Saturday, March 11, 2006

i watch the Some Kind of Monster documentary about Metallica tonight.

eh.

just eh.

as a documentary, its perfect. i didnt realize they took in nearly 2 years of material to get it. absolutely a testament in editing and patience on the part of the production crew to watch this thing develop. but i cage my "eh's" around the band.

when i say "eh" its not in a lackluster sense. its in the, slump head forward, and running out of breath from frustration, you let out the "eh." i never realized how hard that band worked to generate a bad record. i never realized how money wasnt an issue for people like that. the problem they have with a therapist, which they dont talk about till the end of the 2 years, isnt that the money they pay him [40k per month], or that hes moving into their neck of the woods [riding that cash cow], but that they think they dont need him. a smarting blow, offered in a stately fashion of people that obviously decide who they put around them based on no real reasoning of the moment. just because.

its hard to watch these people and even for a moment think they relate to what made them famous. kirk maybe is the split. the separatist. i can get that. he made his cash, and he wants to be left alone. he wants to write music because thats what he likes to do. lars flops around on leather couches drinking 300 dollar bottles of champagne while he makes millions selling art. and james just runs off for a year. even when hes there, hes more interested in pictures of hunting bears, or attempting to dictate a disasterous schedule on the band. then to watch the egos flare up. its really a strong push to get that 'eh' out there at the end. when the producers force this rising-tide sort of ending to it all... like, watch out world, metallica got a new bass player and wow are they going to rule the world again!

they ruled the world because they were drunk, because they were drug addicts, and because they played louder and faster and heavier than the people around them in that era. theres nothing wrong with that. but there just wasnt something right, about watching james with his kid at ballet, or the chorus of shit they all sing out at the mention of jason newstead.

playboy did a roving interview with the separate members in 2001 right before they split, and you could feel it happen there. what i couldnt see was why. i saw it on the tape. i also saw kirk and lars show up at jasons project to wish him support in their self righteous ways, and i saw how fast jason left. but i wasnt prepared for the verbal back hands Q Prime Management made, or that the 3 members shouted back about involving jason again. i saw every one of them lash out at each other, but never reconcile the same emotions they have, are what forced jason out. 15 years of history. up in a flash. so then they roll up in a fancy suits, get drunk, and think that would make it up. "eh"

i dont blame him. id want out of the circus of egos as well.