Geek to Guitar Hero - Learn Guitar Fast for Beginners | Perfect for Home Practice, Gifts & Music Lovers
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Product Description
Alex is an awkward, introverted child growing up in 1970s Berkeley, California – a confusing vortex of shifting values, rampant drug use and social confusion. Misunderstood by his family and taunted mercilessly by classmates, he suffers from a paralyzing lack of confidence and low self-esteem. His existence is made tolerable when he discovers a superhero-like rock band, KISS, which inspires him to learn the guitar. While in high school, he auditions for Legacy – a group of hard partying, working class, twenty-something metalheads from the East Bay suburbs. After recording his first album with the group at age eighteen, he defies his Ivy League parents’ rigid academic expectations by forgoing college and hitting the road with metal bands including Slayer, Megadeth, White Zombie and Judas Priest. As his own band, now known as Testament, rises through the ranks of thrash metal, the world begins to take notice of the young guitar prodigy who, despite being fawned over by autograph-seeking metalheads, guitar fanatics and adoring female fans, still feels the pain, awkwardness and ghosts of his past. Soon, a blooming interest in jazz and literature reshapes his values and strengthens his musicianship, bringing further accolades from fans and media but causing resistance and tension from within his inner circle. These experiences cause a realization to unfold: that the scene in which he had first sought his freedom and self-identity is fraught with its own perilous limitations, while the education he’d so fiercely resisted from his family can be invaluable when sought on one’s own terms.
Customer Reviews
I've read many biographies, and I was a little reluctant to read this one. Mainly because I view Alex Skolnick as an accomplished musician, and didn't want to know if he was an egomaniac. Especially in the metal genre, sometimes you already get an idea of what the story is going entail not to say it doesn't happen with other famous personalities, but let's face it metal is metal and gravitates to a certain crowd of people and or personalities. I was one of them and I was an early Testament fan. But something said go ahead buy it , you'll have something to read this week, even if it didn't end up that interesting, I figured it would just end up with a novel of a rock musician and stay on my bookshelf never to be read again. Oh I was wrong, I finished reading it in less than 24 hrs and yes I read it again. Phenomenal read. Very personal, mature, and well written by Alex himself, yes I said he wrote it. If you don't think you can pursue your dream, this is inspirational and if it doesn't you weren't paying attention. He speaks of his past with all the emotion that someone who has matured would. Anyone who has had a dysfunctional family and you felt you didn't feel attached to it, and wondered why you felt different, even though everything on the outside looked normal. Why you had dysfunctional relationships as an adult and couldn't understand why, you will relate to this. He speaks of his love and dedication to his craft , the guitar, and what it took to get there regardless of what was cool. Even when he felt there were personal boundaries or outside influences not conducive to his dream and future. Mr. Skolnick thought outside of the box musically and personally and listened to himself. I thought Miles was the only book with a musicians story, in my opinion that speaks to you, it took another 15 years for something like this to come out. Well done. Alex you have a future in writing I hope you continue to do so.
