Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Inspirational story of an obscure metal band from the 80s

This is a documentary chronicling the Toronto metal band Anvil, focusing on the friendship and aspirations of the two main band members, singer/guitarist Steve "Lips" Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner.

The band formed in the late 70s as Lips, but changed their name to Anvil upon obtaining a record deal in 1981. The mid-80s were a good time for the young band and they were expected to go on to great success, but it was not to be. Guitarist Dave Allison left the band in 1989 followed by bassist Ian Dickson in 1993. But Steve & Robb soldiered on with new members, releasing album after album up to the present (16 studio albums altogether, as of this writing). When the film was shot, Ivan Hurd was the second guitarist with Glenn "Glenn Five" Gyorffy on bass. Both are featured in the movie while original members Allison and Dickson are featured in the deleted scenes on the DVD (their scenes shouldn't have been cut IMHO).

This is a great inspirational documentary whether you like Anvil and metal/hard rock or not. I really like the band, but never heard their stuff until 2009 when I rented the 1988 movie Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers," which features two songs from Anvil's 1987 album STRENGTH OF STEEL, the catchy "Straight Between the Eyes" and "Wild Eyes." One critic claimed that their 1982 album METAL ON METAL was their best-selling recording, but that's simply not true, STRENGTH OF STEEL was; and, although it's maligned by some fans, it's easily one of their top albums and not "too commercial," as some erroneously contend (check out songs like "Concrete Jungle," "Paper General," "Kiss of Death" and the aforementioned "Straight Between the Eyes").

Anvil were just as good in their own unique way as any of the so-called Big Four, Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth. If you don't believe me, check out their top albums, like WORTH THE WEIGHT. (The album being recorded in the movie, THIS IS THIRTEEN, is actually NOT one of their better recordings, song-wise, nor is the follow-up JUGGERNAUT OF JUSTICE, although each have their points of interest). So why didn't Anvil AT LEAST attain the success of the secondary bands of the Big Four (i.e. Megadeth and Slayer)? Cheap production of their 80's albums may be one reason, although the production wasn't THAT bad for the era and certainly listenab