It Might Get Loud

It Might Get Loud opens with Jack White making a guitar out of a block of wood, an electric pickup, a piece of wire and a coke bottle. And it sounds good. His DIY aesthetic is what he explores and expounds. The Edge has a guitar tech who lines up all his effects pedals for him. Most, he says, will only be used once in a concert, for one particular part of a song. The pedal rack is imposing. The Edge talks about his love of technology, of teasing the sound out of his guitar through technology. Jimmy Page, he’s the grandfather of the gang, and mostly he just reminisces about his days as a session guitarist and the rise from being a working guitarist to a rock god. All three men have different stories to tell, all focused on their approach to music.

Fans of any of the three will find a lot to enjoy in this well-made documentary, but fans of Jack White will get the most out of it. Of them all he’s most interested in talking about his relationship to his guitar and his determination to wrestle sound out of the most recalcitrant cheaply-made instrument. There’s a moment when you see the bloodied fretboard and you can see how serious he is about his mission. His personality is the biggest and most engaged with the project. Jimmy Page isn’t all that interesting, though it is nice to hear about the life of a session guitarist, someone hired to play on other people’s compositions. The Edge does get in a few great moments too. His demonstration of the guitar riff from “Elevation”, sans electronic processing, is hysterical. It bears no resemblance to the final product, but hearing him talk about trying to get the sound from his guitar to match the sound in his head is instructive of the hard work that goes into making what seems like a very basic thing..

It Might Get Loud is a good doco on what makes the difference between the guy who sits and plays guitar by the beach and these men who have created definitive new sounds, all from the same instrument. And while the title, sadly, is misleading, it’s worth a watch for anyone who likes the sound of an electric guitar.

Want more about this film?

Want something different?