Bringing Metal to the Children

August 29, 2011
In 1987, Wylde roared into the world of heavy metal music at age 19 as Ozzy Osbourne’s new lead guitarist, and he hasn’t really stopped—still a partner with Ozzy, Wylde has spent the last decade on his own, selling millions of CDs to a huge fan base he calls “Berserkers,” after his beloved ancient Viking warriors who fought “like the Hulk on acid.” But that basically is the problem with this often funny inside look at Wylde’s heavy metal band, Black Label Society (“so secret we don’t even know who we are”)—it really won’t appeal to anyone outside of his fans. The bulk of the book consists of stories and lessons from various tours that are straight out of the film Spinal Tap (“Rule No. 5: Smell everything before you eat or drink it!”). Even his detailed look at how he records in his personal studio, the “Black Vatican,” which shows a clear-headed dedication to his craft, is mired in sentences like “Finding the right studio to record in is like finding the right hole to put your schlong into.” However, Wylde offers sincerely passionate words of encouragement to his teenage fans to find in themselves what “is truly yours, believe in it, and run with it.”