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CD review: ‘Sound City: Real to Reel’

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Various Artists
Sound City: Real to Reel
two and a half stars

Although it’s officially the soundtrack to Dave Grohl’s documentary Sound City (about the legendary LA recording studio of the same name), Sound City: Real to Reel can be regarded as a Grohl solo album, the latest chance for the Foo Fighters mastermind and former Nirvana drummer to jam with his heroes. It features Grohl as sideman to an assortment of figures from the worlds of classic rock (Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen) and ’90s alt-rock (Trent Reznor, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, members of Queens of the Stone Age and Rage Against the Machine), plus Grohl’s Foo-mates and other guests. The results of jam sessions filmed for the movie, the songs feel loose and half-formed. Sure, it’s cool to hear McCartney with the surviving members of Nirvana, but the resulting song, “Cut Me Some Slack,” is forgettable. When Rick Springfield contributes the best track (“The Man That Never Was”), something is definitely off.

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