Seb Hunter - Hell Bent for Leather: Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict

From the reviews of Hell Bent for Leather:

Anyone whos ever been too fond of music will recognise themselves in Hell Bent for Leather Though its hilarious and downbeat, [Hunter] retains an honest love of the truth of rock. Its a profound writer who can describe AC/DC and Slayer as sounding like a trolley falling down the stairs

BILL BAILEY

Terrific a thundering good read

BRUCE DICKINSON

Hell Bent for Leather is a book that could do for heavy metal what Fever Pitch did for Arsenal: make the terminally unfashionable hugely commercial this funny, honest book is both a homage to his first great love, and a deconstruction of that most maligned of pop forms. You can enjoy it without having heard a single heavy metal track. For that alone, Seb, we salute you

Observer

Rock failure was very, very good for Seb Hunter his book is a gem; a wonderfully deadpan account of his childhood obsession with heavy metal, and his subsequent attempt to make a career of it. The story is memorable not only for Hunters mordant self-deprecation and hilarious recitation of heavy metal trivia (how many sub-genres of glam metal can you name?), but for the unexpectedly moving conclusion

New York Times

Funny and genuinely touching he relives the developments that shook the metal world to its stack-heeled foundations

Guardian

Hunter relates with easy humour and perfect pacing a tragic, glorious youth, dominated by music he has an assured touch, good timing, genuine love and knowledge of his subject, plus just the right amount of modesty required when youre not famous and youve decided to write a book about yourself anyway. Terrific!

Time Out

Its easy to laugh at metallers and Hunters book makes it even easier he describes the era with affection

Independent on Sunday

Irreverent, funny, candid and branching off the beaten track to include all the other things that really matter, like love, life, death, dead-end jobs, alcohol, parents, girlfriends, mates girlfriends, and guitars with pointy headstocks. If that rings any kind of (ahem) Hells Bell with you, then youll love it

Leicester Mercury

Funny yet tragic anyone who believes music changes lives will find validation here

City Life

A Fever Pitch for Heavy Metal fans Simultaneously hilarious and strangely moving identifies the very essence of why music is important to life. Magic

Q magazine

Seb Hunters wickedly funny biography combines the madness of Ozzy and the incisive satire of Spinal Tap with an honest and contagious passion a delightful chronicle of the highs and lows of glorious youth

Glasgow Herald

A truly brave book an entertaining guide to heavy rituals, with diagrams explaining the need for a 12-stringed axe

Observer Music Monthly

Hell Bent is more than a memoir: its a crash course in Metal

Newsweek

Enthralling from start to finish Hunter is never afraid to laugh at his former self and it is this factor more than any other which places Hell Bent in the proud tradition of Giles Smiths Lost in Music and John Aizlewoods Love Is the Drug and makes it essential reading for any music fan, metal-obsessed or otherwise

Liverpool Echo

Seb Hunter talks from a true fans perspective A truly human examination of passion and music

The List

Should strike a (power) chord with everyone whos sold their soul to rock n roll Hunter celebrates the joy of being lost in music

Kerrang!, KKKK

Paints a vivid picture of the capitals low-rent mid-80s muck n mascara scene

Classic Rock

A Hornby for the Kerrang generation

i-D magazine

Mixing his memories of small-town England with an encyclopedic knowledge of heavy metal, Hunter creates a book that, thanks to its combination of poignancy and hilarity, is as infectious as a well-crafted power ballad

Publishers Weekly

You find yourself wanting to hug him one minute, and punch him the next

Uncut

Like Nick Hornby, Hunter cant separate pivotal points in his life from the songs he was listening to at the time. Read it and cringe not in embarrassment, but in recognition

Maxim

Brash, to the point, and earthy, this is an enjoyable disquisition on an adult-irritating strain of music that just wont die. With advocates and chroniclers like Hunter, why should it?

Booklist

For Fa

I was in the pub with my friend Andrew and the conversation turned to What specialist subject would you choose if you were to appear on Mastermind? He came up with the very good point that in order to proceed to the later stages of the competition, you would need a store of different specialist subjects for each new round. But as the heats progressed, the standard of fellow competitor would rise, so not only did you have to prepare we guessed four rounds worth of different specialist subjects, but you probably needed to gamble your weakest in the early rounds and save your best one til last. We imagined the dreadfulness of early-round elimination on some hastily cribbed topic, with our fountains of knowledge waiting primed and unused. So assuming there actually are four rounds, including the final (and yes, were taking huge liberties with our levels of general knowledge here), Andrew chose:

1st round: Bob Dylan

2nd round: Samuel Beckett

3rd round: Tennyson (yes, hes a fop and a nonce)

Final: The Beatles

He really likes The Beatles.

In response I installed my beloved Beach Boys at the top of the pile and started to ponder my remaining three stages.

Can I have Brian Wilson as a separate round?

Definitely not, or Id have John Lennon.

Oh, I see.

It was then that a horrible truth began to dawn. It grew in my brain until I couldnt hold it in any more. Although I am very good on The Beach Boys and, indeed, my hero Brian Wilson, there was a subject that, if I was honest with myself, I knew more about than any other. And it wasnt big, or clever, or cool, or relevant to anything at all useful in my or anyone elses life (unlike Brian, of course). I covered my mouth with my hand.

Heavy Metal, I said quietly.

What? Andrew appeared confused.