Dave Grohl: Foo Fighters, Nirvana and Other Misadventures [Paperback]

Martin James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2003

Emerging from the potent musical legacy of Nirvana and the emotional fallout of Kurt Cobain's suicide, the Foo Fighters established themselves - against all the odds - as one of the most popular rock bands in the world. Deflecting early critical disdain, Dave Grohl has single-handedly reinvented himself and cemented his place in the rock pantheon. This is his story, from his pre-Nirvana days in hardcore band Scream to his current festival-conquering status as grammy-winning, platinum-selling grunge legend reborn. Across the five Foo Fighters albums, the whole sordid yet legendary Nirvana tale, the pre-history in the nascent Seattle scene and right up to date via Grohl's flirtations with bands such as Queens of the Stone Age, this is a comprehensive chronicle of Dave Grohl's remarkable life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Martin James once found himself watching The Prodigy backstage with Grohl, both climbing up a lighting rig to share a better view. With this in-depth book, he pieces together the life story of one of the most remarkable, enigmatic and yet amenable stars in recent history.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Independent Music Press (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0953994244
• ISBN-13: 978-0953994243
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,569,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Martin James needs to get over himself, September 3, 2004

By 

Vivian (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dave Grohl: Foo Fighters, Nirvana and Other Misadventures (Paperback)

I agree with everyone else so far who wasn't fond of this book. I've been a fan of Dave Grohl for most of his career and what I thought would be insightful as to who he is as a person or whatever, turned out to be a boring endlessly analytical review of everything Dave Grohl has been involved in musically.

I wanted the FACTS of Dave Grohl's life and career, but all this useless music critic had to offer was his opinions about what each track sounded like on each album and which ones were good, which were bad... excuse me? If you're a fan of Dave Grohl or the Foo Fighters in the first place, we're all probably going to have a difference of opinion as far as which album/songs are "best". What's the purpose of injecting Dave's BIOGRAPHY with your opinions? And the book is full of this guy's opinions and I'm NOT INTERESTED IN THOSE! He literally goes on for fifteen pages about how exactly each track on 'the colour and the shape' sounds and if it's good or not when I really don't need that because I ALREADY KNOW WHAT THE ALBUM SOUNDS LIKE!!!!

Another note- Martin James needs to learn how to spell. Numerous words and names are spelled wrong and punctuation marks used incorrectly. Once he said "...basketball star Codi Bryant..." Did he mean 'Kobe Bryant'? Apparently he also needs a hearing aid. I was feeling embarrassed for the guy. It's crazy how in love with his own perspective he is. He basically used Dave Grohl as a tool to unleash a perfect medium for his own views on music. I was thoroughly disappointed.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A lot about "Dave, the musician" but not "Dave, the man", December 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Dave Grohl: Foo Fighters, Nirvana and Other Misadventures (Paperback)

Although this book was an interesting summary of the bands Dave Grohl admired and was influenced by growing up, and, of course, played in, I was disappointed that it really didn't talk about him much in terms of his personal life. Most of the personal stuff in there I had already read on the internet. The author doesn't make it a secret that he pretty much pieced this together using interviews to other magazines or web sites. It seems that he must personally know Dave, but there is no indication of any one-on-one interview for this book.

I guess I was looking for the: what was his childhood like, what was it like growing up with him as a child or teenager, where did he work, where did he meet his wives, etc.

If you're looking for a breakdown of concerts and albums, this book does a good job of that. I do question reviewing each song from each CD...songs seem pretty subjective to me, and the author uses a lot of "this has a hint of the Pixies with a Metallica type chorus"... If you're getting that much out of it, you're analyzing it too much. IT'S JUST A SONG! Ya like it or ya don't!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Absolute Trash, June 8, 2004

By 

Simon Tayler (SA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dave Grohl: Foo Fighters, Nirvana and Other Misadventures (Paperback)

What could have been a fantastic biography ended up being a poor excuse for a useless music critic to write a book on punk music. There is very little information on Dave Grohl the person and not even that much on the Foo Fighters. Instead the author simply tries to analyse each and everytrack that Grohl and his bands have released and then analyses every track that influenced those tracks and then analyses the bands that performed those tracks. In a nutshell this book is a collection of interviews with various magazines. If you were to take the information on Grohl alone the book would be a good 5 pages.
A complete waste of time. Do not even bother! Go and spend the money on music mags instead. I seriously think the reason the author has worked for so many different publications is because he got fired for trying to sound clever.