Review: Quiet Riot - Well Now You're Here, There's No Way Back

Fans seeking the definitive Quiet Riot documentary that unveils even the tiniest of details about the band’s history will not find it in Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back. Those fans would be best suited watching the Quiet Riot episode of Behind The Music. However, for fans seeking an entertaining look at what happened to Quiet Riot after Kevin Dubrow’s passing, understanding why Frankie Banali continued on after he said that he never would again, and curious about why there have been several lead singers since Kevin Dubrow, this is the one to watch.

Frankie Banali is a man who understands loss. Over the course of just a few short years, this once on top of the world heavy metal drummer lost his best friend, his band, his wife, and his career. All that was left when the dust finally settled was Banali and his young daughter. Suddenly, one of the prince’s of heavy metal was a single Dad raising a teenage girl.

Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back is a terrific documentary that looks into the world of Quiet Riot---past, present, and future. The film begins by giving a brief but informative background on the start of Quiet Riot. It chronicles the band’s journey on the road to becoming the first heavy metal band to have a number one album. Metal Health launched Quiet Riot into stardom and the band’s career was flung forward at full force. Over a decade later, the music scene had changed, things were tough for metal bands from the 80s, and lead singer extraordinaire, Kevin Dubrow, had passed away. Frankie Banali was left to pick up the pieces and determine what to do. He decided to shut Quiet Riot down for good.

After a few years passed, he changed his mind. This is where Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back gets extremely intriguing. This is the chronicle of the band getting back together, the search for a lead singer, and bassist, Chuck Wright accepting that he is not the well known member of the band that he should be.

The history of the Mark Huff era Quiet Riot is fascinating, especially as it gives Frankie Banali’s view on what happened and why Huff was let go. Huff admits his mistakes as well and understands his firing from the band. There’s a moment in Huff’s interview, where I just shook my head. I can’t understand how the lead singer of Quiet Riot could forget the lyrics to “Cum On Feel The Noize.”

The rotating door of lead singers and how they got the opportunity to sing for Quiet Riot is extremely entertaining. But it is not just lead singers who have rotated in and out of Quiet Riot. My favorite moment of the documentary consists of Chuck Wright and lead guitarist Alex Grossi being asked to name every member of Quiet Riot. While they were unable to get very far, Frankie Banali, gives a white board history of band members that is just fantastic! I don’t think there is a band in the history of rock music that has had more members.

Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back is an exceptional documentary. It is a wonderful look behind the curtain and gives an insider view on what happens to a former number one band when they attempt to overcome tragedy and make a comeback with new members. It shares the doubt, hope, fear, excitement, and joy of a band starting over. If you are a fan of Quiet Riot, or rock music in general, this is a documentary that you are bound to enjoy.

Visit: www.quietriotmovie.com to see the film for yourself. 

On Viewing Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck

I decided to make the time to sit down and watch the documentary on Kurt Cobain this week. Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck was an interesting documentary to say the least. And although was good, there were many bizarre moments in the film as well. Early on as I watched the film I thought “This isn’t so great. Am I really going to sit through this thing?” But as the film progressed and once I had seen it entirety it all made sense. As a whole, Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck was an excellent view into the life of rock’s most misunderstood and highly beloved stars, Kurt Cobain.

I still remember when Nirvana made it huge with Nevermind. When “Smells Like Teen Spirit” first came out on MTV (that was still the way we got the bulk of our new music) it struck me like something I had never heard before. That was mostly due to the fact that it was something I had never heard before. Nivana and the bands that followed had created a whole new world of music for me to explore. And while I still loved the glossy metal bands that had ruled my high school years, Nirvana and similar bands were providing me a new outlet. Their music had deeper meaning. Their music had power. Their music let me feel in a way the party songs and power ballads of Poison and Warrant didn’t allow. This wasn’t music about a 24 hour party; this was music about releasing your rage and expressing yourself on a much higher level. And it was absolutely brilliant.

Seeing the old home movies of Kurt as a young child and hearing the stories of how he was kicked from house to house to house to live with relatives for weeks at a time certainly shed a new light on how he ended up the way he did. I have a deeper understanding of why Kurt turned to drugs. I still don’t condone it, and I still think that it was a waste of his brilliant talent, but I do understand it a little better. The peek into his personal journals and the home movies with Courtney Love were an added treat as well. Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck is brilliant in the manner of how the story unfolds. There is no narrator doing a voice over. 90% of the film is old home movies, band videos, interviews, and existing film footage. It was an interesting approach and one that worked well.

There is one scene in the movie where Courtney Love is reading a piece of hate mail from a fan calling her a talentless pig and proclaiming that she is ruining the genius of Kurt Cobain which made me laugh aloud. I remember hating Courtney Love that much. I remember feeling the exact same way about her. I remember calling her the Yoko of our generation and really getting mad when her name came up. Heck I wouldn’t even pay money for her albums, even though I thought it was pretty darned good. I just could not stand her, and that moment in the film took back to the early nineties and the memory of when that was actually deemed important in my life.

Without a doubt, Nirvana changed the face of music forever. The running joke will always be that they killed hair metal and those of us who love glam rock and heavy metal should hate grunge, but that’s simply not true. Glam rock had its moment in the sun and life was a luxurious party. But when Nirvana and grunge came on the scene, life became more. It had a deeper meaning. I could spend hours listening to Nevermind, dissecting the lyrics and interpreting their meanings. And the music was much more complex as well. With Poison or Cinderella the dissection was relatively simple. This song is about getting laid. That song is about trying to get back together with your girl. And those songs were great, when I was high in school. As I grew into a college student with a lot of questions about life, Nirvana arrived with Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam right behind them. They all appeared at the right moment in my life and made a huge influence on me musically.

For whatever reason, I either forgot, or did not know, that Kurt Cobain attempted to commit suicide via pills a month before he actually committed suicide. He was in a coma due to an overdose of Rohypnols. He had ingested 67 of them and was in a coma for days. He miraculously survived that meeting with death, but it would not matter. One month later he was found dead in his Seattle home. The little girl that he loved, the one that would go on to make this documentary about him, was left without a father. And the fans were left without one of the most brilliant musicians of our time. And even though I have a much better understanding of the life he led and the challenges he was going through, I still don’t understand why he would commit suicide.

Kurt was a musician who had everything a hard working musician could want. Fame. Fortune. Talent. A band that got along with no egos. He had it all. This is what most anyone who picked up a guitar, or played music, would kill for. And Kurt was overwhelmed by it all. And then he got saddened. And once he had the means, the drugs were aplenty, with heroin being the drug of choice. It would ultimately lead to his early departure.

Years ago I read Heavier Than Heaven by Charles R. Cross. It was a magnificent introspective biography of Kurt Cobain where the author had actual access to Courtney Love. Montage Of Heck had a similar feel. The documentary was a real introspective look into the life of a genius, just as the book was years before. And both provoked the same response from me: disappointment. Not in the material or the finished product, but the subject matter. I still don’t fully understand how someone could take their own lives, especially when they have everything they ever wanted. To me it just seems selfish.

I’ve always been curious about what would have happened if Kurt were still alive today. Would Nirvana have stayed together? Perhaps they would be doing reunion shows after a long hiatus? Would Foo Fighters have ever existed if Kurt still lived? Would he still be making brilliant music? I think the answer to that last question is a resounding yes. Kurt Cobain was one of the most gifted musicians I ever had the pleasure to listen to and I think he would have continued making music for as long as he was able.

If you get the chance, check out Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck. It’s currently airing on HBO and will be available on Blu Ray and DVD this September with additional footage.

Billy Joel - Last Play At Shea Blu-ray Release

One Of Billy Joel’s greatest concerts is getting the Blu-ray treatment. Billy Joel: Last Play At Shea is available now for you to own, cherish, and watch over and over and over again.

You can get your copy of this amazing concert right here:

Tracklist:

Prelude/Angry Young Man

My Life

Summer Highland Falls

Everybody Loves You Now

Zanzibar

New York State Of Mind (with Tony Bennet)

Allentown

The Ballad Of Billy The Kid

She’s Always A Woman

Goodnight Saigon

Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)

Shameless (with Garth Brooks)

This Is The Time (with John Meyer)

Keeping The Faith

Captain Jack

Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel)

The River Of Dreams/A Hard Day’s Night

We Didn’t Start The Fire

You May Be Right

Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

Only The Good Die Young

I Saw Her Standing There (with Paul McCartney)

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Piano Man

Let It Be (with Paul McCartney)

Billy Joel is still adding performances at Madison Square Garden as well. January and February shows are on sale now and I am sure there will be more to come in the near future.

Billy Joel rocks!

Bing Crosby Rediscovered

THIRTEEN's American Masters Series Produces

 New Documentary Bing Crosby Rediscovered,

Featuring Unprecedented Access to Crosby's Archives

 

Premieres nationwide Tuesday, December 2 on PBS and DVD

Bing Crosby (May 3, 1903-October 14, 1977) was, without doubt, the most popular and influential multimedia star of the first half of the 20th century. For more than three decades, through radio, film, television and records, he reigned supreme.

The new documentary American Masters: Bing Crosby Rediscovered, premiering nationwide Tuesday, December 2 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) as the series' Season 28 finale, explores the life and legend of this iconic performer, revealing a man far more complex than his public persona. The film is available December 2 on DVD from PBS Distribution. A holiday encore presentation airs Friday, December 26 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).

Crosby's estate, HLC Properties, Ltd., granted American Masters unprecedented access to the entertainer's personal and professional archives, including never-before-seen home movies, Dictabelt recordings, photos and more. Narrated by Stanley Tucci, the film features new interviews with all surviving members of Crosby's immediate family: wife Kathryn, daughter Mary and sons Harry and Nathaniel. The film reveals Crosby's struggles with his first wife, Dixie Lee, and their sons Gary, Dennis, Phillip and Lindsay. Mary addresses accusations of abuse first published in Gary's 1983 memoir, which tarnished their father's legacy. Gary speaks candidly about both his and his mother's alcoholism as well as his difficulties with his father in a never-before-seen 1987 interview. Other new interviews include singers Tony Bennett and Michael Feinstein, record producer Ken Barnes, biographer Gary Giddins, and writers Buz Kohan and Larry Grossman, who both share the story behind Crosby's Christmas special duet with David Bowie.

American Masters: Bing Crosby Rediscovered -- The Soundtrack features songs heard in the documentary, including 16 previously unreleased recordings, and is available November 25, 2014, via Bing Crosby Archive and Universal Music Enterprises.

"I've never seen an entertainer more comfortable in his own skin, more certain of who he was," says Emmy-winning director Robert Trachtenberg, whose past films for American Masters include Mel Brooks: Make a Noise, On Cukor, Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer and Cary Grant: A Class Apart. "With the new material I've found, I think the breadth, depth and candor of his story will hopefully allow people to see him in a new light."

Thirty-seven years after his death, Crosby remains the most recorded performer in history with nearly 400 hit singles, an achievement no one - not Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley or the Beatles - has come close to matching. A brilliant entrepreneur, Crosby played an important role in the development of the postwar recording industry. As one of Hollywood's most popular actors, he won the Oscar for 1944's Going My Way and starred in the iconic "Road" films with Bob Hope.

"We naturally think of Bing at Christmastime, but with more No. 1 recordings than anyone, it is easy to overlook all of his other achievements. Thankfully, this film delves deeply into all of his remarkable work, and will surprise many viewers with a unique perspective on his private life," says Michael Kantor, executive producer of American Masters.

Launched in 1986 by series creator Susan Lacy, American Masters has earned 28 Emmy Awards -- including 10 for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series since 1999 and five for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special -- 12 Peabodys, an Oscar, three Grammys, two Producers Guild Awards and many other honors. Now in its 28th season on PBS, the series is a production of THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET. WNET is the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21, New York's public television stations, and operator of NJTV. For more than 50 years, THIRTEEN has been a partner with the tri-state community, using its rich resources to inform and inspire the passionate people of New York and the world to better understand and address the issues that challenge our diverse communities.

To take American Masters beyond the television broadcast and further explore the themes, stories and personalities of masters past and present, the companion website (http://pbs.org/americanmasters) offers streaming video of select films, interviews, photos, outtakes, essays and other resources. American Masters is also seen on the WORLD channel, a 24/7, full-service multicast channel featuring public television's signature nonfiction documentary, science and news programming, broadcast in nearly two-thirds of the United States.

 American Masters: Bing Crosby Rediscovered is a production of THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC's American Masters for WNET. Robert Trachtenberg is writer, director and producer. Gillian McCarthy is editor. Junko Tsunashima is supervising producer. Julie Sacks is series producer. Susan Lacy and Michael Kantor are executive producers.

American Masters is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Rosalind P. Walter, Anne Ray Charitable Trust, Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Rolf and Elizabeth Rosenthal, Jack Rudin, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, Michael & Helen Schaffer Foundation and public television viewers.

Believe it or not, I am actually a big fan of Bing Crosby’s music, specials, and of course, his holiday recordings. Bing Crosby Rocks!

MONEY FOR NOTHING - A History of the Music Video

REMEMBER WHEN MTV SHOWED MUSIC VIDEOS? A NEW DOCUMENTARY, MONEY FOR NOTHING, RECALLS THE RISE OF THE ART FORM AND WHAT HAPPENED TO IT

MONEY FOR NOTHING

A History of the Music Video

Songs by Top Artists Help Tell This Story of the Music-and-Film Marriage That Changed Everything Available on DVD and Digital Download on OCTOBER 7th.

"Who would want to look at music all day?" skeptics asked when a new cable channel called MTV was about to launch. The answer became immediately clear that summer of 1981: just about everyone. The enjoyable and informative new documentary

MONEY FOR NOTHING: A HISTORY OF THE MUSIC VIDEO tells the story, from the musical short's days as pure advertising to its maturity as an art form. The music-filled film based on the book of the same title by Saul Austerlitz will be available on DVD and digital platforms starting October 7, 2014. 

Money for Nothing

is a rip roaring look at the past, present and future of the music video. From The Beatles, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Guns N' Roses, 2Pac, Madonna, Bruce, U2, R.E.M., Nirvana, Jay Z, Lady Gaga and everyone in between Money for Nothing is the most comprehensive film of its kind and a refresher course on the last 60 years of popular music and the unforgettable images that accompanied them.

While the music video became a staple of entertainment with the birth of MTV in 1981, the art form existed for many years before that, from musical shorts shown between features in movie theaters, to "event" pieces created by the Beatles and others to unveil and promote their new songs. But with the rise of MTV, what was originally considered an ad for a product became the product itself, with artists like Madonna, the Police, Michael Jackson, Dire Straits, David Bowie, R.E.M. and many others creating elaborate little films that not only accompanied their music, but were a parallel creative expression. If the music video was still ultimately a commercial, it was an ad campaign so brilliant, slick and subtle that it occasionally made its consumers forget what they were being sold.

The "MTV style" of fast editing and other techniques was adopted by Hollywood in the 1980s and transformed the way films were and are made and perceived by audiences. In their documentary, director Jamin Bricker and writer Saul Austerlitz present a wide-ranging look at this unique art/advertising hybrid that has become a permanent part of our film and music culture.

RYO'S NOTE: I will try to have a full review of this documentary up in the very near future. 

Music Videos Rock!