Customer Reviews

Loudquietloud - A Film About the Pixies

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I have pretty much all of the currently available DVDs on the Pixies and while all of them have their merits, this one far outstrips the others in giving an inside glimpse into the band and its members. I found it far more interesting than THE PIXIES SELL OUT, which concentrates almost exclusively on their stage performances on the tour that, or any of the other Pixies concert DVDs. What sets this one apart is the incredibly immediate and personal approach of the filmmaker. The live performances are not neglected, but the focus is far more on the individual members of the band and the particular struggles they undergo during the making of the documentary.

The Pixies are, in my opinion, the last truly influential American rock band. True, Nirvana was more commercially successful, but as even Kurt Cobain admitted, Nirvana was heavily influenced by the Pixies. In fact, most of the big bands of the nineties were heavily indebted to the Pixies. But the Pixies never reaped the financial benefits that the major alternative bands of the nineties enjoyed. Though none of them received the kind of international critical acclaim that the Pixies basked in, many of them sold far more records. They broke up in the early nineties due to intense acrimony between singer/songwriter Black Francis (aka Charles Thompson aka Frank Black) and bassist/vocalist Kim Deal. They reunited in 2004 for a concert tour for a variety of reasons, some having to do with a desire to reconnect with their fans and more having to do with economic need. The title refers to the way that they would shift from very, very quiet music to intensely loud and raucous, with Thompson moving from a near whisper to one of the great screams in the history of rock.

The portraits of the various band members that emerge are almost without precedent in rock documentaries. Several members of the band are a little worse for wear. In particular Kim Deal appears to have gone through some rough times. In watching some other DVDs featuring performances from their reunion, I was disappointed to see Kim Deal drinking a number of beers throughout. She has struggled with alcoholism and drugs and seeing her sipping from the bottle through the concerts seemed like an open embrace of her addictions. I was delighted to learn from the film that in fact the tour was an alcohol free tour, with the other three members of the band agreeing to not having any alcohol backstage. The beers that I saw Deal drinking in the other DVDs were non-alcoholic beers like O'Doul's. In fact, as the film reveals, Deal has waged a more or less successful battle against her addictions. She comes across in the film as a survivor, but a somewhat fragile one. She enlists the help of her identical twin sister Kelly, herself the veteran of struggles against addiction, for emotional support.

We get similar portraits of the other band members. David Lovering is shown having struggled with a variety of problems, including borderline poverty and homelessness. But he is also shown endearingly as someone who embraced other interests after his time with the Pixies, including magic (he is now a practicing magician) and, very curiously, searching for metal on beaches using a metal detector. The tour is a godsend for him, helping pull himself out of his financial difficulties. Unfortunately, he also struggles with drug use as he self-medicates to deal with the grief following his father's death. One of the odder moments in the film comes when Lovering continues to pound away on the drums even though the song has come to an end, Thompson and Deal having a bit of a conference to decide what to do (they tell the audience that they are going to take a brief break to regroup). Joey Santiago is the Quiet Pixie. Even at the end of the film you don't have much of a sense for what he is like or what drives him. He is shown as a loving father to his wife and two kids and we see him working on his Notebook on some film scores, but we simply don't get close to him.

The huge presence in the band, figuratively as well as literally, is Charles Thompson. Although the Pixies are a great band, with all members contributing to the sound, Thompson is clearly the band's resident genius. But even though he is the leader of one of the great bands ever, he seems to struggle with his own disappointments. He clearly feels the pressure to write songs for a new Pixies album and is disappointed that he has not had more success in his solo career (in part of the film he discusses with his producer what label might be willing to release his latest album). And there are things not discussed. There is not a single word about his absolutely astonishing weight gain. Charles Thompson just might be the most obese rocker ever. He has probably gained a hundred pounds since the break up of the Pixies in the nineties. Yet there is no mention of this in the film.

Despite all the problems each individual faces, the music is still astonishingly great. They truly do sound as good as ever in this tour. The film also shows how validated they felt by the reception they received upon coming out of retirement. Their entire tour sold out in only a few minutes upon the tickets going on sale. I tried to get tickets but failed (I could probably have gone stood outside and cadged a ticket, but I wasn't in the mood the night of the concert here in Chicago). One of the most touching moments in the film did occur in Chicago when a young who couldn't have been out of her mid-teens (I don't remember it being an all ages concert, but it had to have been) talks about reading an adolescent book in which the protagonist continually talks about the Pixies. The book inspired her to looks into their music and subsequently to strive to form a Pixies cover band. She is front and center during their performance at the Aragon. I loved it when at the end of the concert Kim Deal leaned over to one of the guards and asked him to give her pick to the girl. As the opening credits come up we get to hear her band play for several measures and while they lack somewhat vocally, they managed to play quite credibly.

Anyone who has ever enjoyed the Pixies absolutely has to see this DVD. Although there are several DVDs that have been released in the past couple of years, this is far and away the best. Rarely has any film given us such a personal glimpse into the lives of musicians.

If you love Pixies this is certainly a must see. It is not overtly revealing, I mean go figure that they have their weirdnesses. But the pure explosive chemistry of them onstage is incredibly miracluous. This is made even more so by the fact that there is on painful scene where they just don"t talk to each other."We don"t talk much to each other. I mean, we like each other. We just aren"t those kind of people".
There is some fragility reflected...Kim Deal,in recovery, needs support from her sister. David Lovering comes across like an on the edge whack job. But there is humanity too. Black Francis(Charles Thompson) actually comes across as a fairly ingratiating person at times. Joey Santiago seems like the rock that holds them all down.
And essentially, in the end, it is the music that galvanizes this piece....as well it should be. Some people hate Pixies(my wife for one) but there is no denying their impact, surrealistic, dynamic, innovative, melodic and nuerotic.
I was so excited to see this, and I am glad I did.

Okay, so these guys had UNFETTERED access to the most anticipated band reunion, well, ever... and this is it? This is all they do? Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see the guys playing again, and watching Kim get sober along the way, wander the towns, etc. But the main problem with this doc is that it's absolutely BORING. And they fumble the key issues in all true fan's minds: the reasons for the breakup, and the possibility of new music. In fact, the best part of this movie (aside from the music) is the impromptu interviews of the fans Kelly does. She starts asking questions! What a concept!

This is such a wasted opportunity. The film makers were either inept, or too star-struck and "honored to be chosen" to make a film with any depth. We're left with a lazy, fly-on-the-wall love letter. Tiptoe filmmaking.

Look, I love all things Pixies. Period. And on a certain level, this is a nice to see just because I love this band so much. And if you're a big Pixies fan, you will probably enjoy it to a certain extent. But again, from a FILM standpoint, and what this piece SHOULD have been about, this is a gigantic let down.

This movie really brings the great stars that call themselves the Pixies back down to earth. As a fan, it's easy to imagine the four musicians as bigger than life. Before I watched this film, I imagined that the Pixies reunion was all rainbows and candy as their chemistry on stage was nothing less than brilliant. Then I watched the film. They're human just like us (duh!). Probably more screwed up than most of us. Which makes the band even better in my eyes. For four unique, very talented artists, to put aside the static of the world and come together is such a harmonious way each time they hit the stage, I take my hat off. I highly suggest you read "Fool the World" before watching this movie as it will provide you with all of the background leading up to this film.

Like many people, I discovered Pixies thanks to the references made by Nirvana on interviews. they were one of the most influential bands of alternative rock, surely. The loud-quite-loud concept was a stroke of genius and hugely influential on many levels I don't need to explain.

Then how is it that this film managed to strip Pixies off ...well, everything cool and relevant about them? It made them look like a mundane and boring band. At first I was puzzled, like "what the hell is this? what's going on?". There is absolutely no narrative, technique, or art direction here, it doesn't even look like an actual film, just some homemade footage thrown together. this is the Pixies we are talking about, not some random 80s band. As it is, the producers of this movie made it look like the only important thing the Pixies did was influence Nirvana.

This was painful to watch as a film. it didn't do justice to Pixies, where is the respect? where is the significance, the transcendence? I admit it was amazing to see the packed venues; it was just so out of context. I respect the members, I understand they hit hard times and weren't in their best shape and that they totally deserved having sold-out shows but come on, I didn't need to see how ordinary and sad they were backstage. By the end of the film I was pretty depressed. This is no way to portray one of the greatest american rock bands ever.

I was expecting something grand, something epic, a film that for at least an hour explored the origins of the band and their career, with cool vintage footage, interviews and photographs; also modern interviews with decent set-up scenes and lighting showing the band and peers from the press and other bands talking about old times and reminiscing. Then they would introduce their stories and hard times after the breakup and then the finale, the climax of the story would be the reunion and the tour and the sold-out venues, and the cool fan interviews; that would have been one hell of a satisfying film to watch.

What where the producers thinking when they made this? The only redeeming part about buying this DVD was the royalties that went to the band, I support them and that's why I wish this film didn't suck so much. Otherwise, I don't recommend it. Too depressing.

The Pixies were the most influential band of the nineties and the fact that their existence was so brief (they only released four full-length albums) was a major blow to rock music, which has had to suffer through a number of Pixie and Nirvana wannabes since. Many fans had been clamoring for a reunion for years. Their wish was finally granted in 2004 when the band toured for the first time since 1992. loudQUIETloud is a fantastic documentary of that tour.

This film is great because it's not just about live performances, though there's plenty of that too. But it also gives us four engaging human portraits of the band members. We see each of them as they were before the tour. David Lovering and Joey Santiago were barely hanging on financially. Kim Deal had recently recovered from drug addiction, but was living with her parents and still looking really fragile. Charles Thompson was the only one who looked ok- we see him happily spending time with his family- though he seems to have put on an enormous amount of weight in the intervening years.

Then the tour. Their nervousness before the first show is endearing to see. Kim's post-show amazement at the crowd's enthusiasm, while icing her hand, is just plain adorable. As the tour moves on though, there are more ups but also plenty of downs. Lovering in particular has a rough time. His father dies while the band is playing in London and this causes a spiral of valium addiction and mental collapses on-stage. We also see firsthand the friction that caused them to collapse all those years before. They barely talk to each other. There are many scenes of them sitting in the same room saying nothing. Kim's twin Kelley seemed to engage most of the group conversation. At the same time, I expected Charles to be more of a jerk to the others since he's the one who broke up the band in an interview. Instead, he appeared to be really kind to his band mates, like when he worried over Kim's swollen hand after the first show. It was only when we saw him doing interviews that the arrogance would come out, like when he half-jokingly referred to the Pixies as `his band' and shared with an interviewer the fact that he was writing songs for a possible new Pixies album, something he hadn't shared with his band mates. Paired with the circumstances of their break-up, the Pixies would be better served if Charles didn't do interviews.

But what we see in the end is a great band, reunited after so many years, communicating in the only way they know how, on-stage. Their performances are amazing. It's easy to see that the whole is greater than the parts here. Yes, Charles wrote the songs, but what would they have been without Kim pounding bass and sweet harmonies, or the minimalist brushstrokes Joey painted over the entire canvas. They just work. This wonderful documentary reminds us of this, but it also reminds us that they are four distinct individuals with their own struggles, with stories as compelling as their music. Any fan of the Pixies must see this film.

Appreciate the Pixies. And I was wondering if after all this time we could please let us drop "alternative" when talking about the music? It's just great rock 'n' roll. I don't even know what alternative means. Maybe alternative to sucking. It doesn't even make remote sense now. Alternative to metal hair bands of the 80s? So many newer bands owe a debt to the Pixies. They were a great band and proved they can still rock after many years apart. Their reunion tour is captured well here. You see sorta warts and all I guess. But they leave some mystery as to what makes the Pixies one of rock's most important bands of the last 30 years. Well I'd put 'em up there as truly one the all time best bands. Lots of great live footage and backstage scenes. Must see for fans.

Excellent documentary on the Pixies. Keep in mind it's just that - a documentary. There is some good concert footage, but the point of this film is to show the strained yet professional relationship between all four members of the Pixies during their 2004 reunion tour. It's fascinating to watch them interact off-stage - all four of them seem to be in their own orbits. They don't really talk with each other and when they do, it seems like they are keeping their distance. As well, when they do interact it's mostly for professional reasons. However, once on stage the four of them use their music to find some common ground (most of the time) and really make magic. The great thing is that after nearly fifteen years the music hasn't aged and they haven't lost their edge - if anything maturity has added a dimension of artistic credibility to their music. If you're a Pixies fan and haven't watched this, put this in your shopping cart right now.

This is a beautiful film which exposes the members of the Pixies as refreshingly normal humans. They reunited for a massive tour after being apart for many years. The amount of understated concern and affection they have for each other came through clearly and explained the chemestry that make them one of the most unique and wonderful bands to come down the pike. Anyone can put on leather, get a Mowhawk, and declare himself a punk. However, it takes a real punk to perform at middle age and overweight and not only pull it off but blow the doors off the barn! I gained new respect for ALL the band members not only as musicians but also as human beings. Long live the Pixies!

I read a review in InPress, a really cool Australian journal, that compared this film favorably to Dont Look Back and Some Kind of Monster, calling it "hands down the best rock doc ever," so naturally I had to check it out. And well, it's pretty great. I was not a huge Pixies fan, but there is so much humanity and character depth on the screen. It's a must-see for anyone who like the band and I think a damn fine hour and half for anyone else as well. The main theme is about growing up and still holding on to your adolescent dreams and it is told in a really poignant way. Plus there are some great extra scenes including a little film of the genius Daniel Lanois scoring the film (the score is gorgeous), so it is probably worht thepurchase rather than the netflix rental.