DVD REVIEW: MORPHINE – JOURNEY OF DREAMS

Shane | 10 December 2016 | Reply

DVD REVIEW: MORPHINE – JOURNEY OF DREAMS
MVD Entertainment
October 2016
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9/10

Mark Shuman lets cult ‘90s ‘low rock’ band Morphine tell their own story in this riveting documentary.

The band was the brainchild of Mark Sandman, a growling, bass playing frontman with a unique vision for a band: no guitar, just low sounds – bass, drums and saxophone. Once the band came together – a treatise on Morpheus and the realm of dreams, and not a drug-inference, despite much misunderstanding to the contrary – they quickly found an audience in the alt-rock nineties, and released five albums of challenging music that was big on college radio in The States and popular in Europe.

Never having a mainstream crossover hit took its toll on the band though, and then when on tour in Italy in 1999, Sandman suffered a heart attack onstage, and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

Shuman talks to all surviving members of the band, interspersed with archival interview footage of Sandman, valuable contributions from their long-time manager, Sandman’s girlfriend Sabine, and well known fans such as Henry Rollins and Joe Strummer, and what unfolds is a fascinating story of a unique band who influenced and entertained many without ever cracking the big time, but which ended in appallingly tragic circumstances.