Ed. Note: Welcome to Sound City week here at Music of Matthew dot com! This week we’ll be covering some notable albums recorded at the legendary Sound City studio in Los Angeles, which was covered in great detail in Dave Grohl’s excellent 2013 documentary “Sound City”.
To kick off Sound City week we’re starting with the soundtrack to the 2013 documentary “Sound City”. For those not in the know, Sound City was one of the most venerable recording studios in LA during the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, serving as the location for legendary albums such as Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty, Nevermind by Nirvana, and the debut self-titled album Rage Against The Machine. In other words, it was pretty much a pop culture powerhouse that recorded some of the most iconic albums in the world.
Sound City was known for its unique sound, which was created by its vintage analog equipment. The studio’s legendary Neve mixing console and its collection of microphones and outboard gear were said to give recordings a warm, natural sound that was perfect for rock and roll. In addition, the room where drums were recorded inexplicably generated an incredibly punchy dynamic with a ton of bite, which shouldn’t have been possible considering the layout of the room.
Real To Reel brings many of those artists back together to record an original soundtrack for the documentary, and feature’s a who’s who of rock and roll stardom. Legends like Stevie Nicks, Paul McCartney, Josh Homme, Rick Springfield, and Trent Reznor join Dave Grohl and the late, great Taylor Hawkins during the sessions. It’s effectively a love letter to rock and roll that is filled to the brim with excellent songwriting and just a damn good time.
Soundtracks of this scope have a habit of being disjointed efforts considering the various influences that get brought to the table, but full marks to Grohl for crafting something that is not only original but has a concise vision.
This is a soundtrack for the ages that delivers on the magic that was Sound City.
Standout Songs: “You Can’t Fix This”, “Heaven and All”, “If I Were Me”, “Mantra”
Matthew. 