Hell Bent for Leather: Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict (P.S.) - Softcover

Hunter, Seb

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060722932 ISBN 13: 9780060722937

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2005

Synopsis

Seb Hunter wasn't just a heavy metal fan. He was a blind devotee who threw away his education and future prospects to become a rock star. In Hell Bent for Leather, he reaches into the most embarrassing depths of the family photo album to reveal his Wayne's World-esque teen years, taking readers on a (very loud) musical journey from his first guitar to his first gig and on, through groupies, girlfriends, too many drugs, spiraling egos, musical differences, and finally, the end of the dream -- and a much-needed haircut.In this nostalgic look at heavy metal culture, Seb Hunter has given us a moving portrait of adolescence and chasing your dream, reminding us all that it's better to have lost in rock than never to have rocked at all.

This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

About this title

Review:

What springs to mind when you contemplate the title of Seb Hunter's Hell Bent for Leather: Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict? Sex, drugs, Spandex trousers; big hair and studded leather mitts? And groups with a devil-may-care approach to spelling when it comes to names and song titles, a preponderance of the letter Z, for instance? Interminable guitar solos. Drum solos. Yep, all feature here. Lyrics about squeezing lemons and taking elevators; double albums about kings and their rings sung by mutant dwarves who appeared to have severed their middle fingers in gardening accidents.

Now, let's add Winchester into the mix. No, really. Not familiar Brit metal metropolises Birmingham (Black Sabbath), Sheffield (Def Leppard), Newcastle (Venom) or, at push, Barnsley (Saxon), but Winchester in Hampshire. Winchester provides much of the backdrop to this coming-of-age cum hard-rock odyssey--a Lost in Music for metallers, ex-metallers and a primer for the Darkness fans and anyone perplexed by the whole metal phenomena. (For neophytes, subsections on the wilder tendrils of this musical genre are included.)

Exposed to the delicate, lyrical nuances of AC/DC's "Let's Get it Up at 10", Hunter sold his soul to the fret-tapping end of rock&roll until his early 20s when sanity and Grunge prevailed ("Kurt Cobain Kills Us" is one subheading). It is, therefore, an "I can laugh about it now" account of a youth spent worshipping, and then emulating, rock gods. Hunter's first metal group achieved the not inconsiderably feat of being bootlegged in the Winchester area, but little else. Decamping to squatney London to hit the big time (or, this being the Glam metal heyday, camping it up in squatney London), Hunter joined a series of combos who remained stubbornly unknown to all but a few hardened, if poodle-haired, drinkers in The Intrepid Fox. Underpinned by a poignant examination of his relationship with his late father, Hunter's memoir, much like the film Spinal Tap, is destined to induce rictus grins among the metal faithful but it reminds us of the ludicrous power of cheap music, and, importantly, shows that the love of a good woman can satiate any would-be rock star's appetite for destruction. --Travis Elborough

Review:

"Funny and genuinely touching." -- Guardian

"A wonderfully deadpan account.unexpectedly moving.a gem." -- New York Times Book Review

"Amusing, sweetly ramshackle.... A winning blend of headbanging trivia and adolescent fantasia."--Kirkus Reviews

"Funny and genuinely touching."--Guardian

"Hell Bent" is more than a memoir: it's a crash course in metal....Rock on"--Newsweek

"Dead-on...as infectious as a well-crafted power-ballad."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A wonderfully deadpan account...unexpectedly moving...a gem."--New York Times Book Review

A wonderfully deadpan account unexpectedly moving a gem. --New York Times Book Review"

Hell Bent is more than a memoir: it s a crash course in metal....Rock on --Newsweek"

Dead-on...as infectious as a well-crafted power-ballad. --Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0060722932
• ISBN 13: 9780060722937
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352