Thirty years ago five L.A. punks unleashed their debut album upon the atrophied and decadent rock charts of Reagan's America. Within weeks EAppetite for DestructionE ascended to number one on the U.S. charts; to date EAppetiteE has sold more than thirty million copies making it the bestselling U.S. debut album of all time. To say that Guns N' Roses redefined rock 'n' roll is akin to asserting that Jimi Hendrix revolutionized surf music a a statement that while technically true does more to conceal the truth than elucidate it. GN'R turned back the tide of MTV-spawned New Wave/synth pop by infusing the blistering hard rock of Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith with a punk sensibility that hearkened back to the onstage anarchy of the Stooges New York Dolls and Sex Pistols. In EGuns N' Roses FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Bad Boys of Sunset StripE Rich Weidman charts the amazing journey of this seminal record and the band behind it. From the gutters of West Hollywood to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from EAppetiteE to EThe Spaghetti Incident?E these 400 pages of hedonistic nihilism salacious debauchery and raw unadulterated rock are guaranteed to turn your head blow out your eardrums obliterate your comfort zone and leave you begging for more.THWritten in Backbeat's popular FAQ format EGuns N' Roses FAQE breaks the band's story into a series of chapters equally suitable for a straight-through read or piecemeal consumption. Weidman's treasure trove of facts trivia stories and photographs touch on every topic imaginable. Subjects explored include the band's earliest influences and venues most notorious concerts and opening acts highlights from their seemingly endless EAppetite for DestructionE and EUse Your IllusionE tours bizarre TV appearances (like the time they destroyed the set of MTV's EHeadbangers Ball!E) public and private feuds music videos best and worst covers (Pat Boone anyone?) and much more. From the golden years of the late eighties and early nineties to the outrageous antics and self-destructive tendencies that to irreconcilable inner turmoil from the band's West Hollywood club days to the reunion of three of the five classic band members during the 2016 Not in This Lifetime Tour EGuns N' Roses FAQE paints a portrait replete with sheer talent raw power dangerous rivalries rock excess and sudden reconciliation that's simply unrivaled by anything else on the market.

EThe Beat Generation FAQE is an informative and entertaining look at the enigmatic authors and cutting-edge works that shaped this fascinating cultural and literary movement. Disillusioned with the repression and conformity encompassing post-World War II life in the United States the Beat writers sought creative alternatives to the mind-numbing banality of modern culture.THBeat Generation writers were no strangers to controversy: Both Allen Ginsberg's prophetic William Blakean-style poem Howl (1956) and William S. Burroughs' groundbreaking novel ENaked LunchE (1959) led to obscenity trials while Jack Kerouac's highly influential novel EOn the RoadE (1957) was blamed by the establishment for corrupting the nation's youth and continues to this day to serve as a beacon of hipster culture and the bohemian lifestyle.THThe Beat writers shared a vision for a new type of literature one that escaped the boundaries of academia and employed an organic use of language inspired by the spontaneity and improvisational nature of jazz music and abstract expressionism (Kerouac coined this writing style spontaneous prose ). In search of deeper meaning Beat Generation writers experimented not only with language but also with spirituality art drugs sexuality and unconventional lifestyles. Although the movement as a whole flamed out quickly in the early 1960s replaced by the onset of the hippie counterculture the Beats made an indelible mark on the nation's consciousness and left a long-lasting influence on its art and culture. This book details the movement a its works creative forces and its legacy.

(FAQ). It has been 40 years since the untimely death of L.A.'s mystic and rock's Dionysus, Jim Morrison, yet the Doors have consistently inspired new generations of fans worldwide ever since. Highlighting one of the most influential, original, and outrageous American bands of the 1960s, The Doors FAQ is a dynamic, unorthodox exploration of this remarkable band and its enigmatic lead singer. Drawing upon unique sources, Rich Weidman digs deep and serves up fresh perspective on the music, from the garage to the hits to the outtakes; and on the band's members, from their roots, influences, and key industry partners to their rare talents, personal foibles, love affairs, and arrests. This volume also details every studio album and live recording, all the highs and lows of the Doors in concert (including the notorious 1969 Miami concert), Morrison's 40-day trial, and the death of the "Lizard King" in Paris in 1971, as well as post-Morrison milestones. Unlike the straightforward narratives of other Doors biographies, this inventive, ceremonious biographical collage leaves no stone unturned, covering the band both with Morrison and post-Morrison, including the 2010 When You're Strange documentary and the recent pardon of Morrison by the State of Florida for the Miami concert. Countless rare images from album art to ticket stubs to posters accompany the text, in this dazzling edition of solid rock scholarship.