Anvil BBC4 tonight 10 pm

mike65

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)

Premiere. Sacha Gervasi's documentary follows Canadian rockers Anvil as they embark on one final push for fame. Despite playing a key role in the birth of speed metal and inspiring bands such as Metallica and Guns N' Roses, Anvil have never succeeded in achieving the recognition they deserved. Now in their fifties, the band heads into the studio to record their 13th album and set off on a ramshackle tour of Europe

Its repeated as follows

BBC 4 June 29th at 1:50am
BBC 4 July 2nd at 10:30pm
BBC 4 July 5th at 1:00am

So you have no excuses

gally74

This is a great film

Motley Crue

gally74 wrote: »

This is a great film

Granted, except the announcer on BBC1 introduced the film as "the band who inspired Metallica"....sorry, how?

Jelle1880

Motley Crue wrote: »

Granted, except the announcer on BBC1 introduced the film as "the band who inspired Metallica"....sorry, how?

Metallica themselves perhaps ?
Somewhere in the 80's they did an interview stating Anvil as one of their main influences.

Sadly enough hardly anyone knows this and sees them as some sort of Spinal Tap-wannabe group who revel in their obscurity.

blastman

Have you never listened to Metal On Metal?

Jelle1880

blastman wrote: »

Have you never listened to Metal On Metal?

Me ?
Of course.

PeterIanStaker

Saw this before, great film.

Motley Crue

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Metallica themselves perhaps ?
Somewhere in the 80's they did an interview stating Anvil as one of their main influences.

Pity Anvil didn't get cover treatment on Garage Inc, they could have made some money out of it, most of the bands covered on that album got both reunion gigs and rent money from the royalties they earned.

mike65

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Sadly enough hardly anyone knows this and sees them as some sort of Spinal Tap-wannabe group who revel in their obscurity.

I just watched it off tape and that view would be hard to sustain, they really want it!

One thing that struck me, well two things, first - one of the bands that claim to have been influenced really should have done the decent thing if only they'd been contacted and the other is how unsavvy Anvil were. They might been moribund but the name still has a certain resonance and they never thought to exploit that fact. If I'd been in that band or known them I'd have drawn up a plan of attack based on the web - a Youtube Anvil channel of classics (assuming they had ownership of their own songs of course), every metal blog and spin off website mailed with a promo pack of new material a dedicated website plus the usual facebook/myspace outlets, direct selling of both Cds and downloads, then the magazines and radio stations tackled, then the music cable channels with new material filmed cheaply but effectively.

Of course they ultimately needed none of that cos someone made a film about them!

blastman

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Me ?
Of course.

Not you, Motley Crue

Elliemental

I'd been meaning to watch this for a while, and so glad I caught it by chance.
One thing I did wonder, and I do not mean to be uncharitable to Metallica here, but if they were so influenced by Anvil, why not offer them an opening slot on one of thier tours? I'm possibly being naive.
But back on topic, does anyone here know how Anvil are doing now? Did the film help raise their profile at all?

Max Power1

caught the second half of this the other night - makes for very interesting viewing.

Jelle1880

Elliemental wrote: »

But back on topic, does anyone here know how Anvil are doing now? Did the film help raise their profile at all?

It definitely did, they have albums which are now being re-released, they started touring again (And not just small clubs, Wacken for example),...

ShumanTheHuman

Really enjoyed this and hope they are doing well, but can't help thinking the playground bang-a-round lyrics, d1ldo plectrum and b0ndage gear didn't help them in the early recording years. Lack of/bad management seems to be their major problem. Their recent appearances would suggest they have finally got someone who knows what their doing

Max Power1

ShumanTheHuman wrote: »

Really enjoyed this and hope they are doing well, but can't help thinking the playground bang-a-round lyrics, d1ldo plectrum and b0ndage gear didn't help them in the early recording years. Lack of/bad management seems to be their major problem. Their recent appearances would suggest they have finally got someone who knows what their doing

tbf it didnt work out too badly for bands like motley crue , and judas priest!

I'd agree with the bad management aspect though, the documentary seemed to give that impression!