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Book Description
Bang Your Head is an epic history of every band and every performer that has worn the Heavy Metal Badge. Charting the genesis of early metal with bands like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden; the rise of metal to chart-topping phenomenon; the 'hair metal' 80s and a demise fuelled by the explosion of the Seattle grunge scene and the ‘alternative’ revolution. Bang Your Head is as funny as it is informative, and it proves once and for all that there is more to metal that sin, sex and spandex.
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THE END OF THE 1960s was filled with equal amounts of promise and terror. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
THE END OF THE 1960s was filled with equal amounts of promise and terror. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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32 reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
The History of (Hollywood) Heavy Metal
12 Aug 2003
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read this back to back with _Sound of the Beast_ by Ian Christie and was pleased to find that they (mostly) cover different material. The first thing you'll notice is that except for obligatory coverage of Black Sabbath, Zepplin, AC/DC, Kiss and Metallica, this book focuses mostly on the LA metal scene, AKA the MTV Bands. This may leave you wondering, "Where the heck is the Black Metal?" even though Konow does cover Venom somewhat, as the progenitor of this style. Europe is pretty much ignored, and it'll probably feel like your favorite band got short shrift. Furthermore, the writing isn't very smooth - the book is mostly a collection of anecdotes and factoids. X did this, Y said that, Z was released and did well but not well enough...
With all that said, though, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. The fact density means that you're learning new things every page, at least if, like me, you weren't really into the scene itself, just the music. And if the book had been as wordy as _Sound of the Beast_, it would have been twice as large without giving you much more information. I had no idea Gene Simmons was born Chaim Witz in Israel. Funny bits like Henry Rollins's description of how bad Venom was on tour ('I expected them to break into Sex Farm Woman at any moment') amused me quite a lot.
With all that said, though, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. The fact density means that you're learning new things every page, at least if, like me, you weren't really into the scene itself, just the music. And if the book had been as wordy as _Sound of the Beast_, it would have been twice as large without giving you much more information. I had no idea Gene Simmons was born Chaim Witz in Israel. Funny bits like Henry Rollins's description of how bad Venom was on tour ('I expected them to break into Sex Farm Woman at any moment') amused me quite a lot.
Furthermore, Konow's concentration on a smaller population of LA Bands gives this book more depth than Chistie's in several areas. _Sound of the Beast_ just mentions that Quiet Riot's first cd sold 4 million, their second 1 million. Finis. _Bang Your Head_ goes into all the scheming and politics behind this, why their second record doing 'only' 1 million was a disaster, and how Quiet Riot leader DuBrow shot himself in the foot repeatedly.
Even though I never particularly cared for the hair bands (which is what most of the LA Bands were, especially in the tarnished Golden Age of MTV Metal), you certainly couldn't escape them, and it's quite fascinating to find just /how/ self-centered and talentless a lot of them were. Find out just /how/ bad a bass player Nikki Sixx was. Learn why Guns 'n' Roses hasn't released _Chinese Democracy_ yet after almost a decade, though Axl's put $8 million into it. Konow also touches on bands that never quite broke through, like Dokken and Armored Saint, and the whys and the wherefores.
So read _Sound of the Beast_ for a global but shallow view of metal, and then _Bang Your Head_ for a more in-depth focus of a few of the bands and more of the Why instead of the What. I had a hard time setting either down.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Decent but not great.
4 Feb 2005
Format:Paperback
The best parts in this book are the stories and anecdotes about the bands or the individuals in the bands. Vince Neil is protrayed as the butt of a joke and David Lee Roth is portrayed as a spoiled rich kid turned professional jerk. The stories of the bands are entertaining, because it allows the reader to see just how ridiculous some people can be. However, the book falls short on many levels. Some of the most talented bands of Metal only receive very small sections of the book. I believe that Iron Maiden has a page. Judas Priest has a paragraph. Motorhead, while very influential is only mentioned in sections. The core of the book is made of the L.A. scene, focusing on bands such as Ratt, Motley Crue and Guns and Roses. While these bands were good, they were not the only Metal around in the 80's.
Another disturbing aspect of the book is that Konow claims that Metal was wiped out by the Seattle scene. This is untrue. Konow ignores that Pantera's album, "Far Beyond Driven" debuted at number one the week it was released. Konow also fails to acknowledge that Slayer released some of their most ferocious work in the 90's. I will say that Metal was not as mainstream in the 90's, however to say that it was dead is preposterous. David Konow has written for Guitar World magazine, which I used to read. The late Dimebag Darrel once wrote columns for the magazine well in to the 90's. Dime once said something along the lines of, "Some people think that Metal is Dead, but Metal ain't all assed up yet." I would say to potential readers, that this book is fair. If you want a better read then first check out, "Sound of the Beast" first. That book covers all genre's of metal fairly well and you get more of a history as opposed to the tabloid feaud-like rivalry that "Bang Your Head" offers.
Another disturbing aspect of the book is that Konow claims that Metal was wiped out by the Seattle scene. This is untrue. Konow ignores that Pantera's album, "Far Beyond Driven" debuted at number one the week it was released. Konow also fails to acknowledge that Slayer released some of their most ferocious work in the 90's. I will say that Metal was not as mainstream in the 90's, however to say that it was dead is preposterous. David Konow has written for Guitar World magazine, which I used to read. The late Dimebag Darrel once wrote columns for the magazine well in to the 90's. Dime once said something along the lines of, "Some people think that Metal is Dead, but Metal ain't all assed up yet." I would say to potential readers, that this book is fair. If you want a better read then first check out, "Sound of the Beast" first. That book covers all genre's of metal fairly well and you get more of a history as opposed to the tabloid feaud-like rivalry that "Bang Your Head" offers.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Entertaining and Provocative
1 Dec 2002
Format:Paperback
Konow's exploration of the rise and fall of the heavy metal scene is a rich social and cultural exploration that reads like an oral history, which, in many respects, is exactly what the book is, given the voluminous musicians and social observers that Konow had access to in preparing his opus. It's fascinating to see how metal became, in the 80s, a parody of itself with the emergence of the "hair bands". And, as if that wasn't enough to ensure the demise of the metal sound,the Seattle grunge musicians were lurking in the background, about to unleash their own musical revolution with a little help from MTV. A swift read that should appeal to any reader with an interest in the pop culture of the 1980s.
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