‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ review: Can this fictional band be your next musical obsession?
Daisy Jones and the Six catapults us again into the ’70s for a have a look at the meteoric rise and tumultuous fall of the eponymous band, from humble beginnings to sold-out live shows, studio classes to drug-filled afterparties. Although the present undoubtedly takes liberties from Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel, it stays an engrossing portrait of a rock band battling private demons and relationship drama.
Positive, the story of a music group breaking apart is one we have seen earlier than, however because of some nice music and stable main performances from Riley Keough and Sam Claflin, Daisy Jones and the Six turns into a rock and roll rollercoaster you will need to see to the finish.
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How does Daisy Jones and the Six evaluate to the guide?
Similar to the novel on which it’s based mostly, Daisy Jones and the Six takes the type of an oral historical past of the band, 20 years after they break up. Episode 1 opens with members of Daisy Jones and the Six — all in aged make-up of various ranges of success — sitting all the way down to be interviewed.
There’s frontwoman Daisy (Keough) herself, guitarist Graham Dunne (Will Harrison), bassist Eddie Loving (Josh Whitehouse), keyboardist Karen Sirko (Suki Waterhouse), and drummer Warren Rhodes (Sebastian Chacon). Most reluctant of all is lead singer-songwriter Billy Dunne (Claflin), who seems shocked that Daisy even agreed to this.
Riley Keough as Daisy Jones.
Credit score: Lacey Terrell/Prime Video
As the band members inform their story — full with testimony from Billy’s spouse Camila (Camila Morrone), disco legend Simone Jackson (Nabiyah Be), and supervisor Rod Reyes (Timothy Olyphant) — we flash again to the origin story of what would quickly change into Daisy Jones and the Six. All the manner at the starting, Daisy is a songwriter and music lover looking for her voice, whereas the others are part of rock band The Dunne Brothers, later named The Six. By themselves, Daisy and The Six are each good, however not nice. Put them collectively, and you get magic.
This being an adaptation, Daisy Jones and the Six does make some adjustments from its supply materials. A few of these, together with the order of sure occasions main as much as the band’s creation, are extra surface-level. Others are a lot bigger, like slicing band member Pete fully, or giving Simone an even bigger storyline of her personal. The latter is a pleasant growth on Reid’s novel, permitting us to discover extra of the disco scene that’s so essential to Simone.
The framing machine of the interviews additionally capabilities a bit of in a different way right here. In the novel, totally different characters’ accounts would usually contradict one another, leaving the reality considerably ambiguous. The present presents a extra definitive account, in addition to a considerably lighter, extra sanitized model of the sleazier features of band life. (For a extra in-depth rundown of the variations between the novel and the sequence, take a look at ClassyBuzz’s breakdown of the greatest adjustments, which is able to be up to date weekly.)
Daisy Jones and the Six is generally the Daisy and Billy present — and that is not a foul factor.
Riley Keough and Sam Claflin as Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne.
Credit score: Lacey Terrell/Prime Video
The primary episodes of Daisy Jones and the Six are gratifying, but additionally the present’s most perfunctory, shifting items into place for the second when Daisy and Billy lastly cross paths. Nonetheless, as soon as these two meet in a contentious recording session, we’re off to the races.
At first, Daisy and Billy are hesitant to collaborate. Their egos conflict, and Billy’s preliminary dismissal of Daisy solely fuels her anger. However as they begin working collectively on what’s going to quickly change into Daisy Jones and the Six’s album Aurora, they discover frequent floor — and maybe one thing extra.
Daisy Jones and the Six’s trailer highlights the love triangle between Billy, Daisy, and Camila, however the present’s precise dealing with of these relationships is extra nuanced than the promo suggests. Daisy and Billy’s emotions stroll the line between actual love, a present for his or her followers, and even manipulation to get the greatest out of one another for his or her music. Then there’s Camila, who warmly welcomes Daisy into the Six but struggles to belief Billy round her. Threading by means of all of it is the looming menace of Daisy’s drug use — one thing that’s all too acquainted to Billy and which will pose a danger to his sobriety.
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The Daisy-Billy dynamic stays the juiciest a part of the present, with the potential for mess solely strengthened by the framing interviews. (“It was apparent that they made one another higher,” Karen says earlier than delivering a line straight out of a real crime documentary: “Till, in fact, they did not.”)
Nonetheless, Keough and Claflin’s performances (and wonderful chemistry) assist Daisy Jones and the Six steer out of whole cleaning soap opera territory. Each are intensely charismatic but susceptible, grounding their rock star drama of their characters’ very actual anxieties regarding love, fame, and household.
All these heavy feelings involves a head in the present’s phenomenal music, with soundtrack selections together with Patti Smith and Fleetwood Mac — whose real-life drama and traditional album Rumours impressed Reid — and an entire host of memorable authentic songs. Aurora is now a full-fledged album, that includes bangers like “Remorse Me” and “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” courtesy of lead producer Blake Mills and the assist of different musicians like Phoebe Bridgers, Jackson Browne, and Marcus Mumford. Keough, Claflin, and the remainder of the band carry out the hell out of those songs; they’ve not solely been caught in my head since watching the sequence, however they’ve additionally launched me proper right into a Fleetwood Mac section, which can be the highest praise I may give them.
Daisy Jones and the Six actually is not good. It might probably fall into clichés in its dealing with of drug use and romantic tensions inside the band, and its important concentrate on Daisy and Billy does power different band members into the background. General, although, it is a wildly enjoyable watch that may maintain you hooked till you discover out simply how the band fell aside. Daisy and Billy could remorse one another, however I actually do not remorse spending 10 episodes with them.
