Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal

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I saw Daniel Bukszpan's Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal in a book store and was intrigued by the cover. I skimmed through it and saw the tons of glossy color photos of metal bands and memorabilia (many I had not seen before). When I saw a photo of Judas Priest roller skating in Central Park, I knew I had to have this book. It is a very entertaining guide to tons of bands with side info on such things as metal magazines, metal genres, and top ten lists of metal albums, songs, controversial album covers, etc. The author includes symbols by each artist entry to indicate such things as excessive drug use, death in the band, musical content (satanic, political, fantasy, violent, sexual, etc.). The sexual symbol is two sets of feet facing each other (although, for some bands, they may need to be turned around). Symbols for metal genre next to each metal act would have been helpful. The entries are informative and often funny ("...when [Rob] Halford came out of the proverbial closet. His revelation surprised possibly as many as six people in the entire world..."). Bukszpan even includes some humorous captions under the photos. A photo of Grandfunk Railroad laying in caskets sports the caption: "Where most rock critics wanted to see GFR end up.") The book has a forward by Ronnie James Dio and, when you read the entry on Dio, you will detect some butt kissing on the part of the author, but that's OK because Dio rocks.

There will always be controversy regarding which bands are included in a heavy metal encyclopedia (Bad Company? Kid Rock?) and which bands are left off (where's Keel? where's Annihilator? where's Meliah Rage? where's Death Angel?). But here's who made it: Abdullah, Accept, AC/DC, Acid King, Aerosmith, Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Anvil, Armored Saint, The Atomic Bitchwax, Atomic Rooster, Bad Company, Biohazard, Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Blue Oyster Cult, Body Count, Bon Jovi, Budgie, Candlemass, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Carnivore, Cathedral, Celtic Frost, Cheap Trick, Cinderella, Cirith Ungol, Alice Cooper, Corrosion of Conformity, Cycle Sluts From Hell, Danzig, Dark Angel, Darkthrone, Death, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, The Deftones, Deicide, Diamond Head, Dio, Dokken, D.R.I., Dust, Electric Wizard, Emperor, Entombed, Exciter, Exodus, Extreme, Eyehategod, Faith No More, Faster Pussycat, Fastway, Fates Warning, Fear Factory, Flotsam & Jetsam, Lita Ford, Fu Manchu, Goatsnake, Godflesh, Grand Funk Railroad, Granicus, Grave Digger, Grim Reaper, Guns n' Roses, GWAR, Hallow's Eve, Hammerfall, Hanoi Rocks, Helloween, Helmet, Jimi Hendrix, Holocaust, Iced Earth, Immortal, Insane Clown Posse, Iron Butterfly, Iron Maiden, Iron Man, Jag Panzer, Jane's Addiction, Joan Jett, Judas Priest, Katatonia, Kid Rock, King Diamond, King's X, KISS, Korn, Kreator, Krokus, Kyuss, L7, L.A. Guns, Lard, Las Cruces, Led Zeppelin, Limp Bizkit, Living Colour, Loudness, Yngwie Malmsteen, Manilla Road, Manowar, Marilyn Manson, Mayhem, The MC5, Megadeth, The Melvins, Memento Mori, The Mentors, Mercyful Fate, Metal Church, Metallica, Monster Magnet, Morbid Angel, Motley Crue, Motorhead, Mr. Bungle, My Dying Bride,

Napalm Death, Natas, Nebula, Neurosis, Nine Inch Nails, Nuclear Assault, Ted Nugent, Obituary, The Obsessed, Opeth, Ozzy Osbourne, Overkill, Pantera, Paradise Lost, Penance, Pentagram, Place of Skulls, Poison, Possessed, Prong, Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, Queensrych, Quiet Riot, Rage Against the Machine, Rainbow, Rammstein, Ratt, Raven, Riot, Rose Tattoo, The Runaways, Running Wild, Rush, Sacred Reich, Saint Vitus, Samson, Joe Satriani, Savatage, Saxon, The Scorpions, Sepultura, Sir Lord Baltimore, Skid Row, Slade, Slayer, Sleep, Slipknot, Slow Horse, Sodom, Solitude Aeturnus, Soundgarden, Spinal Tap, Spirit Caravan, Stormtroopers of Death, Stryper, Suicidal Tendencies, The Sweet, The Tea Party, Terra Firma, Tesla, Testament, Therapy?, Thin Lizzy, Tool, Trouble, Twisted Sister, Tygers of Pan Tang, Type O Negative, U.F.O, Unorthodox, Uriah Heep, Steve Vai, Van Halen, Venom, Vixen, Voivod, Warhorse, Warlock, Warlord, Warrant, W.A.S.P., Whitesnake, White Zombie, Winter, Witchfinder General, Y & T, and Zebra. Of course powerhouses like KISS and Judas Priest are going to get many more pages and photos than a lesser known group like Cirith Ungol (who receive no photos) but it is near impossible to find any info on some of these more obscure bands. The photos are amazing and are worth the price of the book alone.

Originally posted on NadaMucho.com, irreverent but ultimately humbling authority on all things ROCK...

<Stop reading this, get off the damned Internet, go to the nearest Barnes & Noble, find Daniel Bukszpan's "The Encyclopedia Of Heavy Metal", plop down twenty bucks and buy it. I don't care if you don't listen to loud, heavy music. I don't care if you can't appreciate lots of color photos of garishly dressed, longhaired white folks in really silly poses, grimacing. It's a safe bet you know somebody who does, and the holidays - as they say - are "right around the corner". This is quite simply the greatest bathroom book since "The Book of Lists 2". Why? Gather around and I'll tell ya...

Throughout my adolescent fascination with hard rock music, I sought out and read every cheap bio, slick gossip rag and "authoritative" reference book I could find on the subject. My collection of Circus magazines could (and often did) completely cover the floor of my room. The common thread connecting virtually all of this literature was the piss-poor "journalism" involved in producing the even worse "writing" of these pieces. Inconsistencies, contradictions, unsubstantiated hearsay and downright stupidity all seemed to be necessary evils to get a book about heavy metal published.

This must have bothered Daniel Bukszpan in his youth as well, because he's just churned out 300 pages of the funniest, most intelligent rock writing this side of Justin Vela:

"When it comes to German power metal bands who dress like pirates, there can be little disagreement that Running Wild is hands down the finest example. Anyone who would attempt to dispute this truism doubtless has their own German power-metal band in which the members dress like pirates, and is seeking, truculently, to defame their betters in the hopes of advancing their own career."

There are lots of fun facts, too:

"In a somewhat unorthodox quest to find closure, (Mayhem's spectacularly deceased lead singer's) band mates used the many available shards of his skull to make necklaces."

And the photos! Hundreds of `em! You'll even find an outtake from Soundgarden's infamous "lily pad" photo shoot for Charles Peterson's October 1988 cover of The Rocket newspaper. Handwritten lyrics, backstage passes, jacket patches and other memorabilia round out the book's overall design, and the effect is impressive.

Doom metal, black metal, death metal, prog, thrash, shred, NWOBHM, glam, stoner rock... it's all represented here, from Uriah Heep to Sleep. There's even a foreword by Ronnie James Dio, wherein he confesses his unholy love for Paul Rodgers from Bad Company! The book is not without a few missteps. Bukszpan fails to explain why an entry for the power pop group Cheap Trick is included in a book named "The Encyclopedia Of Heavy Metal", and a few of the band photos are reversed (making correct identification of the members impossible). But when one of the photos in question is a great 1979 shot of Judas Priest roller-skating merrily through Central Park, these sins are forgivable.

Whether you can't remember what year Pantera's Metal Magic album came out (1983) or you just want to finally read an honest assessment of Living Colour's career (one without the common but erroneous label of "funk metal" applied to a band who were similar to the true metallic funkateers Fishbone in pigment alone), or hell, even if you merely like making fun of really bad hairstyles, this is the book to buy. Just make sure you have a shelf in your bathroom big enough to hold it.>

Do you like good writing? Do you like heavy metal music? Do you like interesting musical tidbits & facts alongside glorious live rock photos? Then pick up this book NOW...NOW...NOW!

I think this is one of the best written books on the subject of METAL music you will ever find. The author is a diehard fan and musician himself who isn't discussing the subject matter as a uninformed spectator, but as someone who has lived and breathed the metal scene for many years. I love curling up on the couch and poring thru this MASSIVE catalog of bands, getting lost within the depths of Led Zeppelin or the chaos of Aerosmith. Plus, you get to hear about other bands you might NEVER see mentioned in Rolling Stone ( Cycle Sluts From Hell, Goatsnake, Atomic Bitchwax ) Trust me. You will not be disappointed.

Tell them Dio sent you.

At first glance, a casual fan of metal will be quite impressed by this books size, weight, and comprehensiveness. It does cover a very wide variety of metal bands, ranging hard rock bands (Aerosmith and AC/DC), hair metal bands (Bon Jovi and Poision), classic metal bands (Black Sabbath and Judas Priest), speed metal bands (Metallica and Megadeth), industrial metal (Lard and Nine Inch Nails), and even 'nu-metal' bands (Korn and the Deftones). The entries for each band provide a thoughtful, concise, and often humorous history of the band and it's output. Smaller bands get small entries, while monsters of the genre get several pages. There are many large pictures, sometimes gory, sometimes cheesy, always entertaining.

The author clearly has a great deal of love and respect for the genre of heavy metal. It's a refreshing change to read a book about metal that doesn't (often) make snide remarks about the bands and the quality of the music. The foibles of certain famous stars are tweaked a bit (but really, how could you write this kind of book without teasing Gene Simmons a bit about his non-stop merchandising or Dave Mustaine about his constantly on-again, off-again drug habit?)

As a fan of speed/thrash metal, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of some of the great bands in that subgenre (no Forbidden, Death Angel, Strapping Young Lad, or Nevermore.) Others may be disappointed by the lack of newer bands (no Disturbed, Linkin Park, or System of a Down.) And I can offer no explanation for the lack of an entry for Dream Theater, who are an amazingly talented, reasonably popular, and important metal band.

The author clearly realizes that his list will come under heavy dispute from fans, stating that his list comes from a list of his favorite bands, bands he felt were important, bands he felt people would like to see, and bands suggested by his editor. The author clearly has a preference for the little-noticed subgenre of "doom metal" (think Black Sabbath, then think even slower and heavier) with extensive coverage for even the most obscure bands who play this style. This is perhaps understandable as the author himself plays in a doom metal band, Slow Horse.

For a long time fan of the genre, this is a fun read, but you probably won't learn a lot that you didn't already know (except perhaps about those oh-so-obscure doom metal bands!) But for someone who is new to metal and is interested in it's history, this book would be invaluable.

Everyone who is a longtime metal fan will have thier own complaints about omissions that seem so unjust to them and I too have a few (Virgin Steele, Primus), but there are more surprising inclusions that make this book really fun to read (Exciter, Jag Panzer, Mr. Bungle, The Melvins). It seems, at least to me, that Dio is interjecting his own opinions a little much for my taste. Examples: Dio listed as the top Heavy Metal vocalist and Ozzy isn't in the top 10, Tony Iommi is in the top 10 guitarists while Randy Rhoads missing from the list, and the most essential Heavy Metal album is, according to the book, is Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell" (featuring Dio, of course). And who has the crush on King's X anyway? They are o.k, I guess, but reading this you get the impression that they are the second coming of Sabbath or something.

This is the best book I have ever read about heavy metal. The author is funny, there are GREAT photos, discography, band member lists, little symbols on what the band's music is usually about. But there ARE some bands in here that are NOT metal, like Grand Funk Railroad, Jimi Hendrix, and Bad Company. Also, there are some bands that should have been included, like The Cult and Andrew WK. But most of this book is hilarious and good, and introduced me to some never-heard-of bands like Dust and Granicus.

"The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal" is a fantastic book. I like the way it is set up with the bios and discographies. And there are some truly amazing photographs inside!

Mr. Bukszpan must have done years of research for all the info that is included in this encyclopedia. It really seems a shame people would concentrate on what bands should or shouldn't be included. I guess it would be impossible to satisfy everyone. But for my money, this is the best book on Heavy Metal that I've come across. If you are or were a fan of metal, do yourself a favor and pick this book up as soon as you can!

Rock on!

I, like a lot of the other reviewers, simply happened upon this book as I browsed the bookstore. I've read quite a bit of the metal biographies through the years, so I'm always on the lookout. Daniel does a great job in giving us the basics of these bands. I was familiar with the majority of them, but some of them I simply hadn't heard about in years-distant memories from an article in a used copy of Circus magazine. To his credit, the author admits that certainly the book isn't a definitive, comprehensive listing of all metal bands, hell, probably some of the best metal bands played in garages, never got their shot and remain in anonymity. It is a big-ass book, but if it wasn't, you wouldn't get to enjoy all of the cool glossy photos from back in the day!

The book is well written, very funny, with a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor that those of us from the generation will enjoy.

~"The Gods you worship are steel, at the altar of rock and roll you kneel"

I know the author. For those who complain about the inclusion of celebrities like Kid Rock, it was NOT the author's choice. He fought tooth-and-nail to get his book published and had to make certain sacrifices to the editors/publishers. There were bands he was simply not allowed to include, while being forced to include such 'luminaries' as Robert James Ritchie. He could have made the choice not to have the book published. What good would that have done? For those who claim Zepplin is not metal I say to you: poppycock. Listen to Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture. The man used CANNONS for percussion. If that's not metal, I don't know what is. Zepplin was no less heavy in their own right, if you don't believe so then you lack the proper context. Judge the book as a whole. As for including his own band in the book...have you actually ever SEEN Bukzspan perform? Thought not. This is not a case of nepotism or prejudice. I have seen and heard the man. He has written riffs that are too heavy to be measured with current scientific technology. He is one of the smartest, most articulate, engaging metal-heads you will ever meet. The book is worth the read. And yes, the photos are fantastic.

A complete heavy metal book with good color photos. I'm sure it doesn't cover every good thrash/black/death metal band from the 90s to present day (there are so many.) But it covers the early days through the 80s well. And yes, FINALLY a heavy metal book that gives due to the FIRST heavy metal band, BLUE CHEER. (No, kids, no matter what you've been told, Black Sabbath DID NOT invent metal.)