[ebooks] Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica by Mick Wall in Arts-Photography

Review

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. worth a read if this will be the first book on Metallica you pick upBy William IrwinYou dont need to read this book if you have already read Joel McIvers masterful books. JUSTICE FOR ALL: THE TRUTH ABOUT METALLICA and TO LIVE IS TO DIE: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF METALLICAS CLIFF BURTON.If you have not read McIvers books. then be sure to read TO LIVE IS TO DIE for an account of Cliff. And before that. read Walls ENTER NIGHT for an up-to-date biography of the band and for more even handed musical criticism. McIver doesnt like much of Metallicas work after AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. Wall sees more value in it. though he is unduly negative on DEATH MAGNETIC.Unlike McIver or any previous biographer. Wall spends some time discussing the rumor that shortly prior to Cliffs death. Cliff and James had seriously discussed replacing Lars. The speculation that Dave Lombardo from Slayer would have been brought in to replace Lars seems spot on. as Lombardo was particularly unhappy with his bandmates at that time. What would have happened to Lars? Wall doesnt speculate. but Id wager he would have gone to Dave and joined up with Megadeth. Now that really would have made for some bitter rivalries in the thrash world!Wall helped answer a question that always bothered me: When they got to be arena headliners. why did Metallica have Queensryche and The Cult open for them? Why didnt Metallica take a page from Ozzys playbook and have an opening band that was more underground and extreme? The answer: both Queensryche and The Cult were represented by Metallicas management. QPrime. I really like both Queensryche and The Cult. and I enjoyed those shows. But it would have been great if Metallica challenged the audience with Death. Cannibal Corpse. or Morbid Angel as an opening band. And what a difference that could have made for Metallicas future development.Wall makes a couple of howling mistakes. both owing to his being from Britain: First. he claims that the GARAGE DAYS RE-REVISITED EP was released as THE $9.98 EP in America. Incorrect. It was released as THE $5.98 EP on cassette and record and was also released on CD as THE $9.98 CD. Second. he claims the album AND JUSTICE FOR ALL takes its title from the final line of the Declaration of Independence. The phrase is actually found in the final line of the Pledge of Allegiance. But the more direct inspiration for the album title comes from 1979 Al Pacino movie AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.All in all. its worth a read if this will be the first book on Metallica you pick up.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Too long for me.By readerrunnermomI love Metallica. and this book does give a very thorough history of the band and its members from day 1-or even earlier. The book is 443 pages long. and that it just too much for me personally. In my opinion. there is too much useless detail and way too much focus on every alcoholic binge the members engaged in. The book could have been shorter with less detail to things that do not seem relevant to the story. Great detail is given to the personalities of the characters and their many flaws. I would have loved to have seen more time given to the rehab. recovery. and growth of the members. I also did not like the authors writing style. It is not particularly polished but he gets an A+ for his research and enthusiasm. If you have lots of time to read and enjoy lots of detail. then this book is for you.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. the belly of the Metallica beastBy Marco CWall knows how to write a story: if you know him for his great pieces and interviews in Kerrang!. you wont be surprised by how wonderfully this bio flows. Just like many of us out there. he clearly has a deeper love for old Metallica than he does for the modern day version. but his mix of music fan/critic approach is nothing short of wonderful.You can divide the book into five chapters. and get lost in each of them: the Lars-centered phase. when our favorite Danish drumming troll morphs from obsessed fan into musician. the Mustaine beginning. that probably laid the foundations that built the true Titans of Thrash. the Burton years. when Metallica evolved into the monster we know and love. the Black Album phase. that turned them into rock stars. and...well. and the rest. when older fans like me sort of lost contact with the band. because - lets face it - from Load to Death Magnetic. we havent really heard another top notch track from the gang.My personal favorites are the unfolding of the Burton years and the creation of Ride and Master. depicted by Wall with the necessary touch or melancholy. and the anticipation and subsequent explosion of the Black masterpiece.I liked this book so much I listened to Justice three times in a row...guess that says it all.