The second half of "Rock Star" is just a movie.  Pretty good, but nothing
special.  The first half is something else: one of the most exciting music
films, ever.

What kind of music? That's the point: it doesn't matter.  The story is a
thinly disguised heavy-metal fairy tale of Tim "Ripper" Owens, the Seattle
salesman who replaced Rob Halford in the British band Judas Priest in 1996.
The music is pounding (but crystal-clear) rock.

I know the band by name only and my usual approach to heavy metal is to
protect my ears with any material available.  And yet, I experienced a
rush of operatic proportions, and I was ready to shout BRAVO when the hero
triumphed at the auditions in a scene that looked, sounded and felt like
the Prize Song in "Die Meistersinger."

Those who give crossover a bad name usually try to make their way in
another genre.  True crossover is music that is true to itself, performed
so well the matter of genre disappears and only excellence remains.  About
an hour's worth of "Rock Star" qualifies under that understanding of true
musical crossover.

I was certain of the director's involvement with music beyond rock as
I was watching the preview screening, but only when I looked up Stephen
Herek's bio did I realize that he is also the director of "Mr. Holland's
Opus." Well-intentioned as that movie is, it took "Rock Star" to give
Herek's love for music full and joyous expression.  The story, the writing
(by actor-musician John Stockwell), the sound, the images, the excellent
cast headed by Mark Wahlberg at his very best - they all add up to a true
celebration of music.  Trevor Rabin is responsible for the great score, the
performances (which look and sound completely authentic through the magic
of lipsync) are by various artists unfortunately unknown to me beyond Brian
Vander Ark of Verve Pipe.  They include Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind,
Slaughter's Blas Elias, and Black Label Society's Nick Catanese.

Considering how upset some Western classical-music purists have been with
my enthusiasm for Ali Akbar Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bob Marley, Balkan
and South Pacific folk music, etc., I can only imagine what the reaction
will be to this vulgar confession about heavy metal.  In defense, I can
only quote the lyrics from "Machine Man" - "Ignite the engines / You can
hear it scream / You're gonna eat your words / That challenged this
machine." Or, just as good: "Vergass ich's gestern Euch zu sagen, / heut
muss ich's laut zu kunden wagen: / ein Meistersinger mocht ich sein!"

Janos Gereben/SF
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