Boys Can Tell

A *very* long review of the incredible It Might Get Loud that would definitely be better read after having seen the movie... after the jump:

Gonna go out on a superlative limb here and say that It Might Get Loud, a film that brings Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White together to bond over their love of the guitar might be one of the finest rockumentaries I've seen.

There isn't any one dramatic thing that makes the movie stand out. Rather, afterward you're left with an appreciation of director Davis Guggenheim's ability to pace, edit and not get too bogged down by excessiveness obsessiveness. Too many times a director, when given rein to focus on something, will kill it by zooming in too hard. Instead, what he's done is tacked together a series of moments: the mixture of awe and humility on The Edge's and White's faces when Page spills out the first few chords of A Whole Lotta Love in their presence. Or the sight of Page as he appreciatively nods and plays alongside, not above, White.

I was surprised by Page and White's instant, wordless connection. Surprising because they take an opposite approach toward life and music. Page's style is quietly letting the creative dragon take him away to new lands. He's more pervy (and Asian looking..chew on that, Henry Louis Gates!) than I remember and you get the feeling that he'll try anything. 

On the other hand, White, a creepy bone collector, is in the constant state of determinedly trying to control and squeeze to death the old blues demons that haunt him with his Tim Burton approved white knuckles. But only after he's taken some inspiration from them.

White and Page really connected through their raw talent and the charge they get from summoning the guitar to do weird things for them that are not of this earth.

The Edge is quite a different animal, more of an observer... a precision surgeon who's made advancements in technique. While he's done his share of revolutionizing, I get the sense he doesn't wake up hoping to conquer new frontiers. His job is to get a better view of things from another angle or make the most of what we already have. And in doing so, he too makes progress. The best part was when he was standing alone with the guitar explaining how he takes notes out of the E major power chord. He just wants to boil music down to it's essential extract. I miss U2's older simpler days and would love to hear the Edge come out with a straight album of just him playing songs on guitar.