I don't even remember how I encountered this. I was searching for something else on Netflix (don't remember what) and I saw James Hetfield with his arm around someone and decided "oh, guess I'll watch that!"
So this documentary was filled with loads of information that I had no idea about. I had never heard of Michael Alago and I had no idea he was instrumental in bringing Metallica and White Zombie (among others) to the forefront and allowing lifelong metal fans like myself to be privy to music that for the most part, defined my teenage years.
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Michael is the shorter person on the left
Michael is a dreamer who was simply a huge enthusiast of music back in the late 70's and 80's who was passionate about music and refused to be told "no" by anyone. He also had an immense gift of getting along with everyone and all of the testimonials in this documentary certainly pay tribute to that. There are loads of metal stars from back in the day in this special that all sing his praises about how effective he was first as just someone booking bands and later as an executive at Geffen Records as well as other places.
The thing that set him apart was that while he can't play any instruments, he has a genuine passion for music in a general sense. He was able to see the talent in bands that we all have known for a very long time when they were just fledgling musicians likely touring without a record contract in an about to break down van.
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Rob Zombie with Michael
There are so many stars that come together in this special to sing the praises of this "Who the f**k is that guy?" person because apparently he touched the lives of so many people and suffice to say, played a big role in making them the stars that they are today. He wasn't just limited to metal either. There are plenty of pop stars that he moved "to the top" as well.
I would say that for me as a metal fan who loved Metallica and White Zombie back in the 90's that this documentary was really interesting. That being said I was kind of let down that very little of the music of the people that he is meant to have launched is actually in this film / doco. I can only presume that this is because of copyright because there is no other reason why the music wouldn't be included. Apparently even the stars themselves, who all seem to love Michael, couldn't make this happen. I would imagine it would have cost them a lot of money to feature the songs of these particular bands in the actual film. Other than that, this was just a wonderfully informative documentary that I highly recommend for any metal fan.. or just someone that wants a look into how the music industry used to function (I presume it's very different in the digital age.)