Review of Upside Down: The Creation Records Story (2010) by Mike M — 03 Jun 2011

Though it surfs a mounting wave of nostalgia for the Britpop era (yes, we get the clip of John Humphrys on the "Six O'Clock News" announcing the outbreak of hostilities between Oasis and Blur), O'Connor's film takes care to shine a spotlight on several lesser-known, still underrated bands who found themselves on the Creation roster (House of Love, Ride, Sugar, Super Furry Animals).

Yet, increasingly, the pace comes to seem like a liability: it reflects a managerial style that always was on-the-fly, driven by gut instinct and class-A narcotics, but also leads one to believe that the legacy - like that of the New Labour PM McGee and his cronies so enthusiastically backed - doesn't stand up to prolonged scrutiny.

.. O'Connor's history has the egos - Noel Gallagher speaks with misplaced pride about "killing" the indie scene, which should come as news to Franz Ferdinand, the Arctic Monkeys, and the myriad Oasis imitators who followed in their wake - but it's a lesser tale: no matter how the film tries to trump it up, the struggles of the Valentines to record "Loveless" are as nothing compared to the misadventures of the Happy Mondays in the Caribbean.

"A one-man Charge of the Light Brigade," is one Creation employee's assessment of his boss, and this zippy, entertaining film, while true to the McGee personality, turns out somewhat like a well-packed corporate video.

In the end, Factory was the true oppositional force, while Creation, whatever the achievements of individual acts, provided the Union Jack-flying, lighters-in-the-air, Oasis-at-Knebworth soundtrack to the Tony Blair years.