Category: Reviews – Books
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Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Most Wicked Man in the World
Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Most Wicked Man in the World Written by Gary Lachman Published by Tarcher/Penguin There can be few music fans that aren’t aware of the name Aleister Crowley. From The Beatles through to Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, Crowley (AKA The Beast 666) enjoys a bountiful afterlife. Much has been written about…
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Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica
A lot has been written about Metallica, ranging from scathing criticism to fawning praise. The truth, as always, lies in between. The band is composed of three-dimensional human beings, just like you and I both. This here is a fine update of Joel McIver’s best-selling book on Metallica, named after what I consider to be…
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Feeding Back – Conversations With Alternative Guitarists From Proto-Punk To Post-Rock
Read any book featuring a few world famous guitarists who have been asked to analyze both their instrument and how they play it, and the first thing you’ll be confronted with is how conflicted their opinions are – both about their instrument and how they play it. In conversation, guitarists will usually proclaim just how…
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Despumation Vol 1: Issue 1
Des`pu`ma’tion n. 1. The act of throwing up froth or scum, separation of the scum or impurities from liquid, scumming, clarification Or the title of a spankin’ new literary journal. Despumation Vol. 1: Issue 1 is a collection of short stories, poems, and art. Not being terribly familiar with literary circles, the closest comparison I…
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Extremity Retained: Notes from the Death Metal Underground
Extremity Retained: Notes from the Death Metal Underground (Handshake Inc) By Jason Netherton In 2013, Jon Wiederhorn and Katherine Turman released their ambitiously titled tome, Louder than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal. At over 700 pages, Louder than Hell featured a lengthy list of metal luminaries telling their tales but, in the main,…
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The scene’s softer side: Metal Cats by Alexandra Crockett
In general, metal gets a bad rap as being the Devil’s music or evil in nature. This in turn leads to the assumption that metal musicians (and their fans) are also guilty. Now, most of the readers of this site know that to be untrue, but the Metal Cats book sheds a different light on…
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Book review: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath by Joel McIver
Covering not just the Ozzy period of Sabbath, but also the times when Ozzy wasn’t there which produced marvelous music, the Dio years were outstanding, and the Tony Martin era produced some superb and sadly underrated music. A splendid read!
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Steve Earles’ Book Reviews – April/May 2012 edition
Another edition of thought-provoking book reviews from our Irish based correspondent Steve Earles. Please enjoy!
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Steve Earles’ book reviews: Worldwide Gothic & Crazy Train:The High Life and Tragic Death of Randy Rhoads
Two fine books to review this month.