Life on Planet Rock

May 22, 2006
In this nomadic, at times humbling memoir, former RIP
magazine editor Friend recalls a quarter-century spent as a ringleader in the music industry circus. From the early 1980s to the late '90s, Friend enjoyed an insiders' perch for some of rock's greatest moments—he worked as a DJ, a rock journalist, editor of heavy metal's most popular magazine and had a segment on MTV. In energetic prose he invites readers along on bonding experiences like golf dates with Alice Cooper and riding in private jets with Kiss, as well as exposing moments of professional soul-searching at the hands of Metallica's Lars Ulrich and Pearl Jam. Remarkably, Friend's narrative maintains an even keel, whether he's being ignored by Kurt Cobain or wooed by Gene Simmons, and he candidly portrays the compromised, often confusing role of the rock journalist, constantly teetering between friend and patsy. The most enlightening part of the book is Friend's brief, failed stint as an A&R man, when the journalist who made a career on megabands staked his A&R career on the Bogmen, a quirky but brilliant New York outfit, and even made a run at Eels. Through success, excess and failure, music fans will enjoy Friend's anecdotes and his clear-eyed, hardly jaded view of the industry.

August 15, 2006
Strict music journalists are going to hate Friend's memoir because it reads like a fan's guide to hanging with the rock stars the writer grew up worshipping. This wouldn't be a bad thing, except that you'd think the former editor of rock magazine RIP wouldn't have been as close to his subjects. But, hey, if he hadn't been chummy enough with Alice Cooper to play golf with the shock rocker or close enough to industry folks to have dinner with Roger Daltry (lead singer of the Who), this book would have been pretty lame. And the truth is, most readers aren't likely to care about possible ethical entanglements. They'll just want to read the inside dirt (though Friend's dirt isn't exactly dirty) on former Guns n' Roses axe man Slash (nice guy, heavy drinker) or about Trent Reznor's gushing over Gene Simmons of KISS. Overall, Friend's trip down memory lane isn't a cultural think piece on the musical might of the 1990s. But reading cheery Friend's stories about where he was during the decade isn't exactly boring either. Recommended for libraries with large music book collections.Robert Morast, Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, SD

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.