The band X was one of the bright lights of the punk-new wave movement. Exene's vocals and songwriting, John Doe's co-writing and co-vocals and the solid musicianship of the band upped the bar for the artband thing. Angel City Productions did a full length documentary on the band some 20 years ago entitled "The Unheard Music" which has now been issued in a Silver Edition with additional material previously unreleased (MVD Visual 5262D).
It is a great example of a fully thought out music documentary. It includes plenty of music live and in the studio, an overview of those rather heady times when punk-wave was a social as well as musical force, a look at Hollywod in the late '70s-early '80s, at X in relation to the music business as it then was, biographical info on the participants and their own version of the history and trajectory of their careers, and an art-auteur sort of thing, with nice effects, use of retro-stock film clips and an intelligent narrative thread.
The new material includes a bit more music and extensive interviews with Exene and John Doe as well as the filmmakers. It's a must for X fans as well as those with an interest in the era and the music scene. Well done!
Well, the movie was always called, The Unheard Music. Other than that, thank you very much for a wonderful review!
ReplyDeletealizabeth
Thank you. Whoops--that was a sleepy-time morning typo--I will fix!! I appreciate the feedback and loved the movie!
ReplyDeleteGrego