Hard /heavy metal bios

I was at Amazon look at all the rock bio's that have been released and the list is getting to be endless, Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Meat Loaf, Pat Benatar, Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot), Glenn Hughes, Ian Gillan, Slash, Duff, Vince Neil and now Herman Rarebell has even written a book.

What is your opinion on this trend? Does anybody read any or all of these books, I have read alot of them, and to me their interesting but the stories at times seem all very similar and are like book versions of 'Behind the Music'

to be honest, I dont really care a whole lot about the personal lives/stories of the bands I listen to. Its not to be mean but I like the music and really dont get into the person behind it.

I've only read Tom Fischer/Warrior's "Are You Morbid?" and think it's an excellent read. I'm sure all of these veteran musicians have some great stories to tell, but if I'm not into their music to begin with, I'm not going to buy the book. Still, would love to check out Mustane's book, which I still haven't done yet. If they can get a deal to have their stories published, more power to them. I just don't have to buy it.

Here is my perspective.....The following quote COULD be from any current rockguy biography. It is just a few sentences from my past experiences.

"I began playing in clubs at 14 with 20 something year old musicians. Toured the U.S in a cargo van.... did all kinds of drugs.....almost died from O.D (twice)......had lots of meaningless sex... did alot of stupid stuff as well. Also met alot of musicians I idolized and looked up to"

Sure I never got to see the world, screw movie stars and super models, have a million selling album or two or three, and have the big bank account. But most of what I experienced is similar enough to the conent of most rockstar bios.

I have read a few, mostly cause I am a fan of that particlar musician. The redundancy ofte makes things hard to read through.

exact33 wrote:

to be honest, I dont really care a whole lot about the personal lives/stories of the bands I listen to. Its not to be mean but I like the music and really dont get into the person behind it.

+1

I like reading them.

I don't so much care for personal stories as I do stories about a particular album's sessions or tour stories...

There's a bunch of bio's out now that I'd love to read. Dave Mustaine's "Heavy Metal Memoir" and Tom Fischer's "Are You Morbid". I love reading interviews or watching archive footage with members of bands that have a particularly interesting or twisted story. A lot of it is commonplace though. Every single one will have more than a few stories about the drinking, drugs, girls and fame. What makes that interesting is the effect, if any, it had on the music or the state of the band at the time. Personal backstories are also very interesting to me, where/when they first played their instrument, their favorite bands growing up, first album/concert, early inspirations, first time they got laid, etc. That stuff has a lasting impact on a musician and it's always great to see where one comes from in terms of influence and inspiration.

The old guard is getting up there in age and many feel the need to start taking the trash out. The best way to do that AND make a buck in a failing industry? Write a book about it!

I dig music bios because I love picking up bits of geek trivia about my fave bands/musicians that I might not have known before.

I enjoyed Mustaine's book quite a bit (of course, getting to meet him in person and have the book autographed enhanced the experience).

Tom Warrior's "Are You Morbid?" was also a good read (and I'm not even much of a Celtic Frost fan).

Steven Tyler's bio was a tough slog. Unfortunately he writes the way he talks, i.e. lots of off topic rambling and babbling.

Right now I've got Lemmy's "White Line Fever" and Ace Frehley's "No Regrets" in my on-deck circle and I'm looking forward to reading both of those.

Just like with every other fad, it all drowns when the flood hits.

I like the ones that focus on the music scene the person is involved in. I find how bands form and the various problems they encounter much more interesting than their personal stories. I also really like stories of recording sessions.

Finding the time to sit down and read these is the bigger issue for me.

I read alot of these books. Its interesting to hear it from the bands point of view. I thought Sammy Hagars book was really good.

Dont really care about a single person in a band. I do however love full band documentaries.

Centuries of Torment is a great example. Goes from the very beginning to the present with some awesome stories and information.

I enjoy reading bios on my favorite musicans and singers

I've never read any but the one I am interested in is Ace's.

I've read Gene Simmons' bio. and Frank Zappa's bio. That's it. I don't really care about musicians' lives anymore.

Ive found i prefer books on music history as opposed to musician's lives (since most of the latter deal with anything but the music). Im talking books like bang your head, sound of the beast, and fargo rock city (the last one being 80s metal from a fan's perspective, though he does go off on tangents like the chapter on bank fraud).

I've read my share of 'em, but the last coupla (Joey Kramer, Slash, Steven Tyler) left me cold. Not a waste of time, but just "meh". I think it's a combination of the books themselves becoming formulaic (is that a word?) and myself being too much of a super-fan and therefore being unimpressed at any "shocking" revelations.

There were others that came before, but I think Motley Crue's 'The Dirt' made publishiers realize there was some serious money to be made and that kind of set the standard of what these types of books should be.

That being said, I'm looking forward to reading Dave Mustaine's book which I got for Christmas.

Quote :

Ive found i prefer books on music history as opposed to musician's lives (since most of the latter deal with anything but the music). Im talking books like bang your head, sound of the beast, and fargo rock city (the last one being 80s metal from a fan's perspective, though he does go off on tangents like the chapter on bank fraud

+1

I've had two copies of Fargo Rock City borrowed/stolen over the years. And I intend to get a third someday. I like Klosterman's stuff. Don't always agree with him on certain bands (or his hatred of LA) but good reading nonetheless.

I really loved Mustaine's book. It came across very much like him telling stories. Read more like something for the fans.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I've read my share of 'em, but the last coupla (Joey Kramer, Slash, Steven Tyler) left me cold. Not a waste of time, but just "meh". I think it's a combination of the books themselves becoming formulaic (is that a word?) and myself being too much of a super-fan and therefore being unimpressed at any "shocking" revelations.

There were others that came before, but I think Motley Crue's 'The Dirt' made publishiers realize there was some serious money to be made and that kind of set the standard of what these types of books should be.

That being said, I'm looking forward to reading Dave Mustaine's book which I got for Christmas.

I for the most part enjoy them but they pretty much tell the same stories, and I have to agree with your views regarding Joey Kramers and Steven Tyler's books, I somewhat enjoyed Tyler's book, even if it reminded me of DLR's scatter brain memoir, Kramer not very interesting.

I plan to read Alice Cooper's, Mark Evans book (former AC/DC bassist book) and few others before the end of the year.

Quote :

I really loved Mustaine's book. It came across very much like him telling stories. Read more like something for the fans.

That's how I felt about Lemmy's 'White Line Fever'. Imagine sitting in a pub, drinking pints while listening to Lemmy tell stories. Nothing overly outrageous, shocking or glamourous. Just like Lemmy.

Dee Snider is to have his autobiography published in May by Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster.

It’s called Shut Up And Give Me The Mic. Talking to Classic Rock last year about what people should expect, the Twisted Sister frontman said: “Unlike others, I can remember what happened. I wasn’t so out of it that I have to rely on what others tell me. This is the truth, not bullsh*t”.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I wasn’t so out of it that I have to rely on what others tell me.

...[cough] Ozzy.

I want to read Herman Rarebell's book. I love the scorpions so it would be cool to read about them from Herman's point of view. Also thinking about reading Ace's book.

brokentulsa wrote:

I want to read Herman Rarebell's book. I love the scorpions so it would be cool to read about them from Herman's point of view. Also thinking about reading Ace's book.

Just finished that one - great read!