Enlarged To Show Detail is a movie that 311 made back in 1996 right after they had just barely hit it big with the singles "Down" and "All Mixed Up" from the Blue Album. With this movie you get to see how 311 acts when they are just hanging out and you get to really see what their personalities are and their opinions on things. It talks about the infamous "KKK" rumor, which, by the way, is far from any ounce of truth and it also has interviews with the band and crew. It has concert footage of Freak Out, Visit, Do You Right, Feels So Good, Applied Science, *** The Bull*** and more. It also has music videos of Down, All Mixed Up, Homebrew, and Don't Stay Home.
Stuff I Liked: I liked how it really showed the personalities of the band members. I saw ETSD 2 before I saw this one and in the second one, P-Nut is a lot more serious/mature, but in this one, he's constantly making jokes and goofing around. It really shows Nick's serious side as well. It also shows Tim when he was starting to become the hard-core stoner that he is today. An interesting thing I learned from this movie was how much weed they used to smoke. They used to smoke a ton of weed, now, I think Nick, Chad, and S.A. may have quit or at least cut down a lot. With the concert footage it shows how their concerts used to be back when they had only been together for a few years. Their live shows have definitely transformed into something that's hard to describe in words. It has every member in the band describing other members in three words. I thought it was funny to have S.A. describe P-Nut as "pot" and "hamburgers." That was pretty funny. It reinforces the fact that Chad is a huge goof-ball. It also introduces you to their crew. It has interviews with some members of their crew. You get to see how it is keeping a 311 show rockin' and making sure there are no problems.
Stuff I Didn't Like: There wasn't much that I didn't like. It was kind of short compared to ETSD 2, but other than that I can't really think of anything. There were some other issues that they could have covered, but they covered mostly every important detail that happened in their career from 1988-1996.
BONUS EP:
1. Tribute- I have 311 Live and the live version of this song is on that album, but I had never heard the studio version. I love hearing a song live and then when you here the studio version you hear all these special effects that they didn't include when they played it live so you like it that much more. That's how it was when I heard this song. There are tons of effects from the turntables and the instrumental rocks, but when you add in the lyrics, this song is amazing. 4.5/5
2. Let The Cards Fall- This song is one of the best songs I've heard by 311 musically. It opens with an intro that's over a minute long. It's filled with bass, drum, and guitar beats that are awesome. It also switches styles a lot. When Nick starts singing it's a bit of a mellow song, but later, it gets a lot harder. I love this song. 5/5
3. Gap- One of my favorite 311 songs to date. This song is really easy to dance to, especially in the chorus. It's a nice, tight, short song that has a rap verse from both Nick and S.A. and a chorus from S.A. with some added voice effects. Great song. 5/5
4. Firewater (Slo-Mo)- I think they added this song in there mostly for comedic reasons. The real version of this song is a hard rap song kind of like the stuff from the blue album (probably because it's a blue album b-side). But in the slo-mo version, they're voices are a lot deeper and it sounds pretty funny. I'd probably give the real version a 4/5, but the slo-mo version...3/5.
Overall: This is a well-put-together little movie. I was impressed with how good this movie is even though they had never made one before. This movie is definitely worth picking up if you're a 311 fan.
