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inside
SMOKE & MIRRORS DARK, BLACK PAST Welcome to Hell! Non-repenting with Paul Booth, owner of the worlds darkest tattoo studio
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Launch DateAug05Issue 1
VELVET GOLDMINE We get through a whole Velvet Revolver interview without mentioning **** * ***** or ***!
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RAW DEAL
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And the walls come tumbling down! WWE mainstay and Fozzy ringleader Chris Jericho gets to grips with surgery!
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LIFE THROUGH A LENS
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SEXY MOTHERFUCKER
Two years after their stunning debut album met with critical acclaim, we catch up with Audioslave’s new album and talk politics, the past and prejudice.
Outspoken and hardly ever outclassed, photographer Ross Halfin gives it up on a good few decades worth of decadence.
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NIGHT OF THE HUNTERS It’s coming! The darkest movie ever made? We get under the skin of hot new Russian flick Nightwatch.
ARTIST: LORENZO’S OIL Art from on high or just a bunch of paintings of naked women? Do you really have to ask? Lorenzo Sperlonga shows off his wares – big time!
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BLACK WEDNESDAY
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The Wednesday 13 freakshow just keeps on getting weirder and weirder!
ROCKET ENGINES Our regular spotlight on new bands from around the world. Hang on to your hats, Crash Kelly ride the lightning!
The new HIM album is destined to spin the band further into the stratosphere but can Ville Valo handle it? We think so!
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WHIPPING BOYS!
LOVING THE ALIEN Could you love these monstermen? Lordi reveal their plans to take over the universe.. and it’s not nice!
SCREAM UNTIL YOU LIKE IT! Quiet for a decade, Billy Idol and Steve Stevens talk knee surgery, bikes and rawk n rawl!
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ENTER SANDMAN Best selling author Neil Gaiman talks about his new movie, MirrorMask, and it ain’t all wine and roses!
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HARDWARE Destroying the best of the best.. because we can! Well, if you can’t stand the heat and all that! This issue, that old warhorse the Gibson SG gets a hammering!
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KNIGHT RANGER
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FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK
Christian Bale gets dissected as the new Batman. Henry Rollins names the people he’d like to see fight each other.. and then gets a bit cultural on our ass.
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ROCK CHICK! JESSE JANE The last great rock chick or the first of a new breed? Get in the comfortable chair – this feature on Jesse Jane might take a while to read – if you get the drift!
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YELLOW BRICK ROADS Life on the open road - kinda like Kerouac with guitars! Dean Walker tells it like it is… well, in his head at least.
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ON THE RADIO Rock radio is on the rise. Never before has so much been listened to by so many. Charts, listings and more. Tune in, drop out!
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ROCKET ENGINES More upstarts worth spending more than a few minutes with. In the second round, we catch up with The Glitterati who should be going places right about… now!
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TATTOOED BEAT MESSIAH He’s been called all the names under the sun but Jizzy Pearl’s stories from around the world still rocks!
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ANIMAL HOUSE Where would we be at the weekend without the assistance of these fine drinking and rocking establishments! This issue, checking out the Krazyhouse in Liverpool. Hard life huh?
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SUBSCRIBE / NEXT ISSUE REVIEWS
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GROUND ZERO
From heroes to zeros – we rate them all! Someone has to have the last word!
www.zeromag.co.uk | ZERO MAGAZINE | 3
Some Noise...
Time To Make
GENERAL ENQUIRIES Jazz Publishing, The Old School, Higher Kinnerton, Chester, CH4 9AJ, UK. Tel: 01244 663400 Fax: 01244 660611 eMail:info@jazzpublishing.co.uk
www.zeromag.co.uk EDITOR Sion Smith eMail: editor@zeromag.co.uk Telephone: 01244 663400 DESIGN & PRODUCTION David Gamble eMail: design@zeromag.co.uk Telephone: 01244 663400
ACCOUNTS Emma McCrindle eMail: accounts@jazzpublishing.co.uk Telephone: 01244 663400 Ext. 307 ADVERTISING SALES Arun Parmar eMail: advertising@zeromag.co.uk Telephone: 01244 663400 Ext. 302 ADMINISTRATION Jan Schofield eMail: jan@jazzpublishing.co.uk Telephone: 01244 663400 Ext. 319 Katy Cuffin eMail: claire@jazzpublishing.co.uk Telephone: 01244 663400 Ext. 324
SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES Clare Wilson subscriptions@jazzpublishing.co.uk backissues@jazzpublishing.co.uk Telephone: 01244 663400 Ext. 320
From an editorial standpoint, it will be well written and easy to read, giving as much space to quality photography as it does to the written word. Leading into the first few issues will be material from all of the UK's rock festivals. ZERO will also contain material on some of the biggest names in rock who have current new music/tours at the time (Audioslave / Velvet Revolver / Alice Cooper). There will also be many interviews and features including Johnny Depp, author Neil Gaiman, Ultimate Fighting Championship, premier tattoo artist Paul Booth, cult surf artist Jim Phillips, etc. ZERO will also contain many reviews and product features relevant to the audience. This is but a mere snapshot of the content of the magazine. ZERO will feature an exclusive cover mount CD with each issue. Issue One will be on sale 3rd August 2005 and will be published thereafter on the first Wednesday of every month. For more detailed information of this first and future issues please log onto www.zeromag.co.uk. What you are about to see and read in this ‘sampler’ will give you an insight of what future issues have install for you.
JD away, kettle on
Put the Get the and
Well...... this is what happened....
ADVERTISING DESIGN Justine Hart eMail: production@zeromag.co.uk Telephone: 01244 663400 Ext. 337
It has its roots based heavily in rock music (60% of editorial) with the remainder consisting of movies, games, books, DVD’s, sports, adult material and culture that is directly related to rock music. We will also be covering the UK club and radio scene.
Whatever happened to the teenage dream? Marc Bolan
Issue ZERO
ZERO is a "rock music & lifestyle magazine" aimed at 25 - 55 year old men, who are increasingly on the lookout for new and exciting material but are also reluctant to let go of the media they grew up with.
enjoy...
PUBLISHER Stuart Mears eMail: stuart@zeromag.co.uk Telephone: 01244 663400 CONTRIBUTORS Simon Gausden, Chiaki Gulvin, J.J. Haggar, Claire O'Brien, Lois Razonski, Mike Shaw, Seb Willett PRINTING Warners Midlands plc DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Henry Smith eMail: henry.smith@mmcltd.co.uk Telephone: 01483 211222
HAVING TROUBLE FINDING ZERO MAGAZINE IN YOUR NEWSAGENT? Please contact our distribution company for your nearest outlet 01483 211222 or log onto:
www.mmcextranet.co.uk/queries.htm ISSN No. 1747-4388 The views expressed in this magazine by the contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers. While every effort is made in compiling Zero, the publishers cannot be held responsible for any effects therefrom. Reproduction of any matter contained in Zero is prohibited without prior permission.
4 | ZERO MAGAZINE | www.zeromag.co.uk
SION SMITH - Editor
...HELLFIRE! DON’T MISS OUT...
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www.zeromag.co.uk | ZERO MAGAZINE | 5
ZERO
ZERO
smoke & mirrors
Audioslave Speaks About Playing Cuba The Alternative
Crowds Could Reach 1 Million!
NEWS ✮ GOSSIP ✮ STUFF ✮ VIEWS
Dancefloor
Chart
Wake up to Henry Rollins at Download! Former punk nutter Henry Rollins will be making his Download festival debut with a spoken word show on Sunday morning’s Napster Third Stage. Now more of a cultural mouthpiece, Rollins will be holding his hour-long Sunday Sermon at 10am, discussing love, life, music, and whatever else is thrown at him! Also just confirmed for the Napster Third Stage is the infamous Roadrunner Roadrage Tour, featuring Trivium, 3 Inches Of Blood, and Still Remains. All three will be making their Download debuts on the Sunday afternoon. Organisers have just announced an afterhours Campsite Entertainment Zone, which will stay open until 2am from Friday to Sunday. The area will feature a café, beer stall, funfair rides, a cinema and various shops. The cinema is set to screen a number of kung fu and action movies, including the forthcoming blockbuster, House Of Wax, which will be its first UK screening.
Head like a hole
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BLOC PARTY Banquet Wichita
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WEEZER Beverley Hills Interscope
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THE WHITE STRIPES Blue Orchid XL
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NINE INCH NAILS Bite The Hand That Feeds Island
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THE BRAVERY Fearless Loog
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THE KILLERS Smile Like You Mean It Lizard King
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THE FUTUREHEADS Decent Days & Nights 679
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MAXIMO PARK Graffiti Warp
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FOO FIGHTERS Best Of You RCA
10. SYSTEM OF A DOWN BYOB American] 11. MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE Helena Reprise 12. THE KAISER CHIEFS Everyday I Love You… B Unique 13. THE CORAL In The Morning Deltasonic 14. AUDIOSLAVE Be Yourself Interscope 15. FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND Streetcar WEA 16. QOTSA Little Sister Interscope 17. NINE BLACK ALPS Not Everyone Island 18. NEW ORDER Jetstream London 19. THE DUKE SPIRIT Love Is….. Loog 20. DOGS Tuned To A Different…. Island
Nine Inch Nails add some more dates to their second leg of touring in support of With Teeth. They play: London Brixton Academy July 4th, Glasgow Barrowlands July 7th, Birmingham Academy July 8th and Manchester Apollo July 10th.
COMPILED BY WILD FROM A SAMPLE OF AT LEAST 100 DJ CHART RETURNS IN THE TWO WEEK PERIOD PRIOR TO 16/05/05
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Behind the Mask
Audioslave is storming the beaches of Havana, Cuba. This is historic in that an American rock band has never played the Havana waterfront. It's being billed at Cuba's first outdoor rock concert by a U.S. band. Audioslave is promising to make its Friday night concert the longest, loudest and best Cubans have ever heard. Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello told a crowded news conference today (Thursday): "They have to come to the show and go absolutely crazy." Tomorrow's show at the
Anti-Imperialist Tribunal has the potential to be Cuba's largest concert. Crowds of a million people have turned out for governmentsponsored demonstrations against the United States that file past the Tribunal stage for hours. Audioslave's members are known for their socialist ideology, but they went out of their way to avoid political topics during the press conference. "It's all about the music, period," said bassist Tim Commerford. Audioslave broke away
from a U.S. tour promoting their upcoming album, "Out of Exile," to come to Cuba after what Morello described as a lengthy effort to win approval from both governments. The U.S. government's restrictions on Cuba's communist government often have made it tough for artists to travel to the island. Cuba's government considered rock subversive in the 1960s, but has since warmed to some of it -- even dedicating a park to John Lennon. But it has been slow to celebrate the louder, more rebellious forms of rock.
The Electric Circus The Cirque de Soleil return to London once again for another round of their frentic mix of circus and drama. Playing from January 5 through to the 29 2006 at the Royal Albert Hall, this time around they bring along the Alegria show. The themes of the Alegria show, whose name means "jubilation" in Spanish, are many. Power and the handing down of power over time, the evolution from ancient monarchies to modern democracies, old age, youth it is against this backdrop that the characters of Alegría play out their lives. Kings' fools, minstrels, beggars, old aristocrats and children make up its universe, along with the clowns, who alone are able to resist the passing of time and the social transformations that accompany it. Tickets are avilable now from all good box office outlets - it’ll be a blast!
Beast's real mark devalued to 616! Satanists, apocalypse watchers and heavy metal guitarists may have to adjust their demonic numerology after a recently deciphered ancient biblical text revealed that 666 is not the fabled Number of the Beast after all. A fragment from the oldest surviving copy of the New Testament, dating to the Third century, gives the more mundane 616 as the mark of the Antichrist. Ellen Aitken, a professor of early Christian history at McGill University, said the discovery appears to spell the end of 666 as the devil's prime number. "This is a very nice piece to find," Dr. Aitken said. "Scholars have argued for a long time over this, and it now seems that 616 was the original number of the beast." The tiny fragment of 1,500-year-old papyrus is written in Greek, the original language of the New Testament, and contains a key passage from the Book of Revelation. Where more conventional versions of the Bible give 666 as the "number of the beast," or the sign of the anti-Christ whose coming is predicted in the book's apocalyptic verses, the older version uses the Greek letters signifying 616. "This is very early confirmation of that number, earlier than any other text we've found of that passage," Dr. Aitken said. "It's probably about 100 years before any other version." The fragment was part of a hoard of previously illegible manuscripts discovered in an ancient garbage dump outside the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus. Although the papyrus was first excavated in 1895, it was badly discoloured and damaged. Classics scholars at Oxford University were only recently able to read it using new advanced imaging techniques. Elijah Dann, a professor of philosophy and religion at the University of Toronto, said the new number is unlikely to make a dent in the popularity of 666.
"Otherwise, a lot of sermons would have to be changed and a lot of movies rewritten," he said with a laugh. "There's always someone with an active imagination who can put another interpretation on it. "It just shows you that when you study something as cryptic and mystic as the Book of Revelation there's an almost unlimited number of interpretations." The book is thought to have been written by the disciple John and according to the King James Bible, the traditional translation of the passage reads: "Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." But Dr. Aitken said that translation was drawn from much later versions of the New Testament than the fragment found in Oxyrhynchus. "When we're talking about the early biblical texts, we're always talking about copies and they are copies made, at best, 150 to 200 years after [the original] was written," she said. "They can have mistakes in the copying, changes for political or theological reasons ... it's like a detective story piecing it all together." Dr. Aitken said, however, that scholars now believe the number in question has very little to do the devil. It was actually a complicated numerical riddle in Greek, meant to represent someone's name, she said. "It's a number puzzle -- the majority opinion seems to be that it refers to [the Roman emperor] Nero." Revelation was actually a thinly disguised political tract, with the names of those being criticized changed to numbers to protect the authors and early Christians from reprisals. "It's a very political document," Dr. Aitken said. "It's a critique of the politics and society of the Roman empire, but it's written in coded language and riddles."
From Neil Gaiman, the New York Times bestselling author of American Gods, and Dave McKean, the award-winning illustrator of Coraline, comes MIRRORMASK, an upcoming Jim Henson Company film written by Gaiman and directed by McKean, slated to premiere in 2005. Destined to become a classic for fans of Gaiman, cinema, and fantasy alike, MIRRORMASK tells the story of Helena, a fifteen-year-old girl who works for her family's circus. Helena juggles, sells popcorn, and wishes that she could run away from the circus and join the "real world." Then, one day she wakes up to find herself in a magical world filled with fantastic beings and creatures, an alternate reality. It is a land of opposing kingdoms, one perpetually existing in light, the other in constant darkness. These lands have existed in perfect balance, until now. And Helena finds herself about to embark on a most remarkable journey. In the tradition of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, Gaiman
wrote the screenplay and McKean directed, using a combination of live-action and CG animation. Lisa Henson, Michael R. Polis and Martin G. Baker are Executive Producers and Simon Moorhead is Producer. The film stars Stephanie Leonidas as Helena, Gina McKee as Helena's mother Joanne, as well as the two Queens, Rob Brydon as Helena's father and Jason Barry as Valentine. To see the most recent trailer from this one-of-akind cinematic adventure, go to www.mirrormask.com. Always a man with something to say, Gaiman commented: "Dave McKean and I created the story and the script for MIRRORMASK in the Henson family home in London, surrounded by memorabilia and artifacts from Jim Henson's astonishing career in television and fantasy filmmaking," says Gaiman. "It was a true challenge and inspiration to try to make something today that would be as visually rich, creative, funny, and as moving as Jim Henson's original works."
Dazed & Confused Anthony Kiedis’ critically acclaimed autobiogrpahy “Scar Tissue” sees a paperback release later this year. Come Novembe,r the Time Warner imprint gives a big push to the warts and all approach that worked so well for Motley Crue. Not for the feint of heart but damned essential for the rest of us!
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PUSHI NG FORWARD BACK CHRIS CORNELL INTERVIEW: Clare O’Brien PHOTOGRAPHY: Lois Razonski
Audioslave – the band that rose from the ashes of grunge metal legend Soundgarden and agit-rap rockers Rage Against the Machine – have been doing their level best to avoid the supergroup tag and establish themselves as a brand new act – despite wholesale comparisons to 70s behemoths Led Zeppelin. I’M GONNA TEAR ALL OUR TEMPLES DOWN “I want to make it very clear that I think it’s extremely cool of you guys to come out and listen to us, knowing where we come from, and listening to nothing but new rock and supporting us,” said frontman Chris Cornell from the stage at Donington’s Download Festival in June. The crowd’s roar of approval endorsed Audioslave’s make-or-break decision to avoid their collective back catalogue live, choosing to concentrate on songs from their own potent debut album. Instead, they stretched out with a series of witty covers, reflecting the places and times the tour passed through. Funkadelic’s Super Stupid let Chris Cornell flirt with urban funk; in Toronto the band reinvented blues anthem Working Man from local legends Rush. The war in Iraq sparked off a cover of Elvis Costello hit Peace, Love and Understanding and in New Jersey, Cornell gave the crowd Springsteen’s bittersweet Atlantic City to an answering roar of “Broooooooooce”. In the UK, the band paid tribute to the late Joe Strummer with The Clash’s White Riot and throughout this year’s rejuvenated Lollapalooza, they hit the youthful crowds with an apocalyptic charge through The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army. In an interview with Addicted to Sound soon after the band’s launch, guitarist Tom Morello insisted, “Audioslave is not a supergroup, because it’s a real band. It’s not Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine together; it’s a brand new entity. Blind Faith was a one-off. Travelling Wilburys was guys who were in other groups, who occasionally got together. Audioslave is not like that.” And since they launched their album in November 2002, Audioslave has collected a whole new generation of fans too young to remember Soundgarden or RATM, let alone Led Zeppelin. “I’ve been at airports and someone comes up and says, ‘Hey, you’re that singer in that band Audioslave, that new band,’ “ an amused Cornell told DJs Drew
Label a band a supergroup, and you’re weighing them down with baggage from which they may never break free. From Blind Faith and ELP down to Asia and Whitesnake, it’s all just a little bit embarrassing. No matter how distinguished the pedigree, “supergroup” evokes a bunch of old lags getting together to churn out a few recycled riffs over a pile of designer drugs. It may be nostalgic for some – but it’s not always creative, and it’s certainly not cool. and Mike of WRIF Detroit in July. “And I go yeah, that’s me, I’m the new guy!” ALIVE IN THE SUPERUNKNOWN But whether their new audiences know it or not, Audioslave casts a long, dark shadow. Cornell’s career began way up in isolated Washington State back in 1984, when the world outside the backwoods was still in the sickly grip of synth-pop and hair metal. He started as a drummer but swiftly found he could sing, making his teenage mistakes in a band called The Shemps. Cornell and bassist Hiro Yamamoto then teamed up with guitarist Kim Thayil to form the earliest incarnation of Soundgarden – a jagged, sinister drone which came out of Cornell’s early fascination with bands like Bauhaus, Joy Division and Wire. Never really a part of the so-called “Seattle sound”, Soundgarden were always a law unto themselves, edgy, raw and deeply individual. From their initial appearance on Seattle’s legendary Deep Six compilation, they graduated from releases on indie labels Sub Pop and SST to become the first Seattle band to sign to a major. And as time went on Soundgarden’s punk ethos, coupled with a savage metal soundscape, incisive lyrics and Cornell’s predatory roar, first confused and then seduced audiences hungry for more than spandex silhouettes and poodle perms. “I remember walking into The Ritz, a place that I'd been in time and time again,” recalls New Yorker Michele Martinez of a 1989 Soundgarden support slot, “really wanting to see Faith No More, my favourite band at the time. I didn't know what I was in for. I remember Chris coming onstage with the other members…he was so absolutely feral. So wild and fresh. I never saw anyone like him in my life. And that voice - I was like, "How does he do that? Is this for real? Is HE for real"?” Other early accounts recall a man....
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PAUL BOOTH INTERVIEW: Sion Smith
PICTURES: darkimages.com
I’M GOING TO TITLE THE FEATURE "DARK, BLACK PAST". HOW APTLY IS THAT APPLIED TO YOU? I think the best way that phrase applies to me is through my own past. Although I find the present to be darker than the past in some ways, I figure I must have some Dark Black Past or I wouldn’t be the way I am now. I know everyone has one, and not that I had anything extreme - just mainly dysfunctional, but my childhood memories are usually dark. I grew up depressed. In first and second grade I was drawing skulls on my notebooks; I always preferred a black crayon. When I was young I couldn’t wait to grow up because I spent most of my time being miserable. Unlike many people the last thing I would want to do is re-live my childhood. My childhood memories are not fond so all the art I made in my youth depicted my dark thoughts. In that sense, my past is a dark one.
side is my light side. I find the darker my surroundings, the more it feels like a sanctuary and the more positive I feel about what I’m doing and where I’m heading. I really don’t look at the things in my world as negative. I fully embrace this darkness. I’m fascinated, preoccupied even, with death and the dark side of human nature. Because I embrace it, I surround myself with it. It’s something that generally makes me feel good. So again, I don’t see it as a negative thing in my life. I guess the closest I can come to a "light side" is my sarcastic humour. A prerequisite to work at my shop is to be prepared to handle heavy sarcasm and be able to dish it out as well. So even our light-hearted humour is sadistic and sarcastic, but we have fun with it. The things that society generally deems as the "light side" I find nauseating.You know, unicorns and all those happy things make me want to vomit. To me, that’s negative because it’s so pretentious and such a façade. Nobody can possibly be that happy. Most people that embrace that stuff, to me, are just in denial. I find it a much more negative thing to be desensitised to the point of being afraid of your own dark side. Trying to fill your world with happy symbols that are supposed to make you feel good just makes me feel sick.
THIS SEEMS TO BE YOUR WHOLE LIFE – YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY COMMITTED TO IT. IS THERE A LIGHT SIDE OF YOU TO BALANCE IT OUT – AND IF THERE IS, WHAT SORT OF THINGS ARE IN IT? Well, for me, my dark
WHAT ARE THE BEST AND WORST THINGS ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? I guess the best thing about what I do is seeing the effect it has on people. When people are freaked out by my work, or disgusted by it, that to me is
IN YOUR OWN WORDS – WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU DO? I ASK BECAUSE SOMETIMES WHAT PEOPLE PERCEIVE YOU TO BE IS OFTEN NOT WHAT YOU THINK YOU DO… I’m Paul Booth. I’m a tattoo artist, a sculptor, a painter, a set designer, etc. I’m primarily a tattoo artist, or that’s what I’m best known for. All of my work is focused on macabre, dark imagery.
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Some people walk it like they talk it, welcome to the world of Paul Booth, Black Overlord of the Art & Keeper of the Gallery of Souls...
the best thing. It’s much like watching a horror movie. I think the more disturbed and unsettled it leaves you, the more successful it is. I feel the same way about my art. My goals in art are to create something that will traumatise people for a long time. If I could put someone in therapy with an image I create, that would be the ultimate accomplishment. Not that that is what all art is about, but for me, the definition of "art" is the ability to pull emotion out from someone. To me, darker emotions like fear and anger are the most powerful ones and those are the things I like to touch on. I also like the process of making the art. I generally don’t enjoy the final product as much as other people seem to because for me it’s more of a venting process. I’m releasing poison from my system, so to speak. I don’t have much interest in sitting there admiring my art because I don’t really find it admirable. I tend to think, "OK, I puked that up and now it’s time to move on to puke up something else." The worst thing about what I do is probably the self loathing that is involved in the process. I reach the dark corners of my mind when I create and generally you have to turn and face yourself and that’s not always a pretty sight. So I spend a lot of time in the parts of my head that I don’t always enjoy visiting but I’m compelled to nonetheless. So that’s where I enjoy releasing the toxins through the creative process. It can be a painful process at times, but like anything, it’s a double-edged sword, you know? The enjoyment and the pain are...
www.zeromag.co.uk | ZERO MAGAZINE | 11
While it might seem at first glance to be a carefully constructed label ploy, the origins of the band actually go back a couple of years to the death of drummer Randy Castillo (Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne). The early version of the band, which featured Buckcherry's Josh Todd and Keith Nelson, performed at a benefit in honor of Castillo, who lost a long battle with cancer at the age of 41.
HOW DID THIS ALL COME TOGETHER? It was when Matt, Duff and I decided to form a band to play a fundraiser, as a result of Randy Castillo's death. All of these musician friends of Randy's got together to play. And when I was at the funeral I ran into Matt, he asked me to play, and then we called Duff - it was a total, one-off buddy thing. Duff flew in and I got these guys from Buckcherry to fill out the band.
So we put together the six-song set and did There have been many twists and turns since the gig and it was then, including really intense. I'm the unlikely to get a procurement of ...and then we called Duff - it was looking thesaurus, to try to Weiland. As Slash a total, one-off buddy thing. Duff find the right words. explains, "This was definitely flew in and I got these guys from I don't know why Matt and Duff and I something that Buckcherry to fill out the band. never thought about was either meant putting together a to be or some band before-serious cosmic probably a lot of it having to do with the fluke." Guns N' Roses stigma, and we were off doing our own things. I was starting a band I READ AN INTERVIEW WITH MATT with Steve Gorman from The Black Crowes, SORUM WHERE HE SAID, "MOST OF THE Duff was playing in his band Loaded, and SINGERS I'VE WORKED WITH ARE A LITTLE Matt was making a solo record. But the next CRAZY. WHEN THEY'RE COMFY AND night Duff called me and we thought this SWEET, THEY USUALLY SUCK." DO YOU was too cool to ignore. There was too much AGREE? chemistry. I don't think I've actually procured enough We rehearsed with Josh and Keith for a few singers in my day to be able to label them as months, and we basically had sort of such. But in my experience, from the ones musical differences, let's put it that way. We I've worked with and other ones that I'm decided to find the right people, and started familiar with, it tends to be that the singer writing like crazy. Dave Kushner was playing needs to be a little different. [laughs] There's in Duff's band Loaded, and he came down a difference in the way that singers look at to fill in, and it was just natural. He has a things, in general. But as far as being crazy, different approach, but he's very rock and it all depends on what you think "crazy" is. roll, a terrific guitar player... [laughs]
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The Godfather JIM PHILLIPS INTERVIEW: Ian Downes
Escaping the Love Generation was never an easy transition for some. Jim Phillips flew out of it on the back of some pens and a pencil. His artwork is amongst the most sought after in the world from skaters and surfers alike... that means you bullethead.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE ROCK POSTER BUSINESS TO BEGIN WITH? WAS IT A QUESTION OF GEOGRAPHY? I got a call, just the same as every other job I've had, and yes, it was all about geography. I was working in Florida, glassing surfboards in 1967. A lot of us Santa Cruz surfboard workers would go back there to work in these large surfboard factories in Melbourne and Cocoa. I kept in touch with my old surfing buddy Jim Mazzeo. We exchanged the kind of letters that artists send, envelopes covered with weird colourful drawings. Maz was touring the Midwest with some bands and a light show he put together. Then one day he called from Boston. He said he was doing lights in a new club that was opening there called the Crosstown Bus, and asked me if I wanted to come up and work in the art studio there doing some poster work. I left the next morning. WERE YOU COMPLETELY DETACHED FROM THE BANDS THAT WERE APPEARING AT THE VENUES YOU WERE PRODUCING ART FOR? I was detached alright, but it had nothing to do with the bands! We had an art studio upstairs in the main concert hall, with a long railing that you could look down to the ballroom and stage. We'd be working on our posters and stuff during the day, and often there would be auditions for prospective bands happening down there. Every once in a while a band would strike some hideous screeching chords and we'd all jump up and go look over the railing to see what the heck it was. THERE MUST BE A ROCK N ROLL NIGHT THAT STICKS IN YOUR MIND MORE THAN OTHERS... Definitely one of the the nights the Doors came. They were at the top of charts, so to speak, when they came there. I helped Maz work the light shows on show nights. The Doors went on and I was working one of the liquid projections and pulsing a huge throbbing orb on Jim Morrison. Suddenly a bright white light flooded him. One of the carousel slide projectors I was operating malfunctioned and the slide didn't drop. He stared at me and I started hitting the top of the projector. He looked pissed. I thought he was gonna flip me off, and then the slide
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dropped and everything was okay. That was my little moment with the Lizard King. SO HOW DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION FOR YOUR POSTERS? Ideas are a dime a dozen, it's more a matter of choosing the best one. Sometimes that's not easy, because rock posters usually have a short rush deadline to get the art and printing done and posters out to advertise the show. So you need to get going on something as soon as possible. DID/DO YOU LISTEN TO THE PARTICULAR MUSIC AT THAT CREATIVE TIME? I always listen to music when I work. All kinds of music. At the time you refer to, the Beatles were at their peak, St. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour. That music may seem tame now but it was radical at the time. I was commissioned to make a Beatles poster by famous Boston Disc Jockey Arnie Ginsberg, one of the first guys to play their records on American radio. YOU WORKED FOR 15 YEARS AT SANTA CRUZ SKATEBOARDS AS ART DIRECTOR, AND IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN YOU JOINED THE SKATEBOARD WORLD WHEN IT REALLY HAD NO ‘ART’ IDENTITY. Yeah, there was hardly any art on the decks. In the beginning of the urethane revolution, most skaters and skateboard manufacturers were surfers. Surfboards were mostly plain, with just a sticker. Skateboards followed suit. Full deck graphics didn't get going until the new breed of street skaters took over, who weren't centered on surfing. WHAT WAS IT LIKE AT THAT TIME VIRTUALLY FREE REIGN OVER WHAT PEOPLE WOULD SEE SKATEBOARDING AS? You'd think so, but there was a lot of resistance from everywhere. I'm always chomping at the bit to do wild graphics, but you need to beat them over the head with it sometimes, before they get it. Once sales of my designs were topping the charts I was given a longer leash. DID IT EVOLVE FROM SURF ART OR WAS IT MUSIC WITH ATTITUDE? The term Surf Art didn't exist until the late 80's, but I guess you mean generally...
BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION WORDS: Mick Stingley
For me, it’s a short list, but it changes frequently. Last week I really wanted to talk to that guy who keeps leaving Chinese takeout menus under my door and ask him why he thinks I need 8 copies of the same menu from a restaurant that I don’t order from. Usually, as a New Yorker, I have it in mind that I would like to speak to whoever is in charge of the subway system, and ask why the fuck the 1/9 train is so fucking slow. With so many great musicians to choose from who have ‘shuffled off this mortal coil’, there’s no chance of getting Johnny Thunders, Jimi Hendrix, or Sid Vicious and so on. Among the living, and discounting people I have interviewed, I figure Pete Steele from Type O Negative is one. Andrew Edlritch from The Sisters Of Mercy is another. Angus Young and Steve Harris for sure. (Pink, oddly enough, is another, but I only have the one question.) And then there
When you write for a living, especially about rock, now and then people will ask you Who would you really love to interview if you could interview anyone in the world, living or dead? This is a great first date question, but no one really cares, and very rarely does the person being asked get to live to see the opportunity to actually do such a thing. Assuming that interviews with Abraham, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha and Jenna Jameson aren’t going to happen in your lifetime, you play to your strengths... is a guy whom I think is the most underrated guitarist in the world… Tracii Guns. From his early years on the Sunset Strip, helping forge the band that became a household name, to the eponymous LA Guns, who didn’t, Tracii has played and played and played and played. I have never witnessed a show where Tracii didn’t look like he wasn’t playing his heart out. His musical influences are many, and he evokes a loveable stage persona that seems to translate into his life. The guy just loves rock. Aside from various transitory band members, and their occasional bickering, has anyone ever said a bad word about the guy? If he had a sitcom, it ought to be called, Everybody Loves Tracii. So I got to talk to Tracii Guns. He’s doing his
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thing with Brides Of Destruction now. Tracii Guns is an LA dude. Me? I’m a New Yorker and a Johnny Thunders fan who has always secretly believed that what Tracii was about, was a New York-thing. Wrong or right, I got to speak to him on the phone for a little bit. When you do these things, there is always a time-constraint. So you don’t get to ask the questions you intended to ask (for example, I didn’t get to ask him his opinion on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Guitarists piece), but you get some cool stuff and you have fun. So what you are left with is two guys who love music… just bullshitting and having fun. I just read your recent post at the [Brides’] website you have possible tour plans, but nothing’s confirmed and you’re not saying anything until it gets confirmed… but you’ve got some things coming up, like...
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devil’s night THE STORY BEHIND THE FILM INTERVIEW: Sion Smith
It’s true, there was life before the Matrix. There was Batman and there was Dark City but towing above them all, stands The Crow. I know, it’s hard to see in the shadows but it’s there. Always has been. Born of pain from the mind of James O’Barr and so emotionally brought to life by Brandon Lee, the Crow was so far ahead of its time, the studios that commissioned it, didn’t know what to do with it. During the final stages of filming in 1993, Lee, who was insistent on performing the majority of his own stunts, was tragically killed in a freak accident. Ironically, it should have been as safe a take as he could have been involved in compared to what he had been putting himself through. The movie still found a release despite its setbacks and became a cult global hit and yet for years after, nobody had ever really spoken of the facts behind the media circus that was to follow. Cut to present day... well, as present day as it gets in the publishing world. It’s 1998 and Bridget Baiss, out on a regular lunch date is drawn into the world of Eric Draven...
PICTURES: Courtesy Titan Books
WOULD YOU AGREE WITH ME THAT THE CROW WAS THE MATRIX OF THE 90’S – IT WAS CERTAINLY A LANDMARK MOVIE IN UNDERGROUND CIRCLES? Very true. The look of the film stylistically and the subject matter really captured the music of the time. There’s that goth/rock thing going on and also the comic that it came from. Even the way they made it was dark. There were attempts at copying the style but copying… well, it never works. To my mind, Batman was close, but still not on the mark as far as production values go. Batman came out first, and there was also Dick Tracy, so there were successes with taking comic books and adapting them for the big screen, but everybody knew this was not Batman. A quote that they told me was ‘we decided we were not going to be Batman, we wanted nothing to do with Batman.’ In fact the artistic director for Batman was maybe up for doing it, and they specifically didn’t choose him, and other members of the batman crew who also applied, they just said no. The reason was that Batman was catering for a wider audience and they wanted The Crow to retain its underground quality. In their minds, Batman was dark, but The Crow was truly dark.
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Before the Matrix, there was once a movie of far, far superior cool. Now, steeped in movie legend and myth, it rears its head once more to claim its heritage as the forerunner of all things dark. The tenth anniversary of The Crow is upon us. Author Bridget Baiss has spent the last few years toiling away at the background of the movie...
I DON’T THINK THERE ARE ANY DAYLIGHT SETS IN THE MOVIE ARE THERE? No. they wanted to create an atmosphere that was real. They decided for a couple of reasons that they would shoot it all at night to keep the mood. They created the world of The Crow and they wanted to stay in it. The crew who normally went home to their families – not the creative guys – they were saying “we can create night inside” and the artistic division said no, everybody should stay in this mindset. That caused a lot of friction. In order to get that low level of light, they were shooting at the very edge of exposure. In 1993, cameras were largely the same as they are now, but at that point they really were on the edge. The film company were saying, we’ll never be able to use it! All of the colour palette in the film to create that dark world, were red, black and grey. There were no blues, yellows or reds to raise the tone at all. SO WHERE DO YOU COME IN? I had seen The Crow, I went with a friend as I wasn’t really that keen on seeing it in the first place – when you live in LA, you get a bit jaded over hype, but Brandon...
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INTERVIEW: Sion Smith PICTURES: www.digitalplayground.com
JesseJane
They say girls are made of sugar, spice and everything nice and when it comes to Jesse Jane they couldn’t be more right...
Rocks our World
Born in Texas, USA 23 years ago Jesse is blonde, bubbly, beautiful and has breasts to die for and is fast becoming the hottest piece of property in the world of adult entertainment. With the barriers between porn and the mainstream getting closer and closer, it might just be Jesse Jane that brings them crashing down once and for all. ZERO had the pleasure of talking to Jesse recently when she called at 3:30am in the morning and hey, being woken by Jesse Jane at 3:30am in the morning isn’t such a bad thing after all... SO HOW DID YOU START WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY? I’ve always wanted to be a sex symbol. I used to do bikini modeling but it just wasn’t enough for me. I happened to be in a competition for Hawaiian Tropics and I read an article in Front magazine about Tera Patrick and I saw she worked for Digital Playground. So I just called them on a whim, sent them some pictures and they flew me out and I signed a contract immeadiatly. WHEN WAS THAT? It was the end of December 2002 WHAT HAS BEEN YOU BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT SO FAR? At the recent awards show in Tampa Florida, I won best new starlet which was cool and I also won best chest. Also if you go to
www.rockconfidential.com - I am voted number one porn star out of the top 69 porn stars which is really cool. DO YOU PERSONALLY ENJOY WATCHING PORN? Yeah, I watch porn all the time. I must admit I’m addicted. I just can’t help it. WHICH DO YOU PREFER, WOMEN OR MEN? I’m happy with both, I go both ways. It just depends on the other person and if there is chemistry. I have chemistry with certain girls and I have chemistry with certain guys. I don’t necessarily have a preference. I like them both. WHAT KIND OF MUSIC ARE YOU INTO? I’m a rock girl, definitely. I love Metallica, Guns N Roses, System Of A Down, all that stuff. HAS YOUR JOB HELPED YOU TO MEET BANDS? I’ve always been into meeting bands, actually before I even did porn I was a Kid Rock dancer, one of the girls that danced on the stage. But I do get to meet lots of bands. Since doing porn I’ve done a Robbie Williams video. I can’t remember the name of the song but in the video there’s a party scene and I’m the girl he takes home. I’m in bed with him and we make out and at the end of the video everyone is passed out by the pool. It’s a weird video.
WAS ROBBIE COOL? Yeah he’s a great guy. Great performer and he’s really sweet. I was in a dress for the party scene but when I was in bed my outfit was tassels and see through panties. We totally had to make out and he had to rip off my panties. He was really cool. IS MUSIC VIDEO’S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO MORE OF? I would love to be in a rock video so bad. WHAT ABOUT TV? I’ve done a little TV as well. I was in Baywatch the Movie, you get to see me twice in that and I also did Family Business. ANY COOL MUSIC STORIES? I went to the MTV icon’s show when they were featuring Metallica. All these bands came out and sang Metallica songs and then the band comes out and does a few songs as well. This is funny as you need a pass to get in. I didn’t have anything and I end up walking right backstage. I got to sit there and talk to Limp Bizkit, Korn, Puddle Of Mudd, Avril Lavigne and the guys in Metallica and also got to go to the after party. It was really cool that I could just wander in. Also when Korn came to Oklahoma when I was living there, they grabed a few girls and took then to sit behind David on the drums. I was one of the girls and David kissed me on stage while he was playing his drums for the finale...
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ZERO SOUNDBI TE
EYE CANDY & BEDTI ME STORI ES! ZERO
The Wildhearts
Scarlet
Coupled With
Cult Classic
Where to start! It’s already sold a gazillion copies for just being the Wildhearts… and the only reason it’s not a five star review is because of its very nature. A collection of flip sides and unreleased gems from the Wildhearts would be most bands’ wet dream as a bona-fide release, but Ginger and co know this. With a fanbase that is always after another pound of flesh, Coupled With is more than good enough as a stop gap between Destroyed and whenever the next barrage of genius will come forth. You know, in the real world, Ginger deserves so much more than he gets. He’s maybe made some bad calls professionally, but you can’t fault his commitment to songwriting and the Wildhearts. There seems to be a switch in his head that gets flicked to create such awesome songs as The People That Life Forgot, Move On, You Got To Get Through... shit, the list never ends because Ginger never stops fucking writing. I guess all you really want to know is, is it worth buying? Well what do you think dumbass. SS
Now this is a record to annoy the neighbours with. Vancouver punk noise merchants Scarlet are obviously on a fourman mission to utterly destroy any audience that gets in their path, be it live or on the stereo. It’ll probably work as well… Scarlet’s biggest asset is undoubtedly their ability to brutally sodomize the eardums – of the 16 tracks on “Cult Classic”, not a single one of them is geared towards the friendly rubbing of shoulders. Instead, you get slabs of terrifyingly blunt music like “Get Your Gun” and “Dead America” that would bring a turtle’s head to even the bravest of souls. The unfortunate thing with Scarlet however, is that this lack of variety is what lets them down. By maybe taking their foot off the gas just a touch, they could take a leap forward and become something a bit more groundbreaking, but as it stands, Scarlet stand a good chance of being lost in the shuffle. All in all, “Cult Classic” is a good album after a few spins, but ultimately it may end up as nothing more than its namesake. MD
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Monster Magnet Monolithic Baby
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It must be damned hot and uncomfortable living in the shadow of Vesuvius day after day. Still, if that’s the only thing that comes close to how on fire Monster Magnet are right now, it’s a small price to pay for being able to deliver an album of this calibre. Where do you wanna start? Has it got big steel balls mounted to the Roo-Bars? Yes. Has it got thundering drums like on Creatures of the Night? Yes. Should it be the first album played on Mars? Sure. Does it have guitars that make you wince and your knees buckle like you just got chock-blocked. Uh-huh. It’s also got 12 tracks of varying gear shift ratios, enough dirt under its nails to make it legit and enough firepower to crack Europe wide open on their forthcoming tour. From the title track across to the first single Unbroken, Monster Magnet have come into their own, delivered the goods as promised and proved that with patience and persistence, the world can be yours. Not that they ever asked for it, but if you will outmindwarp the Zodiac, then this is what will happen.. There’s always the off chance that there will be some die hard fans out there suggesting that they’ve gone and delivered some kind of dinosaurus-pop metal equivalent of previous album x, y or z. Let me tell you, you need to hear this album and you need to hear it today. This is as real as rock gets. Read between the lines - watch and learn suckers. It won’t get better than this for the rest of the year. SS
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Bruce Almighty ✪✪✪✪
What would you do on being gifted with all the power of a Deity? That’s the conundrum left for Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey), a second-string local TV reporter who rants and raves at ‘God’, screaming his frustration to a Deity he perceives as punishing him into ignominy. ‘God’ (portrayed by the marvellous Morgan Freeman) literally meets Bruce face to face and challenges the hapless hack to do better, before taking off on an overdue holiday. Carrey being Carrey of course, chaos, toilet humour, much gurning, and elastic bodied silliness ensues. His long-suffering girlfriend, played by Jennifer Aniston (Barbra Streisand clone and ‘Rachel’ from “Friends”) is rather underused, and the film varies from wildly funny to cloyingly sentimental (as per usual with almost every Carrey film) with a typically ‘happy’/’schmaltzy’ Hollywood ending rather spoiling things. As per most DVD releases, this one comes with plenty of ‘extras’, including (in this case) 15 deleted scenes, a ‘gag’/outtake reel, film commentaries, interviews etc. In summation, “Bruce Almighty” is entertaining stuff from one of Hollywood’s hottest stars. SGG
HIM Dogs D’Amour When Bastards Go To Hell
Dirty Americans Strange Generation
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Hoo-boy. This one landed with a mighty crash on the deck. Sitting amongst a pile of losers and desperate wannabes, it was like opening the window when the first crunching chords of Car Crash kicked in. Dirty Americans sit in that part of the worlds sub genres that is getting fuller by the minute. The world of real rock bands playing awesome songs because they’re their to be played. With not one duff song in sight and the horsepower of ambition behind them, here’s another album that will be making itself comfortable on your deck over the coming months. Be there. Be there when in 12 months your friends discover them. Be there when they become a strong rival to Nickelback or maybe even just be there because it’s worth thr ride. You choose. Just be there. SS
Breed 77 The River
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Well, here’s a record that I had pegged as a disaster from the start. Possibly something about the name that didn’t sit well with me. But then, suckerpunched from behind, I find myself eating humble pie: The River is one cracking tune - check it out on the TV already. Slowly and surely, Breed 77 are chipping away at the big rock and establishing themselves as real movers and shakers. This is one great song! SS
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Tempted was I to give this a 1 star review and walk away, but that would have been childish. It’s no longer 1989 and it would be so wrong of me to expect a fistful of Kensingtons and Firework Girls at this point in time. So what should I expect? Four or five listens later and Bastards is really growing on me. Truthfully, it would have sat better under Tyla’s banner as a solo artist - mostly because I expect the unexpected from each of those releases. Lyrically, Tyla is exploring new avenues musically, he’s defying his own logic. What part do Hammong organs have to do with the Dogs? If I were being cynical, it sounds as though Tyla would like to put the Dogs behind him and move on. Maybe Bastards is their swansong, but it would be better if they would just say ‘the end’ and let us go. SS
And Love Said No: 1997-2004
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Has it really been since 1997? For a young band that sure seems like a lifetime, but with such an impressive body of work to fall back on who’s going to argue? So what justifies this release? I’m having a hard time with compilations this month. When you get into a band, you inevitably end up with all their albums and have nothing to gain from a ‘best of’. In this case, so well put together is the package, is that it’s an album in it’s own right. Unlike most albums of this kind, it has highs and lows rather than an onslaught of highs, has been thought about by the band and not just the record company and is actually worth your time, effort and yes.. money! It’s hard to pick out the highlights, but having overdosed somewhat on the singles released from Love Metal, I’m finding And Love Said No, Solitary Man (new single) and Pretending high on the ipod playlist right now. With this release perhaps giving Ville the time needed to write a new album and keeping the new fans happy with a great introduction to the past, I think we can say it’s more than justifiable. SS
American Pie 3 ✪✪✪✪✪
So after three hilarious episodes, we finally bid a sad and sticky handkerchief-ed farewell to Jim, Michelle, Finch, Kevin, Stifler and the “American Pie” gang. Each of the three films has reduced me (and everyone else who’ve viewed them with me) to helpless tears of mirth, as they whizzed past in a whirl of tasteless sex gags and corny storylines. If that sounds like a criticism…it isn’t! The films are
at heart ‘feel good’ movies, that are simply meant o entertain – not challenge, but the premise is totally sound. Who will ever forget the pie-fucking or toilet scenes in “AP1”? or the glue or trumpet scenes in “AP2”? Well “AP3” goes further and grosser yet! You’ve all heard the term ‘motherfucker”? Well Stifler soon finds out about being a grandmotherfucker! EEYYEEWW!!! He also nauseates the audience in a scene that involves him eating objects that appear to be chocolate truffles, but come from a less savoury source…nuff said. Roo… Roo… here comes the cabbage…barf. This film is less about Jim than it is about Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott), whose performance is obnoxiously OTT from start to finish. I laughed til I cried, a giggled like an idiot, chuckling ‘til my ribs hurt, it may not be rocket science, but it’s hilarious stuff that will leave you smiling like a Cheshire cat anyway! SGG
a chase in a palm tree forest and over/through a train, the aforementioned catfight, and the hero/villain videogame showdown racing through LA's streets. Does that mean its a decent film? Hell no. Script, Directing, Cinematography (complete with severe blurring and heavy saturation), Visual Effects, Editing, Score - you'd be hard pressed to find a film this year that would be as uniformly awful in all categories - and at 80 minutes, there's absolutely no way this is worth a video rental price let alone a cinema ticket. Yet when films get this bad, something like Torque which can be laughed at for its stupidity is slightly preferable to something which takes itself too seriously and still fails as hard (ala Biker Boyz). There's no point slamming it because it knows its so bad and doesn't care - yet its not the crap classic it wants to be sadly - sadly its stuck somewhere in neutral.GF
Torque ✪✪
Torque is a commercial pure and simple - all flashy visuals, cheap looking CG effects, impossible stunts, wild visuals and absolutely no depth whatsoever so those looking for a decent action movie can forget it. That leaves one other way to look at this movie - from a camp comedy aspect and from that perspective its slow to start but does get so stupid that one can't help but smile every now and then - its way too dumb and pointless to become a camp classic (ala Showgirls, Anaconda) but it can't be dismissed out of hand. When the two girls of the movie get into a ridiculous motorcycle catfight combined with the most blantant product placement spots ever committed to film - I defy you not to shake your head smiling at how silly this whole film is (although its a very tedious exercise to stay focussed up that point admittedly). The cast, whether it be a pumped up Martin Henderson looking grim in the tightest tshirts ever made, gothed up Jamie Pressly acting slutty with a switchblade, Ice Cube grumbling as usual, all the other chicks in the movie in tiny tops acting slutty, Will Yun Lee & Jay Hernandez as the hero's best friends who pretty obviously would prefer getting each other between their legs than their bikes, or what have to be the two worst written FBI agent roles ever - all of them seem to be having a blast. Scenes shift and change and some of them are cool - a brawl at a rock concert,
Playing with Fire ✪✪✪✪✪
I love this stuff. Nobody does crime like the Brit pack at the moment. The Yanks do have the edge when it comes to thrillers, but our current talent pool is better than it has been since probably the early 1900s... and that’s a lot of years. Possibly responsible for encouraging most of this renaissance, lies Peter Robinson and his intrepid hero Alan Banks. Set in Yorkshire - and the hero is called Alan. I can hear you all switching off already, but to walk away now would be to miss out on one of the most lovingly and brilliantly crafted detectives the other side of Rebus. The last few novels have seen Banks become thoroughly estranged from his wife, his personal life getting more complex and the plots a lot ‘harder’. The cynic would say that Robinson is rushing to keep up with the en vogue but alas, no. These little changes have been written on the wall for quite some time. No spoliers here, just a recommendation to give yourself something else to discover this year. You won’t be disappointed. SS
WWE Unscripted ✪✪✪✪✪
Look. I ain’t the only grown up on the planet who’s into wrestling OK… and even if I was, I really couldn’t give a flying fuck what you think. For a fan, this book is the shit. It’s big enough to fit in the boot of your car, the photography is stunning and the overall design and packaging is just about the best I’ve seen in a coffee table book in what has to be the last 20 years. Unscripted (sort of) follows the lives on the road of the stars at the WWE, their lives at home, how they started out, their dreams and ambitions. With comments from each of them on their points of view, it all comes together through the soundbite sized quotes each of them gives on the business and the beautiful design of the book itself. When the WWE put out quality product, they pull no punches. They could have put out a book half the size and half the price with the same information in it, but it would suck. Presentation is everything in the entertainment world and, when they get it right, there ain’t nobody does it better. Many may mock, but step up to the mantle brother… step right up. DO
treasure hunt on earth. The quest for the Holy Grail. Love it or hate it, (and you’ve got to love it!), the DaVinci Code is breathtaking in its research of both fact and myth, and it has propelled Dan Brown to the upper echelons of the modern day thriller writers. Finding himself the number one suspect in a murder at the Louvre, Langdon escapes the French police with a little inside ‘assistance’ from cryptologist Sophie Nevau. Between them, they unearth a clue that puts them on a fantastic adventure that drives them into the heart of the search for the ultimate treasure. With most of the negative critics out there having association with the church, you know it’s a winner… and as clichéd as it ever gets, it really is unputdownable. SS
Big Bad Wolf ✪✪✪✪
Patterson really slings these damn books out. Two reviews in this issue and already there’s another on the shelf. Big Bad Wolf is going to be the most popular of the bunch with it being the next installment in the Alex Cross series... and what’s to tell? The story is top notch, the usual cast of characters are moving on a little further in their lives, and at the end... we all wait in vain for the next one to come along. Patterson has gotten so good at doing Alex Cross, that even though each one comes up to the level you expect, I’ve been finding myself wishing that something out of the ordinary would happen. In a strange way, it’s faultless. Like Leppards’ Hysteria, what it needs a couple of days on the skids - a little bit of rock n roll to spark it up a bit. But it’s still good! SS
The DaVinci Code ✪✪✪✪✪
The DaVinci Code was released just before xmas to a barrage of criticism – most of it positive, some negative but there was certainly no middle ground to be found anywhere. More or less a fictional retelling of the bestseller The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Robert Langdon – skilled religious symbologist – once again finds himself knee deep in what amounts to the greatest
And there’s more... For other Album, DVD and Book reviews log onto our ever changing website for past reviews we have produced.
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