Review of It Might Get Loud (2008) by Louis E — 03 Feb 2010

Awesome. Freakin' awesome. I don't play the guitar; I wouldn't know a fret from a hole in the ground - us drummers are the lowely working men in the back of the band not looking for noteriety but just a hint of some recognition and a thimble full of appreciation.

All eyeballs in most bands are pinned on the kind of guys displayed in this documentary. Jack White, Jimmy Page, and The Edge, three artists in the true sense of the word. DISCLAIMER: I'm biased here.

Look, I don't know if it's just because he's the youngest (I think) or I just appreciate more his type of blues playing but, to me, Jack White is a musical genius. I love the White Stripes, his OTHER band The Raconteurs equally awesome; oh yeah, his OTHER OTHER band, the band he plays DRUMS for, The Dead Weather, also makes great music.

So, he's in three bands at once and you'll see in the documentary, he makes up a song ON THE SPOT!! to record and gives to the producers of the documentary; he writes it, plays it, and records an entirely original, decent song within a matter of minutes.

The man is proficient in playing piano, drums, and guitar. To me, that is exceptional. So, while I do appreciate Zeppelin and I have to admit U2 has never really been on the top of my shopping list on Itunes, I appreciate talent and artistry in all it's forms, but I was really eager to see Jack White and his take on the guitar in this.

So, this documentary shows us the back story of each individual guiratist and then lets us watch them come together in an empty lot just surrounded by their guitars and stories and we get to watch what happens!! Awesome.

What is interesting is each of these guys really had to struggle in their youths to get where they are. I tend to believe conflict and struggle can often lead to super creative breakthroughs for people and these guys definitely saw their fair share growing up.

I won't get into their stories, but, to be honest, it is probably that struggle and conflict they experienced growing up that made them such fantastic artists today. The documentary shows each one's individual playing style and and how they have developed it: White is the blusy "raw" player and getting the absolute most music out of such simplistic musical configurations it's staggering.

Page is the dreamy, hard rocker and the the Edge definitely wins the techno battle with all the gadgets and amps at his disposal. What is really cool is the documentary tries really hard to show us all of their styles and to watch them come together and just free form jam near the end is all the reason you need to watch this.

You don't need to play guiter; hell, you don't really need to be able to play an instrument to love watching this documentary..............Watch it..............