Sad news: The music world mourns the loss of Ray Manzarek (74), founding Member and keyboarder of The Doors, White Zombie drummer Phil Buerstatte (44) and Uriah Heep bassist Trevor Bolder (63). R.I.P.!
German Hardrockers BERSERKER will donate 18.000€ to the Berlin cancer charity for children on May 25. November 2011 BERSERKER front man Schröder was diagnosed with cancer, now he is cancer-free. In 2012 the band collected money for this charity at their concerts and will also continue to do so in the future. Slayer´s Jeff Hanneman is dead: he passed away at about 11AM on May 2nd near his Southern California home because of liver failure due to an infection after a spider bite. R.I.P. Jeff!
The Siberian Jay music video "I´m Holding" featuring Mikko Sirén from Apocalyptica on drums - we reported about the videoshoot in our "1h with" Special - can be watched here: http://youtu.be/C-hSNurZVcs
When I remember right, I have already mentioned somewhere here that for me Dave Mustaine is god, so if you expect to read a negative review, you waste your time. Not going to happen. And not only because I´m a Megadeth fan, but simply because this is a good book that I can easily recommend.
Why? Well, this autobiography of the Megadeth-mastermind, guitarero + vocalist is simply fun to read, easy and entertaining, as if you are listening to a very very long interview (yes, it is almost like you „hear“ the Master himself speaking); a very personal and candid report of a crazy rockstar life, with all the classic stories of sex, drugs (especially those) and rock´n´roll. Or better, Trash Metal, where Mustaine already secured his place in music history as one of its creators. Another chapter of music history, where his role might still be widely underestimated, concerns Metallica and his contributions to the birth of the band and their sound. (By the way, I did not require to read the book for this opinion; every hardcore-Metallica-fan I had argued with in all those years can confirm that...). Naturally, Lars&Co do not end up in the friendliest light... but actually Metallica´s own documentary had so much more „image-damaging“ effect than any of Mustaine´s snotty remarks...
Apropos snotty remarks, there are many of those, and pretty much about everybody Mustaine had worked with. But as merciless as he is with others, he is with himself and his actions; and very often Mustaine´s dark humour shines through and provokes several LOL moments. Here as example an excerpt of the cover text:
Impoverished, transient childhood? Check.
Abusive, alcoholic parent? Check.
Mind-fucking religious weirdness (in his case the extremes of the Jehovah´s Witnesses and Satanism)? Check.
Alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness? Check, check, check.
Soul-crushing professional and artistic setbacks? Check.
Rehab? Check (seventeen times, give or take).
Near-death experience? Check that one, too.
What´s left to say? For Megadeth-fans it´s a must anyway, also for everybody who is interested in Heavy Metal and its history. And it´s also a book for people who seek an exciting real-life tale about loss and gain, rise and downfall, life on the edge and how to find a balance - thus, a message of hope, beyond all this Heavy Metal/Rock scene craziness.
And maybe the one or the other Metallica-fan might also enjoy reading it, too.
PS: The book titled „Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir“ is identical with this one; just a different publisher (It Books)
