Anvil
by Fred Churchville (Journalism), published June 9th 2010
In the world of heavy metal, they are considered idols, almost gods, and shared the stage with the likes of Whitesnake and Bon Jovi. They influenced bands like Metallica with their 1982 album Metal on Metal, which is acclaimed by many critics to be one of the heaviest albums of all time. Artists like Lars Ulrich, Slash, and Lemmy of Mot?rhead sing praises to them as one of the founders of metal.
Know who I’m talking about? Chances are that you haven’t. That’s because right after they stepped onto the scene, Canadian metal band Anvil slipped right off the stage into the dark realm of obscurity.
Blame the fact that they were on Canadian record label. Blame their management. Blame the fact that Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow used a vibrator on his guitar on stage and that it turned some executives off (though I’m sure it turned a lot of people on ‘ to the music, of course). Either way you cut it, people simply did not know the name Anvil as much as they should’¦
‘¦until now.
Finally, almost 30 years after they shared the stage with Bon Jovi in Japan, the group, Consisting of Robb Reiner on drums (not the guy who directed This is Spinaltap!, that’s Rob with one ‘b’), Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow on lead guitar, and currently Glenn Gyorffy on bass (more commonly known as Glenn Five or G5 for short), is doing the United States tour that they deserved all along.
‘We’ve made a complete three hundred and sixty degree turn in our career. Things are going better than ever,’ says Reiner.
So what’s their secret to making it after years and years of undeserved obscurity? Make a movie about yourself!
That’s right, the band credits their documentary Anvil!: The Story of Anvil as a major part of their notoriety that they now enjoy in the US. It was directed by acclaimed screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, who, in the case of this film, makes it clear in the film that he is primordially a fan of Anvil and a documentary maker second. It starts documenting the band from their humble roots of Toronto Canada, and follows their epic struggle to success over the hills of denied record deals, missed trains, club owners who hold out on them, and some internal struggles between the band members.
‘I don’t think you could portray a tale of two nicer people that you want to succeed more,’ says Jake Travers, a third year student at Northeastern who found the movie by chance when he came across a review of the movie in the London Times, which claimed the documentary to be ‘the greatest movie about rock n’ roll of all time’. Travers proceeded to go to cheer on Anvil when they opened for ACDC at Fenway in June, along with many other newfound fans.
The band is currently still on their U.S. tour titled ‘The Anvil Experience’, which included a recent stop at the House of Blues in Boston. They have more tours lined up for the future, and are finishing up their next album, Juggernaut of Justice.
And while one might think that they would be bitter about their absence from the main music scene for so many years, they actually see a silver lining on the situation.
‘Music is a timeless thing, and we haven’t let time change what we play,’ says Lips. Both he and Reiner agree that they are much happier with their music since the pressure of record labels over the years has not forced them to change their sound.
‘We’re not Home Depot,’ said Lips with a smile in an interview with TM. ‘We’re the local corner hardware store. But our screwdrivers are just as fucking good as Home Depot’s screwdrivers!’
By the way, did you know that Reiner was asked by Ozzy Osbourne to be the drummer in his self-titled band? Oh yeah, and Lips, as he stated in an interview with Paste Magazine, that he was asked to join Motorhead. Why didn’t they join? ‘My identity is with Anvil,’ states Reiner. And we as listeners couldn’t happier with the choice that they made.
Anvil, without a doubt, is the prime example of keeping it real in the world of music, and you couldn’t ask for it to happen to a group of more honest, hardworking musicians. They definitely put to use a favorite old expression of mine: ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’