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dancerjodiI just finished reading this book . I'd recommend this to anyone with a metalhead past, or anyone curious about the nuances of being in such scene. He touches on many things that I hadn't even thought of before, things that were just a part and parcel of being a headbanger, but looking back now are quite silly.
The author is a Brit, and it comes across in the dry, somewhat Monty Pythonesque humor of the book. He gets into such minutia like how you can't just wear jeans and a t-shirt, it needs to be that rare faded concert t-shirt from 5 years back with the tour dates on it (to prove you are a REAL fan, and not just getting into a band). He gets into guitar styles, different types of metal, changes in the scene and its eventual demise at the hands of Kurt (yes, the Cobain one). I laughed out loud many times while reading this book! Some favorite quotes:
"Bow down to this sturdy mutha. You know this one for sure - this is the definitive metal guitar - this is the Gibson Flying 'V' . . . One of the great things about the Flying V's is that they are impossible to play sitting down. Look at them - of course its bloody impossible! - so you had to strap them on, thereby becoming an instant metal guitar god. I don't know how anyone ever got around to taking theirs off."
"The noise that they made was instantly terrifying. If you could imagine getting on the Titanic (before it sank), stripping out all its decks and cabins and everything until you've just got the gigantic iron shell, and then in the middle of the night scrapping something rusty and fetid along the bottom, for hours, then you've got the raw effect of the sound of Black Sabbath."
"They recovered quickly - they were a big band now - he was replaced and they grew even bigger, until in 1991 they did something nobody thought Metallica would ever do. They not only recorded a ballad but then released it as a single, produced by Bob Rock no less, Bon Jovi's producer. It wasn't long before they cut off their hair, recorded a live album with an orchestra, dressed in suits and stopped playing funny-looking guitars. They tried to sue their fans for downloading their music from Napster too, paving the way for its eventual collapse. I would certainly call that a demise."
The author is a Brit, and it comes across in the dry, somewhat Monty Pythonesque humor of the book. He gets into such minutia like how you can't just wear jeans and a t-shirt, it needs to be that rare faded concert t-shirt from 5 years back with the tour dates on it (to prove you are a REAL fan, and not just getting into a band). He gets into guitar styles, different types of metal, changes in the scene and its eventual demise at the hands of Kurt (yes, the Cobain one). I laughed out loud many times while reading this book! Some favorite quotes:
"Bow down to this sturdy mutha. You know this one for sure - this is the definitive metal guitar - this is the Gibson Flying 'V' . . . One of the great things about the Flying V's is that they are impossible to play sitting down. Look at them - of course its bloody impossible! - so you had to strap them on, thereby becoming an instant metal guitar god. I don't know how anyone ever got around to taking theirs off."
"The noise that they made was instantly terrifying. If you could imagine getting on the Titanic (before it sank), stripping out all its decks and cabins and everything until you've just got the gigantic iron shell, and then in the middle of the night scrapping something rusty and fetid along the bottom, for hours, then you've got the raw effect of the sound of Black Sabbath."
"They recovered quickly - they were a big band now - he was replaced and they grew even bigger, until in 1991 they did something nobody thought Metallica would ever do. They not only recorded a ballad but then released it as a single, produced by Bob Rock no less, Bon Jovi's producer. It wasn't long before they cut off their hair, recorded a live album with an orchestra, dressed in suits and stopped playing funny-looking guitars. They tried to sue their fans for downloading their music from Napster too, paving the way for its eventual collapse. I would certainly call that a demise."
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Date: 2006-01-09 01:49 am (UTC);)
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Date: 2006-01-09 01:01 pm (UTC)I think I'll check this book out for my sweetie.
He is actually a big time metal collector, primarily Black Sabbath but he also likes a lot of hair metal bands too (Cinderella, LA Guns)...
One of the things that he and I bonded on when we met was making fun of Dio. ;-)