Classic Rock Book Reviews: quick and dirty

  U2 The Definitive Biography  John Jobling We all love U2. Everyone has since maybe the late 80s. So it’s time to crack a book about this little beat combo from Dublin, Ireland. The claim on the cover is a big one. This is not just any ordinary biography but it is the DEFINITIVE biography no less.  Words have meaning and while meanings are malleable you can’t use a word when it just doesn’t apply. John Jobling's work on U2 is certainly not definitive. Mr. Oxford Dictionary suggests “ (of a book or other text) the most authoritative of its kind.”. Is this the most authoritative of its kind? Nope . . .  After reading this, I am convinced there are better biographies of the band out there. The basics are covered but I just felt that something was missing. Maybe it's the writing style, maybe it was the feeling of the book.  Yup, different books can feel differently, whether it’s the binding or the paper or whatever it might be all books have a feeling. For a quick ...

I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie by Pamela Des Barres There is no co-write listed. Does this mean Ms. Des Barres truly wrote this herself or does she have a quiet ghostwriter? Either way, the book opens with a foreword by the one and only Dave Navarro. That foreword was as useful as Led Zepplin (think about it for a sec). The only reason Dave Navarro’s name appeared on the cover was to help sell books. Nothing in his foreword contributed anything to the book except that it too up a little bit of space Pamela learned early what men wanted and she gave them what they were after. In return for her favors, she could hang out with whoever it happened to be.  Pamela was, as the title says, a groupie. But she is not just a groupie. She was perhaps the most famous of the groupies. Is she more famous than “ Sweet, Sweet Connie from Little Rock”? Perhaps although Pamela has not been mentioned in the song as explicitly as Connie. These are the tales of a young girl living her rock ...

  Sinner's Creed by Scott Stapp and David Ritz Oh boy! There is a lot of religion in this book. So much so that I began to wonder just what I was reading. Was I reading a conversion story? Well, sort of. Was I reading a story of redemption? Well, sort of. Was I reading a rock and roll autobiography? Well, sort of. Sure this tells the story of the band Creed and Mr. Stapp's relationships within the band but it tells us more. Scott Stapp jumped right in and decided to confuse the reader with the kind of book this is.  Religion plays a big part in Stapp's life. Great. We read of the issues Scott went through when trying to wrap his music around his religion. It wasn't just the music that we see Scott struggle with. We see him struggle with more than music and drugs and sex. We see his personal struggle with his religion. His father insisted upon Scott behaving and acting in a way that was in accord with the good book. That seems to have messed Scott up a bunch in his year...