1. Jon Kristiansen - 'Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries'
Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries is a massive tome, collecting every issue of the seminal zine in its entirety. Metalion hails from Norway, and had a front-row seat to the beginning of the Norwegian black metal scene. He became friends with many of the musicians there (and elsewhere in the world), including Euronymous, Jon Nodtveidt, Faust and many others.
Metalion's writing style is very distinctive and direct, and he isn't afraid to express his opinions. That candor and honesty (from both writer and interview subject) is something that has diminished over the years as metal has gotten less dangerous and more public relation savvy. Kristiansen has dedicated most of his life to metal, and it has been a worthy pursuit. Readers discovered countless bands because of him, bands got much needed publicity, and this collection will be primary material for those exploring the history of metal.
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2. Joel McIver - 'Crazy Train: The High Life And Tragic Death Of Randy Rhoads'
Joel McIver has written a ton of books, and is the ideal scribe to write Crazy Train: The High Life And Tragic Death Of Randy Rhoads. McIver also wrote a biography of Metallica's Cliff Burton, who also died young. There are a lot of similarities in their stories. Both were musical prodigies, beloved by legions, and killed in senseless accidents.
Crazy Train tells Rhoads' story from the beginning. It chronicles his youth, how he began playing guitar, his days as a guitar teacher, and eventually joining Quiet Riot. His days with Ozzy Osbourne are covered extensively, including the writing and recording of the classic Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman albums. McIver tells the story of Rhoads' life from many different perspectives. He interviewed family, friends and bandmates of Rhoads to get a complete picture of him as a musician and a person.
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3. Butch Walker - 'Drinking With Strangers'
Butch Walker got his start as a hair metal artist. You might remember his band SouthGang, who released a couple of albums in the early '90s. That band imploded, but he rebounded with Marvelous 3, who had a minor hit with the power pop single “Freak Of The Week” in 1999. He eventually got into producing and has worked on numerous hit albums and singles.
My favorite part of Drinking With Strangers is the early days, from his youth in Georgia to when SouthGang was in their heydey. There are some interesting stories and anecdotes, and Walker is very honest about the mistakes he made, both personally and on the business side of the band. The Sunset Strip in the late '80s was a competitive place for bands, and SouthGang came in just before grunge became popular and destroyed the hair metal genre. I've never met Butch Walker, but he seems like a guy you'd want to sit down and have a beer with. That's how the book reads, a casual conversation with Walker telling some very interesting stories.
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4. Mick Wall - 'Enter Night: A Biography Of Metallica'
With Enter Night, an unauthorized biography of Metallica, Mick Wall whacks one out of the park. The content within is humorous, entertaining, insightful, and there are a few tidbits that even die-hard Metallica fan might not have known before. The 480 pages are bound by a nice hard cover book with a glossy cover fold which resembles the simplicity of Metallica’s Black album.
Wall tells it like it is: Lars' often loud-mouthed, rich European, spoiled brat attitude; Hetfield’s homophobic, beer drinking, gun toting tendencies; Newsted’s honorable demeanor while constantly hazed and ridiculed during his tenure with the band; Mustaine’s temper and love of alcohol and drugs. It’s all here. Wall’s unbiased approach allows him to praise the band when they deserve it, as well as being critical when it is needed.
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5. Eddie Trunk - 'Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal'
Radio and TV host Eddie Trunk has compiled a book featuring 35 different influential hard rock and heavy metal artists. Each band gets a chapter, featuring autobiographical info and rare photos from Ron Akiyama. There are also sidebars with discographies and Trunk's recommended playlist for each artist. Some of the 35 artists featured are no-brainers, like Kiss, Black Sabbath, Metallica and Judas Priest. Others may spark some discussion, such as Billy Squier, Cheap Trick and Rainbow.
The appeal of Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal isn't the biographical info, which can be found anywhere, or the recommended playlists, which are basically filler. What makes the book interesting are Trunk's stories. He's had interactions with all these bands over his long career, and tells some great tales. From his famous Axl Rose interview to a private Judas Priest concert to the death of his close friend Ronnie James Dio, the stories in the book range from funny to touching to downright bizarre, but are always compelling.
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