Heavy

I won't go in detail on this as other people have covered the same ground. It's a fascinating book at times with detailed looks at Black Flag, Misfits, the Texas scene etc. However, it's main problem is that it's an oral history and this many years down the line, everyone has their own agenda and their own axe to grind so it's hard to know how many of the stories are actually true! It also has several glaring inaccuracies and omissions. As for Blush himself, at several points in the book he comes across as a homophobe and, in his introduction to the book, as someone with a huge ego ("if you weren't there then, you don't have a clue" is the gist of it).

It's still worth a read but it's not the hardcore bible or anything close to that.

I loved this book alot it was a great source of information. It was great to read about how the scene started and read the stories of bands who created this great music scene and i read about some things i never woulda thought happened. My only complaint is the jumping around of years, it's very hard to follow and the lack of focusing on the female participation within the scene.

Yes, this book has its flaws. At times it can be self-righteous, opionated, and even a bit misogynistic in places--very much like hardcore itself often was. The author occasionally rises above his own prejudices, though, and provides a cogent analysis of what hardcore was, what it meant to a generation of social pariahs and misfits, and the built-in factors of obsolescence that led to its demise after only a few years. The oral history is entertaining and informative--I've gotten a kick out of reading the firsthand accounts of how some of my favorite bands came to be, came to prominence, and eventually came to an end. As mentioned in another review, many of the people interviewed have an axe to grind, even after all these years. But the author makes at least a reasonable attempt at balanced reporting through most of the book.

I guess that for me, the primary appeal of this book is that it's like a trip back in time to the days when my buddies and I would listen to the latest SST or Alternative Tentacles comps after school, go to shows at our local "underground" venues and check out the record reviews in the 'zines. Before we were out of high school, we'd formed our own band and were appearing on a small stretch of the northeast HC circuit, with some modest success. My early experiences in the HC years fostered a love of creating and playing music that persists to this day. The overarching message of HC, as far as I was concerned, was this: YOU can do this yourself. YOU can make your own music and your own "scene." You don't have to sit back and wait for the big entertainment companies to spoon-feed you. Long after many other aspects of HC ceased to be relevant, this fundamental philosophy at its core continues to resonate with many kids, young and old, banging away on guitars and drums in basements and garages all over the nation.

If you were involved in HC in the early or mid '80s, whether you were playing in a band, going to shows, pasting up flyers or getting your ass beat by violent jocks because of your "weird" appearance--then you will enjoy this book. If not, you might find the "I was THERE, man!" attitude that pervades some of the text off-putting.

Now I have "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)" stuck in my head. Maybe that would make Quiet Riot happy, but at the moment, I'm not amused. Neither is this book too amusing. If it wasn't for the metal meisters that Konow interviewed sharing hilarious (at times) anecdotes, the book would be dry and boring. It never really explained the "rise and fall" of heavy metal, it just had many mini-bios of the genre's biggest names. But what did we all learn? That Axl is a nutcase? We knew that. That Sebastian Bach was an embarassment? We knew that. That Kurt Cobain and his flannel brigade drove a stake through the beast that was metal? We knew that also. He even talked a little bit about Metallica's shockingly sad selling out. All I have to say about that is that there's a reason I will give Dave Mustane credit as putting together the best THRASH METAL outfit ever! They endured!
Readers are better off getting "Fargo Rock City" (and check out Dave Cook's review of the book here at Amazon--it was amazingly accurate and might be enough in and of itself!)--a book that explored the "importance" of metal through the eyes and ears of a midwestern headbanger. The annoying thing about THAT book is he is supposed to be explaining why a band like Poison is important, all the while making excuses for himself so as not to lose his hipster credibility. It's sad. BE PROUD, MAN! (Or not.)
I was saddened by the tales of Van Halen's, Dokken's, and Guns 'N' Roses's demise because as a rocker, one thing you counted on was them being REAL and in the end, these guys could no more offer you a slice of reality than Satan. Upsetting indeed. I was a youngster then and I am now ashamed I fell for it. Now that I am recovered from such geekiness, I can still rock because unlike the hipsters who have tried to embrace metal since its untimely demise, I know all the lyrics, licks, and can Kareoke them better than the artists themselves.

I read this back to back with _Sound of the Beast_ by Ian Christie and was pleased to find that they (mostly) cover different material. The first thing you'll notice is that except for obligatory coverage of Black Sabbath, Zepplin, AC/DC, Kiss and Metallica, this book focuses mostly on the LA metal scene, AKA the MTV Bands. This may leave you wondering, "Where the heck is the Black Metal?" even though Konow does cover Venom somewhat, as the progenitor of this style. Europe is pretty much ignored, and it'll probably feel like your favorite band got short shrift. Furthermore, the writing isn't very smooth - the book is mostly a collection of anecdotes and factoids. X did this, Y said that, Z was released and did well but not well enough...

With all that said, though, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. The fact density means that you're learning new things every page, at least if, like me, you weren't really into the scene itself, just the music. And if the book had been as wordy as _Sound of the Beast_, it would have been twice as large without giving you much more information. I had no idea Gene Simmons was born Chaim Witz in Israel. Funny bits like Henry Rollins's description of how bad Venom was on tour ('I expected them to break into Sex Farm Woman at any moment') amused me quite a lot.

Furthermore, Konow's concentration on a smaller population of LA Bands gives this book more depth than Chistie's in several areas. _Sound of the Beast_ just mentions that Quiet Riot's first cd sold 4 million, their second 1 million. Finis. _Bang Your Head_ goes into all the scheming and politics behind this, why their second record doing 'only' 1 million was a disaster, and how Quiet Riot leader DuBrow shot himself in the foot repeatedly.

Even though I never particularly cared for the hair bands (which is what most of the LA Bands were, especially in the tarnished Golden Age of MTV Metal), you certainly couldn't escape them, and it's quite fascinating to find just /how/ self-centered and talentless a lot of them were. Find out just /how/ bad a bass player Nikki Sixx was. Learn why Guns 'n' Roses hasn't released _Chinese Democracy_ yet after almost a decade, though Axl's put $8 million into it. Konow also touches on bands that never quite broke through, like Dokken and Armored Saint, and the whys and the wherefores.

So read _Sound of the Beast_ for a global but shallow view of metal, and then _Bang Your Head_ for a more in-depth focus of a few of the bands and more of the Why instead of the What. I had a hard time setting either down.

A must read for metal fans! A very funny and knowledgeable book about the most famous bands of metal and heavy metal itself. It features bands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, KISS, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Dokken, Ratt, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Exodus, Skid Row, Warrant, Winger and More! As well it talks about Knac, MTV, the NWOBHM and the beginning of heavy metal and fall during the Grunge era.

I only had to glance at the first few pages to realize that this
book is NOT written for the knowlegable fan who wants to learn more in-depth material. It reads like it was written by someone who has no experience or knowledge with the Heavy Metal genre.
The author comes across as trying to explain something she does not comprehend herself. Just by reading a few sample sentences, I felt that the author is aiming for a much older (or younger) audience than the typical metal listener. I am returning this book immediately.

If you're like me and have spent hours reading "Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology", or if you are at all interested in the Metal community and the roots, styles, and spirit of Heavy Metal, then this book is a must have. This edition is less a revision, and more a republishing of "HM: A Cultural Sociology" with an additional chapter acting as a rather large update on what happened in the decade since "HM: ACS" came out. Dealing with the development, enemies, fans, artists, outlets, community, subgenres, positives and even negatives of Heavy Metal, this should be read by every Metalhead and rock fan. Highly recommended, especially in the cheaper paperback format.

This book is fantastic & completely nails what needed and needs to be said, and the updated text (regarding the 1990's) is right on as well. Writing from a sociological perspective, the author is extremely thorough in her approach, offering her own observations and experience since the music began in addition to a plethora of source texts, interviews and case studies with differing viewpoints for extremely effective descriptions regarding the music itself as well as its impact. An enjoyable, genuinely informative read, two qualities which have rarely been bridged together in the past concerning heavy metal music. I wish I had known about this book several years ago, it would have helped make trying to "explain" heavy metal to authoritive figures a far easier task. Those who enjoyed the recent "Lords of Chaos" book should read this, it's not as sensationalist oriented, it's about the general genre of heavy metal. Also people who value the research of Jeffrey Arnett, Keith Roe, etc would be doing themselves a favor to pick this up.

All i have to say about this book is it was very boring.

It is a very short "quote" book, mostly consisting of statements from Bill Ward (The Drummer). Although interesting to read, the book lacked any other real veiwpoints from others that have been in the band. It would have been great to have a more balanced account from all the members of the band. Especially Ozzy osbourne & Tony Iommi. There are only a few quotes from these two, & lets face it, these guys are the ones who could have given us deeper insight into the wild ways of Black Sabbath in their Heyday! Overall, not bad.

Most band biographies are inaccurate and poorly done. This is usually because an author will quote somebody, then insert some of his own thoughts, and continue with another quote, giving the illusion that the band shares all the author's ideas. But "Black Sabbath : An Oral History (For the Record)" consists of all direct quotes, ordered by subject chonologically. Maybe not everybody is going to like this style, but after hearing SO many crazy Black Sabbath rumors over the years (like why was Ozzy fired, why did Glenn Hughes drop out of the 7th Star tour, what's this song about, why didn't the such-and-such reunion work out) I'm glad to finally hear the real deal, right from the horse's mouth. Also, Mike Stark (who conducted the interviews) writes an excellent introduction about the music of Black Sabbath. His praisingly creative descriptions of Ozzy Osbourne ("the banshee") and Ronnie James Dio ("The Sorcerer") were so dead-on!

There are many quotes from Bill Ward, which I was very pleased to see. With all the personal conflicts or collaborations that have gone on between Tony, Ozzy, Geezer, and Ronnie, I always wanted to hear what Bill's point of view was in all of this. It was also very refreshing to hear Ozzy and Ronnie complement each other.

The book covers the entire Black Sabbath history, from their beginnings on the streets of Birmingham, through all their 25 years worth of albums and line-ups, and finally to the Ozzfest reunions in 1997. I own the first edition, and the only glaring typo I noticed was "Ray Gillen" being replaced by "Ian Gillan" everywhere. I mentioned it to Mike, and he knew about it, was frustrated about it, but told me that he was hoping to get it fixed in the next edition.

Anyway, if you're a Black Sabbath fan, here's where to get the truth of those crazy stories once and for all. And some excellent anecdotes that I've never heard in any other interviews too.

Like others, I bought this book because of recommendations that put Bruce Sterling in the same category as authors like Neal Stephenson and William Gibson. I hope Amazon was paid handsomely to make that comparison, because it can't possibly be less true. The characters are two-dimensional and predictable. The women, typical of most of the sci-fi I've seen, are cliched and ultimately dependent on their men, although Sterling seems to think that bitchy catfights = feminist empowerment. I've saved the worst for last, however: the dialog. Sterling's dialog in Heavy Weather is painful to read. "Mega tasty?" Who *says* that? He has achieved the literary equivalent of MovieOS--a non-geek attempting to approximate what "real" geeks do, what they enjoy, how they talk. It's fake and cloying and makes me, a geek, shout "DUDE. Shut. Up." at almost every page. Save your money and buy some real cyberpunk literature. This isn't it.

Bruce Sterling's "Heavy Weather" has an excellent concept that is just not brought off all that well. A story about a group of post-Greenhouse effect stormchasers going after the BIG one (tornado) should be faster paced and much scarier than this novel. Sterling also does not give a very coherent view of what the world is like during its period of so-called "heavy weather," given that all of the action takes place in Texas and Oklahoma. There is also an evil consortium subplot that makes very little sense. That said, most of the the main characters are quite likable and very believable. Their story is just not as remarkable as it ought to be.

Overall, I would give this book a marginal recommendation to sci-fi buffs and perhaps disaster buffs. It moves slowly at times, but there are enough interesting ideas to make it worth your while if you're interested in the subject matter.

The novel Heavy Weather by Bruce Sterling has a suspenseful plot, advanced technology, and some great characters. It is forty years into the future and the earth's atmosphere has been destroyed by the greenhouse effect. A group of Storm Troupers chase tornadoes that are caused by the altered environment in the South Western part of Texas. A predicted monster storm like no other is developing into a treacherous F-6 tornado that has never been analyzed. The entire book builds up to the F-6 tornado, but the ending is a little weak and there was too much hype about this storm. The storyline was interesting and not completely off the wall because of the realistic characteristics of the environmental factors.
The characters in the book are an important asset to the novel. Alex and Janey are brother and sister and have that common relationship that siblings have. Jerry, the head leader of the troupe, is a genius who predicts the unprecedented storm. The rest of the characters in the troupe also have unique personalities and history.
Overall, I would recommend this book to people who enjoy cyberpunk novels because Heavy Weather does not have the traditional cyberpunk storyline. Even though the storyline does drag at times, the plot is interesting and unique.

I, for one, find Popoff's reviews informative and funny (sometimes scathingly so) and his knowledge above reproach -- come on, he's one man! Though I've cursed him like a sailor when he slags a band I worship, reviews are, at the end of the day, one man's opinion, and this book is a compendium of just that. I think this book will be most enjoyed by fellow obsessives, the types who, when cleaning out an old closet, will get sidetracked for hours by years-old copies of magazines, re-reading decade-old articles and marveling at the ones who did, and didn't, make it. I proudly count myself among that group, and my copy of the 'Collector's Guide' is worn and dog-eared for that reason. I will concede that the title is misleading; it implies a more fact-based, soulless, statistical charts-and-graphs sort of book. But that's more a publisher's bad call than an author's mistake, I'd wager. The book's original title, 'Riff Kills Man,' is much more suitable -- a gigantic treasure trove of opinionated, witty picks and pans from a man who's lived and breathed metal in all its forms since he was lashing Priest LP's to the back of his bicycle and pedaling home as fast as his Canuck feet could take him. That enthusiasm sticks out, and makes this a great book for any discerning rivethead (at least one not mummified into one sub-sub-genre for all eternity, and if that's you, I didn't want you in my house anyway). Pick it up!

This guide is great but not perfect because no review book is perfect because you always end up disagreeing with certain things someone says. Here its a bigger case than any other review book I read but it is brilliantly written. This guy is possibly a genius and he is very articulate and even artistic with how he writes.
I agree with most of the positive things he says but disagree with some of the other things he says I mean why arent Antichrist Superstar,Appetite For Destruction,And Justice For All, Peace Sells, Led Zeppelin 2 and 4,The Black Album and Pretty Hate Machine 10s. Well it must be because he has different opinions than I do and remember just because you dont agree with someone doesnt make him or her a bad critic.
Someone said they think hes a bad reviewer because he gave Def Leppard 0s and Pearl Jam, Nirvana,Soundgarden and The Smashing Pumpkins 10s. I say get over it because most of the people who like grunge do not like Def Leppard and that is understandable.
I think its a great book by a very interesting author whos not afraid to put away those headphones for a minute to speak his mind.So buy it if you like reading reviews.Thats it.

After reading Martin Popoff's "Riff Kills Man!" book and enjoying every page of it, I was looking forward to the "Collector's Guide". I'm glad to say that it doesn't disappoint! Chock full of insightful reviews on just about any heavy band/album you've heard of, and some that you probably haven't, the Collector's Guide is THE book on metal. Somehow, Popoff manages to cram in 3,650 reviews! While some of Martin's opinions are biased, for the most part, his reviews are openminded and insightful. Further, Popoff isn't afraid to let his humour show, making it that much more fun to read. Martin also shows that he is deeply knowledgeable about the metal scene since its beginnings, making references to long defunct bands and labels (Hello Mausoleum!) This is one entertaining read and a must for any fan of heavy metal! As the author himself says about his favorite albums, BUY IT!!!

since others have come out this is superfluous and boring, an egoistic peruse into a band as he saw it at the time, its composed of almost entirely interviews which are these days out of date, not to mention completely two faced in the light of tracks such as 'Get In The Ring', Far better are the newer books available covering all bases.

Wall's 1990 book on the mighty Gun'n Roses is still a great read. The noisy, frivolous, gaudy people this book celebrates wanted to destroy the temples of doom - not eat babies. But this stuff was considered dangerous, subversive, contagious and, like good art, a whole lot more fun than you think you're allowed to have. Mick Wall's position as a top UK rock scribe gave him access to many of the world's best bands. As an interviewer he gets very close to the musicians and as a consequence the book is more of a dialogue between friends than a serious interview, and that's exactly where its appeal lies. A book for the hard rock fan and the late 80s nostalgist, it's still a lot of fun to read after all these years. But also check out Nick Kent's book The Dark Stuff, the chapter titled "The Daze of Guns'n Roses" gives an interesting perspective on the band.

Unfortunately this book was published in 1991, so it's a little outdated (truthfully, the book was published right before Izzy left the band), and it's a pity that Mick Wall didn't update the book in later years. Wall is a fine writer with a penchant for bringing life to the band's strangest ticks and smallest personality quirks. His portrayal is honest but respectful; I still don't understand why the band chided him in "Get in the Ring." This is a flawless study of the interesting personalities that once comprised Guns N' Roses.

Don't buy this book if you think you are purchasing a book that is predominantly about Black Sabbath. Instead, the author spends most of the book writing about his heroin addiction and the drug culture in which he spent most of his life.

While some of his anectdotes about the celebrity rock stars he met are interesting and show a side to these people that is usually kept from public view, I'm not sure I really needed this information. Many of these people are heroes to a lot of music fans, and some of us don't really want to know just how contemptible they may have really been. Some of these stories seem to be included just for shock value and could easily have been left out without harming the main theme of the book. Wall's story about staring up Stevie Nicks' dress while following her up a flight of stairs should tell you something about his general tone.

Maybe this would be a good book for a person with an addiction problem. Mick Wall's example might show them how low they really are. I can't say I would recommend this to the average reader, however.

Like others I bought this book because of the title. That is a book on Black Sabbath. Finally, I thought ,a book about Sabbath that is not written in point form,is not double spaced,and is actually over 200 pages long. No it is not just about Sabbath unfortunatly,but hey it's a good book and is worth a look. Yes there is some text on Black Sabbath and Ozzy in this book but remember this book begins in 1979/1980 when relations between the two camps is at an all time low. Don't expect a song by song analysis of their albums here. What it's actually about is a British writer recollecting about his past including his modest foray into rock journalism but mainly it's about his heroin addictions. He goes into great detail about his struggle to kick junk along other other vices and his role in the British rock press for the past twenty years. He recounts the rock stars he has met,their attitudes,ego's and insecurities sometimes in startling and highly personal detail. The chapter about Poison,Motley Crue etc is priceless and so true. He does a good job deconstructing the stereotype of a glamourous rock writer, what pathetic lows a junkie can sink to, and goes for the jugular in telling us what heavy metal and the people who play it really are. Don't buy this thinking it's a biography about four blokes from Birmingham. Don't buy it if you are looking for a excuse to start shooting up smack. But do read it because ,deceptive titles aside, it is a good Rock and Roll account and Mick Walls writing is funny, personal and very opinionated. Alas the wait continues for someone to write the definitive story about Black Sabbath,and write it in a way that does not assume we are all illiterate, heavy metal airheads.

If you are expecting tell all revelations about Black Sabbath, along the lines of those about Led Zeppelin in "Hammer of the God"s, well this just isn't it. Mick Wall wasn't around for most of Sabbath's career, and doesn't remember a great deal from when he was. But don't hold it against him - he tells a good tale of rock decadence (a more truthful title might be "When Rock Journalists go Bad"), and there's plenty of bits and pieces of behind the scenes gossip. Ozzy even turns up once in a while. Low point: when the author's bodily fluids turn yellow.

Bob Larson, Abaddon (Nelson, 1993)

Bob Larson's Abaddon, the sequel to his novel Dead Air, is possibly the funniest book I have read in the past decade. In many ways, Larson reminds me of the kind of televangelist who's out to get ratings and nothing else; he attacks popular culture (even when it's not really popular, as in this case), does just enough research to get some glitzy facts, and then either makes up the rest or completely misunderstands what he's seeing as he goes along. And like said televangelists, Larson's work is always good for a long, loud laugh when you most need it.

This time, we find Wes Bryant (according to a few reviews and interviews, a character Larson based on himself), his new wife Annette, and her daughter Jennifer in Colorado, where Wes is the GM of an all-talk radio station. His main competition is KZOO, a rock station no one who's listened to the radio since the advent of Howard Stern won't recognize, a morass of shock DJs and awful music. With a twist: the station plays death metal. In heavy rotation. Okay, THAT'S new. (Larson does, to his credit, mention very late in the novel that most radio stations don't.) KZOO is sponsoring a Night Sacrifice show on Halloween night, and Bryant, whose stepdaughter is falling under the spell of Night Sacrifice, has singer Clint Blade come into his studio for a dust-up with his most popular talk-show host. Bryant ends up confronting Blade over the air himself, and, disturbed by what he sees (and the depths to which his stepdaughter is getting into the stuff), starts researching the phenomenon that is death metal.

Yes, there is a mystery here, although what that mystery is one isn't sure until the final few pages. Nuff said about that.

The true humor in the book comes from Larson's complete and utter misinterpretation of his readings (one hesitates to say his experiences) on both death metal and psychology. Now, to be fair, such landmark tomes as Lords of Chaos had not yet been released when Larson wrote this book. But still, one figures a guy who goes over to Boyd Rice's house for dinner on a sporadic basis is going to know a little more about underground music and the motivations behind it than the average bear. And for all I know, Bob Larson is actually an expert in the subject; it just doesn't come through here. His occult research seems a bit lacking as well (e.g., his description of a Book of Shadows, confusing a pentagram and a symbol of Baphomet, and various other hilarity-inducing niggles), but not in nearly the scope as the others.

Larson might well have been able to use this book to address the real reasons for the underground popularity of the death metal movement, but instead, he takes a rather more dangerous path-attributing a love of death metal to, of all things, multiple personality disorder, and then going on to assert that MPD is a common and easily-controlled (by the enemy, of course-the good guys will have to spend years curing it, but the enemy can make new personalities appear almost at will!) disease. Hopefully those who have read this do remember that this is fiction, and that multiple personality disorder is a rare and very difficult disease. Not something to be flippant with, one would think, when an author is trying to assert deeper truths. But there you go. I could have even bought that Larson was using MPD as a metaphor for disaffectation and apathy--wouldn't be the first time such things have happened--if not for the acknowledgements page, which should have been placed after the text so as not to mention the MPD angle the book ends up taking (I'd not have included it here had it not been spoiled on the very first page of the book, before the text even begins).

Unfortunately, my humor fades when I realize that Larson's target audience is probably taking this stuff seriously. Those who would like a better look into the phenomenon of underground music and the reasons for its existence are encouraged to look to nonfiction by and about the artists themselves. The aforementioned Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground is a landmark; American Hardcore: A Tribal History, Apocalypse Culture, and such biographies as Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs are all well worth seeking out. The soon-to-be-released England's Hidden Reverse holds much promise as well.

Abaddon, on the other hand, gets * ½ for amusement value and absolutely zilch for accuracy, writing skill, characterization, unpredictability, or anything else remotely related to writing a good novel.

I really enjoyed the book. Especially when I was able to use it to make a friend (studying to be a psychiatrist) believe that I had MPD! True this is fiction, but some are real expiriences whether or not this man has expirienced them. While it seems laughable in it's extremity, it's not too far off should you isolate the events rather than lump them together. In any event, it makes for captivating reading. I have been reading it over and over again since I was about 12 (I first read it's prequel, Dead Air, when I was 10) and am reading it even now.

I like this book. It's one of my fav. and even though I'm just 14 I've read quite a lot of books and can discribe most of them.

This is an insult to all maggots and the band alike. We have heard there story many times, and it is good to hear it, but when you go and sneak pictures of them without there masks on it is disturbing there personal space! This is not a book for true maggots, it is a book for stupid people who only like to hear whats in the news and when stars are in trouble about something or another. The greatest thing about slipknot was that you didnt know what they looked like, and now the media is trying to take that away!! I advise you do NOT read this book!!!

This is just an insult to all maggots and the band. This book is just there to bother all of the band members, we have heard there story lots of times, and its good to know it. But when you go in and get the pictures of them with out there masks it is disturbing there personal space! If they wanted everyone to see what there faces look like then they would do it at a concert or a live apearence. One of the greatest things about slipknot was that you didnt know what they looked like, and now the media is trying to take that away too. I advise you to NOT read this book!!!

First off, no I didn't read the book, nor do I want to. So why am I posting a review you ask? I'll tell you why. This book is anti-Slipknot just because it even exists. For all the Maggots out there, we already know their story, and what they have to say. If we wanna know something from the guys, we can just ask and what we don't know, we wont know. They're people too, just like the rest of us. Everyone deserves personal space. This book is for people that can't fathom Slipknot. We get the message and that's all the matters. The Knot will reveal themselves when they're ready, a book isn't needed. To all the true Maggots, support The Knot. (SIC)