The Story:
Have you ever wondered what happens to those bands who you don’t often hear about anymore? This is a documentary that peels back all the glamour, showing the human side to one of the top metal acts of the early 1980’s, Anvil. Although Anvil influenced some of the greatest metal bands including Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax those bands stole their thunder leaving their idols in the dust.
Members Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow, and Robb Reiner began working at the early stages of the band as teenagers in 1973 in their home town of Toronto, Canada. In 1978 the first full lineup was assembled consisting of Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow (lead vocals, and guitar), Robb Reiner (drums), Dave ‘Squirrely’ Allison (vocals, and rhythm guitar), and Ian ‘Dix’ Dickson (bass), and the band was named after it’s lead ‘Lips’. The band soon changed it’s name to Anvil, and began working towards a major record deal. Anvil had found great success with 1982’s Metal on Metal released under small label Attic records, and were soon lifted from their contract with a promise of a major label deal from Aerosmith manager David Krebs. Krebs later stopped returning phone calls, and the band clambered to get any major support from that point on. Twelve albums later, the Anvil originators are now in their 50’s struggling through the every man 9-5 work week, and use nearly every dollar made to try and bring back the dream. The movie follows the group as they fight through a no budget European tour, the recording of they’re 13th studio album, and a return to their most successful concert spot in Japan.
Effects/Gore:
The effect here is the emotion in front of the camera. The movie is heart warming, tragic, and inspirational all at once.
Final Headcount:
When the movie begins we see a silly character on stage wearing bondage gear, and playing a guitar with a vibrating dildo in front of thousands of excited fans, a scene that had me wondering who could ever take someone like that seriously. Then the film introduced me to Lips, the person behind that character, a hard worker who will never give up on his dream no matter the odds. The movie was inspirational, filled with emotion, and should be considered mandatory viewing for anyone who enjoys metal.
