Album Review: Sound City Players - Sound City: Real To Reel

Dave Grohl loves his music and loves his rock traditions. This soundtrack is basically a support act to his new documentary about the closing of Sound City, one of the best recording studios in the States. As you would expect, with the advent of new technologies Sound City closed due to the new fashions of recording techniques and probably many other factors like changes in property prices. The studio was, in its prime, host to the recording of many great albums and Grohl brings a great presence to the history of the studio and its participants.

Of course the great irony of Sound City was that even though the place looked like a dump, the sounds that came out of the desk and rooms were incredibly suitable for creating hit records. Grohl enlists the likes of Stevie Nicks, Paul McCartney and Tom Petty to record songs with his band and mates to recreate the Sound City vibe. The album of course is not as enlightening as the film, but there are some highlights. The best track by far is You Can't Fix This with Stevie Nicks at the helm. It's a dramatic piece that reminds the listener of rock's casualties who passed through the studio's doors.

Some of these tracks, like Mantra, are really just improvised jams that are there just to emphasise the qualities of the studio. Also as you would expect, some tracks, like The Man That Never Was featuring Rick Springfield, are just an excuse for another outing with the Foo Fighters and their generic rock. Check out the documentary and find out how magic worked before the advent of the digital world.