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Sound City

Sound City

2013
Documentary, Music
1h 47m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 62.11% from 236 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(236)
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Rated 09 Feb 2013
82
53rd
The story-telling of Sound City's history and the business end as well as the explanation of some of the industry jargon could really have been much better. The last half-hour kind of derails into an anti-digital circle jerk jam session. That said, it's still a great, entertaining watch. It's always amazing to see people talk about something they are passionate about that was such a big part of their lives.
Rated 05 Feb 2013
90
93rd
Just watching everyone in the studio having a good time would have been enough, but this is a great documentary, even if you're not into the ins and outs of music production, just to find out the fascinating story behind 'that board.'
Rated 29 Mar 2013
70
54th
Not the most innovative documentary, but absolutely interesting and fun from start to finish.
Rated 07 Jun 2014
90
97th
Not a perfect documentary by any means, but the sheer history of amazing albums cut at this place is worth it by itself. Nevermind the fact that you get to see Dave Grohl, one of the most personable and interesting musicians in the last 50 years lay down new tracks with some amazing musicians.
Rated 18 Mar 2013
70
67th
I found it reasonably enjoyable. There were certainly some brilliant musicians featured in the film, and I liked hearing from them. The end of the film kind of changes into being about Grohl's album he made with the equipment from Sound City with some other big artists, and is enjoyable in a different way to the rest of the film. It was nicely made, with good editing, and if you're a music fan, I recommend giving it a watch.
Rated 21 Mar 2013
80
72nd
Fuck yeah Neil Young.
Rated 02 Apr 2013
90
85th
The essence of art is connecting with others.
Rated 07 Apr 2013
90
96th
A great doc about music "made" at Sound City. Best quote: "Rupert Neve is a f*cking genius!"
Rated 29 May 2013
59
13th
It's a little overlong but obviously such a personal project for Grohl and he just carries you along with his enthusiasm, as do a ton of other famous stars who plainly love the place. I was also surprised to discover that SC was yet another victim of digital disintermediation.
Rated 03 Jun 2013
60
72nd
This is a passion project for director Dave Grohl and it shows, as the first half is the history of sound city, while the second half is about how digital music destroyed everything and Dave proving that tape is still cool by recording an album with musicians from Sound city's past.
Rated 30 Jun 2013
80
75th
A roller coaster ride through many years of recording great albums, with the added bonus of Dave Grohl helping to pave the way for the future of rock and roll.
Rated 22 Jul 2013
70
41st
I enjoyed the history of Sound City more than the second half, even though the second half started having more of the music that I grew up with and whatnot. I peaced out of it mentally a fair bit when they were just standing around playing the music. It didn't grip me so much. However, the first half was interesting and when they talked about how digital killed SC, that is fascinating documentary material. Movie was a bit long, but obviously Grohl was passionate so I can't blame the guy for that
Rated 03 Aug 2013
80
37th
Stevie Nicks. Still kind of hot. Still kind of crazy? The Foo Fighters drummer is not nearly good enough to justify having that look on his face the entire time.
Rated 10 Sep 2013
64
78th
Didn't grew up with this music, don't necessarily like this music, but I liked this documentary. Great conveyance of passion
Rated 04 Dec 2013
72
30th
I watched this pretty close to another rock studio doc ("Muscle Shoals"), so I might be influenced a bit by that, but what I like about this one is Grohl. I'm not a big Foo Fighters fan but Grohl loves rock and roll so much and you can just tell he's geeking out so much about hanging out with all these stars. The last half hour, dedicated mostly to the production of the film's companion soundtrack, is great fun because his enthusiasm shows so clearly.
Rated 29 Jan 2014
50
49th
A walk down memory lane for one of the old but important sound studios. Lots of musical snippets and interviews with musicians. Some of this history was quite interesting.
Rated 01 Feb 2014
3
73rd
On the bad side it's sentimental and circle-jerky with snobby and luddite undertones. On the good it's an interesting story with a surprising number of albums I recognised and the performance stuff was pretty cool.
Rated 12 Feb 2014
84
78th
Dave Grohl has created the music documentary I wish so many other documentarians had created when they made their less-than-satisfying films. There are a few flaws, so this is by no means a perfect example of its genre, but it's exactly right, and I cannot wait to own this on DVD so I can watch it repeatedly.
Rated 16 Feb 2014
39
35th
yeah it's basically a fetishistic ad for the big rock'n'roll paradigm, but hey i dug it.
Rated 28 Jul 2014
75
62nd
Could've used a slightly gentler edit, but this was an enjoyable fly-on-the-wall experience of analogue recording. Fantastic cast of band members, and plenty of good annecdotes, but you feel it have been a bit better with a better writer behind it. Dave Groh's passion is infectious enough to make it work though.
Rated 01 Aug 2015
75
59th
Starts out as one of those Made-for-intervals-on-TV documentaries which I've liked but slightly bug me but its transition to filming the revival was nicely done. Dave Grohl seems like the perfect TV music doc director- wait...
Rated 26 Oct 2016
70
66th
So people have jobs and some people work in "Sound city".
Rated 29 Nov 2016
55
36th
Rock is dead and this is its eulogy. That wasn't Grohl's intention, but watching Sound City inevitably brings that realization forward and reminds the 'mature age' viewer just how much time has passed since alt-rock's heyday when he was a member of the now legendary Nirvana, who recorded their classic breakthrough Nevermind at Sound City. The closure of Sound City is a painful reminder of the genre's declining status, but Grohl puts a cheerful nostalgic spin on it. OK, but not great.
Rated 30 Jun 2019
77
56th
Fine documentary
Rated 23 Oct 2021
73
72nd
Nostalgia Night - part 2

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