Vio-lence: Blood and Dirt

Apparently, a bunch of fans made this unusually interesting documentary. There is no pretentious philosophizing or unnecessary seriousness here, just raw emotions, and some rather obscure footage. Very obscure. I have no idea how these people managed to find that much old material, whether it be behind-the-scenes stuff or live footage.

The first album placed Violence straight away in the highest echelon of 80's thrash bands - at least for those who were sufficiently familiar with the scene i.e. didn't pick out their bands only based on music videos. The second album could not match the debut, but it was quite good, whereas the third album sunk any hopes the group might have had of hitting it big. It's a terrible album. If you ever wondered how a band with so much potential could manage to sink into oblivion and even split up rather quickly, this little film gives you the answers. They fired their very capable and experienced manager, Debbie A., (for no logical reason), only to replace her with a sleazy Californian type who barely knew what he was doing. Yup, it's another case of low IQs and youthful ignorance/arrogance getting the upper hand over talent. Everything that happened to them since their change of management was a disaster.

B&D has a natural flow; it's not just a collection of scenes clumsily pastiched together. Whether the scenes with fans drooling about how much they loved them on stage, the band members being silly on tour, or other bands talking about them (Holt & Hunting from Exodus, for example), this little film is never dull. There is extra appeal for Machine Head fans, B&D showing its frontman and founder when he was just a guitarist in Violence. Well, "just"...

For more of my music-world rants, go to: http://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Fedor8/1