MUSIC BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!

Whatcha reading? Nothing? Why not? A slew of non-fiction books about music/musicians have come out recently that will surely captivate your mind for hours! Whether you're looking for a juicy (auto)biography, fun photos or a lesson in music history, there's definitely something out there for all music lovers! Here's MusikBLITZ's top picks:

Black Tooth Grin: The High Life, Good Times, and Tragic End of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott by Zac Crain (Da Capo Press): This unauthorized biography chronicles the life of the late, great guitarist—from his Texas youth to worldwide success with the bands Pantera and Damageplan to the tragic onstage shooting that ended his life.


Elton John: The Bitch Is Back by Mark Bego (Phoenix Books): Sir Elton's astounding five decades in the music biz is chronicled in the pages of this book, including "all of the addictions, the self-doubts, bad toupées, affairs and scandals—but also with the triumphant later years, the coming-to-terms with his sexuality and the establishment of a happy and healthy private life."


Got The Life: My Journey of Addiction, Faith, Recovery, and Korn by Fieldy (William Morrow): Bassist and founding member of Korn Reggie "Fieldy" Arvizu tells the all-too-common tale of drugs, alcohol and womanizing that nearly destroyed both him and his successful band in this memoir. Among his revelations: how he nearly killed a girlfriend during a drug-fueled jealous rampage and how he was almost kicked out of Korn for his out-of-control behavior.


Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music by Greg Prato (ECW Press): This tome is said to be the "definitive" story of the Seattle music scene of the late '80s/early '90s. The book contains over 130 interviews conducted specifically for the book with artists like Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Velvet Revolver/Loaded's Duff McKagan, Alice In Chains' Jerry Cantrell and more.


Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom by Joey Kramer (HarperOne): Aerosmith drummer Kramer is the first of the Boston Bad Boys to have his own memoir published and, in the book, readers find out about "the early days of the band, glamorous drug-addled events leading up to their eventual sobriety, battles within his family and among bandmates, and the explosive internal dynamics in Aerosmith that continue to unleash a fury of endless creativity."


Mötley Crüe: A Visual History, 1983-2005 by Neil Zlozower (Chronicle Books): In this 275-page all-color hardcover, legendary rock photographer Zlozower captures the Crüe's rise from Hollywood punks to international rock gods. Hundreds of photos (onstage, backstage, hanging out and in the studio) and dirt from the band and those "in the know" are included. Plus, Mötley bassist Nikki Sixx penned the foreword.


Neil Diamond Is Forever: The Illustrated Story Of The Man and His Music by Jon Bream (Voyageur Press): In stores Oct. 15, this tome utilizes pictures and words to retrace the history of the hugely popular singer. Filled with more than 300 photographs and pieces of memorabilia (concert programs, posters, backstage passes, ticket stubs and more), the book also includes a complete album discography, comments from celeb admirers (Paul McCartney, Barry Manilow, Kid Rock, Taylor Swift, etc), previously unpublished quotes from Diamond himself and so much more.


The Official Heavy Metal Book of Lists by Eric Danville (Backbeat Books): The 231-page book features over 150 lists about the most rockin' genre of music out there. Find out the names of Alice Cooper's snakes and all of Spinal Tap's dead drummers and learn which metal stars have sex tapes! Members of Guns N' Roses, Motörhead (Lemmy penned the foreword), Sepultura, Vixen, Biohazard, Gwar and more cast their ballots within the book too.


Precious Metal: Decibel Presents The Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces edited by Albert Mudrian (Da Capo Press): Decibel magazine editor-in-chief Mudrian goes behind-the-scenes—inside the recording studios where some of the heaviest metal albums were created—scoring in-depth interviews with band members about their creation processes for this paperback. Tales about Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell, Slayer's Reign In Blood, Cannibal Corpse's Tomb of the Mutilated, Monster Magnet's Dopes To Infinity and Opeth's Orchid are among the featured albums.


Snake Eyes: Confessions Of A Replacement Rock Star by Stacey Blades (BookSurge Publishing): As the guitarist in Phil Lewis' version of L.A. Guns, Blades has had to put up with constant comparisons to his predecessor (band namesake Tracii Guns). But he's also had to deal with an identity crisis, sordid relationships, drugs, alcohol, endless bands, constant dead ends and deaths. This is his story.


The Velvet Underground: A Walk On The Wild Side by Jim DeRogatis (Voyageur Press): The first complete illustrated history book on the influential punk/alternative band—formed by Lou Reed and John Cale and once managed by Andy Warhol—comes out just as the group honors the 45th anniversary of its founding. Interviews with band members, excerpts from Warhol's memoirs and photos (many of which have never-been-seen) are included.


Visit Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, Borders.com or your local book store to purchase these books.

TV ALERT: THE WOMEN OF THE SUNSET STRIP

Show: VH1 Rock Doc—Do It For The Band: The Women Of The Sunset Strip
Premiere Date: Friday, April 3, 2009
Time: 11PM
Channel: VH1

VH1 Rock Doc—Do It For The Band: The Women Of The Sunset Strip tells the story of the women who knew some of the finest musicians from the '80s hair metal scene before they broke big.

"Viewers will get a first hand look at what it was like to live life in the fast lane as the women reveal secrets and share stories about a time when the only rule was that there weren’t any," says VH1.

"Cherry Pie" video vixen Bobbie Brown narrates the program about the chicks who clothed, bathed, fed, housed and loved metal men like Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, Slash, Axl Rose, Blackie Lawless, Jani Lane and others.

Visit VH1's website for more information.

NewsBLITZ: METAL & HARDCORE PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK

Massaschusetts-based music photographer Jeremy Saffer has compiled 156 of his impressive photographs of metal and hardcore artists into one 120-page tome, Bring The Noise.

The hardcover book features a foreword written by Eighteen Visions bassist MickDeth and color photos of bands such as Lacuna Coil, Bleeding Through, All That Remains, Dimmu Borgir, Bring Me The Horizon, Norma Jean, Earth Crisis and Behemoth. Some of these shots have never-been-seen before.

"I'm really excited," says Saffer. "For me, it holds many amazing memories of photo sessions I've done throughout my career. Everything from shooting Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil in a bathtub full of black water and doing the first U.S. photo shoot Carcass has done in over 10 years, to covering the first shoot Earth Crisis did since their break up in 2002, and the many other amazing shoots I was lucky enough to do in my first few years as a photographer. This book sums up my career thus far, so I'm really pumped on having a bunch of diverse work from different genres of heavy music all collected in one book. This is a chance for people to really see what I've done thus far, from all the angles of my career."

Many musicians have praised Saffer's pictures:

"His photos speak to me; I admire his work, and all he captures with his lens," says Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta.

"The word 'talented' absolutely belongs to Mr. Saffer," describes Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia.

"A lot of us take pictures, but Jeremy takes photographs," states David Ellefson, formerly of Megadeth. "Even though his subjects are some of the biggest icons of rock who are worthy of a thousand words to tell their story, Jeremy says it all in one snap of a shutter."

Bring The Noise officially comes out April 21, but Saffer is already taking pre-orders—complete with a $10 discount and packaged with a limited-edition Bring The Noise/Jeremy Saffer guitar pick collection. Click here to place your oder now.

TV ALERT: THAT METAL SHOW

Show: That Metal Show (with guests Gary Cherone & Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme)

Premiere Date: Saturday, March 21, 2009
Time: 11PM
Channel: VH1 Classic

Tonight on That Metal Show, Extreme's Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt sit down with the three co-hosts to talk all things metal. The newly-reformed Extreme released a new record, Saudades de Rock, in 2008 and went out on a well-received reunion tour.

Jim Florentine, Don Jamieson, Eddie Trunk, Nuno Bettencourt & Gary Cherone

For more info on That Metal Show, click here.

TV ALERT: THAT METAL SHOW

Show: That Metal Show (with guest Vinnie Paul)
Premiere Date: Saturday, March 7, 2009
Time: 11PM
Channel: VH1 Classic

Season two of VH1 Classic’s heavy metal chatfest That Metal Show kicks off this Saturday night! For those unfamiliar with the series, hosts Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson spend 30 minutes each week talking about the current state of metal music, interviewing special guests, debating, playing trivia games and visiting various locations (such as concerts and the Hard Rock Cafe).

This week’s special guest is former Pantera/Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul. He’ll be dishing about his latest musical projects and will surely discuss his late brother, the guitar great Dimebag Darrell.

Jim, Don, Eddie & Vinnie Paul

Other guests who will appear on this season of That Metal Show include Extreme’s Gary Cherone & Nuno Bettencourt, Duff McKagan, Queensrÿche’s Geoff Tate and Heaven & Hell’s Ronnie James Dio and Geezer Butler.

For more info on That Metal Show, click here.

Peace Out METAL EDGE!

I wonder if Zenbu Media (publisher of Relix and the recently defunct Metal Edge and Metal Maniacs) knows that it probably was not the fact that "the music industry sucks" - as he wrote in a blog post on FolioMag.com - for Metal Edge going under.

Sure, this is somewhat true, but there are also a number of additional reasons why it DID go under, many of which were probably caused by Metal Edge's Editor in Chief, Phil Freeman. Its unfortunate because Freeman is a good writer and I did enjoy a few of his features over his year and a half reign. I did not enjoy the way he treated people nor the way Metal Edge was slowly melding into Metal Maniacs.

I have seen and heard first hand many wrong doings on his part as an editor working with his staff, publicist, managers and record labels. With the terrible economy we're in I won't be as cold hearted as I'd like and shout him out in detail, as everyone is human and makes mistakes so I do hope he finds a job he is better suited for. It's a very big shame that one of the only magazines that young metal loving kids had to read is now over.

The below email from Freeman was sent to us by a few people late last week:

Subject: Goodbye METAL EDGE - Hello, Freelance

Hey...

As you've no doubt heard, Wednesday, February 11 will be my last day as Editor-in-Chief of METAL EDGE. I am going to continue writing for various freelance outlets, though. I'm currently publishing regularly in five Village Voice Media papers (the Village Voice, the Cleveland Free Times, the SF Weekly, Westword in Denver, and the St. Louis Riverfront Times) as well as Jazziz, Alternative Press, and the Wire. I plan to expand even further in 2009, too, so all of you receiving this email should keep me on your promo lists, as I will continue to cover metal, jazz and anything else that catches my ear, whether in
print or online. I'm also available for artist bios, liner notes for reissues and compilations, and other similar projects. And finally, I'm a certified audio engineer as well as a critic and journalist, so feel free to pass my info to bands you know or work with who might be looking for an in-studio consultant ("producer" would be a stretch) or someone to evaluate their work and help them improve.

Please use this email address (and the mailing address below) for anything and everything; I look forward to continuing to work with you.

Thanks!

Phil Freeman

And now, a look back at happier times:

SLIPKNOT @ MADISON SQUARE GARDEN: FEBRUARY 5, 2009

The members of Slipknot made their dreams come true when they hit New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden for the very first time on Feb. 5. Playing to a near-sold out crowd (proving that metal still lives in NYC), the 9-piece masked band put on a 90-minute show featuring their one-of-a-kind blend of extreme metal music and high-energy performances.

As fans moshed in the pit, Slipknot performed favorites like “Wait and Bleed,” “Duality” and “People=Shit,” as well as new tunes from their latest album, 2008’s All Hope Is Gone, like “Psychosocial” and “Dead Memories.”

The always entertaining band supplemented the music with crazy percussionists on platforms that go up and down while they pound trash cans with bats and other objects; turntabilist Sid Wilson’s Cirque du Soleil-esque antics hanging and doing tricks from the aforementioned platforms; and Joey Jordison drumming while spinning around in the air on a contraption that resembled an amusement park ride.

Slipknot @ MSG

Slipknot’s current U.S. tour—also featuring Coheed and Cambria and Trivium—ends in mid March. Visit Slipknot's website for more info.