Category: Book Reviews

Posted on: October 25, 2017 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Hellraisers: A Complete Visual History of Heavy Metal Mayhem

From the tight jeans and mullets uniform of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the cringe-worthy hairspray and glitter era, to the burning churches and scary-as-fuck Norwegian Black Metal sect, Axl Rosenberg and Chris Krovatin have managed to break down just about every imaginable subgenre of Heavy Metal in their satisfyingly thorough Hellraisers. This massively heavy hardcover is crammed with hundreds of color photos, playlists and essays throughout.

Posted on: October 16, 2017 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Lighters in the Sky: The All-Time Greatest Concerts, 1960-2016

Corbin Reiff must have known what he was setting himself up for when he decided to tackle a list of the best concerts, year by year. No matter how spot on his picks are – and with a couple of nitpicks here and there they are – there are bound to be people who have a problem with his selections. The only thing music nerds like more than talking about…

Posted on: August 10, 2017 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Last of the Giants: The True Story of Guns N’ Roses

You could build a library solely dedicated to books written about Guns N’ Roses, the genre is that deep. Band members Slash, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler have all written books about their time in the infamous band. Slash’s childhood friend Marc Cantor was able to cash in on a book, even Adler’s mom was able to get a publisher for Sweet Child of Mine: How I Lost My Son…

Posted on: July 29, 2017 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Runnin’ With The Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times

Noel Monk managed Van Halen from 1978 – 1985, the biggest rock band in the world during that run. And while he was ultimately fired from the band and cut out of millions of dollars, he certainly left the gig with a slew of stories, funny, sad and salacious. Thanks to a 30-plus year NDA agreement that has recently run out, he’s now able to channel the best of those…

Posted on: June 27, 2017 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

New Super-Man: Volume 1 (DC Comics)

I have been out of the DC Comics loop for a bit, only keeping up to date with the cartoons and feature films. As such, we missed the initial run of New Super-man, a fascinating story that showcases new locales and a Superman-like character in Kenan Kong. Kenan starts the story as an American-styled bully in China, beating up and stealing from a fellow school mate. After the falls into…

Posted on: May 23, 2017 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 1

Startup: A Novel by Doree Shafrir

The tech industry is fertile ground for satire; just look at what Mike Judge has been able to do with his show Silicon Valley. But Doree Shafrir proves there are no geographical boundaries to the characters that are drawn to the bizarre world of tech startups. From tech bros to the journalists who follow their every move, Shafrir, in her debut novel, creates an addictively compelling world in a city…

Posted on: April 24, 2017 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Smoke Snort Swallow Shoot by Jacob Hoye

The idea behind this books seems a mix of cynicism and the morbid – running a series of excerpts from rock star bios focusing entirely on their drug stories. In realty, if we’re being honest, it actually makes for a wildly entertaining read.

Posted on: March 10, 2017 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Haddon Hall – When David Invented Bowie by Nejib

In 1969, after his single “Space Oddity,” managed to garner a decent amount of attention, David Bowie with his wife Angie moved into a massive house in London along with a slew of other hippies, that went under the name Haddon Hall. The house is the setting for the quirky yet inventively creative book by graphic designer/comic artist Nejib. The hardcover comic tells the story of Bowie putting together his…