Good books ABOUT metal (not autobiographies)

I just finished reading "Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal", which details the rise of metal from the 70s through the 80s, as well as the fall of it (at least in the mainstream) in the 90s. Though a bit dated (it did come out in 2002 after all), it was still an interesting read with lots of interesting info and anecdotes. It makes me wonder, what are some other good books about metal? I've read:
Sound of the Beast (similar to Bang Your Head, but focusing more on the heavier side, though theres WAY too much focus on Metallica, understandable given their impact but still,,)
Fargo Rock City (Pretty much Chuck Klosterman's memories of being a fan of hair metal in the 80s. Fun read, though he does go off on tangents at times)

Any other good ones? Again, im not looking for autobiographies, im looking for books on the genre in general.

Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Heavy Metal

I like this one and it's fairly comprehensive. It does kind of crap out at the end, but it's pretty good overall and it was published in 2014.

Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music by Robert Walser

I like this one too but it's very dated now as it originally came out in 1993. He has some interesting insights into the genre.


Heavy Metal: The Music And Its Culture by Deena Weinstein

This is a study by a sociologist and I also like it. It was published in the early 90s and updated in 2000. I like her theories on the proud pariah concept and heavy metal.

"Sound of the Beast: the Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal" by Ian Christe was a great read.

I found a public domain e-book on Project Gutenberg about metallurgy:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38015/38015-h/38015-h.htm

Translated from a Latin script circa 1556.

Good to know.

I was at a bookstore awhile back and found a book on metal in list format (I forget the name) (top 10 vocalists, guitarists, albums, etc.) The first page I read was praising bands like Leeway, and Znöwhite, so I didn't hesitate to buy it.

As soon as I got home, I began to read it. The first half was great, but the second half of the book featured the authors bashing Ozzy and Dave Mustaine (amongst others) for not contributing. Worst of all, there was an entire section dedicated to obnoxiously making fun of Rob Halford for being gay.

Needless to say, I was really bamboozled.

^
On that note, has anyone ever read Chuck Eddy's Stairway to Hell: The top 500 metal albums in the universe? I have the book and while it's an interesting read, he seems to have a vendetta against Priest and Maiden and Dio (NO album by any of them is in the book, and he takes shots at them at times), and well, just look at his top 10 metal albums
1. Led Zeppelin 4
2. Appetite for Destruction
3. Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits
4. Toys in the Attic
5. Kix S/T
6. New York Dolls S/T
7. Second Helping
8. Rust Never Sleeps
9. Emerald City (By TEENA MARIE!)
10. Phase Two by the Jimmy Castor Bunch (who?)
That said, the way he writes does have a certain charm to it, but dont pick it up looking for a definite guide to metal.

This is a great publishing house with a lot of great titles: http://www.bazillionpoints.com/

Mean Deviation has been my favourite book they have brought out so far.

The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of all Time and The top 500 HM songs books by Martin Popoff are excellent, along with His definitive HM guides to the 70s, 80s and 90s are boss too.

Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta written by Chuck Klosterman, was actually enjoyable , his love for mid eighties Kiss albums is interesting.

muckie wrote:

I found a public domain e-book on Project Gutenberg about metallurgy:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38015/38015-h/38015-h.htm

Translated from a Latin script circa 1556.

Badump-PISH! (rim shot)

Goldmine Heavy Metal Record Price Guide...I bought it more to have a list of all the bands and every album, single and ep they ever put out...tons of really good info in this book...
.............................
The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal: Completely Revised and Updated...by Daniel Bukszpan
......................................
The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade...by Martin Popoff
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A-Z of Power Metal ...by Garry Sharpe-Young
.........................

Hadley wrote:

I just finished reading "Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal", which details the rise of metal from the 70s through the 80s, as well as the fall of it (at least in the mainstream) in the 90s. Though a bit dated (it did come out in 2002 after all), it was still an interesting read with lots of interesting info and anecdotes. It makes me wonder, what are some other good books about metal? I've read:
Sound of the Beast (similar to Bang Your Head, but focusing more on the heavier side, though theres WAY too much focus on Metallica, understandable given their impact but still,,)
Fargo Rock City (Pretty much Chuck Klosterman's memories of being a fan of hair metal in the 80s. Fun read, though he does go off on tangents at times)

Any other good ones? Again, im not looking for autobiographies, im looking for books on the genre in general.

I read that book in high school and really liked it.

Garry-Sharpe Young's Rockdetector A To Z books are pretty good.

If you liked Fargo Rock City, try No Sleep 'til Sudbury. Great book, very nice chapter on the difference between hard rock and heavy metal.