Detroit Rock City
Parents need to know that this movie is something of a valentine to sex, drugs, and rock and roll, to say nothing of lying, cheating, stealing, destroying property, and cutting school. Much of the humor in the film will be lost on people who don't know every KISS lyric and remember the KISS comic with the band's blood mixed into the red ink.
Detroit Rock City
There's little originality, wit, or credibility in the script, but in its own way it's genial and unpretentious and ultimately more winning than some recent overly focus-grouped big studio releases. Much of the humor in the film will be lost on people who don't know every KISS lyric and remember the KISS comic with the band's blood mixed into the red ink. And it is something of a valentine to sex, drugs, and rock and roll, to say nothing of lying, cheating, stealing, destroying property, and cutting school. Furthermore, it is very much a male fantasy movie, with four teen-age boys triumphing over huge bad guys and winning over beautiful women. It also includes one of the key cliches of the teen movie -- the character who has sex for the first time becomes suddenly more mature, braver, wiser, and more powerful. Parents of kids who see this movie may want to discuss these issues.
A number of bands would continue to rise out of the Detroit streets, but perhaps the most notable of this newer batch would be The White Stripes. Forming in 1997, the group, which consisted of Jack and Meg White, presented a stripped down approach to music and a simplified sound that mixed elements of garage rock and blues. Though the band released only three albums, they paved the way for many musicians who came after them. Jack White has since founded Third Man Records in Midtown and releases vinyl out of his own printing press.
But it is not only genres of rock that are prominent on the Detroit music scene. There are also numerous venues that feature jazz, blues, and techno (Detroit techno history is for another day and does NOT disappoint).
Music is integral to Detroit culture and lives through our historic venues, our streets, and people. It is the birthplace of so many successful bands and musicians and plays a prominent role in the history of music. It cultivated the spirit of rock and roll that lives on today.
Four Kiss-obsessed teens do whatever they can to secure tickets to the rock gods' show in Detroit, Michigan and hilarious hijinx ensues. Fuck, this movie rocks, no pun intended. In the same vein as Airheads and School Of Rock, it celebrates rock 'n' roll and the rebellious culture that comes along with it. I'm honestly surprised that it isn't more popular, but i'm also not surprised that it has a bit of a cult following. It's very funny, has a killer soundtrack and just makes you feel like a million bucks while watching it. YOU PULL THE TRIGGER OF MY ?????????????????? LOVE GUNNNNNNN!
Detroit was a rock 'n' roll city for decades - Bill Haley even rocked around the clock out of its Highland Park neighborhood - before Kiss dubbed it "Detroit Rock City." But it's a title that's been embraced and celebrated in the decades since the opening track from 1976's Destroyer was released as the album's fourth single on July 28.
Paul Stanley and his bandmates had every reason to sing Detroit's praises. It was one of the first cities to get behind Kiss in a big way, with radio play and headline shows. And it was at the city's Cobo Arena where much of the breakthrough Alive! album was recorded.
"Detroit, for me, has always been an incredible city with a great allure and a great history," Stanley tells UCR. "You have Motown ... which is mind-boggling. And then you have this great, blue-collar city with Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, early Alice Cooper, Stooges, MC5, Bob Seger. It's a city that really embraces rock 'n' roll. And we were a headliner in Detroit before we were anywhere close to that in other parts of the country. We were headlining Cobo before we were doing anything close to that anywhere else in the country."
In the wake of Alive!'s Top 10, gold-certified success, Stanley set out to repay that devotion with "a song that really championed and gave props to a city that was so important to us, and to so many others. It started off as just a song to sing the praises of this rock 'n' roll city."
In this coming-of-age story, four Midwestern high school students embark on an unstoppable quest for concert tickets to see the rock band KISS. Over the course of one magical night, each undergoes a harrowing and hilarious experience as their insatiable desire to see their favorite band brings them up against the authorities, their parents and the persistent influence of disco.
To kids of the '70s, Kiss were a rite of passage, or at least a totem of adolescence, so it isn't entirely surprising that a movie like Detroit Rock City came into existence. Green-lighted after the original Kiss reunion was a blockbuster success in 1997, the film is a nostalgic trip about a quartet of teenage stoners (led by the always excellent Edward Furlong) in 1978 and their adventures as they try to see Kiss in Detroit, otherwise known as Rock City. Clearly, a film like this screams for a blend of classic rock and classic rock covers as the soundtrack, and that's exactly what it gets. The true heart of the album is in the classic rock songs: "Running with the Devil," "Iron Man," "Jailbreak," "Surrender," "Rebel Rebel," "Little Willy," and, of course, "Shout It Out Loud" and the title track. They help set the mood, while the covers bring in the younger audience. Apart from the Donnas' "Strutter" and Everclear's "The Boys Are Back in Town," the covers are largely gimmicky -- listen to Pantera's "Cat Scratch Fever"; Drain S.T.H.'s "20th Century Boy," which is similar to Placebo's cover of the T. Rex tune for Velvet Goldmine; and Marilyn Manson's cover of "Highway to Hell" (a song that wasn't released until 1979, by the way), which provokes snickers since you always knew Brian Warner was headed there -- but the remakes are only occasionally embarrassing. Consequently, the album is a good time, even if it isn't as much fun as the film and has as many ups and downs as a typical concert-going experience. 041b061a72