Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2011

In the ’80s and ’90s, drug-fueled impresario Alan McGee signed such household names as The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, and My Bloody Valentine. And, oh yes, Oasis. Music docs often teach me stuff I didn’t know, and I like that. But this hagiography left my ignorance of this music era nearly intact. Some laud the label’s insights, others criticize its nonexistent business sense. I think the movie is about the difficulty of reconciling the raw energy of indie rock with the necessity of making some money, but its complete lack of context will limit its appeal to the Britpop cognoscenti.