In this series of posts I'll discuss an album I picked up as a teenager or my early 20s and haven't listened to in a very long time.
The band were formed in Toronto by high school friends Steve 'Lips' Kudlow (vocals/guitar) and Robb Reiner (drums), and the film follows them both closely throughout the running time. Although then-bassist Glenn Five and then-guitarist Ivan Hurd do feature, Lips and Reiner are key to Anvil, hence why they are the main focus of the movie. And I really feel for 'em both. Lips is the man! He's the kind of guy I'd love to go for a pint with down the pub. Robb is maybe a little more laid back and subdued, but is like Lips' brother. The film was shot around 2005/2006 (at least I think), Lips has just turned 50 and Anvil are stuck in a rut. Despite the fact they never disappeared, continued to make albums and play gigs, both Lips and Robb have day jobs because Anvil doesn't make them enough money to solely live by. Lips works in children's school catering and Robb in construction. But both guys still have the same passion for music that they always had. It's kind of crazy; the film begins with shots of their 1984 show at Japan's Super Rock festival, playing alongside superstar acts like Whitesnake, Scorpions and Bon Jovi in front of a massive crowd. Guys like Slash, Lemmy, Lars Ulrich, Tom Araya and Scott Ian all speak highly and fondly of them and their influence on heavy metal... and then the film cuts to Lips working his normal day job. The music industry is tough - it doesn't matter how good you are, high-scale success doesn't always last forever. Lemmy says it best - it's all about being in the right time and the right place.
Throughout the film, the band embark on a European tour - and even though it begins rather well for them at the Sweden Rock festival, the tour starts to collapse as it progresses. Some of the things that happen to the band along the way are comparable to This Is Spinal Tap. Some of the incidents include when they get lost in Prague and turn up late for their gig - there's not a great deal of people in attendance and the owner refuses to pay the band. They're booked to play a 10,000 seat arena in Transylvania and are promised at least 5000 ticket sales, but only 174 people turn up. They play another gig in a German bar (I think it was Germany anyway) and there's maybe only 4 or 5 people watching. They run into all kinds of public transport issues and end up sleeping in a train station. They come back home to Canada penniless after the tour. It makes for entertaining viewing, but it's heart-breaking to watch all the same.
When they return home, they manage to get in contact with legendary UK metal producer Chris 'CT' Tsangarides (RIP), who produced their classic albums Metal on Metal (1982) and Forged in Fire (1983). Lips says that their albums hadn't sounded their best since CT was involved. Even though CT is interested in working with the band again, they don't have the funds to record with him - so Lips works part-time in telemarketing, but doesn't make a sale. His sister gives him the money in the end and the band head over to England to record what would become the album This Is Thirteen (which I'll get to later I promise!). Lips and Robb get into all kinds of fights during the recording, but the album does eventually get made. Predictably though, they can't find a major label interested in releasing the album for them, so they release it themselves.
Despite all the mishaps and depressing shit that goes on throughout the movie, it's is still full of positivity and plenty of genuinely funny moments. Even though Anvil didn't give Lips and Robb the major success they'd envisioned, to say they failed really is not fair. You get insight into their families and personal lives - both are married with children, both have mortgages and have provided for their families who love them. And all the while they still made music and toured since Anvil was first formed, even if it never became their full-time job like they'd initially hoped. I'd call that a success. To still be able to do the thing you love at all is awesome enough in my books. Lips is such a cool guy too - even though he's clearly disappointed in the lack of money he makes from Anvil, he still treasures the loyal Anvil fanbase that never left. And Robb is a highly talented man - Lars Ulrich says he was a benchmark drummer in terms of technicality back in the early '80s, and as a hobby he's also an avid painter. The European tour was even responsible for guitarist Ivan Hurd's marriage; shortly after the tour is over he marries Tiziana Arrigoni, who managed the band and booked the gigs. And at the end of the documentary, they get a surprise booking to play a large indoor festival in Japan. They worry about the size of the crowd initially, being the first band on stage that day, but are met with a huge and enthusiastic crowd of crazy Japanese metalheads.
The film was also a major success to the point where it boosted Anvil's popularity and opened new doors for them once again. My only real complaint is the fact it's only 81 minutes long - I think this is fine for someone who just wants to watch a good documentary and is not necessarily interested in metal music (the film is a great watch no matter what music you're into), but I personally would have welcomed some extra footage! Since the documentary was released, the band have toured with AC/DC, Saxon, Alice Cooper, Metallica etc. as well as embarked on many successful tours and have continued to record more albums since This Is Thirteen. I seriously doubt Anvil is a part-time gig for them anymore! I got to see them at Bloodstock festival in 2012, they had a reasonably high slot on the mainstage. It's the only time I've seen them, but I'd love to see them again. It just hasn't happened yet for one reason or another.
The documentary is a great watch then. I hadn't watched it for a very long time, and I felt like I could sympathise with Lips and Robb a lot more now as a man in my 30s than I could as a 17 year old. I get that it must be disheartening to put so much time and energy into something and not get the widespread popularity you feel you deserve, but I really think it'd be wrong to call Lips and Robb a failure before the documentary was released. Like I said, both raised families and never gave up on music even if it wasn't their primary of source of income for such a long time. I've seen people slag off Anvil on sites like Reddit - people that claim their lack of financial/global success was down to lack of talent. I personally feel like this is just a dumb take. Anvil to me sounded like a New Wave of British Heavy Metal band that happened to hail from Canada. And a good one at that. Lars Ulrich essentially says that Robb Reiner was considered by many other drummers to be the dogs bollocks, and their music to me is comparable to bands like Raven and Tank. As a fan of the NWOBHM movement, that is a genuine compliment. I think many other things like management, record companies and labels... even image and trends etc. all factor into a band's level of success - not necessarily the quality of the music. I don't think it's controversial to argue that metal isn't supposed to be commercial.
Oh, and This Is Thirteen is a great album! I told you I'd get to it eventually! Like I said, it was released independently in 2007, but after the success of the film it was re-released on a larger scale in 2009 by VH1 Classic Records. I have 2 copies - my DVD comes with the album as a bonus, but I bought a separate copy at some point too because I wanted it on my CD shelves! Anyhow, since I had never heard of Anvil until the film came out, This Is Thirteen just happens to be the first Anvil album I ever listened to. After watching the film again, the album has been on rotation for me over the past couple of weeks. I forgot how much I liked it.
The band aren't reinventing the wheel here - you're getting Anvil's brand of old-school heavy metal of course, but the songs can vary between mid-tempo classic metal, speed metal and even punk-infused metal bangers. Songs like 'Feed the Greed', 'Flying Blind' and 'American Refugee' are fairly simplistic and almost punky, and slot between heavy metal mongers like the title track, 'Bombs Away', 'Axe to Grind' and 'Burning Bridges' really nicely. The title track in particular is built around massive, gargantuan riffage - almost doom-like in the traditional sense, and I love it. Every song - 13 of them, just like the title - is a no-nonsense slab of metallic goodness, hearkening back to the classic traditional metal scene of the '80s. As I said earlier, I've always found Anvil's music to be comparable to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement of the late '70s/early '80s. They just happen to be from Canada! And even though the songs are heavy, many of the little grooves and hooks within them are catchy and memorable throughout the CD. And while Lips' vocals fall into the more gruff/gnarly field of singing than melodic/operatic, they're honest. I can't imagine someone with a voice like Rob Halford or Bruce Dickinson singing over these tracks. Overall, this album is the sound of a band that knows their craft.
The songs are of course backed up by Chris Tsangarides excellent production work. It's not really surprising that Lips wanted to work with the guy so bad again in the film - the man is responsible for producing classics such as Judas Priest's Painkiller, Thin Lizzy's Thunder and Lightning, Black Sabbath's The Eternal Idol and Anvil's very own Metal On Metal. The guitar tones are thick and beefy, the bass is rumbling and rhythmic, and the drums are dynamic. The songs deserve this kind of treatment if you ask me. I still think I'd enjoy This Is Thirteen with a somewhat weaker, thinner sound - and I even like my metal to sound raw depending on the band and subgenre. But sometimes I just want an album to sound as professional as possible in this department.
The only song that's a bit 'meh' for me is 'Worry'. This one feels a little under-developed and lazy compared to the rest of the album with it's generic chorus. And I'm also struggling to score it any higher than an 8/10 - which is still very respectable anyway. There's not a lot wrong with This Is Thirteen - the songs don't blow me away, but they're mostly all really good. Had the production been a little weaker, it'd probably be a 7.5/10, so my 8/10 rating isn't entirely down to the songwriting itself... but if you're a big fan of traditional heavy metal, it's kind of hard not to love Anvil. The documentary just makes the music even more honest and full of heart and soul somehow. I have a few of their albums beyond this one, and re-watching the movie and listening to This Is Thirteen has really rekindled my own interest in them. Great stuff.
Adam's rating: 8/10 (This Is Thirteen)
9/10 (Anvil! The Story of Anvil)
