"Without a doubt, Eddie Van Halen is the greatest guitar player who has ever lived." -Zakk Wylde Van Halen is as American as apple pie, Ford Mustangs, and fake breasts. However, underneath all the fun and flash is one of the most important and influential, soulful and successful bands in history. With their explosive 1978 debut, they changed the face of rock. As of 2005, they have earned a dozen consecutive multi-Platinum albums with sales reaching in excess of 75 million copies worldwide. Pound for pound, they also happen to be one of the most devastating live bands in history. With thirteen tours and more than 1,300 gigs under their belt, they consistently packed sheds from L.A. to Tokyo. The cast of characters is legendary. "Diamond" David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone - three very dynamic but very different frontmen. Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony - one of the most powerful and consistent rhythm sections in rock. Edward Van Halen - the only rock guitarist in history other than the great Jimi Hendrix to reinvent the electric guitar. "I liked what I read a lot. This book is a labor of love and all true VH fans will love it." -Alan Paul, Guitar World Van Halen 101 is a comprehensive guide to the amazing history, music, impact, and influence of the Mighty VH. No hype, no b.s., just the facts. Includes a Foreword by Brian May and a tribute to Edward Van Halen by over 100 of the world's greatest musicians From Allan Holdsworth and Steve Vai to James Hetfield and Zakk Wylde, all the greats came forward to personally share their thoughts, memories and stories about the man simply known as "King Edward."

Seb Hunter wasn't just a heavy metal fan. He was a blind devotee who threw away his education and future prospects to become a rock star. In Hell Bent for Leather, he reaches into the most embarrassing depths of the family photo album to reveal his Wayne's World-esque teen years, taking readers on a (very loud) musical journey from his first guitar to his first gig and on, through groupies, girlfriends, too many drugs, spiraling egos, musical differences, and finally, the end of the dream -- and a much-needed haircut.In this nostalgic look at heavy metal culture, Seb Hunter has given us a moving portrait of adolescence and chasing your dream, reminding us all that it's better to have lost in rock than never to have rocked at all.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

It's easy to get heavy with this new guide to playing metal guitar. Each chapter offers biographical portraits, details on gear set up and tone, analysis of playing techniques, and several music examples. The CD illustrates all the examples from the book, played with each artist's preferred equipment. The Way They Play series explores the work of guitar heroes within a given genre. Players can discover the secrets of their classic tones, learn how they played their most famous rhythms and leads, and find out how they forged their unique styles. The accompanying CD walks guitarists note-by-note through licks that characterise the signature sounds of these world-class musicians. This is the third book in the series, following The Blues-Rock Masters (ISBN 0879307358, January 2003) and The Acoustic-Rock Masters (ISBN 0879307617, November 2003).

This book gives you vital instruction in metal basics from top guitar teachers, and reveals the secrets of the monsters of metal - often in their own words. Packed with musical examples, charts and photos, this is your complete course for learning metal guitar. In-depth lessons with pros like Andy Ellis, Jesse Gress, Joe Gore, Jude Gold and Dave Whitehill teach you to build your own style while exploring the classic and modern sounds of the metal masters. Covers: tips on altered tunings and 7-string guitar, pros' secrets of tone and recording, discography of the monsters of metal, and free access to audio lessons at an exclusive web page!

“Bang your head! Metal Health’ll drive you mad!”
— Quiet Riot

Like an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music on steroids, Bang Your Head is an epic history of every band and every performer that has proudly worn the Heavy Metal badge. Whether headbanging is your guilty pleasure or you firmly believe that this much-maligned genre has never received the respect it deserves, Bang Your Head is a must-read that pays homage to a music that’s impossible to ignore, especially when being blasted through a sixteen-inch woofer.

Charting the genesis of early metal with bands like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden; the rise of metal to the top of the Billboard charts and heavy MTV rotation featuring the likes of Def Leppard and Metallica; hitting its critical peak with bands like Guns N’ Roses; disgrace during the “hair metal” ’80s; and a demise fueled by the explosion of the Seattle grunge scene and the “alternative” revolution, Bang Your Head is as funny as it is informative and proves once and for all that there is more to metal than sin, sex, and spandex.

To write this exhaustive history, David Konow spent three years interviewing the bands, wives, girlfriends, ex-wives, groupies, managers, record company execs, and anyone who was or is a part of the metal scene, including many of the band guys often better known for their escapades and bad behavior than for their musicianship. Nothing is left unsaid in this jaw-dropping, funny, and entertaining chronicle of power ballads, outrageous outfits, big hair, bigger egos, and testosterone-drenched debauchery.

This comprehensive A-Z listing has over 100 rap-rock, rap-metal and funk-metal bands, plus a host of other hard-hitting acts from the hip-hop and hardcore punk branches of metal. All of nu-metal life is here, from leaders of the scene such as Limp Bizkit, Korn, Slipnot, Deftones, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Marilyn Manson, Soulfly, Tool, Amen, At the Drive-In, and System of a Down, through the pioneers of the movement such as Primus, Faith No More, Rage Against the Machine, and Biohazard, all the way up to the newest cutting-edge bands such as One Minute Silence, A Perfect Circle, Coal Chamber, Orgy, Alien Ant Farm, Godsmack, and Videodrome. There's also a full history of events that led to the formation of nu-meta, putting the pieces of the puzzle together with the story of grunge and early rap rockers such as the Beastie Boys.

The Godfathers of Nu Metal are set for a triumphant return, with the imminent release of their brand new album.

With over 5 million copies of their last record in circulation, these guys have certainly got a huge fanbase already and interest in Korn is sure to expand with their new release, making them the ultimate superstar heavy-metal icons.

'Kreature Komforts' charts this magnificent journey and details the highs and lows of a band as they develop into world-class entertainers. Ideally suited to the average Korn fans taste and budget, with equal parts intelligent text and full-colour photography throughout, the target market of 13-25-year-olds are certain to approve of the first full-length biography on this exceptional group.

In his first book, front man of Slipknot and Stone Sour, Corey Taylor took on the Seven Deadly Sins, pulling them apart to reveal all that is irrelevant and wrong about the vices in the modern world through his own uniquely hilarious yet ferocious style. But in Corey's eyes that's not all that is wrong with the world today... From bad music, fame and infomercials to raising kids, sex and airport security, You're Making Me Hate You is the result of a one-man mission to demonstrate the alarming rise in worldwide idiocy, buffoonery and out-and-out disregard for intelligent thought. Rant-filled but eloquent, shocking but intelligent, this is bestselling author Corey Taylor at his most Corey Taylor and he doesn't leave himself out either... turns out he's just as f***ing stupid as the rest of us, too.

Taking cue from the do-it-yourself attitude of their country's punk movement, Britain's up-and-coming heavy metal bands that comprised the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) were not content to wait for record labels to come knocking. Instead, they took to issuing their own music, typically in the form of 7 inch singles but also 12s and full-length album, many indie, some on small labels, and some on the major labels smart enough to get on board (essentially EMI and MCA). Martin Popoff, writer of more record reviews than anybody in history across all genres), has undertaken the task of documenting virtually every record large and small from heavy metal's most fabled period (beginning essentially in `79 with a hard stop at 1983) providing catalogue information, mini reviews as only he can do, plus a gob of thumbnails of those wonderful 7" picture sleeves and LP covers. Additional features: * Includes hundreds of rare 45 picture sleeve and album cover images. * Every record rated out of 10. * Layout designed so that LPs are distinguished from 7", 10" and 12" singles/EPs. * Label, year of release and catalogue number for almost every entry. * Two appendices, displaying all 9's and 10's for singles as opposed to LPs.

Few forms of music elicit such strong reactions as does heavy metal. Embraced by millions of fans, it has also attracted a chorus of critics, who have denounced it as a corrupter of youth--even blamed it for tragedies like the murders at Columbine. Deena Weinstein argues that these fears stem from a deep misunderstanding of the energetic, rebellious culture of metal, which she analyzes, explains, and defends. She interprets all aspects of the metal world--the music and its makers, its fans, its dress code, its lyrics--and in the process unravels the myths, misconceptions, and truths about an irreverent subculture that has endured and evolved for twenty years.

Gene Simmons was born Chaim Witz in 1951 in Haifa, Israel, to a carpenter and a Nazi concentration camp survivor. When he was nine, his mother brought him to New York, opening up his mind to American culture and sowing the seeds for Kiss. Kiss gave people great rock 'n roll music with an awe-inspiring theatrical show. Each member had their own look - Gene's was "The Demon" and his bat-like make-up, on-stage fire-breathing, tongue-waggling and blood-drooling made headlines worldwide. Simmons' life is extraordinary and his personality contradictory. He has witnessed and partaken in the highest level of debauched rock and roll behaviour, but has never touched drugs or alcohol. This uncensored book tells the real story of the man behind the make-up.

"The only plan right now is to kill everybody" Joey Jordison, drummerIgnoring every rule in the book and more besides, Slipknot are a notoriously controversial band who combine a talent for outrage with their music. Reminiscent of the outlandishness of punk, 'nu metal' has become the fastest growing area in rock, with Slipknot selling over 2 million copies of their debut album. And yet Slipknot spit, swear and risk injury night after night in their extraordinary live performances. Incredibly, their apparel of masks and boiler suits, which they refuse to remove, means that their fans still do not know what they look like. Jason Arnopp, the first British journalist to interview Slipknot face to mask, describes the transformation of the Des Moines crew into unorthodox mega stars. Featuring an introduction by the legendary Gene Simmons of Kiss, this biography will be the first published on the band either in the UK or America and will include exclusive interviews and in-depth information on the mysterious nine masked men.

This is the first extensive scholarly study of drone metal music and its religious associations, drawing on five years of ethnographic participant observation from more than 300 performances and 74 interviews, plus surveys, analyses of sound recordings, artwork, and extensive online discourse about music. Owen Coggins shows that while many drone metal listeners identify as non-religious, their ways of engaging with and talking about drone metal are richly informed by mysticism, ritual and religion. He explores why language relating to mysticism and spiritual experience is so prevalent in drone metal culture and in discussion of musical experiences and practices of the genre. The author develops the work of Michel de Certeau to provide an empirically grounded theory of mysticism in popular culture. He argues that the marginality of the genre culture, together with the extremely abstract sound produces a focus on the listeners' engagement with sound, and that this in turn creates a space for the open-ended exploration of religiosity in extreme states of bodily consciousness.

Heavy metal is now over 40 years old. It emerged at the tail end of the 1960s in the work of bands including Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and - most importantly - Black Sabbath. In the 1970s and early 1980s, heavy metal crystallised as a genre as bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden removed most of the blues influence on the genre, codifying a set of basic metal characteristics that endure to this day: distorted guitars, aggressive vocals, denim, leather and spikes. In broad terms, wherever it is found and however it is played, metal tends to be dominated by a distinctive commitment to 'transgressive' themes and musicality causing it to be frequently seen as controversial music. Controversies surrounding the alleged (and often documented) connection between heavy metal and, variously, sexual promiscuity, occultism and Satanism, subliminal messages, suicide and violence have all made heavy metal a target of moral panics over popular culture. Metal has variously embraced, rejected, played with and tried to ignore this controversy. At times, the controversy dies down and the previously transgressive becomes relatively harmless - as in the transformation of Ozzy Osbourne from public enemy to loveable dad. Still, metal remains irrevocably marked by its controversial, transgressive tendencies. Indeed, the various moral panics that metal has been subjected to are not only constitutive, at least in part, of metal scenes, but are encoded in metal's transgression itself. As with hiphop's "ghetto" roots, metal's history of extreme sonic, lyrical and visual messages continue to give it credibility with new generations of fans today. The aim of this anthology is to analyse the relationship between heavy metal and society within a global context. It provides a thorough investigation of how and why metal becomes controversial, how metal 'scenes' are formed and examines the relationship between metal and society, including how fans, musicians and the media create the culture of heavy metal.

During the past three decades, heavy metal music has gone global, becoming a potent source of meaning and identity for devoted fans around the world. In "Metal Rules the Globe," ethnographers and some of the foremost authorities in the burgeoning field of metal studies analyze this dramatic expansion of heavy metal music and culture. They take readers inside metal scenes in Brazil, Canada, Easter Island, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Nepal, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, and the United States, describing how the sounds of heavy metal and the meanings that metalheads attribute to them vary from culture to culture. The contributors explore heavy metal fandom in relation to masculinity, race, ethnicity, class, and the music industry, and as a means for disenfranchised youth to negotiate modernity and social change. Their essays reveal metal fans as likely to criticize the consumerism, class divisiveness, and uneven development of globalization as they are to reject traditional norms of behavior. Crucially, the contributors never lose sight of the sense of community and sonic pleasure to be experienced in the distorted, pounding, amplified sounds of local metal scenes.

"Contributors." Idelber Avelar, Albert Bell, Dan Bendrups, Harris M. Berger, Paul D. Greene, Ross Hagen, Sharon Hochhauser, Shuhei Hosokawa, Keith Kahn-Harris, Kei Kawano, Rajko Mursič, Steve Waksman, Jeremy Wallach, Robert Walser, Deena Weinstein, Cynthia P. Wong

Lemmy Kilmister is founder, sole constant member, vocalist, bassist, songwriter and living legend. He has given Jake Brown unprecedented behind-the-scenes access into the writing and recording of the band's 26 albums. Together with insight from fellow band members, crew and producers, this features all the stories behind such albums as Ace of Spades, Bomber and Overkill.

In Heavy Metal Music in Latin America: Perspectives from the Distorted South, the editors bring together scholars engaged in the study of heavy metal music in Latin America to reflect on the heavy metal genre from a regional perspective. The contributors' southern voices diversify metal scholarship in the global north. An extreme musical genre for an extreme region, the contributors explore how issues like colonialism, dictatorships, violence, ethnic extermination and political persecution have shaped heavy metal music in Latin America, and how music has helped shape Latin American culture and politics.

To mark the first anniversary of Eddie Van Halen's early death comes this new, full-length biography. 'The game changing guitar legend gets the biography he deserves ... Diligently researched, perceptive and well-written.' 8/10, Classic Rock 'An affectionate and unflinching portrait of metal guitar's Mount Everest.' Mojo Arriving in California as a young boy in the early 1960s, Edward Van Halen and his brother Alex were ripe for the coming musical revolution. The sons of a Dutch, saxophone-playing father, the brothers discovered the Beatles, Cream and others. From the moment their hugely influential 1978 debut landed, Van Halen set a high bar for the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, creating an entirely new style of post-'60s hard rock and becoming the quintessential Californian band of the 1980s. But there was also an undercurrent of tragedy to their story, as Eddie's struggles played out in public, from his difficult relationship with the band's original singer, Dave Lee Roth, to substance abuse, divorce and his long-running battle with cancer.