Life on Planet Rock: From Guns N' Roses to Nirvana, a Backstage Journey through Rock's Most Debauched Decade (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: rock magazine, Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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. (July)
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Review

“Lonn lives where the reckless heart of rock still thunders in your chest. No one else can throw a literary dinner party where Henry Miller sits side by side with Kurt Cobain and Jon Bon Jovi.  That's Lonn's planet, and that's his vivid personality.  Soulful and rowdy and always hilarious, Life on Planet Rock reminds you why you ever turned it up, all the way up.”
—Cameron Crowe

“Dark, brutally honest, and hilarious at the same time, Lonn's tales of rock-and-roll debauchery, excess, and bad business are a love letter to the rock gods.”
—Scott Ian Rosenfeld, founder/guitarist, Anthrax

“Lonn Friend. If anybody is entitled to write about rock in L.A. in the ’80s and ’90s, it’s him. This is a good book. Steal it!”
—Lemmy Kilmister, lead singer, Motörhead

“Its humor, insight, and behind-the-scenes honesty have captured me and whisked me away to a very special mind space. I am content. All is well on Planet Rock . . . I ought to know, I've lived here all my life.”
—Kevin Cronin, lead singer, REO Speedwagon --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (July 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767922085
• ISBN-13: 978-0767922081
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #279,528 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Below Average, November 18, 2007

By	Deryk E. English "Just a guy" (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Life on Planet Rock is a book about Lonn Friend wrapped in the packaging of a book about Rock in the 80's and 90's. What I wanted to see in this book was a true backstage look at the bands that changed my life. What I read here is a story of a journalist Star F'er that was chosen by these bands as a friend and story teller because he did not have the balls to write the truth.
Nirvana's Kurt Cobain touched on it when he said playing the game involved going to dinner with Lonn and acting like a friend. When you run a popular magazine like RIP then the bands have to suck up to you so you can help them sell the music.
What we learn in Life on Planet Rock is that Lonn was the perfect rug for the bands to walk on. His self esteem was so lacking that they just needed to give him a hug and tell him he was a "Friend" and he would do what he did best. Lonn is a true writer though, he spins the yarn and tells the tales beutifully. The problem is there is little substance about the bands and music and too much of Lonns over driven ego.

Lonn stated in the book he covered Bon Jovi more than any other band and yet I learned more from a 20 minute interview Jon Bon Jovi did with Howard Stern in 2007 than I learned in the entire book. Infact, I learned more about Slash and GnR in his interview last month with Howard than I did in this book.

If Lonn ever decided to write a real book about those days it would be the greatest book and the biggest seller of any rock book ever. That I am sure will never happen though because Lonn Friend like his faux friends way too much to tell the whole story.

Well done Lonn, you kept your friends and sold me a bland book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ROCK LIVES!!!, August 6, 2006

By	Voice of Reason "~Bec~" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

Like the Phoenix that rises from the ashes to re-invent itself, so is the writer of this insiders look into the inner sanctum of rock n' roll. Lonn Friend journeys from the porn industry to the rock scene thru a journalistic gateway called RIP Magazine, an 80's metal magazine that ultimately issued him a VIP pass with many of rocks notorious acts from Alice Cooper to KISS to Guns N' Roses, Skid Row and Nirvana and many others. A fast-paced jaunt that takes you from the inner bowels and decadence of the music scene to the emotional and intellectual awakenings of its writer, then back again. For those who love music...and we ALL do...this is a MUST READ! Now, where is YOUR copy?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Deliciously Funny Read, July 24, 2006

By	Laura Stewart "Exiled San Franciscan" (MAUI, Hawaii) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

RIP Magazine was the heavy metal bible of its day. No one else covered all the hijinks of hair metal better than RIP and Lonn Friend.

This book relives some of the best behind the scenes moments of that time. I devoured it the same way I devoured "The Devil Wears Prada" or my beloved US Magazine. Lonn was the fly on the wall and we all get to have a peek.

Having spent 15 years paying my rent by working backstage at rock concerts around the world, I have to say this is the best tell-all memoir I have ever read. The only bummer is, that I wanted MORE! Keep writing Lonn, the world needs your sense of humour and the rockers of today need to know how it was really done back when Metal Ruled the World!

Whether you are in the business or just interested in someone else's business this book is for you.