War For my Head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTb0OqE0QiM

Ode to Scott Weiland "Scott Weiland is killing himself. With that said, he is creating something amazing in his soon to be --- life."

     

      Scott Weiland is killing himself. With that said, he is creating something amazing in his soon to be --- life. I understand the finality of life and the near immortality of music. Music is the strand that ties us all together. And in our music we are closer to becoming united than any religion could ever hope to accomplish.

I understand that when we die we come back continuously until we get it right.  But maybe it’s not the drugs and alcohol that’s killing us, destroying our world. Perhaps it’s the bullshit. Drugs and alcohol open our minds and makes us free to be creative. But mingled with a shot of bullshit, it becomes toxic. I listen to Scott create haphazardly and I cannot help but to be inspired to write, to explore, to create and to think. I’m inspired to share this with you and to heal the world. His life will be short… let us live through him. If we want him to be with us longer… let us give him a world he would be happy to live in… without the bullshit.

4 Metal Legends Tell Their Tales

Though I have always been quite a voracious reader, I once had a bit of a disdain for both biographies and autobiographies. It is ironic really, for although I love laborious histories, I've always had trouble wading through the specific details of the lives of those who made it.

Needless to say, you will never catch me doing so for a top celebrity either, with one possible exception. I am thoroughly enjoying the current trend of metal icons either writing or dictating their lives in autobiographies.

Perhaps it is the fact that they are usually elaborating on things I have already experienced somewhat through their music. Perhaps it is the colorful yet highly intelligent language they generally use. I think it may be a bit of both. At any rate, here are four that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

1. Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath, by Tony Iommi (as told to T.J. Lammers)

Iommi starts at the very beginning, his childhood, and details events I was already familiar with through his music, but unaware of as to details and given scenarios that caused certain outcomes. It was especially great reading about his beginnings, his various projects with Glenn Hughes and Ronnie James Dio (two of my all time favorite vocalists), and his mismatch with Lita Ford, then perfect match with Drain STH's Maria Sjöholm.

2. Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good, by Corey Taylor

I think my favorite quote in this whole book was, "When Paris Hilton can top the best sellers' list, we are one more Connect Four move from Armageddon. I wish I were being funny, but I am clearly not." That being said, Corey has so many good quotes in this book, it is ridiculous!

If you are looking for a book about Slipknot, or Stone Sour even, this is not it. If you are looking for anecdotes and ironically philosophical musings from the life and rambling mind of Corey Taylor, this is it. Personally, I loved it!

4. Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen, by Al Jourgensen (with Jon Winderhonn)

This book was perhaps even more graphic than the ramblings of Corey Taylor, but I do love Uncle Al's sense of humor! It is dark, poignant, and all encompassing. To take a life filled with decades of drug addiction and music, and turn it into a cohesive story that is so very blunt in its telling, I can only say, "Well done, Al".

This book will make your jaw drop, and make you giggle at the same time. Somewhere along the way, you will grow to appreciate Jourgensen for what he truly is, a definite character, and a very self aware man!

5. Bruce Dickinson: Flashing Metal with Maiden and Flying Solo, by Joe Shooman

My favorite memory of Iron Maiden will always be of them on some British music show where they were asked to lip sync. Needless to say, this did not set well with them, and while they did perform, it was, well, far more entertaining than a venture in lip syncing should be!

That is the type of thing you will find detailed in this book. Though a biography, it is the closest we have to any inside info to date on anyone from Iron Maiden. This book details so many things about Dickinson that I did not even know! It gave me a little insight into goings one during his solo efforts at least, which is something I , for one, have always been curious about.

These four books are certainly worth a read, and perhaps even a re-read at some point. Yes, I have a tendency to re-read, just personally. It is why I am a book collector in the first place. It is great to have a little music to go with my reading too!

Disclaimer : I was in no way compensated for these reviews.

Image Credit :  Wikimedia Commons, Iommi at the Forum, This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Skeletor2112 at the English Wikipedia project. This applies worldwide.

In a Musical Moment of Maddness, A Musician's Perspective

There is nothing that compares to the trepidation one feels just before going out on stage to preform. Yes, I call it trepidation, for the moments before actually preforming can be just that, quite fearful. This is usually mingled with a great many other emotions, however.

Most often it is coupled with the exhilaration of anticipation. Yes, that would be the most apt description, I think, half fear, half anticipation. Something about this particular ratio gives you an adrenaline rush, and before you know it, you are out there in front of that crowd again. It is like no other feeling on earth.

The fear and anticipation are gone, and now you feed off the energy of the crowd. A throbbing, pulsating wave of emotion takes you over, and you and your band mates are gone...lost in the music, just like the rest of the crowd. You are one with them now. You are a part of that mass of primal energy until the show is over.

Afterwards, there is usually also the emotional oneness you feel with your band mates. As you all go hang for a bit at whatever greasy spoon you can find open, the trepidation that began your evening is now just a distant memory. You wonder if it ever happened at all. Basking in the mutual accolades of your band mates, it's easy to forget the moment of fear laden anticipation before you all took the stage by storm.

Then again, there are those "other nights". The ones when the crowd wasn't as big or as enthusiastic as you hoped. The nights when the sound equipment fails somehow, and mysteriously nothing seems quite right the entire evening from there on out. There are the nights when the band as a whole is far too ill and road weary to "click" on the most fundamental of levels.

These are the nights when we pack our gear in relative silence, unless of course there is an ego in the band who has to seek blame in someone, and animosity, which can run the gamut from quiet disgruntled grumblings to loud obnoxious conflict then ensues. Still, usually these are the nights we all part in silence, not stopping to regroup and figure out what went wrong at the usual greasy spoon as we probably should.

We all have at least a few of these nights, whether we want to admit it or not. From the smallest garage band playing at their uncle's birthday kegger, to the biggest star in rock history...every musician since the first chords were struck, and the first song took shape knows this feeling. It is the very feeling and the very type of experience that causes the fear and panic we all get in that "moment". The moment just before we hit the stage running, and find out exactly which kind of night it is going to be.

Previously published on http://preferredwriters.enjin.com/