Metallica: This Monster Lives: The Inside Story of Some Kind of Monster [Hardcover]

Joe Berlinger (Author), Greg Milner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2004

Metallica is one of the most successful hard-rock bands of all time, having sold more than ninety million albums worldwide. Receiving unique, unfettered access, acclaimed filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky followed Metallica over two and a half years as they faced monumental personal and professional challenges that threatened to destroy the bands just as they returned to the studio to record their first album in four years. While the documentary itself provides an insider's view of Metallica, the two and a half years of production (and more than 1,600 hours of footage) garnered far more than can be expressed in a two-hour film.

Berlinger's book about the experience reveals the stories behind the film, capturing the energy, uncertainty, and ultimate triumph of both the filming and Metallica's bid for survival. It weaves the on-screen stories together with what happened off-screen, offering intimate details of the band's struggle amidst personnel changes, addiction, and controversy. In part because Berlinger was one of the only witnesses to the intensive group-therapy sessions and numerous band meetings, his account of his experience filming the band is the most honest and deeply probing book about Metallica - or any rock band - ever written.

This is the book both Metallica and film fans have dreamed of - a stark and honest look at one of rock's most important bands through the eyes of the most provocative documentary filmmakers working today.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 2001, the hugely successful hard-rock/heavy metal band Metallica got together in a converted army bunker in San Francisco to record its first collection of new songs in years. Raw from the departure of their bass player yet determined to write and record together, the rock stars began group therapy with Phil Towle, a gentle-voiced therapist (or "performance-enhancement coach"). Far from hiding this image-smashing move, however, the band allowed acclaimed documentary filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky to film, well, whatever. Even after Metallica lead singer James Hetfield slammed the therapy and left the recording studio, the creators of the brilliant documentaries Brother's Keeper and Paradise Lost were allowed to keep filming. What emerged two years later was a rock documentary, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, that is arguably as defining a portrait of the values and conflicts of our times as Gimme Shelter is of its time. In an absorbing narrative, Berlinger (with rock journalist Milner) describes just what it took—the myriad decisions and risks—to turn nearly 1,600 hours of footage into a story that delivers an emotional impact that is all the greater for being true. This book should be required reading for aspiring filmmakers because it reveals the huge difference between turning the cameras on a contrived situation that purports to be "reality" and making a cinema verité or nonfiction film. Berlinger shows that capturing truth is both art and science, and that the best efforts require that the filmmakers risk as much as their subjects. 75 b&w photos.
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Review

'No rock band of remotely comparable commercial stature has opened their internal processes up to the kind of scrutiny allowed in "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster"...filmmaking duo Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky get discomfitingly close to their subjects...yet one needn't be a fan of Metallica or heavy metal to be engrossed throughout...theatrical prospects look upbeat, ancillary sales excellent."
- Variety

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (November 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312333110
• ISBN-13: 978-0312333119
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,305,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Monster' Book Revives Reading, January 19, 2005

By 

Lisa M. Schreiner (Boca Raton, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Metallica: This Monster Lives: The Inside Story of Some Kind of Monster (Hardcover)

In a time where sitting down and reading book is as rare as finding a good slice of pizza outside of New York; and attention span's are shorter than the line at a showing of Gigli, Joe Berlinger and Greg Milner's "This Monster Lives," certainly brought back a good reason to throw on your favorite pajama pants, grab a hot beverage, snuggle into that oh-so-comfortable spot on the couch, and lose yourself in a great piece of literature.

"This Monster Lives," delves into the behind-closed-doors aspect of the movie Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, which was dreamt up and filmed by acclaimed documentary filmmakers Bruce Sinofsky and co-author of the book, Joe Berlinger. Berlinger and Sinofsky, best known for their HBO documentaries, Paradise Lost : The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations and Brother's Keeper, filmed rock band Metallica through what could quite easily be considered the roughest and bumpiest road in the Bay Area band's tumultuous career. "This Monster Lives," tells the story of how the idea of making a movie about Metallica came to be, how that idea became a reality, and how it didn`t become another This is Spinal Tap.

Joe Berlinger and Greg Milner tactfully give us the insider's look at what it was like to work with one of the world's most successful rock bands of all time. From pitching the idea to the band and management to the red carpet premiere(s) of the movie, "This Monster Lives," lets the reader feel like they were there every step of the way, becoming absorbed into this world of rock 'n roll, filmmaking and yes, even therapy sessions.

For someone who can't get through a magazine article without stopping mid-way through to go do something else, I felt compelled to read chapter after chapter until I found myself either late for work or looking up to see that it was 4am and I had to be up in a couple of hours. All in all, "This Monster Lives,' is certainly a great book for anyone that's ever had the strive to accomplish a seemingly impossible project. You don't have to be a musician, an author, a filmmaker or even a fan of Metallica to appreciate the art that both Metallica and Berlinger, Sinofksy and Milner have released. "This Monster Lives" did for books what Metallica has done for music. After reading it, you just might be able to find that good slice of pizza outside of New York.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a Great "Behind the Scenes" book, April 23, 2005

By 

S. Thompson "Ultra Conservative Right-Winger" (Cincinnati, OH United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Metallica: This Monster Lives: The Inside Story of Some Kind of Monster (Hardcover)

I loved the Metallica documentary "Some Kind of Monster", and after I read the book, I loved the film even more. The book to me fills in all the right gaps that the film couldn't present - for sake of time only. I love to know how things work and operate, so I loved reading how filmmakers decide on a piece of work, how it's filmed, and then how the footage gets made into a masterpiece. What insight. Great book - Highly recommended!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monster, Inc., December 16, 2004

By 

Aaron Dawe (Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Metallica: This Monster Lives: The Inside Story of Some Kind of Monster (Hardcover)

So what do you do when you're a film maker that's just shot over 1600 hours of footage for the biggest heavy metal band on the planet and have assembled it into a highly praised documentary? You write a book about it, of course.

Some may question, with the existence of the film Some Kind of Monster, what is the need for a book? Doesn't the film already tell us everything we may want to know? Well, that's not entirely true. While the book does cover same territory, it goes into a lot more depth behind what we see on screen and more on what we didn't. If the film is about a broken band struggling with the creative process, the book is about a film maker dealing with the exact same struggles he's documenting. I think anyone who's creative and has ever had to balance the tug of war between commerce and art will really get this. While Metallica fans will get a lot out of the details within, the average reader with an interest in the creative process and how the industry (music and film) can screw over the very people that keep it running is fascinating stuff. Joe Berlinger's rancor over the critically drubbed Blair Witch Project sequel (a bad idea to begin with), which he wrote and directed only to have the studio alter the final product, is sadly probably more common than most of us realize. That Metallica, who clearly have major control issues, feel a need to be creative and do what they feel - and yet understand that any serious misstep will also affect the lives and livelihood of all the people who are also a part of the 'monster'-puts unrealistic pressure on their work. It's no wonder they need a performance coach to help them get in touch with themselves and rediscover why they're in a band in the first place. It's too bad that even with all the honest intentions, the album St. Anger is not their best work (although it becomes more accessible after reading this book - something I didn't feel from the film).

Berlinger really does a wonderful job of capturing the essence of certain moments, and his comments on what he thinks is really going on below the surface reveal the talent that enabled him to become an acclaimed documentary creator. Filming reality, without knowing what you're going to get is a lot harder to do than it sounds (unlike the unscripted contrivances that pass for 'reality' on TV). Turning that footage into an emotionally powerful work that transcends its base audience is something else altogether. Berlinger is also quick to credit his partner in crime Sinofsky, and the other members of the crew, which does a lot to save this book from coming across as a narcissistic pat on the back for a job well done. There's a lot of ego floating around in these pages, but it's kept in check for the most part.

Pluses include Berlinger's admission that he played fast and loose with chronology at times in order to strengthen the narrative, filling in relevant details to events that couldn't be included in the film (due to length and/or breaking up the arc), an apology of sorts to Phil Towle that many said came across as the 'villain' in the film, and throwing into question Metallica's belief that Jason wanted back in the band after leaving (at this point, only one guy probably knows the truth about that). Berlinger also almost pulls off the impossible task of making Lars, if not entirely likeable, more sympathetic. Lars has one of the healthiest egos I've seen, but now I think I understand him better. My only problem is that the book will sometimes go off in little tangents that never quite get resolved (we get a big long story about Sinofsky having leg pains due to diabetes that's suddenly dropped after it appears it was only to set up why he was lying on a couch to film a particular scene. So, did it have to be amputated or what? Some of us would like to know).