Pretty Good First Look at Dave Grohl
933409
I read this book because I'm interested in Dave Grohl's personality and talent. What influences shaped the zany persona of videos and what causes him to write the trademark "slow & soft to mind-blowing cacophony" progression of many Foo Fighter songs? Before reading this I didn't know much about him at all, so anything was welcome. There isn't all that much of a personal nature here because Dave Grohl was not interviewed. Still, what is presented is well done and seems well documented and competently written. Overall I'd recommend this book to anyone who doesn't know anything about Dave Grohl or the history of Nirvana and grunge.
2272168
I love Dave Grohl and any chance to show it is awesome! The pin rocks, and helps me show off my inner love for Dave Grohl, he's in my favorite band in the world and I'll never stop being a Foo head!
1923194
This book gives some insight to David's background and the formation of Megadeth.  I think Ellefson has too much class to write a trashy, tell-all.  He does cover the drugs and life on the road to some extent, but does not go into gory details about lineup changes, the lawsuit, etc.  Overall an enjoyable read.
1876935
As a long time fan (the first time I saw the band, it was them, with very little pyro, mostly candles, then the New York Dolls, and the headliner was Mott the Hoople); well written, a little self-indulgent, but I think that was the point. He's pretty open in his assessments and criticisms of bandmates, other bands, and it's surprising how much trouble he had in his relationships with women. Interesting story about Eric Carr's wake. I remember seeing video of Simmons coming out of there, and I remember his looking more angry than sad. It makes sense now.
1115946
Long time fans of Dave will be disappointed with his newest album, but new listeners might enjoy his effort at sounding more "radio friendly," as I like to call it.
Dave's most recent compilation introduces a new sound that has never been heard before with the band. As if Dave didn't already have enough versatility, he has added to it, most notably in the intended billboard hit "I Did It" and the seductive "Mother Father" (track 9). "I Did It" took some time to grow on me, since it sounds so unpleasantly like Dave Matthews. His voice is low and almost mechanically enhanced in this song, and the band sounds synthesized, something long time fans might not appreciate. It's quite a new sound, however, when you're used to the easy, laid back style that the band has always favored.
Most of the tracks on this album sound too much like they want to appeal to a larger audience, and much of the band's original sound is lost behind an attempt at the new. It seems at times like Dave is stretching outside of his comfort zone, trying something new. I doubt it is for popularity--the band has always played for the sake of playing--but I can't help thinking it a shame that they were convinced by their producer to cut back their songs to sub-5 minute lengths (the longest track is only 4 minutes and change). This also will come as a disappointment to Dave fans, who--like I--think the endless instrumental interludes are the pinnacle of their work. It is my feeling that this album will best be heard live, and that the band should put out a live version.
Despite the amount of slightly above-average tracks, there are a few on here that don't shy away from the sounds of Dave's older albums, such as the final track, "Everyday." It is a free and easy piece, and it incorporates some vocal harmonies that are very pleasing on the ears. The most popular track on the album, "The Space Between," is the best effort by the band. It successfully bridges the gap between new and old, and it's a shame that more of the tracks couldn't live up to this standard.
In short, this album is a good attempt by an excellent band at trying something new. I would recommend it to die-hard Dave fans only, since it would doubtless be a necessity of theirs to have everything he puts out. For the more casual listener, however, I wouldn't spend the money.
3685080
It is different, fun, a bit funky--not Foo fighters, nor Nirvana.  Does show the depth of David Grohl since he is on the bulk of the tracks!
4195048
I think he does a very good job, and as someone relatively new to Blues rock, brings an interesting perspective to it.
2338663
I found this to be pretty interesting, and without a doubt in-depth bio of the band.  Similar to the guy that wrote the Neil Young bio, "Shakey," a couple years back Everett True spends too much time talking about himself and spewing his own opinions though.  We get it man-you drank a bunch back then and forgot what happened at a lot of the shows.  You don't have to remind us of this fact every five pages.  The book does turn into a Kurt and Courtney bio in the last quarter-which is kinda a bummer since it would have been interesting to learn more about how the Foo Fighters came to be a full-time band and how Pat Smear (who seemed to be closer to Kurt than Dave was towards the end) ended up in the original line-up of the Foos.  True didn't get any new direct interviews with surviving band members for this bio, but he does talk with many an insider who certainly give some interesting perspective and dish.  There are a ton of footnotes and chapter ending "addendas" which make this bio stray a bit from the usual formula.  I think the footnotes could have been bi-passed (especially since they often seem there just to include even more of True's opinions on different bands) but many of the addendas do prove interesting.  I dunno, I just wish more music bio writers would just reign in their egos a bit and tell the story of the musicians they're writing about instead of letting us all know their personal opinion on every other band that was releasing records at that time.  If you want a couple of good examples of this, read "Our Band Could Be Your Life" by Azzerad, or the Keith Moon bio "Moon" by Tony Fletcher.  Those are rock bios done right.  I think True's voice also kinda hurts this book because he seems to have kinda fallen out of love with rock and roll.  He just comes across as kind of bitter and spiteful. I like music writings by the likes of Michael Azzerad, Chuck Klosterman, and Nick Hornby.  The enthusiasm these guys have for music really comes out in their work, and therefore makes it much more enjoyable.  Overall the feel of this book kinda matches that stereotypical early 90's "grunge" vibe-it was kinda brilliant at points but it's so pessimistic and self-loathing that it's tough to take it too seriously.
4658767
I've loved the brilliance of Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters since their first album.  If you are a fan of the Foos' than this is a nice oollection of some of their best songs. The only complaint I have is that it probably should have included more hits. Although, the new songs Wheels and Word Forward are Great!
2019643
Pretty good - interesting interviews with some of the key people in punk - i thought the first part was much better than later sections
3315424
Pretty good career retrospective.  Interesting to hear how Iggy's sound evolved from the early Stooges through his latter day albums.  This collection is a little heavy on the Bowie produced phase (3 cuts from The Idiot, 2 from Lust for Life), but the inclusion of Sick of You is a pleasant plus.  Iggy fans of course will complain about what cuts were not included (my set list would read differently too), but really you cannot do service to Iggy's career on a single disc.  I would recommend this to the neophyte who has no or little exposure to Iggy and is curious about what all the fuss is about.  This is a good introduction.
543172
The concert is above average, the credits are not clear on who the guests are in the bands but there are some great moments, Frankenstien with Jeff Watson is an incredible showcase, The Montrose members with Satriani should have been given more songs.
They also could have included more of Montrose life in the dvd.
1695831
I am a hardcore Dave fan and I own all of the other video DVDs the band has released.  For whatever reason I didn't have this one in my collection until recently.  This release is probably not going to please the casual fan of the band as the setlist is very Big Whiskey and Groo Grux King oriented (I believe all of the songs from that album are represented).  But for a hardcore fan such as myself I really enjoy having video versions of such newer songs like "Seven", "Why I Am", "Lying in the Hands of God", "Squirm" etc - it really complements my collection of the other DMB video DVDs.

I only have two complaints: 1. I would really love to have a Blu Ray version (as I would for the other video releases).  2. I have never seen DMB overseas, but I always hear about how crazy the crowds are.  I didn't really feel that the crowd was that great here - but perhaps it's just me.  I have some of the Live Trax from overseas: from places like Portugal, Brazil etc - and I can hear how crazy the crowds are in those audio releases.  Anyway, solid release overall
862834
Ill be upfront about this CD. It was sent to me by producer and bass player Dave Martin, who has produced two fine CDs by his wife, Carolyn Martin, that Ive enjoyed. Turns out that Daves younger brother, Larry, has just released this  his first album.  Dave produced this one and plays bass  and Carolyn and another Martin  Taylor (Larrys son?) help with vocals  though most of the tracks are just Larry at the mic. Taylor also plays guitar.

Larry (Ill use his first name so I don't confuse the family members) has a mature semi-rough  sounding voice, much like Guy Clark, and this gives reality to his performances. Quite a few of the songs  nine of the 10 songs are penned by Larry, with the traditional Wayfaring Stranger closing out the 39-minute CD  deal with the father/son relationship. In the lead-off title track Larry tells the store of the guitar that his son gave him and how that son will eventually inherit it. For Two More Months, the singer tries to reconcile with his son.
The instrumentation  especially the lead guitar of Kerry Marx  is fine. There were a couple of tracks, however, where the vocal/instrumental balance seemed off,  On The Other Side the instruments seemed out front with the vocal behind them, not out front, sometimes obscuring the lyrics.. And the next track  Your Love Remains has an echo in Larrys voice.

The six-panel digipak is low on text with just the track list, musicians, recording info and black and white graphics. (No picture of Larry here.).

I really like many of the songs here and I can see Larry joining the Songwriters in the Round at the Bluebird Caf in Nashville  where he apparently lives.  These are songs that could easily have a life of their own if some of the Nashville-based artists get a hold of this CD.

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.

Steve Ramm
Anything Phonographic
3509659
Dave must be the most solid metal musician in the world, next to the mighty Lemmy from Motorhead. Megadeth's new album Super Collider has been receiving some very undeserved bad ink- this is an excellent, well-written metal album with some of the best riffs since The System Has Failed (itself a fantastic album.) I will say that Dave's voice has sounded better- I prefer his snotty, high-register bark to the vocal delivery on much of SC, but as some live footage has shown over the years, he is likely losing his upper register, a very common thing with singers of heavy bands. But Dave has been releasing quality, challenging material for 30 years, and here he is still on top of his game. Black Sabbath should be so "Lucky 13"- the new Sab slab is pretty flat and has little of the fire and swing that made them so monumentally influential. But that's for another review. Super Collider is no thrash masterpiece, but is what it is; another great MegaRecord- the writing is strong, the band is killer, the production is tight, and Dave even has some fun with some different instrumentation, and a great cover of an old Thin Lizzy classic- I enjoyed the whole album. And I don't see where people are saying there is a lack of guitar solos on here- WTF? Every song is a workout.

EDIT- now that I've had this album for a while, I've listened to it numerous times and can say that I feel it is a VERY strong record. The writing is well-paced and interesting, it's very heavy, and I don't hear any weak points. I think those who are dissing it are doing so due to short attention spans- if it takes some 'intent' to get into what a band is saying, then it's not worth the time for some- they want their faces ripped off for 50 minutes non-stop; not that there's anything wrong with that, but Dave has produced an excellent, thoughtful album that is FAR above comparisons to Risk. Compared to 90% of bands on the planet, it's probably worth more than my 4 stars, but after all, this IS Megadeth we're talking about- it's not quite in the echelon of Rust In Peace, Youthanasia, or The System Has Failed, so 4 stars is as high as I can go. Love it!
3721035
Well what can I say about this DVD that hasn't already been said. How about this. I have read three books on the band, own all of their CDs, travelled countless kilometers to see them live and read about them on the net all the time. The fact is I still learned some new stuff about the band during this DVD. The director commentaries are just perfect. The are informative, funand fact-filled. There are some really interesting perspectives on the band as a whole and their approach to shooting a video. The directors are really interesting people as well and it is funny to watch them relate to the wacky antics of Dave. (i.e. &#8220;So I just kept saying things to him like, &#8216;Pretend there are birds flying at your head, the floor is made of Jell-O!' Hilarious!) The fact you can se the lyrics on the screen with the video is wonderful for my roommate (who has a tendency to sing along really loud with the wrong lyrics)! The lyrics are superimposed in a way that really doesn't detract from the colour or feel of the video. I hate to admit it but it is kind of a cool feature despite the fact my initial reaction was, &#8220;Who would need lyrics to Dave songs?&#8221; The behind the scenes extras are kind of cool, one of them is rather weak. I won't say which one in case you feel differently, but you could really tell it was shot before DVDs really carried features like it! I (like many Dave fans) am not too thrilled by the song I Did It, but the video and making of feature are really enjoyable to watch. All in all a good buy! However, I will have to rate it as a 4.9999999999999997 because my girlfriend found a typo in the lyrics within the first 20 minutes. However, we played it for almost three hours the first night we had it and we will be watching it over and over and over no doubt. So if you are a fan of movies, videos and the Dave Matthews Band check it out! It has a little bit of all of these in it along with a lot of fun mixed in!
2757169
As other reviewers have stated, there are a few videos on this tape.  You get to see "blind", "Clown", "Shoots & Ladders" and "Faget".  For me, the videos are not that big a deal.  I like those songs, of course, but the videos are nothing special.
What's special is the simple but effective direction, where the filmmaker takes himself completely out of the equation and shows us the band as they coexist.  There are several funny moments, but also some amazing ones: where Jon is singing the middle section of "Kill You" in the studio and sobbing... where Fieldy is talking about the origins of the band when their parents drove one another to practice... Fieldy, when asked who his best friend in the band is, naming all four of this bandmates... a packed house at Irvine Meadows on their feet, chanting "Korn!"... the list goes on, but I don't want to spoil it for you.
If you are a Korn fan, you have no excuse to not own this tape.  If you are not a big fan, this tape gives a great insight into the band and how they interact behind the scenes.