X:Unheard Music

Rating:
Summary: "X" can now be seen and heard
Review: This film is a very well-done documentary of a seminal punk band during it's peak years. "X" didn't really get their due then, but with recent compilation CD's and now this DVD, they are finally being recognized for music that is intelligent, creative and passionate. Buy it and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Finally... X!!!
Review: This is a documentary about the MOST important punk rock band ever. X was accessible on so many levels whether you were truly hardcore or coming up on the poetic beat-side. This film is a wonderful time capsule about the band. I was lucky enough to see X play live about a half dozen times and EVERY time was unique and incredible. I won't apologize for the hyperboly because X truly were and are the BEST of the best.

Rating:
Summary: The Unheard DVD
Review: This is a fantastic documentary - if you're at all interested in the LA Punk scene, this is a goody. It looks great, it sounds great, and it's a lot of fun. A highlight: Exene as the silent-film ghost in "Because I Do", the mobile home cruising down the streets of LA, the shots of the Whisky and the LA skyline, DJ showing off with a 3-4-5 beat, the hilarious interviews with record cmpany execs. It's funny, it's poignant, it's rockin'. Amazing art direction, too...

Rating:
Summary: Play it loud
Review: X holds the title of quintessential L.A. rock band, brushing past such contenders as the Doors (too psychedelic) and Love (too ephemeral). W.T. Morgan's jittery "X: The Unheard Music," finally surfacing on DVD, captures the band in the mid-1980s, standing tall atop the ashes of the city's punk scene.

Morgan makes the most of the band's Hollywood vibe. Stylized segments feature guitarist Billy Zoom (part Buck Owens and part Gorgeous George); singer Exene Cervenka (a rag doll with Bette Davis eyes); and singer-bassist John Doe and drummer D.J. Bonebrake (both blessed with leading-man looks).

"Unheard Music" covers some band biography ("Billy put an ad in the Recycler ...") but mostly it's X performing amid a blitzkrieg of images that range from Edsel ads to death squads shooting up El Salvador. A ghostly night scene shows a house transported across a freeway bridge as the title song plays. How L.A. How X.

The 1986 film, shot in 16mm, looks decent aside from persistent speckling. DTS and stereo audio options sound fine, but the Dolby 5.1 had a weird effect that sent vocals to the rear speakers. The Image Entertainment DVD offers no extras.

Rating:
Summary: The Clash weren't the only band that really mattered!
Review: X were an amazing, amazing band and this DVD really drives this point home. The live club performances show their incredible musicianship--DJ Bonebrake and Billy Zoom are PHENOMENAL! The studio performances show what incredible songwriters and artists John and Exene were. The video montages throughout put it all into context, and made me feel really nostaglic, there's nothing quite like superimposing a cruise missile over Ronnie Reagan's face to bring a tear to your eye. There's also this groovy, artsy video of Exene to White Girl that really sticks with you. No band in the last 20 years comes close to X--X were the real thing, and luckily there's The Unheard Music to remember them by. Buy it, watch it, and lend it to your paperboy, and afterwards the two of you can burn all his Emo CDs and start a band together.