Black Friday: Anvil … almost famous. Again.

Friday, May 22nd, 2009 | fliX, musiX, pdX

Steve “Lips” Kudlow is an optimistic guy. This despite his band Anvil being handed the proverbial shit sandwich, while their metal contemporaries—bands like Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake—went on to sell millions of records worldwide. Life ain’t fair, I tell you.

Anvil made its name in the early ’80s with its definitive album Metal On Metal, while the band toured all over wearing fetish gear and playing their guitars with vibrators. So why was Anvil left in the dust? “Sometimes life deals you a tough deck,” says Slash, one of a handful of metalheads (including Slayer’s Tom Araya) who gives the Canadian band its props in the opening sequence of Anvil! The Story of Anvil.

Kudlow and his partner in crime Robb Reiner have been working day jobs (like most musicians) while keeping Anvil going … and by going I mean quietly releasing records and playing to drunken lunkheads at Ontario dive bars. The band soon finds itself in Europe after a fan books them a tour. What follows is a series of mishaps that brings to mind … well, This Is Spinal Tap. The members of Anvil get lost in Prague, stiffed money from a venue (also in Prague), and play a 10,000-seat arena to only a couple hundred diehards. And even then, Kudlow offers: “Things went drastically wrong, but at least there was a tour for it to go wrong on.”

Director Sacha Gervasi (who was a roadie with the band back in the day) walks a fine line between spoofery and heartfelt docudrama—early on. As the reel winds down, and we get to know these likable (lovable?) headbangers, Anvil! reveals itself as the latter. They’re just a couple of guys with big dreams like everyone else. They have loving families. Above all else—we see that playing music makes them truly happy, famous or not.

I overheard someone say after the movie that they wanted to buy Anvil’s album just to show support for Kudlow and Reiner. If Anvil! The Story of Anvil affected everybody who came out of the theater that way, I could see it being a big year for the band … then again Anvil’s forthcoming album has the ridiculous title Juggernaut of Justice. Which explains a lot.

Photo by Brent J. Craig

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6 Comments to Black Friday: Anvil … almost famous. Again.

Kim
May 22, 2009

I really thought this was a mockumentary sort of deal when I first heard about it. It’s got an exclamation point, so I just figured. But I really do want to see it. It is really important, and refreshing in an odd way, to see musicians featured in the media who aren’t stars in any capacity.

Roscoe
May 23, 2009

Saw it. Loved it.

Chad
September 12, 2010

the movie was great, but to the guy who wrote this, you obviously have no appreciation for what a musician really is. “the ridiculous title juggernaut of justice”…what kind of pointless unfounded criticism is that? They are MUSICIANS, listen to the MUSIC. They Are Truly Innovative musical artists and deserve their recognition as such. if you consider yourself a critic, you are very unskilled, seemingly unknowing of what you should even be criticizing. I Bet You’d Judge The Carpet At The Restaurant If You were brought on as a food critic.

Chad
September 12, 2010

and i am sure that message won’t be posted, i don’t really give a shit i just happened to search anvil and this showed up, but this argument of yours is ridiculous

Mark TDoLore
September 13, 2010

Hey Chad. Glad you posted a comment. I was reviewing the movie, not so much the music. It is a great movie. I love metal, and I love the fact that these guys play what they love (and continue to do so).

I have heard Anvil’s music—the only reason I can think of as to why they didn’t make it big was nothing more than timing (maybe playing guitars with vibrators was too much?). I think you might be getting too hung up on my comment about the album title. It’s kind of ridiculous; but so is metal. Doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means they’re probably not going to reach a large number of listeners. Who cares, right? That said, when the hell are they finally going to release ‘Juggernaut of Justice’?!

chad
December 18, 2010

Spring 2011. in retrospect i was a bit harsh on those comments im a musician And honestly cant stand the things musicians are judged by sometimes. pop culture critics tend to be full of it. just an opinion, though

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