Do you like rock music? Do you like to ROCK?! Then this is the movie for you! But if you don't like the rockin', then do not come a'knockin'. Dave Grohl - of Nirvana, Foo Fighters and QOTSA fame, for all you non-rockers - directs this documentary about the famous sound recording studio in California, leading up to its closing down and dismantling. The home away from home for some of the greatest musicians that have ever lived, as well as the inspiration for many classic rock albums, some might even go so far as to say that Sound City itself is why those rock albums are considered classics.
The film comprises a who's who of rock and roll legends - Tom Petty, Rick Springfield, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Trent Reznor, Barry Manilow, Paul McCartney, Butch Vig, Rick Rubin - all of whom give their two cents as to why they felt Sound City was so great, but also to pass opinion on the analogue versus digital debate. A perfect companion piece to the recent film version Side By Side, Sound City discusses the organic nature of learning how to play music as well as music production, and how the recent surge in technical advances have made instruments and studio recordings obsolete, since everything can now be done in your bedroom on a laptop.
Grohl presents the argument in a one-sided manner; claiming that modern technology has irrevocably made music worse kind of overlooks the fact that without it, electronic music wouldn't exist. When he's got this many famous people arguing his side for him, however, you kind of let him away with it. Considering the setting though, the stories told are very vanilla; there's a heap of rock and roll stars here talking about their 70's and 80's hey-days, but the most controversial tale involves someone peeing in a corner. Plus the last thirty minutes sees Grohl giving up on the documenting to plug the soundtrack to the movie, as he sets up a series of collaborations with his idols. If that's what you're into, it's fantastic. But it's probably not what you came here to see.