"Sonic Highways" on HBO

[spikechiquet]

Anyone else catching this?

It's been great. Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters is doing hour-long docs about music scenes around the country (DC, LA, Nashville, Austin, Chicago), and it's been pretty interesting.

LA is this week and I'm am digging the part on Kyuss. Man, that brings back memories!

 

[Moderator1]

I'm a huge Foo freak so I'm probably not objective - but I've watched the first two and love it. I actually show up briefly near the end of the DC one. They show Grohl on stage during his show at the 9:30 Club. It was my last night out in D.C. before moving. Up on the right on the balcony. Big bald guy. Yeah, that's me.

I also dig the new album, though it is receiving mixed reviews

 

[SpeedTchr]

I am told that the dude who had the music ranch near LA went to the same school as me, just a few years earlier.

 

[Buck]

I've seen all of the Nashville episode and parts of the Chicago and DC episodes.
Honestly, I'm a little disappointed in the series. I love watching shows about music and musicians and how music gets made, but this one leaves me a little flat. I can't put my finger on it.
Although, I like a lot of the music featured in the episodes.

 

[Mr. Sunshine]

Nashville one looks interesting. I didn't like the Chicago one.

 

[spikechiquet]

It's not a true "history of music" show, that's for sure...it's a "people and things Dave Grohl thinks is noteworthy" show...but it's good entertainment at least. It's just a vehicle to pump the new cd, but enjoyable nonetheless.

 

[TigerVols]

I grew up in the Nashville music biz and this is the first doc I've seen that does a great job explaining how the music industry there is a songwriter's industry more than it is a performer's. And it also explains how songwriting is, quite literally, a 9-5 job.

 

[spikechiquet]

I grew up in the Nashville music biz and this is the first doc I've seen that does a great job explaining how the music industry there is a songwriter's industry more than it is a performer's. And it also explains how songwriting is, quite literally, a 9-5 job.

Yeah. Good point. Our country music columnist just got back from there and he sat in on a song-writing session and said it was amazing to watch.

 

[John]

I've liked most of the episodes, though parts of the LA one didn't do much for me. Loved the Kyuss bit and I'll watch anything involving Homme.

As a band I don't think Foo Fighters have ever sounded better, but the lyrics to these songs sound like audio book reports or something. They just feel forced. I don't know if I'd like the songs better if I hadn't just heard every reference in the films. Maybe.

 

[Buck]

I've never been to Tennessee, but I've heard and read that same type of account of the songwriting culture of Nashville.

I've also heard and read musicians, producers and songwriters lamenting the sad state of country music for almost 20 years.

 

[TigerVols]

I've never been to Tennessee, but I've heard and read that same type of account of the songwriting culture of Nashville.

I've also heard and read musicians, producers and songwriters lamenting the sad state of country music for almost 20 years.

Hell, people have been bitching since Hank Williams brought drums to the Opry.

 

[Bubbler]

They're kind of all over the place. The Chicago one definitely was. The New Orleans one too. The NOLA episode threw Allen Toussaint out there as a New Orleans deity. He is, but then they did a slipshod way of explaining why.

 

[Human_Paraquat]

I love music docs, and I've enjoyed most of this series. It's definitely from the perspective of what appeals to Grohl, but with his legacy, there's value in that. I'm glad I learned more about artists like 13th Floor Elevators and Tony Joe White that I only vaguely knew before.

My least favorite part of each program, by far, is the Foo Fighters music video at end. I agree with John that the lyrics are pretty stiff and forced, and musically it's been pretty bland. (I loved Foo's first 2-3 albums.) I usually mute the Foo song at the end and listen to something referenced in that episode on Youtube.