When Giants Walked the Earth

July 18, 2011
Drama attends few mainstream heavy-metal bands more than Metallica. Veteran rock writer Wall (When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin) opens this massive, unauthorized tome with the pre-dawn bus crash on a curvy road in Sweden that killed original bassist Cliff Burton in 1986, an event that forever altered the musical and emotional course of the band. Focusing primarily on Metallica's founders, singer and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, Wall chronicles the band's many struggles on their way to becoming one of metal's most-successful acts. The group has survived divorce, drugs, legal battles, image reinvention, fan alienation, and the filming of an award-winning documentary chronicling Metallica's turn-of-the-century turmoil. Though the band was not interviewed specifically for this book, Wall draws on over 25 years of personal interactions with the group, numerous published interviews, and an intimate knowledge of their catalog to offer a no-holds-barred take on the controversial band. A mélange of musical criticism, first-hand narrative, and retrospective analysis of the band's impact on metal and beyond, Wall's latest is a rich resource for metal-heads and pop-culture aficionados alike. 32-page color photo insert.

September 14, 2009
In this ambitious biography, Wall narrates the history of a band that became one of the biggest musical and cultural phenomena of the 1970s. The brainchild of studio wizard Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin marked the transition from flower-power good vibrations to the rough sounds of a disillusioned era. More than just another hard-rock band, however, Zeppelin drew on elements from reggae, soul, blues and R&B, as well as more exotic sounds from India and the Middle East. The trashed hotel rooms and violated groupies Zeppelin left in its wake helped to create an enduring rock and roll road archetype. Wall painstakingly traces Zeppelin's development and musical pedigree. His access and attention to detail make this a definitive work. However, he falls short in substance and style when he tries to move beyond the music. Flashback segments written from the perspective of the various principals are confusing, and his forays into nonmusical subjects—such as Page's interest in the occult—are often portentous. Nevertheless, this volume is an essential source for anyone eager to learn about the era when rock stars ruled the world.

January 25, 2010
Simon Vance transports the listener back in time to the dawn of heavy metal in rock journalist Wall’s biography of the legendary Led Zeppelin. Tracing the origins and history of the band and its members—from the early days with the Yardbirds to the birth and global conquest of the Mighty Zeppelin—Vance delivers a gritty performance that captures the spirit of both the band and the late 1960s. Although Wall’s portrait is often unpalatably sycophantic—particularly unfortunate are the melodramatic sections told in the second person—Vance’s range of voices and lively, spirited narration enliven the detailed history of the band and the private lives of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones. A must for die-hard Zeppelin fans only, this audiobook, with its 18 hours of smitten zealotry, may prove too much for the casual listener. A St. Martin’s hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 14).