HYPE! (1996) (Shout Select Blu-ray Review)

HYPE! (1996) 
Collector's edition 

Label: Shout Select
Region Code: A
Duration: 84 Minutes 
Rating: Unrated
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0, English DTS-HD MA 5,1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Doug Pray
Cast: Members of Mudhoney, Soundgarden, The Melvins, The Fastbacks,, Jack Endino, Conrad Uno, Pete Bagge, Steve Fisk,Susan Silver, Charles Peterson, Bruce Pavitt, Jonathan Poneman 

Synopsis: Drop into the Pacific Northwest in the early '90s and watch a vibrant underground music scene explode into a global "grunge" media frenzy. Hype! follows the music from local bands playing for their friends, to Sub Pop Record’s brilliant exploitation of "the Seattle Sound," to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" hitting #1 on the charts. Questions of money, authenticity, and fame arise as "grunge fashion" hits the runways and a mass migration of wanna-be Seattle bands saturates the city. The Northwest experience is one of humor, loss, and epic irony. With intense live performances by Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, and many more, Hype! rocks the definitive story of the world's last great local music scene.

The early 90's "grunge" era was sort of my coming of age musically, as an adolescent 70's rockers Kiss was my favorite band, in fact the TV movie Kiss Meets The Phantom of the Park  was one of the first movies I remember watching on TV when I was just five years old, alongside kiddie-friendly Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and the made-for-TV horror film Gargoyles (1972), the latter of which gave me nightmares for weeks! From Kiss my listening habits evolved to Van Halen, Cinderella, Ratt and Motley Crue, I definitely loved the hair rockers in the eighties, but then I discovered the glory of 70's riff-masters like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath thanks to a cool uncle, which bled into me discovering heavier stuff like Iron Maiden, Metallica and Slayer. 

It was at some point in '90 I first heard Seattle rockers Alice in Chains through my friend Cristi Fox, whom had bought the "Facelift" cassette. We had an impromptu listening party as we drove around in her car with her boyfriend/my best friend, Derek, jamming to the sludgy "We Die Young", that was my first taste of the Northwest sound. As memory serves it was mere months later that I was at a metal show at Max's Bar and Grill in Ithaca, NY where the sound man began playing some cool music over the P.A., it was not punk, not metal, not pop, but it made my ears perk-up in attention. Having had some conversation with the sound man at previous shows I walked up and asked what he'd been playing, it was an advance cassette Nirvana's "Nevermind", the song was called "Breed". I've long forgotten what band I was there to see that night but I will always remember stealing that cassette which was sitting on the edge of the soundboard, and that's when Nirvana and the Northwest "grunge" scene really entered by teen life. 

I never did buy flannel shirts (other than the few I already owned)  or wear Doc Martins boots, because docs were expensive and I was poor, but I was definitely one of those kids entranced by the Seattle-sound. It was through my love of Nirvana that I sort of reverse-engineered a love for the larger Northwest music scene, as an avid reader of zines and music mags I would keep a list of bands mentioned in interviews and reviews, seeking out their music and cultivating a love for The Wipers, Green River, Mudhoney, The Melvins, U-Men, and the roster of other Sub Pop bands like the Afghan Whigs and Love Battery, a label who branded themselves like no other at the time - they were a marketing machine. 

When this doc came out the grunge scene, at least in the media, had already been in a steady rate of decline, Kurt Cobain had been dead for a few years, and I was in the process of discovering a different brand of Northwest music, going back to the primitive 60s rockers the Sonics, and the garage-rockers on Estrus Records like the Mono Men and The Makers, as well as non-Northwest stuff, like discovering the defunct Minneapolis rockers The Replacements and the Suburbs, as well as deep diving into 70s punk rock and 80's new wave stuff like the Nervebreakers and The Controllers. 

Watching this doc was a fun trip down memory lane, documenting the rise of the Northwest music scene, of the early punk and noise bands that built the scene for years before it garnered any media attention, and the how the rise of bands like Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and of course Nirvana, contributed to the "grunge" explosion. The doc is peppered with interviews from the bands and record engineers who brought us all that great music, Jack Endino, who recorded Nirvana's 'Bleach', has a fun, wry perspective of the whole thing. The band members, music journalist and label reps talk about the absurdity and unexpected pop-culture freak out that was grunge, and how silly it all became, with plenty of Spinal Tap-ish moments described. Hands down my favorite interview is Sub Pop-employee/now president of Sub Pop records, Megan Jasper, explaining how she contributed to an infamous New York Times article about the "lexicon of grunge", which is a hilarious example of how the mainstream media latched onto something they clearly couldn't comprehend and were grasping at straws to cash-in on the phenomena. 

The doc is loaded with interviews from members of Coffin Break, Dead Moon, The Fastbacks, Gas Huffer, The Melvins, The Monomen, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees, Seaweed, 7 Year Bitch, Soundgarden, The Supersuckers, Tad, The Walkabouts and more, plus record producers Jack Endino, Steve Fisk, and Conrad Uno, and the folks who ran the labels; we have Bruce and Jon from Sub Pop, eMpTy Records, C/Z Records, Estrus Records, and K Records. There also interviews with photographer Charles Peterson, who's iconic  blurry photography captured the scene, and artist Pete Bagge who wrote/illustrated the  comic 'Hate'. Even Mike Vraney from Something Weird Video even shows up as for a bit as a rock promoter. 

As a music doc we have some great live performance footage,  from archival audio and video footage of noisemakers The Thrown-Ups to the then-current performances from rockers Dead Moon, The Fastbacks, Flop, The Supersuckers, The U-Men, Gas Huffer, Girl Trouble, The Gits, Hammerbox, Love Battery, The Melvins, The Monomen, Mudhoney, there's even a VHS-sourced performance of Nirvana playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" live for the first time at an early show. A performance from 7 Year Bitch is particularly blistering, this is a great sounding doc, one that should be played very loud! 

This was a great time for rock music, and a lot of it holds up today, these were people and bands who were passionate about rock n' roll that just happened to get caught up in the over-blown media hype surrounding it, it doesn't diminish how great the music was, depending on your tastes in music. A great document of a time when for a brief period rock reigned and the horrible bubble-gum pop music of the time was overtaken by guitars and screaming singers, and it was awesome, and slightly ridiculous. A lot of these bands have dissipated or moved on, or sadly members have died, but I am pleased to say that The Melvins and Mudhoney have gone onto thrive, particularly the Melvins who are better than ever. 

Audio/Video: Nineties grunge-rock doc Hype! (1996) arrives on Blu-ray from Shout Factory imprint Shout Select framed in 1.85:1 widescreen from a new HD transfer sourced from the 35mm inter positive. The image is grainy and appropriately raw-looking. Colors are good, the abundance of flannel shirts and mops of wild hair show some nice fine detail and crispness. Audio-wise we get both 2.0 and 5.1 DTS-HD MA tracks with Optional English subtitle. The music cues come through strong and powerful, the live performances particularly have some oomph to 'em. 

Extras include the original 2004 commentary from director Doug Pray and Producer Steve Helvey, plus a new solo commentary from Pray recorded for this 20th anniversary release, it;s a good listen as Pray reflects on the film and bands, commenting on the recent death of Chris Cornell and reflecting on his obvious love of the music. There are also 20th anniversary interviews with Mark and Steve of Mudhoney, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, members of The Fastbacks, record producers Jack Endino and Steve Fisk, Soundgarden manager Susan Silver, and photographer Charles Peterson. The guys from Mudhoney are especially funny in their usual self-deprecating way, poking fun at themselves. There's also a selection of interview outtakes from the film from Megan Jasper, graphic designer Art Chantry, Tad, Leighton Beezer of The Thrown-Ups, and artist Pete Bagge.  

Of note are a selection of live performances shot in '93 that were not featured in the film, we get performances from Mudhoney pounding through Texas punkers The Dicks song "Hate the Police", Tucson ex-pats Supersuckers "Cottail Rider", Pond "Rock Collecting", and The Gits "Here to Fuck You", which was one of their near-last performances before singer Mia Zapata was raped and murdered a few months later, there's optional commentary from director Doug Pray for each performance.  The last of the extras are a "Hate" comics animated short which pokes fun at the hyped-grunge era, and a trailer for the film.  

Special Features: 
- NEW “Hype! 20 Years After” – Featuring New Interviews With Members Of Mudhoney, Soundgarden, And The Fastbacks, Record Producers Jack Endino And Steve Fisk, Manager Susan Silver, And Photographer Charles Peterson (16 min) HD 
- NEW 2017 Audio Commentary By Director Doug Pray
- Original 2004 Audio Commentary By Director Doug Pray And Producer Steve Helvey
- Peter Bagge’s Animated Short, “Hate” (4 min) 
-Additional Performances (With Optional Director’s Commentary) By Mudhoney, Supersuckers, Pond, And The Gits (12 min) HD 
- Additional Interviews With Megan Jasper, Art Chantry, Tad, Leighton Beezer, Peter Bagge, And More (23 min) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD 

Hype! (1996) is a rocking document of the "grunge" era as seen from the inside and loaded with humorous talking heads and powerful live performances. It does a decent job talking about the early days of the Seattle scene and the absurdity of how that scene exploded and was dutifully exploited. The disc from Shout Select sounds and looks great, the extras are cool, the music is awesome and the interviews are fantastic, highly recommended for fans of that era of rock music.