5 More Rock Documentaries You Need to See

We recently shared some great rock documentaries to check out. It was such fun that we thought we’d explore five more for your consideration.

Let It Be (1970)

Thank you, Peter Jackson.  You gifted us Get Back.  Nine hours of The Beatles recording and interacting in the studio during the final year of the group.  The vision shared was that of relative peace and harmony.

Not so much the 1970 documentary Let It Be, which chronicled those same days in early 1969, as did Get Back.  Per this original production by filmmaker Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the iconic rockers looked like they could hardly stand to be in the same room with one another at this stage.

Fortunately, Jackson’s Get Back showed us something else, just how damn much fun the lads were having when they put all the business and inflated ego aside.  Get Back is a serious palate cleanser for the original documentary, and becomes even more welcome when you can witness them cranking up the amps and going full force into exactly what they only ever wanted to do from the beginning.

Get Thrashed (2006)

You may not be the biggest Thrash Metal fan.  In fact, you may not really be a fan at all.  But there is a respectable chance that you’ll get a kick out of the documentary Get Thrashed.

Some of this stuff is actually pretty cool.  Producer/director Rick Ernst clearly cherishes the music he features and traces to its origins in this detailed labor of love.  The spirited devotion and unwavering commitment come across fiercely in an homage to one of rock’s most primal genres.

Sound City (2013)

Fast-paced and chock-full of ferociously fine music, Sound City pays homage to a hole-in-the-wall recording studio in southern California.  It’s a record-making facility that just happened to produce albums from artists ranging from Fear to Fleetwood Mac to Barry Manilow.

Director/Musician Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) organizes an all-star Sound City jam to close out this fun film.  It is an especially exhilarating experience featuring rock and roll royalty Paul McCartney in a rollicking performance.

The Punk Singer (2013)

It’s considerably hard not to like much of the visceral music that iconic punk rockers Bikini Kill fire into our faces.  The Punk Singer chronicles singer Kathleen Hanna’s eventful life and the rise and fall of her band. Hanna is a feminist.  She makes this fact crystal clear by way of both personal interviews and her song lyrics.  At its core, Hanna’s music is the repudiation of the imperfect by the imperfect.

Mountaintop (2019)

Neil Young is a rock icon.  He’s still bringing it with unabashed sass and soul over fifty years into a legendary career.

The seasoned troubadour comes off like a crusty “Get off my lawn!” guy in the documentary Mountaintop, chronicling the making of the Young-centric band Crazy Horse’s latest album.

While he complains and cusses through many moments of this film, he also reminds his loyal legions exactly why they continue to love him so much after all these decades.

-John Smistad

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