Sturgill Simpson Presents: Sound & Fury (2019) – Summary, Review (with Spoilers)
The highly political Sturgill Simpson Presents: Sound & Fury is probably one of the most compelling visual albums you may see for a while.
[Unless Said Otherwise] Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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| Director(s) | Jumpei Mizusaki | |
| Screenplay By | Jumpei Mizusaki | |
| Date Released | 9/28/2019 | |
| Genre(s) | Animation, Musical | |
| Who Is This For? |
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| Where To Buy, Rent, or Stream? | Netflix | |
| Noted Cast | ||
| Singer | Sturgill Simpson | |
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Plot Summary/ Review
What it all boils down to is a fight against the exploitation of the common people. Be it capitalism trying to murder or kill people with toxins, slave or cheap labor, or making people into cogs of a machine, Sound & Fury is music to rebel to as the revolution happens.
Question(s) Left Unanswered
Highlights
Women At The Center Of It All
From the samurai dressed young woman, seemingly finishing what her father started, to the one who collects trinkets from a fallen world, while there was a male, a person of color at that, who was centered during one segment, the rest were setups for a female character. This is important considering the topics which follow.
The Battles
The samurai women continuing her father’s vengeance, in spectacular style, against what looks like corporate greed and gluttony were just pure awesomeness. For whether you are talking about the style, the choice in the ebb and flow, or the execution of the end, there was an epic story that, honestly, was unexpected. Almost to the point of this feeling less like a visual album and more like a story that Simpson simply made the soundtrack to.
The Message
What drives nearly all of the praise is how political this visual album is. Be it fighting western imperialism, gluttony, being a cog in the machine, pollution, inhumane labor conditions (if not slave labor), subjugation of people of color, and so much more, what people say their album is about in interviews, it is like Simpson got to speak that in the visuals. Thus allowing you every single thought, without necessarily having to be explicitly told what was what for you just got it.
The Music
Admittedly, I can’t remember a single lyric or song title. However, when it comes to the instruments and the vibe they gave you, from having a “Maggot Brain” by Funkadelic sound to a modern Hard Rock feel, you get the perfect match to the animation. I would even say it pushes memories of what Linkin Park used to do and makes you think this would have been the next level if they made that their thing.
On The Fence
It May Get A Little Too Trippy/Political For Some
As you have probably caught on to, Sound & Fury is very liberal in its politics about destroying the machine, capitalism, and the fight against everything which are valued at the cost of common people. That could turn off some people, if not the fact the visuals sometimes get trippy. Be it the Bollywood-style dance sequences or, if the message isn’t clear to you, jumping around to different characters who don’t appear to be connected.
Overall: Positive (Worth Seeing)
Unless you are a staunch conservative who feels under attack, between the visuals, music, and story of Sound & Fury, you’ll be in for a treat. One that may not inspire you to become an activist, but does push you to believe that more artist should certainly make visual albums and use animation as a medium more often.
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