelling, given that Fleetwood Mac were actually formed at Sound City Studios, but her contribution, "You Can't Fix It," is embarrassing.
Sound City then essentially becomes an advertisement for itself, although it stumbles. Grohl bought the studio's recording console, which he employs in the film for some jam sessions with Butch Vig and celebrity friends. Just a decade later, it shuttered its doors after digital recording drove it out of business. In 1991, Sound City Studios was booming thanks to Nevermind. While it's his first film, Grohl shows strong interviewing skills, coaxing some great stories out of legends like Petty, Neil Young and fucking Rick Springfield, whose career was essentially made by Sound City. Otherwise, the film's first half or so deals with making records in the '70s and '80s. Grohl doesn't intrude too much, occasionally injecting humor as well as his own experience recording portions of Nirvana's Nevermind. It helps to be a fan of Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty and, um, Ratt, but the assembled talking heads offer up some interesting anecdotes about what it was like to make records. On that front, the documentary is hugely winning. and the staff, building and $75,000 Neve 8028 Console custom board that defined it. Granted, those kinds of issues distract from what Grohl wanted to talk about: Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, Calif. Levitin, Sound City dips a little too frequently into the sentiment that "it used to be so much better, man." It also raises some interesting questions, like how ProTools can sometimes be used to supplement making art without coddling unworthy artists, but doesn't delve deeply enough into them. Compared to other histories, such as the excellent Perfecting Sound Forever by Greg Milner or This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Released concurrently, the Sound City DVD and Sound City: Real to Reel CD could easily make someone feel cynical from a distance. I just wish the soundtrack lived up to that idea. In the case of the film Sound City, he argues for the magic of analog recording, how it draws better performances from people and can lead to something truly magical. But Grohl is charged with protecting rock n' roll's history, a role that is both undeniable and unenviable. There are members of the old guard, like Bruce Springsteen, that have stayed relevant. There are those who have set higher album sale records.
There are musicians that might get more critical acclaim. One need only to see all of the friends he assembles for his Sound City documentary/album to see that, and it's not even the first time he's put on a star-studded show (lest we forget Probot, Them Crooked Vultures or that time he covered "London Calling" with everyone you ever liked ever). As far as the mainstream goes, Dave Grohl is pretty much rock's gatekeeper.
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