Identity, fame, net worth. Go ahead, judge a book by its cover. It's not every day that a Hollywood publicist gets hit by a car. Melissa Meszaros is on her way to a Judas Priest concert when the accident happens. The traumatic brain injury she sustains changes everything. Her life is turned upside down. Her steady job as publicist and trusted friends and colleagues are called into question. Even her own reflection staring back at her from the mirror seems alien. As she navigates the legal and medical battles before her, Melissa also begins to challenge her own fractured self. For a publicist, identity is everything. What begins as a series of snapshot memories soon becomes an inspiring personal tale of recovery, as Melissa questions both her own identity and her career. What does it mean to suddenly disappear from a rock’n’roll lifestyle when your whole professional life has been dedicated to making others famous? Heavy Metal Headbang is a defiant memoir like no other, confronting our celebrity-obsessed culture as well as the social challenges that come with recovering from a life-changing injury.

“Bang your head! Metal Health’ll drive you mad!” — Quiet Riot Like an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music on steroids, Bang Your Head is an epic history of every band and every performer that has proudly worn the Heavy Metal badge. Whether headbanging is your guilty pleasure or you firmly believe that this much-maligned genre has never received the respect it deserves, Bang Your Head is a must-read that pays homage to a music that’s impossible to ignore, especially when being blasted through a sixteen-inch woofer. Charting the genesis of early metal with bands like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden; the rise of metal to the top of the Billboard charts and heavy MTV rotation featuring the likes of Def Leppard and Metallica; hitting its critical peak with bands like Guns N’ Roses; disgrace during the “hair metal” ’80s; and a demise fueled by the explosion of the Seattle grunge scene and the “alternative” revolution, Bang Your Head is as funny as it is informative and proves once and for all that there is more to metal than sin, sex, and spandex. To write this exhaustive history, David Konow spent three years interviewing the bands, wives, girlfriends, ex-wives, groupies, managers, record company execs, and anyone who was or is a part of the metal scene, including many of the band guys often better known for their escapades and bad behavior than for their musicianship. Nothing is left unsaid in this jaw-dropping, funny, and entertaining chronicle of power ballads, outrageous outfits, big hair, bigger egos, and testosterone-drenched debauchery.

How did the popularity of the Beatles lead to the birth of metal music? What do metal artists have in common with classical composers such as Bach and Vivaldi? Readers will explore the answers to these questions and more as they journey through the history of metal music, from Black Sabbath to Slipknot. Readers will gain a deeper appreciation for this complex genre as they explore the evolution of metal and its sub-genres through annotated quotes from musicians and critics, full-color photographs, and a discography of some of the most influential albums in headbanging history.

Bang Your Head is an epic history of every band and every performer to have worn the Heavy Metal badge. Charting the genesis of early metal with bands like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden; the rise of metal to chart-topping phenomenon, featuring the likes of Def Leppard and Metallica; hitting its critical peak with bands like Guns N Roses; disgrace during the hair metal 80s and a demise fuelled by the explosion of the Seattle grunge scene and the alternative revolution.Bang Your Head is as funny as it is informative, proving once and for all that there is more to metal than sin, sex and spandex.

The definitive history of the first 30 years of heavy metal, containing over 100 interviews with members of Black Sabbath, Metallica, Judas Priest, Twisted Sister, Slipknot, Kiss, Megadeth, Public Enemy, Napalm Death, and more. More than 30 years after Black Sabbath released the first complete heavy metal album, its founder, Ozzy Osbourne, is the star of The Osbournes, TV's favourite new reality show. Contrary to popular belief, headbangers and the music they love are more alive than ever. Yet there has never been a comprehensive book on the history of heavy metal - until now. Featuring interviews with members of the biggest bands in the genre, Sound of the Beast gives an overview of the past 30-plus years of heavy metal, delving into the personalities of those who created it. Everything is here, from the bootlegging beginnings of fans like Lars Ulrich (future founder of Metallica) to the sold-out stadiums and personal excesses of the biggest groups. From heavy metal's roots in the work of breakthrough groups such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin to MTV hair metal, courtroom controversies, black metal murderers and Ozzfest, Sound of the Beast offers the final word on this elusive, extreme, and far-reaching form of music.

Headbangers is a collection of Danish photographerJacob Ehrbahn's intimate portraits of the beautyand chaos of heavy metal rockers in the throes ofmusical ecstasy taken at European metal festivalssuch as Denmark's Copenhell, Germany's WackenOpen Air, and Sweden's Metaltown. Heavy metalfans go totally berserk when listening to their music.Some shake their heads violently from side to sideand back and forth, while others go all in and flailtheir entire bodies in time to the blast beats. In thiscollection Ehrbahn's camera stops time and capturesthe surprising and life-affirming moments whenthe headbangers abandon all semblance of vanityand surrender to the rhythm. Ehrbahn transportsus to an intimate world disconnected from time andspace-a universe where it's possible to transcendthe frenzy and enter an altered state that bringscalm, joy, and relief.