Rock Books - Page 2

Bit of a Blur: The Autobiography

Alex James

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 60 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

For Alex James, music had always been a door to a more exciting life—a way to travel, meet new people, and, hopefully, pick up girls. But as bass player of Blur—one of the most successful British bands of all time—his journey was more exciting and extreme than he could ever have predicted. Success catapulted him from a slug-infested squat in Camberwell to a world of private jets and world-class restaurants. As "the second drunkest member of the world’s drunkest band" Alex James's life was always chaotic, but he retained a boundless enthusiasm and curiosity at odds with his hedonistic lifestyle. From nights in the Groucho with Damien Hirst, to dancing to Sister Sledge with Björk, to being bitten on the nose by the lead singer of Iron Maiden, he offers a fascinating and hilarious insight into the world of celebrity. At its heart, however, this is the picaresque tale of one man’s search to find meaning and happiness in an increasingly surreal world. Pleasingly unrepentant but nonetheless a reformed man, Alex James is the perfect chronicler of his generation—witty, frank and brimming with joie de vivre. A Bit of a Blur is as charming, funny, and deliciously disreputable as its author.

Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me

Pattie Boyd, Penny Junor

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 245 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

this woman is a true bitch! 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I recently met thio woman at the Fest or Beatles fans. She is a crude, rude, druckin Bitch. She was rude to everyone. She was charging $25.00 to sign her own book. The book is full of things that any average fan already knows. Save your money!

Kudos to Pattie Boyd for an Honest Memoir 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

In this fascinating memoir, Pattie Boyd, with co-author Penny Junor, lays bare her childhood and her marriages to two of the giants of late-20th century rock: George Harrison and Eric Clapton.

Boyd sets the stage with an adept chronicle of her childhood. Transplanted with her family to Kenya at an early age, she weathers the dissolution of her parents' marriage, a controlling and demanding stepfather, and repatriation to England. Leaving home at 17, she soon becomes a model in 1960s London, entering a glamorous world peopled with artists, fashion designers, photographers and musicians. Soon, Boyd is cast in Hard Day's Night, meets George Harrison, falls in love... and the rest is a modern day Cinderella story. Until you get to the dark side.

Wealth, beauty, talent, and fame turn to ashes in Wonderful Tonight. Yes, Boyd is the inspiration for several of the most renowned love songs in 20th century rock music, but both Harrison and Clapton cheat on her repeatedly, and she never manages to conceive the child she so desperately wants. Devastatingly, both Harrison and Clapton father children with others-- Clapton while he is ostensibly partnered with Boyd. If Boyd's marriage to Harrison is difficult and unsatisfying-- the two grow apart as Harrison withdraws increasingly into the world of meditation-- her marriage to Clapton is disastrous. Despite Clapton's passion and artistry, his mammoth addictions to alcohol and drugs sink the union.

The message? Glamor, wealth, beauty and fame may not always work out as advertised. Both of Boyd's marriages are unhappy ones, and her divorce settlement with Clapton is comparatively meagre. The Pattie Boyd you admired in the fan mags was a glossy image whose life, for all its parties, excitement and travel, yielded few lasting pleasures.

I applaud Boyd for stripping away the media gloss and working with Junor to pen this stark memoir. Boyd's words about her inability to bear a child tear at the heart, and her depictions of life with Harrison and Clapton are detailed, lively, and well-drawn. Although Boyd is keenly disappointed by both men, she never loses sight of what she loved in them and continues to admire their talent.

For a sobering look at Boyd, Harrison and Clapton behind the headlines, read Wonderful Tonight.

Editorial Review:

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller

For the first time, rock music’s most famous muse tells her incredible story

Pattie Boyd, former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, finally breaks a forty-year silence and tells the story of how she found herself bound to two of the most addictive, promiscuous musical geniuses of the twentieth century and became the most legendary muse in the history of rock and roll. The woman who inspired Harrison’s song “Something” and Clapton’s anthem “Layla,” Pattie Boyd has written a book that is rich and raw, funny and heartbreaking–and totally honest.

Chronicles: Volume One (Chronicles)

Bob Dylan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 273 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"I'd come from a long ways off and had started a long ways down. But now destiny was about to manifest itself. I felt like it was looking right at me and nobody else."

Bob Dylan's Chronicle: Volume One explores the critical junctions in his life and career. Through Dylan's eyes and open mind, we see Greenwich Village, circa 1961, when he first arrives in Manhattan. Dylan's New York is a magical city of possibilities -- smoky, nightlong parties; literary awakenings; transient loves and unbreakable friendships. Elegiac observations are punctuated by jabs of memories, penetrating and tough. With side trips to New Orleans, Woodstock, Minnesota and points west, Chronicles: Volume One is an intimate and intensely personal recollection of extraordinary times.

Revealing, poetical, passionate and witty, Chronicles: Volume One is a mesmerizing window on Bob Dylan's thoughts and influences. Dylan's voice is distinctively American: generous of spirit, engaged, fanciful and rhythmic. Utilizing his unparalleled gifts of storytelling and the exquisite expressiveness that are the hallmarks of his music, Bob Dylan turns Chronicles: Volume One into a poignant reflection on life, and the people and places that helped shape the man and the art.

Save Me from Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story

Brian Welch

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 110 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Impacts Korn Fans & Those Suffering from Life Dominating Sins 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I rate this book a five, not on how "well" it was written or because the author's theology is so "great" but because of the honest message that comes straight from Brian's heart. It is a story of how God draws someone unto himself and how HE gives a person HIS power to overcome. This is why God says, "Confess your sins one to another." My son was a Korn fan but as I have been helping him to replace this dark music with the same genre of music with healthier messages, this book was recommended to us. My 13 y.o. son is not a reader but devoured this book in 3 days. It impacted him and allowed him to share some of the painful things in his life with me (unusual). He wrote to Brian and told him how he is now a believer that will not default or waiver. I have seen true evidence in my son's life the last couple of weeks. My son was attracted to this book because he likes the music. Others may be attracted because they suffer from a life dominating sin. I love how Brian shares the specifics of "how" God delivered him from drugs. Although I believe Brian is still young in his faith and trying to figure out what he believes and God's will for himself, I pray this book impacts others for the great name of Jesus Christ!

Editorial Review:

The incredible story of a controversial rock star, his secret addiction to methamphetamines, and his miraculous salvation through Jesus Christ. Candid and inspiring, Save Me from Myself is a rock 'n' roll journey unlike any other.

Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses

Stephen Davis

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Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the New York Times bestselling author, the complete story of the last rock supergroup— from their drugfueled blast-off in the 1980s to the turbulent life of legendary singer Axl Rose and his fifteen-year, multi-million dollar effort to make the perfect hardrock album.

With 90 million of the band’s records sold worldwide since 1987, Guns N’ Roses prolonged rock music past its sell-by date with controversial albums and immense, often riotous world tours. But the band’s complete story has never been fully told—until now. In his sixth major rock biography, Stephen Davis details the riveting story of a band that originated in the gutters of Sunset Strip and went on to set attendance records on the biggest stadiums on the planet.

Watch You Bleed documents the improbable story of W. Axl Rose, the biggest rock star of his generation. Taken from an abusive father in his infancy, he was raised as “Bill Bailey” in a strictly religious Indiana household by a stepfather who beat him for playing Led Zeppelin songs on the family piano. After quitting high school, and on the run from the police in his hometown, Axl arrived in Los Angeles in the midst of the street battles for supremacy among the top music genres of the eighties—post-punk, thrash, hair metal, and glam. The book also charts the backgrounds of every band member, especially Slash, a Hollywood street kid whose designer mother dated David Bowie.

Davis brilliantly captures the birth of Guns’ raw power, which—despite rape charges, drug-induced rampages, and a general appetite for destruction— launched the band into the pantheon of rock gods such as Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. With a wealth of detail, Davis looks at Axl’s unrelenting quest to release the long-awaited, mystery-shrouded Chinese Democracy album, as well as the further adventures of some of the Gunners under the banner of the hard-rocking band Velvet Revolver. For the first time, millions of Guns N’ Roses fans will learn the whole truth—sometimes funny, sometimes tragic—about the last of the great rock bands.

Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran

Andy Taylor

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Wild Boy is the explosive first inside account of the rise and fall of Duran Duran. The band rose to conquer the globe with a string of unforgettable hits such as "Rio,""Hungry Like the Wolf," and "The Reflex." With Simon Le Bon as their frontman, they were the defining pop act of the 1980s, but Andy Taylor, the enigmatic lead guitarist, is widely acknowledged to have been their musical driving force.

Then, at the very height of their achievement in 1985, Duran Duran imploded. Now Andy shares the story of what went wrong. With searing honesty, he charts every moment of Duran Duran's roller-coaster rise from their early days as club musicians through to international superstardom. He captures the glamour and excitement of the band's epic video shoots and the opulence of their world tours.

He reveals the truth about the allegations of drug abuse and wild hedonism that dogged Duran Duran. Packed with more than twenty-five years worth of rock 'n' roll anecdotes, Andy tells of his time in the band The Power Station, and explains why Duran Duran reformed with its original line-up in 2003.

But Wild Boy is also a moving story on a human level, as Andy describes how the pressures of fame took a terrible personal toll on him and his family. Moving from hilarious to harrowing at the turn of a page, WILD BOY is a must-read for anyone who lived through the 1980s, or who cares about music.

Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road

Neil Peart

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 207 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Travels On The Boring Road 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Neil reveals a lot about himself which I don't think he intended to do in this book. He comes off as being an elitist in a lot of ways. He almost seems like he wants to be Hemingway, with his drinking, smoking and just doing his own crazy travels with little regards for anything else. I think his digs into America were very revealing too about himself. Yet, he doesn't seem to have a problem with his best friend being a drug dealer; or that he was never officially married to Jackie (common law wife of 22 years); then jumps into a relationship and marriage fairly quickly to Carrie; that he breaks speeding law constantly on his BMW bike and that he is only self consumed with himself and no one else outside his little small bubble of friends/family.

I love Rush and I think Neil is awesome at his craft, but I'm not jumping on board with everything he does or puts out. This book took me forever to read because it was really boring at times with his letters to Brutus and his ramblings of his travels which were very dry and repetitive. This is not a self help book for someone who has had a similar tragedy in their life. This book could have been cut down to a fourth of the pages written and accomplished the same thing and kept me interested.

The only thing I really got out of this book was that it probably takes longer for you to get on with your life when you have an unlimited bank account to be able to stop working. In Neil's case, it allowed him to travel all over North America on his BMW bike and spend the winter months walking on snow shoes around the lake at his house in Quebec. I believe all this free time allowed him to think more and more about things and feel sorry for himself. I think the average "fat" American, which he ran into on his travels, would probably have to go to work shortly after this type of tragedy and not be able to take two years off. Not that getting over this would be easy for anyone, but I think being forced into the work environment would eventually allow distractions in your life to stop you from thinking 24/7 about the tragedies. Neil didn't have this type of distraction and traveling alone only allowed him to dwell more and more on the tragedies in his.

I by no means am putting Neil down for what he had to deal with, but I am critical of the dribble he put into this book. I don't think if you are not a hardcore Rush fan or a friend/acquaintance of Neil's you would get much out of this book. I think a lot of the praise this book gets is because it's "Neil Peart" and the tragedy he had to deal with and not because this is a particularly good book.

Editorial Review:

In less than a year, Neil Peart lost both his 19-year-old daughter, Selena, and his wife, Jackie. Faced with overwhelming sadness and isolated from the world in his home on the lake, Peart was left without direction. This memoir tells of the sense of loss and directionlessness that led him on a 55,000-mile journey by motorcycle across much of North America, down through Mexico to Belize, and back again. He had needed to get away, but had not really needed a destination. His travel adventures chronicle his personal odyssey and include stories of reuniting with friends and family, grieving, thinking, and reminiscing as he rode until he encountered the miracle that allowed him to find peace.

Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles

Geoff Emerick, Howard Massey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 165 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Geoff Emerick became an assistant engineer at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in 1962 at age fifteen, and was present as a new band called the Beatles recorded their first songs. He later worked with the Beatles as they recorded their singles "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand," the songs that would propel them to international superstardom. In 1964 he would witness the transformation of this young and playful group from Liverpool into professional, polished musicians as they put to tape classic songs such as "Eight Days A Week" and "I Feel Fine."

Then, in 1966, at age nineteen, Geoff Emerick became the Beatles’ chief engineer, the man responsible for their distinctive sound as they recorded the classic album Revolver, in which they pioneered innovative recording techniques that changed the course of rock history. Emerick would also engineer the monumental Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road albums, considered by many the greatest rock recordings of all time. In Here, There and Everywhere he reveals the creative process of the band in the studio, and describes how he achieved the sounds on their most famous songs. Emerick also brings to light the personal dynamics of the band, from the relentless (and increasingly mean-spirited) competition between Lennon and McCartney to the infighting and frustration that eventually brought a bitter end to the greatest rock band the world has ever known.

The Long Hard Road Out of Hell

Marilyn Manson, Neil Strauss

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 435 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

What the Christian Right has trying to reach him with and why. 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 5 people found this review helpful.

The Christian Right does not hate Manson. We Love Manson. We love him so much that we want to share the truth of the Gospel with him in the prayer that Our Heavenly Father might bring Manson to Himself through His son Jesus Christ. If Manson would only turn from his sin and repent, see Jesus as the Lord of all things that He is, and believe the Father raised Him from the dead then he would understand the love we have for him brought about by our love for Christ.

Editorial Review:

The best–selling autobiography of America's most controversial celebrity icon, Marilyn Manson (with a bonus chapter not in the hardcover).

In his twenty–nine years, rock idol Manson has experienced more than most people have (or would want to) in a lifetime. Now, in his shocking and candid memoir, he takes readers from backstage to gaol cells, from recording studios to emergency rooms, from the pit of despair to the top of the charts, and recounts his metamorphosis from a frightened Christian schoolboy into the most feared and revered music superstar in the country. Illustrated with dozens of exclusive photographs and featuring a behind–the–scenes account of his headline–grabbing Dead to the World tour.

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon

Crystal Zevon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 62 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Incredible look at an incredible artist we lost too soon 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

As Billy Bob Thornton says at the close of this book, it's astounding to me when someone says they aren't familiar with Warren Zevon's music. I was 18 when I became a fan. I had never heard lyrics so challenging and one of the wonderful things about this book is that it sheds some light as to how Warren came up with some of those lyrics. Crystal Zevon has emerged from the task of writing this book as a wonderful writer - this couldn't have been an easy book to write. Popular music is laden with artists of little or no substance - we simply don't have enough music from people as talented as Zevon was. I had the pleasure of seeing Zevon live twice and this book made me go back and look at more of his music. It's a tough read at times -Warren could be hard to like, yet this book is an incredibly written, interesting look at an artist I'll always admire and appreciate the work of. On a closing note, I find myself wishing there was some live concert videos of Warren's tours available - he was incredible the two times I saw him.

Editorial Review:

When Warren Zevon died in 2003, he left behind a rich catalog of dark, witty rock 'n' roll classics, including "Lawyers, Guns and Money," "Excitable Boy," and the immortal "Werewolves of London." He also left behind a fanatical cult following and veritable rock opera of drugs, women, celebrity, genius, and epic bad behavior. As Warren once said, "I got to be Jim Morrison a lot longer than he did."

Narrated by his former wife and longtime co-conspirator, Crystal Zevon, this intimate and unusual oral history draws on interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Stephen King, Bonnie Raitt, and numerous others who fell under Warren's mischievous spell. Told in the words and images of the friends, lovers, and legends who knew him best, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead captures Warren Zevon in all his turbulent glory.