some damn good music (Music From The Motion Picture Almost Famous)

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Product:	Music From The Motion Picture Almost Famous
Date:	25/08/01 (88 review reads)
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Advantages: iz good, iz v. good, just read it

Disadvantages: do i actually have to put anything, guess not, okay i wont then

A semi-autobiographical look at the waning days of rock and roll, as seen through the eyes of a wide-eyed 15-year-old journalist, Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous is a wonderful, non-judgemental homage to all we nerds who idolise a particular genre of music. It's also a coming of age drama; a cautionary tale about the dangers of fame; and a fond remembrance of a time when popular music actually had a point, and something to say. Newcomer Patrick Fugit plays William Miller, a talented 15-year-old writer from San Diego who, after an encounter with rock journalist Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), is offered a commission to write a piece on the rock band Stillwater by Rolling Stone magazine. Naturally, Rolling Stone are unaware of his age. Thrust into a situation he had only previously dreamed about, William suddenly finds himself on the Stillwater tour bus, heading across America as a support act to Led Zeppelin. Despite Lester's advice of never making friends with his subjects, William grows closer to the group's charismatic lead guitarist Russell (Billy Crudup), and witnesses first-hand the battle of egos between him and lead singer Jeff (Jason Lee). And despite his fussy mother Elaine (Frances McDormand)'s even more vociferous advice, William finds himself drawn to the beautiful Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a self-styled "band aid" who follows Stillwater from gig to gig, and is secretly having an affair with Russell. Without wanting to sound conceited, I saw a bit of myself in William. We are both idealistic (almost to the point of naïveté), both totally passionate about our chosen musical genres, and became involved in our beloved industry from a comparatively early age. My only regret is that film composers don't have "band aids", and that film music journos aren't welcomed into their midst quite as.. ahem.. forcefully as William was. Crowe's film is a marvellous balance of comedy and pathos, tragedy and euphoria
, with several vignettes that, in other circumstances, might have been ripe for Spinal Tap-style parodies. The T-shirt scene, the aeroplane confession scene, and the various phone calls from William's mother were all judged to perfection, while the developing relationship between William and Penny is, by turns, sweet-natured and caring, but self-serving and exploitative. As has been the case with most of Crowe's films to date, there is very little traditional underscore, with the exception of a repetitive synth piece which plays over the hand-written opening titles. In the case of Almost Famous, though, the decision to score the movie with pop songs is the correct one, as it lends the narrative a sense of its place in history, and allows the listener to appreciate the rock and roll in a similar way to young William. It's instances like this where music supervisors really come into their own. For Almost Famous, Danny Bramson assembled a group of stellar artists, each of them dripping with potent nostalgia and feelgood sentimentality. Led Zeppelin; Neil Young; David Bowie; The Who; The Beach Boys; Joni Mitchell; Simon & Garfunkel; Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their names alone are enough to bring the heady memories flooding back. The cast's ensemble performance of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" is one of the film's many musical highlights, while the decision to use Stevie Wonder's sweet "My Cherie Amour" as underscore for the stomach-pumping scene was a master stroke of music against type. Composer (and member of all-girl rock band Heart) Nancy Wilson, in addition to her inconsequential score pieces, penned all of Stillwater's songs, along with director Crowe and Wilson's sister Ann, and collaborated with legendary rock artist Peter Frampton for their performance. Only one Stillwater track - the rocking "Fever Dog" - appears on the smash hit album, which is instead given over to providing the listener with an ultimate 7
0s nostalgia trip.

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