Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen (2011) Reviews

• Solid first hour, then 40 minutes without merit

  memfree2013-06-17

  Fans of NYC 70s rock, post-Beatles-Lennon, and music from 65-80 in general may well enjoy a good hour of rock nostalgia. As one would expect, there is a plethora of fantastic rock shots and behind-the-scenes bits here and there. Alas, there comes a point where it starts retreading the same ground and all we hear is a bunch of non-photographers rehash what they think photography means. It feels endless. It should have all been outtakes, but no, it seems someone felt a need to pad this out past the 90 minute mark when they should have been satisfied at 60. They could have even stretched to 70 if the stopped there, but it kept going. Even the photos get recycled so that we see the /same/ picture of LedZep, and the /same/ picture of The Who and on and on. Still, that first hour was quite enjoyable. New York Dolls, Blondie, fun.