Documentary Watch - Reelz Front Man: Axl Rose and Front Man: Alice Cooper

I am a sucker for music documentaries so of course I checked out the Reelz “Front Man” series. Specifically some of my favorite metal men - Axl Rose and Alice Cooper. In certain crowds, it’s not cool to like Guns N Roses, but I am a fan. Even worse, I am actually a big fan of when Axl fully embraced his inner Freddie Mercury and started writing rock epics. Heck, I even like Chinese Democracy at least a little bit. I relate to the small boy who moved to the big city and Axl certainly reminds me of metal head friends I had in high school. I never met a rock doc I didn’t like, but Front Man isn’t making great docs. The focus is on the sensational aspects of its subject. Axl has certainly had a volatile personality. Guests include early friend Vickie Hamilton and people like Tom Zutaut who “found” the band and biographer Mick Wall. But it doesn’t diverge much from talking about how messed up Axl was and the (genuine) reasons he was that way. Music is only the background occupation he has. Im not sure Use Your Illusion was even mentioned at all. Like most of the Reelz docs, it draws largely from one interview ( in this case, 2012 with Jimmy Kimmel). It at least gives a decent coda with Axl finding stability with manager Beta Lebies. I am not sure there are romantic attractions between the two as the doc implies, but I have seen her credited as a “ mother figure” or “work wife” elsewhere. I would mostly recommend this doc for only people interested in the early life of Axl. Front Man Alice Cooper fares a bit better. Once again the music is a background mention to the more flamboyant life of the performer. In this case, that means it is more focused on the breakup of the Alice Cooper Band, with Alice going solo and the cocaine binge years called “Alice’s lost years”. On the plus side, there’s a lot of input from Dee Snyder who knows a thing or two about the kind of rock musician life as Alice. If you are a Cooper fan, there’s probably nothing new here, but it does cover his recent career- with a focus on his Christianity and playing Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar. Again, not much about the great albums he recorded but fans of modern day Alice will no doubt enjoy it. Casual fans could do better going elsewhere. Either way, give Dee Snider the mic for an hour and you’re going to be entertained.