Rock Books - Page 12

Love & Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain

Max Wallace, Ian Halperin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 71 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A chilling, groundbreaking investigation into the death of one of the great rock icons of our times -- including exclusive access to the case tapes of Courtney Love's former P.I., and a host of compelling new evidence.

On Friday, April 8, 1994, a body was discovered in a room above a garage in Seattle. For the attending authorities, it was an open-and-shut case of suicide. What no one knew then, however, is that the deceased -- Kurt Cobain, the superstar frontman of Nirvana -- had been murdered. Drawing on case tapes made by a P.I. hired by Courtney Love when her husband escaped from drug rehab and went missing -- and on new forensic evidence and police reports obtained under the Freedom of Information Act -- Love & Death explodes the long-standing theory that Kurt Cobain took his own life.

Award-winning investigative journalists Max Wallace and Ian Halperin have conducted a ten-year crusade for the truth, and in Love & Death they present a stunning, convincing argument that the whole truth has yet to be revealed.

Bono

Michka Assayas

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Excellent look inside mind and heart of Bono 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

A pleasant surprise. I was afraid this book-length interview would turn into a self-congratulatory rambling session with a sycophantic journalist. However, Assayas keeps after Bono with tough and interesting questions and Bono is - by and large - candid and frequently quite insightful. He holds back on some things, which is his perogative, and can get on tangents about his greatest passion of the moment (Africa) but ultimately I found him an honest, fascinating, intelligent, and admirable fellow. I couldn't put it down.

Especially refreshing (and amusing) is the chapter devoted to Bono's theology ("Add Eternity to That"). He has a penchant for dropping swear words into the discussion and that may be off-putting to some Christians. He clearly points to Christ's sacrifice on the cross and God's grace as his only hope of salvation but avoids the cliches evangelicals often fall back on. You don't hear that from too many rock stars.

Editorial Review:

For the first time, the biggest rock star in the world tells his life story.

In these extraordinary, intimate conversations, Bono speaks candidly about his faith, family, commitment, influences, and passions. It is the closest we will come, for now, to a memoir from the iconic frontman of U2.

Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business

Sonny West, Marshall Terrill

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

JUST TRYING TO MAKE MORE MONEY OFF OF ELVIS 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I was so disappointed with this book. I thought for sure it was going to be different from his last. In a way it was, this one was somewhat less hostile. I just think that Mr. West is trying once again to make money off of his association with Elvis. I just can't refer to him as a friend to Elvis, because friends like this who needs enemies. Mr. West would be of retirement age and I think he was just looking to make his retirement a little more secure and what better way than for him to once again live off of Elvis. I wonder where Mr. West would be today if he had not ever known Elvis. I'm sure his life would have been far less interesting and glamorous. If only he could have been a more sincere and honest friend like Joe Esposito, George Klein, Jerry Schilling and so many more. I think we can all tell the real truth about Elvis just by the so many true and wonderful friends and the legions and legions of fans he has today and he continues to create even more fans and many of them were not even born when Elvis passed away. I think we can safely say that Elvis will be remembered and loved for many generations to come and in the not too distant future people will be saying, 'Sonny who? Oh that guy that took advantage of Elvis in life as well as after he died.' Sorry Mr. West you lack credibility. Go away and please stop trying to make a buck off of Elvis.

Editorial Review:

In this unique and intimate volume, now in paperback for the first time, Sonny West, Elvis Presley's close friend and bodyguard for nearly two decades, provides a no-holds barred, first-hand depiction of 'The King.'"Elvis" is packed with previously unseen photographs and untold stories about Presley's personal and public life - learn why he refused the not-so-subtle advances of Ursula Andress on the set of "Fun in Acapulco", uncover amazing personal details from Presley's historic meeting with the Beatles, and discover the secrets behind the King's famous handshake with Richard Nixon in 1970.This will become a treasured addition to the collections of Elvis fans everywhere.

Kiss and Tell

Shannon Tweed

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Too Brief, 200 Pages With The Pictures . Where Was The Depth? 3 out of 5 stars.
35 of 36 people found this review helpful.

First, why would'nt Gene Simmons be in the book? He has been the focal point of her life for at least half of it. For those who like pictures, this book will please you. I like an autobiography that gives more details & the individuals deepest held beiefs. There simply was not enough of that here. But, this autobiography does give some clear insights into the Canadian born playmates upbringing in Newfoundland, her later career in B movies, the Playboy experience, & her life with Kiss star Gene Simmons.

On the positive side her meeting the latter at the Playboy mansion clearly changed her life for the better. She stopped abusing drugs & alcohol for him. He basically is a good guy who deserves credit for saving her life. But, if you want to see the deeper interaction & dynamics of their relationship with each other & their two kids, you should watch their show "Family Jewels."

Editorial Review:

Two decades and two children after their first meeting at the Playboy Mansion, Shannon Tweed and Gene Simmons are still happily together--with never a fight or even cross words. "Kiss and Tell" is the surprising other side of the story from one of the world's most beautiful women.

Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible and Fried: My Life As A Revolting Cock

Chris Connelly

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

When hardcore industrial rocker and Ministry supremo Al Jourgensen recruited Chris Connelly as a singer for the Revolting Cocks, the young Scottish lad could hardly have imagined the mayhem that was about to ensue.

As an integral part of Jourgensen's Mad Max-like mutant family of musicians, Connelly joined a drug-crazed travelling circus. Live shows were transformed into an ear-splitting redneck disco from hell, under the influence of a mind-boggling cocktail of every conceivable narcotic, with sleazy strippers and even reports of live cattle on stage.

As well as Jourgensen and all the Wax Trax! crew, the book features cameo appearances by Ogre of Skinny Puppy, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Killing Joke, Jah Wobble, and Cabaret Voltaire.

Despite the unrelenting chaos, both Ministry and the Revolting Cocks have been immensely successful; Connelly appeared on two US gold albums (The Land of Rape and Honey and The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste) and worked as songwriter on the million-plus selling platinum album Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs.

Connelly's superbly written, funny, irreverent, and sometimes downright scary memoir is one of the finest portrayals of a man trapped in the eye of a post-punk industrial storm this side of Armageddon.

Chris Connelly was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and now lives in Chicago where he has pursued a successful solo career.

Light My Fire

Ray Manzarek

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 99 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Wryly intelligent...mixes juicy behind-the-scenes bits...with energetic, note-by-note accounts of the evolution of the band's songs."--People

No other band has ever sounded quite like the Doors, and no other frontman has ever transfixed an audience quite the way Jim Morrison did. Ray Manzarek, the band's co-founder and keyboard player, was there from the very start--and until the sad dissolution--of the Doors. In this heartfelt and colorfully detailed memoir, complete with 16 pages of photographs, he brings us an insider's view of the brief, brilliant history...from the beginning to the end.

"A refreshingly candid read...a Doors bio worth opening."--Entertainment Weekly

"[An] engaging read."--Washington Post Book World

* By the keyboard player and co-founder of the band who saw it all
* Includes 16 pages of photos
* Extraordinary reviews from People, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post Book World and others...Booklist calls it "literate, perceptive, and thoughtful" and says it "may be the best rock bio of the year"

Black Sabbath's Master of Reality: 33 1/3

John Darnielle

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Falls flat 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 7 people found this review helpful.

While John Darnielle's rigid personal enforcement of guileless-ness elevates many of his 3-minute songs to a state of genius, that same straight-shooting methodology just doesn't work in the context of a short novel. As a reader, I felt compassion for the unjustly incarcerated teenage narrator Roger Painter (and his mid-twenties incarnation as a restaurant manager), but the connection between his story and Sabbath's "Master of Reality" seemed tenuous at best -- I mean, the same story could have been spun around "Blizzard of Ozz" or the first Whitesnake album or the Misfits' "Walk Among Us" or any of the (many, many) other likely candidates. In the end, as a book, it fell flat for me -- but I bet it would have made a great Mountain Goats song.

Editorial Review:

John Darnielle describes Master of Reality in the voice of a fifteen-year-old boy being held in an adolescent psychiatric center in southern California in 1985. The narrator explains Black Sabbath like an emissary from an alien race describing his culture to his captors: passionately, patiently, and lovingly. This album has a genuinely remarkable historical status: as a touchstone for the directionless, and as a common coin for young men and women who felt shut out of the broader cultural economy.

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Give It Away: The Stories Behind Every Song

Rob Fitzpatrick

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Red Hot Chili Peppers front man Anthony Kiedis grew up in Hollywood, hustling a living with his actor father. He eventually discovered music and fell in with Hillel Slovak, Jack Irons, and Michael "Flea" Balzary to form the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Fired up by 1970s funk, rock, ska, and soul, the band fought, split, kissed, made up, and then fought again. This collision of singular personalities and musical genius resulted in a run of albums and reputation as a formidable live act. By the end of the 1980s, though, the band was one man down, with lead guitarist Hillel Slovak dying from a drug overdose. The struggle gave rise to 1989's groundbreaking Mother's Milk album. Pre-dating Nirvana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers was the first underground band to take what critics dubbed "alternative rock" into the mainstream charts. In 1991, Blood Sugar Sex Magik compounded the Chili Peppers' success, turning its members into bona fide rock stars and plunging them headlong into a riot of drugs, sex, near-death experiences, and spiritual awakening. This book looks at the group through dozens of photographs, and examines the music and stories of one of the most original bands on the planet.

Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock 'n' Roller's Life and 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict

Alice Cooper

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Wretched excess, rock stardom, and golf—from the man who invented shock rock

In this tell-all memoir, Alice Cooper speaks candidly about his life and career, including all the years of rock ’n’ roll history he’s been a part of, the addictions he faced, and the surprising ways he found redemption.

From a childhood spent as a minister’s son worshiping baseball and rock ’n’ roll; to days on the road with his band, working to make a name for themselves; to stardom and the insanity that came with it, including a quart-of-whiskey-a-day habit; to drying out at a sanitarium back in the late ’70s, Alice Cooper paints a rich and rockin’ portrait of his life and his battle against addiction—fought by getting up daily at 7 a.m. to play 36 holes of golf.

Alice tells hilarious, touching, and sometimes astounding stories about Led Zeppelin and the Doors, George Burns and Groucho Marx, John Daly and Tiger Woods . . . everyone is here from Dalí to Elvis to Arnold Palmer.

Alice Cooper, Golf Monster is the incredible story of someone who rose through the rock ’n’ roll ranks releasing platinum albums and selling out arenas with his legendary act—all while becoming one of the best celebrity golfers around.

Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth

David Browne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

At Last: Sonic Pleasure Transfers Well To Print ! ! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I've been waiting a long time for a big, in-depth bio of one of music's most interesting,enduring and influential bands, and Browne's book certainly delivered the goods. He covers all aspects of the band--childhoods, early days and apartments in New York, recording sessions, the dynamics within the band, their ups and downs and conflicts with their record companies and managers, the whole Lollapalooza experience, and personal lives. I had no idea Kim's high school boyfriend was Danny Elfman or that there was a showdown within the band during the "Dirty" sessions. It's extremely well researched and the writing is accessible and lively. If you're a fan, you have to read this.

Editorial Review:

Sonic Youth’s distinctive, uncompromising sounds have provided a map for innumerable musicians who followed, from ’90s groundbreakers like Nirvana and Pavement to current faves like the Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. More than perhaps any other act, Sonic Youth has brought “fringe” art to the mainstream, helping spawn an alternative arts scene that prospers to this day: a world of punk rock, underground films and comics, experimental music, conceptual art, contemporary classical compositions, and even fashion. In Goodbye 20th Century, David Browne tells the full glorious story of “the Velvet Underground of their generation,” an account based on extensive research, fresh interviews with the band and those who have worked with them (from Glenn Branca and Lydia Lunch to Sofia Coppola and Spike Jonze), and unprecedented access to unreleased recordings and documents. This is a richly detailed portrait of an iconic band and the times they helped create.