METALLICA drummer
Lars Ulrich has penned the foreword to the book
"Life on Planet Rock" (
cover) by music journalist
Lonn Friend, due on July 11 via
Morgan Road Books.
As executive editor of the seminal rock magazine
RIP from 1987 to its demise in 1994,
Friend found himself at the very center of the music scene during one of its most prolific, profligate, and prosperous times. Bands with bad-boy attitudes, big hair, and an even bigger sound
GUNS N' ROSES,
METALLICA,
OZZY OSBOURNE,
MÖTLEY CRÜE,
WHITESNAKE, and
MEGADETH ruled the charts, but the period also saw the birth of the Seattle-based grunge movement and meteoric rise of bands such as
PEARL JAM and
NIRVANA, whose multi-platinum 1991 release
"Nevermind" effectively sounded the death knoll for the hair-metal era. From his privileged perch within the eye of the hurricane,
Friend chronicled in the pages of
RIP the successive waves of change that rocked the music universe, offering the world one of the greatest runs in the history of music writing, rivaling the best work of
Lester Bangs and
Cameron Crowe.
Now, in
"Life On Planet Rock - From Guns N Roses to Nirvana, a Backstage Journey through Rock's Most Debauched Decade" (July 11, 2006;
Morgan Road Books; Trade Paperback Original; $14.00),
Friend provides readers with the ultimate all-access pass, one that takes them backstage, into the recording studios and luxury hotel suites, and onto the tour bus with some of the biggest stars in rock s storied history. Candidly recounting his adventures, friendships, and occasional run-ins with figures ranging from
Alice Cooper to
Axl Rose, from
Slash to
Gene Simmons, from
Kurt Cobain to
Steven Tyler, and from
Jon Bon Jovi to
James Hetfield,
Friend paints a vivid, you-are-there portrait of an era of unbridled excess and shares the personal story of one fan s struggle to navigate the treacherous world of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll while keeping his sense of self and his soul intact.
Read an excerpt from the book at
this location.
