To Live Is To Die The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton [Paperback]

Joel McIver (Author), Kirk Hammett (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2009

Metallica, the seventh-biggest recording act in American history, are consummate musicians ¯ but it wasn't always that way. A significant proportion of their playing expertise was acquired from a pivotal three-year period in their history ¯ 1983 to 1986 ¯ during which their music, a potent variant of thrash metal, evolved from garage-level to sophisticated, progressive heights ¯ thanks to the teachings of their bass player, Cliff Burton. The San Francisco-raised Burton pushed the band to new musical levels with his musical training, songwriting ability, and phenomenal bass guitar skills. Cliff's life was short but

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joel McIver writes for Total Guitar, Metal Hammer and many other music magazines and is the author of 12 books to date. The best-known of these is Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica (2004), which has sold over 30,000 copies in eight languages. He makes regular appearances on radio and TV.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Jawbone Press; Original edition (June 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190600224X
• ISBN-13: 978-1906002244
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bellbottoms Rule!, June 16, 2009

By 

Rico (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Live Is To Die The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton (Paperback)

Well, it has taken nearly 23years, but Clifford Lee Burton has finally gotten some of the respect he deserves, a book dedicated to his life, thanks to Joel McIver. All these years, we only had the Cliff 'Em All Video and brief commentary that you would see on Metallica documentaries. Sadly enough, Cliff was just a mere side note and almost always glossed over, which gave the newer Metallica fans a false sense of how the band developed their style and attitude, which in return, outraged the old fans. The book did a good job detailing Cliff's days before he joined Metallica, with his musical training that was inspired by the death of his older brother and the support he had from his parents Jan and Ray Burton. The book also touches on his bands prior to Metallica, which were Easy Street and most notably Trauma. McIver details all of the tracks that Cliff played on, with moderate bass detail from Kill 'Em All through Master of Puppets. The only omission would be the Creeping Death 12" single, in which Am I Evil? and Blitzkrieg were on the B-side. A lot of the quotes from Cliff and other people, I had heard many times and could practically finish the sentence, but there is very little to go on, being that Cliff didn't do many interviews. I only wished there were more recounts from people and bands he had toured with. I also found some date inconsistencies in the book. It was refreshing to hear some of the more recent recounts from people like Ron Quintana, Harold O, Brian Slagel, Fred Cotton and some of his earliest friends. To me, the memories and testimony from Corinne Lynn, Cliff's girlfriend, is what made the book special. The last part of the book unfortunately dealt with a lot of "what if" scenarios that I could of done without, but it ended on an extremely heart felt recollection from Corrinne, that shed more insight on Cliff Burton the human being, which left me very sad.

I would also like to say, that Cliff Burton has always been an inspiration, from the love and respect he gave his family, to the complete and total honesty he lived his life by. Not only can Metallica fans benefit from this, but the Human Race in general. I hope this is not the last book we see on his life.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars has me reconsidering Cliff, June 12, 2009

By 

William Irwin (Kingston, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: To Live Is To Die The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton (Paperback)

I'm a huge Metallica fan from way back in the day, and I saw Cliff on the Puppets tour. Cliff was definitely charismatic and stood for the "doing it on our terms" attitude that characterized Metallica in the early days. That said, I've always thought people attributed too much to Cliff in response to his untimely death. McIver's book has me seriously reconsidering that. I'm not a musician, and I find bass particularly hard to pick out and appreciate. McIver, though, is an accomplished bass player himself and brings that to bear in his analysis of Cliff's sonic contributions to the songs from Metallica's greatest albums. No doubt Cliff helped shape Metallica's classic sound, and maybe just maybe, they wouldn't have made some of their later bad moves if Cliff was still with them. In sum, this book is definitely worthwhile if you want a clearer view of what Cliff contributed personally and professionally to some of the greatest music of all time.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The life & times of Cliff, July 6, 2009

By 

Julian A. Schulz "Julian" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Live Is To Die The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton (Paperback)

I was thoroughly impressed with this biography on the brilliant Cliff Burton.

My impression was that the author, like myself, truly understood the depth of Cliff's talent and it translates into a book that goes beyond the typical cut & past interviews of lesser Bio's.

Throughout the pages, we are treated to rare insights of Cliff's formitive years, with recollections from his music teacher, former bandmates in Trauma, and even Jim Martin (Faith no More), whom joined forces with Burton in the early group, Agents of Misfortune.

The insight into Cliff goes even deeper with reflections from his girlfriend & companion, as well as his parents.

The author delves deep into the music, as well.

Cliff's studio output with Metallica is thoroughly explored, along with his numerous contributions to individual tracks.

Of course, the tragic accident that took Burton's life, is examined, really giving the reader a sense of what it was like to experience such a horrible moment & it's aftermath.

Overall, this book exceeded my expectations.

I'm pleased that a man of Burton's stature in the heavy metal genre, has gotten his due!