Book Review #20: The Dirt

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band (2001)

There are books and then there are BOOKS and then there is The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band. This is the Granddaddy of all Rock and Roll Biographies. It's the benchmark for which all future Rock Bio's will be judged. Everything that you have heard about The Dirt is all that and more. This is Book Report #20. That's how long I had to wait in line with the waiting list for this one at the Library. I've been on a major book reading binge and the first book that I put a hold on was for this one.

So, was the wait worth it? Hell fucking yeah it was. I really don't know why I never got around to reading this one before. It's been out since 2001. That's 10 fucking years. I always had an excuse or I was too busy and kept putting it off for whatever reason. So, I sit here now able to finally cross this off my to-read list. 

As for The Dirt, it's all here. All the decadence, debauchery, chaos and fights you've heard about over the years are front and center here. When I originally heard about the book being written by Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Tommy Lee and Mick Mars I had no idea how it would work. In my mind I originally thought that the 4 of them got together and hashed it out like a regular novel. Not even close. Each member writes their own chapter starting from the beginning and at the end of the chapter it usually ends in a "cliffhanger". Then the next member picks up that thread and takes it from there. Shampoo, lather, rinse, repeat. You get the idea.

I'm glad this is how they chose to put the book together because everyone gets their say and we get to hear their point of view. It all works seamlessly, which makes it even harder to put the book down. Even if you already know the stories (which I did), you still can't put it down.

I knew this book was good when I caught myself carrying the book from room to room, even if I wasn't in the process of reading. The lions share of the book is handled by Nikki. He is the anchor to which all the others expand on. Nikki's stories I think are the best as he does a great job of painting the picture for the reader. Tommy and Vince follow suit and Mick pops up now and then. Even though Mick has the least amount to say in the book, he really comes off pretty good here. He may be the quietest member of the band, but he has a lot to say when does open up. Some of the things he says  will have you agreeing with him and leaving you with a little smirk on your face.

Mick, you fucking rock dude! There are additional authors that also contribute to the book when in need of some serious explanation from the likes of Doc McGhee, John Corabi etc....

Amid all the chaos and insanity of the book, there is a very heartbreaking story when Vince recounts his time regarding his Daughter Skylar and her battle with cancer. If you are not touched by what you are reading, you are dead inside. I've heard the story countless times before. But to actually read Vince's words takes on a whole 'nother level.

It's not all doom and gloom here though. There are so many stories here that will leave you spellbound at the absurdity of what went down on tours, recording studios, etc....

And there are some pretty funny moments that will definitely leave you laughing. For me I would say cockeyed "Geena Davis" is the best and funniest pertaining to a blind date that Nikki had the misfortune of getting stuck on. I will say nothing more. Go read the fucking book to find out more about it. Haha.

I definitely recommend this book to everyone. You don't have to be a fan of Motley Crue. Hell, you can hate all the members and you will still come away completely entertained from the first page to the very last page. Of the 20 books I have read so far the past couple of months, I Am Ozzy and The Dirt are the only ones I plan on buying and adding to my personal library collection.

On related topic, the proposed film for The Dirt is being held up in limbo as they search for another Director. I really hope to see the book done justice and that it makes it's way to a theater soon.

Rating: 10 Stars out of 10 (Yes, I usually give out 5 Stars as the highest possible rating. So, 10 should tell you how fucking nuts, crazy and awesome this book is) :)

Review by Chiprocks1

Nikki Sixx talks about The Dirt Movie

Book Review #11: The Heroin Diaries

The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star (2007)

Before I get into the review for The Heroin Diaries, I have to address this books construction. I originally intended to read this along with Tommyland, but due to the horrible binding of this book, it literally fell apart in my hands when I opened it. I had to take it back to the library and ask if I could get another copy. She said that it wouldn't be a problem as they had multiple copies floating around at other branches. When she did further research on the book, she saw that all the copies had suffered the same fate and all had to be repaired as well. The current copy I just read had a few pages that started to come apart, but I manage to actually get through and finish the book without any further damage.

This is hands down the worst and most ill conceived book put together of all time. Just looking at the binding "new", you can tell it would and will eventually fall apart. Just horrible. Since I'm talking about the construction of the book I should at least mention the actual design itself. It's different from your typical paper stock as this is all glossy paper. And on top of that the pages are designed to represent the chaos of what Nikki Sixx was going through with his doping. I think it's actually a pretty cool look and feel to it, although there are some pages that were extremely hard to read when it was red text on black pages.

So for the construction of the book, this gets....

For the design elements within the pages, this gets...

Now onto the book review. Heroin Diaries is kind of what Hit Hard by Joey Kramer wanted to be and it makes perfect sense that Nikki Sixx did the forward for Joey's book. It's another "self help" book as it deals primarily with Nikki's year long battle with heroin, coke, and every other drug you can think of during 1987, or the Girls, Girls, Girls Tour. How is this like Hit Hard? Well, Heroin Diaries is dealing mainly with the root problem of his childhood and his relationship with his Mother. To say that Nikki had a pretty messed up childhood is an understatement. His broken family led to his depression which eventually led to his constant need to self medicate to mask this problem.

Now why does this get a better review then Hit Hard then if it's basically the same topic? A lot has to do with how it's written and constructed. This book literally plays like an episode of VH1 Behind The Music. Just think of the diary entries as the reenactments and the Guest Author's describing each entry as the "on-camera" testimonials to bring it into context of what was going on at the time.

This is a pretty engaging read and I couldn't put the book down at all. It's these testimonials that actually save the book and it's cool to get input from a lot of different people that were involved at one time or another through his year long downward spiral. Those that lend a hand with their insight are: Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Doc McGhee, Vanity (this one is the trippiest by far), Rick Nielsen and Slash just to name a few.

One thing I have to mention here is that when I was reading this book, Nikki mentions a lot of the time that he could never be in a room full of people he didn't know if he was sober. He couldn't relate to other people and would literally run out of the room because it was almost claustrophobic in a way when trying to be social. So obviously when this kept coming up in the book, I was left remembering the time I met and talked to Nikki once before and at no time did he hint at being uncomfortable. So either I am such an awesome and cool cat to talk with, or he was strung out and did an amazing job of hiding it, which I never would have guessed because he was very articulate, engaging and cool when talking with me. I'm just gonna say that this was one of those rare sober moments that he could talk in a social environment. 

Now, Tommy Lee on the other hand had to have been high, because no matter how awesome and cool I am, even he couldn't be THAT happy to see and talk with me. Haha. Both were really cool and down to earth, so I have no idea if they were high or not.

I can definitely recommend this book if you can look past the redundancy of his drug use. It does get repetitive in hearing about him scoring, hallucinating and then vowing to quit. But because of the other's input in telling the story, it keeps you engaged throughout.

I need to take a break from reading Rock Biographies for awhile. The whole drug thing is making me ill just reading about it. Blah. Gonna hit some Baseball Biographies and Comedy books for the foreseeable future. 

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1

Nikki Sixx Talks About The Heroin Diaries

Book Review #7: Tommyland

Tommyland (2004)

I won't even say this is a book review given the fact that I couldn't even get past Chapter 2. I knew this would be a very difficult book to get through, based solely on the introduction which centers around Tommy Lee having a full on conversation with his dick. Yes, his dick actually talks back to him. Ugh. 

By the middle of Chapter 2 I knew this book wasn't long for this world. Well, my world anyway. I love to read and will stick with pretty much any book that I start, but this is the first time in years that I actually quit a book. This is just something I don't do: quit. Also, even though I didn't get that far in reading the book, I hated those sidebars or what I call "intrusions" from the co-author of the book. This makes it even more of a reason not to continue onward.

I can only recommend this book to those that want to torture themselves. You've been warned.

Rating: 0 Stars out of 5

"Review" by Chiprocks1