The Beast [Hardcover]

Paul Di'Anno (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002

Paul D'Ianno is one of rock 'n' roll's wildest, most notorious figures. In this autobiography, "The Beast" reveals the shocking stories of his life on the road, including the night he shot out a passing motorist's tyres with a rifle and the truth about his arrest for carrying a sub-machine gun. His tale is one of drugs, guns, alcohol; of extended periods banged up in a US Federal Penitentiary; and of course his time fronting one of the biggest rock groups of all time - Iron Maiden. Paul's antics off-stage are even more shocking than his behaviour on-stage. He truly is a man who makes Led Zeppelin look like a bunch of convent girls. He has lived a life treading the fine line of the law, and has battled through crazed drug addictions from the heights of worldwide fame to the pit of bankruptcy and beyond. This book is a look into the dark and disturbing times of a man who has spent his whole life courting his demons. Unfortunatly those demons always seemed to have got the upper hand.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Thoroughly entertaining—and completely obscene . . . There's crime, guns, outrageous shag-fests and enough narcotic-related escapades to put even Mötley Crüe to shame. If you want sex, drugs, and heavy metal, then you've come to the right place."  —Kerrang

"An action adventure story starring a Jack Daniels, cocaine-fuelled fighting machine that just happens to be a vocalist in a rock band. Take the extremities of The Dirt, remove most of the drugs, replace them with violence and you've pretty much got The Beast . . . This is the opportunity to tap into the mind of one of the maddest rock stars of all time."  —Metal Hammer

"Explosive, violent, funny . . . and—if you can read between the long white lines and are of a forgiving and optimistic nature—charming . . . Dirtier than The Dirt . . .  this page-turner of a book documents with effortless flow and continual suspense, a stomach-churner of a life."  — Martin Popoff, author, Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Paul D'Ianno is one of rock 'n' roll's wildest, most notorious figures. It is not for nothing that he is nicknamed The Beast! In his brilliant autobiography, he reveals the shocking stories of his life on the road, including: - The night he got high on drugs and shot out a passing motorist's tyres with a rifle. - The truth about his arrest for carrying a sub-machine gun and a bag full of cocaine. - How he squandered 5 million pounds.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Blake Pub (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904034039
• ISBN-13: 978-1904034032
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,786,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Beast, August 15, 2002

By 

T West - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Beast (Hardcover)

I was a bit sceptical upon reading this book. Was Paul gonna thrash the all time greatest metal band Iron Maiden? Was Paul gonna let his true feelings about his replacement the great Bruce Dickinson spew forth? Well the answers to these questions were no and yes. If your looking for dirt on Steve Harris and the boys your not gonna find it here. And Paul's thoughts on Bruce? He is an excellent singer.
What you will find in this book is a story of a troubled man. It makes ya laugh and it pisses you off and even a little sympathy for the guy. But I am sure Paul would be the first to tell you he don't need your sympathy. This is Pauls way of excercising demons.
Fighting,boozing,drugs,women,smacking wives(Paul had 5 wives in his time)kicking band members in the face,diffrent musical projects,blowing all your doe,it goes on and on and on. It made for a very good read.
I was surprised to see Paul was so violent. I actually thought he was just making good fictional stories until the end were we get confirmation from friends,bandmates,and managers. These little quips are hilarious in them self.
So if your looking for dirt on Maiden. Forget it! There is none. Iron Maiden are a band that is always about the music.That is a major factor in there success. Paul didnt go into to much detail about his ousting/quitting of the band. For the bottom line was look we/I dont like want your doing and it's time to move on. That is both sides thinking,Paul and Maiden. But life after Maiden was some good reading. Good job Paul.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what it could have been, April 5, 2010

By 

Logan Ratty (California, United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Beast: Singing With Iron Maiden-The Drugs, the Groupies . . . the Whole Story (Paperback)

As a fan of Iron Maiden for decades, since I was a teen in the 80's, my room is practically a shrine to Maiden still. I love both the Di'Anno period as well as the Dickinson period (though admittedly I'm more of a fan of the Dickinson time period). However, I've been on a huge metal biography kick recently reading all sorts of bio's, so I was very excited about reading this book. I've read the Maiden bio's a ways back and was hoping that this book would be a fairly good balance of the insightful as well as the wild stories, etc. And to top things off, I just saw Paul Di'Anno live at the Galaxy Theatre on Feb 20th, 2010. It was a great show! So, be clear about this, I'm more than just a casual fan reviewing this.

The book started out fairly well, recounting Paul Di'Anno's early days with Iron Maiden, and his youth growing up. Admittedly, Di'Anno comes from a fairly rough childhood and was brawling and drinking and having sex at a fairly young age. It is no wonder he did some of the things he did in this book. It is no wonder that he split with Iron Maiden. He has lived life pretty much the way he wanted to and was never really interested in taking things to soaring heights of success or in putting in the kind of work and dedication that Maiden has. That's certainly his right. He loves to tour and keep things at a certain level, and he loves to party. Though there are some interesting stories here and there in this book, overall the book is quite repetitive and rather boring after a while.

There is no real vision here, not much insight or interest in the times he is in or the bands he has toured with. There are a few points of interesest, and it comes off fairly personal, but mainly it is just one mans repetitive story of sexual conquest after conquest, upon more sex, with drug fueled drunken benders, violent brawls at the drop of a hat over the smallest things, sex parties, group sex, so much sex that he himself get's fairly bored of it all (and we do too) and he makes it admittedly clear that he got to a point where he had pretty much no respect for the women he was with. He seems to have little respect for his own self as well. Life on the road is pretty maddening for this guy, and he seems to have just let the madness take him. The drug and drink intake is beyond excessive, its like reading a book by the local wallowing drug addict, except this guy is fueled with money and has no desire to get beyond the squalor he has chosen for himself. And the stories of squalor and such simply come off repetitively as someone who has found a source of pride in how close to death he can come for himself and others. Story after story appears here of Di'Anno flying into a rage (mostly drunken ones) beating or kicking someone near to death. Granted, a lot of these people may have deserved a good thrashing, but Di'Anno pretty much constantly describes himself with boastful pride as someone who sees red and boastfully losses all control and nearly kills some of these people. He constantly gives boring boasts and threats throughout the book like a high school thug "and if they mess with me I'll .... blah blah blah.. " He has a few deep regrets here and there but he seems terribly proud of fighting over anything and everything, down to the smallest insult, at the drop of a hat. "Look at me the wrong way and ...blah blah blah.." He never chooses his battles wisely and hardly ever learns from his mistakes. And like the rock star he is, he's sheltered from most of the consequences. Is he funny? Yes very much so sometimes, and even charming. Its like setting down with someone over a few bears when reading this book. But after a while, its like the person you set down with for a few bears and some fun just becomes a boastful mess wallowing in his tales. After a while, the Di'Anno book is like spending time with your drunk uncle as he descends into boring you with tale after tale of the same stuff. "Then I brought her back to my place, and we screwed, I stuck this or that into her, made her snuff coke off my member, then I beat the guy and her and I screwed, then I drank a bottle or two of whatever and beat that guy, then I screwed her, and you know when I get that way I'll beat the ....blah blah blah...".

I've read Motley Crue's The Dirt, and thought that was a good book on the highs and lows of success, excess, and lives lived on the edge. Di'Anno's book is really nothing like that. I've read books on Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Kiss, you name it. All of them manage to be fairly balanced about the musical influences, the personal, the histories, etc., Di'Anno's book is not really that much like that. It is just an account of marauding. I've read books by hardcore bikers that come off more insightful and more interesting.

And one should note, that the hardback version of Di'Anno's book came out in 2002. Now we have the paperback in 2010. There are a few things in here as having been described as recently happening a few years ago, but its all from the perspective of 2002. The Paul Di'Anno I saw get up on stage on Feb 20th 2010 does not seem much like the Paul talked about here. Though he sang great, he was terribly overweight, walked on with a limp, and one could tell that it was hard to get warmed up. Once he did, he cruised along just fine, but the life of excess and abuse has certainly taken its toll and it really shows. I wonder how long he will live? If he really is till trying to live this sort of life still, he will probably leave this earth soon, just like some of the other drunken rock star deaths he mentions sadly in this book but never seems to learn from.

We love ya Paul, really and truly love you man. And we've enjoyed your music, but your life is one I certainly don't envy. This is a great book about what not to do with your life if you make it to the so-called "top". I wish the book could have been more balanced, more insightful. I'm sure you have a lot of interesting stories you could tell, if you were sober enough and not drugged up enough that you could remember some of them. I hope you will write another book someday, if you make it up and out of all this. You have a lot to offer the world. You were an important force in metal in the 80's. I truly hope all the best for you.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enter at your own risk.... this ain't no sissy book, January 22, 2005

By 

P ELLERY (Mt. Elgin, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Beast (Hardcover)

So you probably know that Paul Di' Anno was the singer for Iron Maiden, that's why you're looking at this book. What you didn't probably know is this guy has a temperment that explodes into fury in an instant and everything he seems to touch is smashed and destroyed one way or another. Alcoholic, drug addict, womanizer, brawler, inmate.... rock and roll almost takes a back seat to all of this. Brutally honest and at times hilarious, Di' Anno has had a mess of a bloody good time and is more than happy to share the good, the bad and the ugly. This IS NOT a book about Iron Maiden. Let's get that straight people. This guy has more in common with GG Allin than any incarnation of Maiden after he left. Di' Anno brought danger back into rock and roll, with absolutely no preconceived thoughts or intent. He was just being Paul. Love him or hate him, you have to be amazed at his perserverence and the fact he's still alive. This is a warts and all autobiography from the seemingly innocent and fresh faced teen who ended up fronting the mighty Maiden to the battered, scarred and tattooed "Beast" of today who's been around the world with the aptly named Battlezone and Killers bands. And he's loved almost every bloody, debauched minute of it.... except for a couple of things and he'll tell you all about them.... Very eye opening.