Articles

THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY JOEL GOLBY AND PUBLISHED BY THE GUARDIAN ON OCTOBER 26, 2018.

Regardless of genre or the individuals in question, music biopics generally follow the same narrative. There’s an early scene where the lead actor does something myth-making before they’re even out of school uniform. Then there’s their first nervous performance, eyes darting around the room as the crowd slowly erupt into an electric cheer; a scene where someone casually offers them their first line of cocaine; a “three years later” fast forward and a pulsating slow-zoom on Madison Square Garden, which is rocking; them, wearing sunglasses indoors, wild-haired and inhaling violently off a mirror.

Then it’s either redemption or death, and for some reason this film always takes 15 years to make, and always—despite a cosmic performance by the lead actor, who has normally gone so far into the character that they now embody them to an eerie degree that takes psychological assistance to get them out of it again—it’s always just a bit, well, crap.

With Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in cinemas, and Amy Winehouse’s family recently signing a deal to make a biopic of the late singer’s life, here are some of the good—and bad—films about musicians, ranked according to the metrics that matter…

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THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY JOHN PATRICK GATTA AND PUBLISHED BY ULTIMATE CLASSIC ROCK ON OCTOBER 18, 2018.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Those opening lines of Queen’s "Bohemian Rhapsody" also describe the approach to rock biopics, as we take a look at our favorite movies inspired by the lives of rockers.

Biopics often provide a conundrum for fans. On one hand, the movies can bring long-deceased rockers back to life, shedding light on their mythology and the highlights of their careers while introducing their music to entirely new generations of potential fans. On the other hand, the creative team often has to leave out crucial elements (or entire characters) in order to fit a typical two-hour movie running time.

And even when they get it right and put out an entertaining film, they usually take no small degree of dramatic license, sanitizing the more juicy bits of someone's life for a mass audience or making up elements of the story to give it a more cohesive and dramatic narrative flow.

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THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY TOM BREIHAN AND PUBLISHED BY STEREOGUM ON OCTOBER 16, 2018.

In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present.

The Doors – “Light My Fire”

They’ve been a favorite critical target for generations, but the Doors were, at the very least, an important band. They taught people. Prog and metal learned from the band’s self-important sprawl. Goth learned from Jim Morrison’s romantic hedonism and theatrical darkness. Punk learned from his negate-everything nihilism. And the band’s dank dread helped usher out the era of flowery psychedelia—one that had just taken root when the band first found its way to #1 on July 29, 1967.

From a certain perspective, though, the Doors’ greatest feat wasn’t in all the people they influenced or in the tides they changed. It was in how they became pop stars in the first place. This was not a foregone conclusion. Consider, for example, the Stooges, another Elektra Records hard-rock band with an experimental bent, a guttural fuck-everything point of view, an apocalyptic sense of doom, and a photogenic desperado out front. Both bands were out there on the road, with their brains squirming like toads, around the same time. Both were hugely influential. But the Doors were almost instantly huge, and the Stooges couldn’t get arrested.

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THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY NATALIE HANSON AND ULISES DUENAS AND PUBLISHED BY THE ORION ON OCTOBER 15, 2018.

The right song, combined with the right scene in an action movie, can turn any moment into a classic. Whether by pure skill or a keen sense of sound with scene, there’s a reason why some songs are difficult to separate from their iconic use in films like “Kill Bill,” “Pulp Fiction” and “The Godfather.” Here are our top picks for the best uses of songs in action movies.

“The Man Comes Around”- Johnny Cash

There aren’t any songs more fitting to be put at the end of “Logan” than this, a perfect sendoff that encapsulates his life as a hero who never had it easy. Anyone who had an attachment to the Wolverine character in the past 20 years felt the same pit in their stomach and lump in their throat by the time this played over the credits.

“Hello Vietnam” – Johnny Wright

“Hello Vietnam” usually doesn’t come to mind when people think of classic songs from that era, but it’s used superbly in “Full Metal Jacket”. The song takes on a more sullen tone as it plays over Joker and company getting their heads shaved before heading off to boot camp. The grim realities of war have already begun to settle in these young men as this song about duty plays. Say goodbye to what you love. Say hello to war.

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THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY RASMA RAISTERS AND PUBLISHED BY BEAT ON OCTOBER 11, 2018.

One of the most revolutionary bands of the 1960s was The Doors. Like other bands that skyrocketed to stardom and popularity, they had a vocalist that was dynamite – Jim Morrison. Like other such vocalists, unfortunately, in time Morrison discovered what it was like to climb to the top of the pedestal only to come tumbling down the hard way. He pushed himself to the limit mixing drugs with alcohol and hard living. Six years passed from the time of the formation of the band in 1966 to the death of Morrison in 1971. During that time they released six studio albums.

The Doors consisted of vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore.

Their debut album simply titled The Doors was released in 1967 and included one of their most popular hits “Light My Fire” and the single “Break On Through (To the Other side)”. The Doors quickly captured everyone’s attention. This album also included a song titled “The End” which ran for over 11 minutes and became one of rock’s first long-form compositions.

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