Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Birth School Metallica Death, Volume 1  By  cover art

Birth School Metallica Death, Volume 1

By: Paul Brannigan, Ian Winwood
Narrated by: Ray Porter
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.90

Buy for $17.90

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

A landmark release, this is the first of a two-volume biography of Metallica, the biggest metal band of all time, told via exclusive interviews with the band and their world.

The California quartet has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won nine Grammy Awards, and had five consecutive albums hit number one on the US Billboard chart. Theirs is a tale about much more than sales figures and critical acclaim, though, and their journey from scuzzy Los Angeles garages to the world's most storied stadiums has been dramatic and painful.

Birth School Metallica Death is the definitive story of the most significant rock band since Led Zeppelin. It's a story about family, community, self-belief, and the pursuit of dreams, which unfolds through firsthand interviews with the band and those closest to it. In this epic saga, deserving of a broad canvas, the first volume details the band's rise to international fame while the second explores the challenges and tensions that accompany such status. Piece by piece, Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood reveal just how Metallica has stayed ahead of the competition for so many years.

©2013 Paul Brannigan, Ian Winwood (P)2013 Blackstone

What listeners say about Birth School Metallica Death, Volume 1

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    422
  • 4 Stars
    132
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    408
  • 4 Stars
    92
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    7
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    371
  • 4 Stars
    120
  • 3 Stars
    31
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    7

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Better than I thought!

Any additional comments?

I was expecting a lot of the early history to be glossed over and/or limited. As a fan of everything before the black album (yes, I'm one of "those guys") , I was pleasantly surprised how detailed their early days and even their upbringing were.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Come for the metal, stay for the writing

I frequently read music biographies to learn the back stories behind my favorite bands or to give me insight into new music. Usually these books are interesting but not always well written. This book however is very well-written and very interesting. Some of the descriptions of songs were so well done that I knew exactly what he was referring to before he mentioned the title. This is the rare audiobook that kept me in the car in my driveway just to hear the rest of the chapter.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

great

I saw them on the kill em all for one tour in bpt CT this brought back memories

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Do it!!

What did you love best about Birth School Metallica Death, Volume 1?

If you are interested in Metallica listen to this. The authors provide a ton of history on the band and Ray Porter is an amazing narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Great story and great narrator. Looking forward to listening to volume 2. After each section that covered an album, I listened to that album in its entirety. Knowing the behind the scenes stuff that went into each album offers a new perspective.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Decent listen as a free with membership benefit

I enjoyed parts of it as a free benefit of membership. Had I paid for it I'd have returned after a few hours as it's weaknesses were many and repeated ad nauseum.

As most rock journalists the authors of this book are not particularly talented but clearly love their subject matter. All the classic amateur author shortcomings are present here- unnecessarily complicated or descriptive phrases that accomplish nothing more than support the authors idea of what a real author should sound like. There are many, many side notes describing historical frames of reference that again, accomplish nothing but certainly help fill pages I guess.

I love Metallica as it reminds me of being a kid but both of these books kind of suck. I definitely would never pay for either. Decent listen as a free book, though.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible

Too much BS,not enough substance. As if they spent 2 months scrambling through a Thesaurus to sound really smart and pad the length of the book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

History

There was a great deal of history about the band that I was unaware of, even though I consider myself a diehard Metallica fan having seen them 16 times in my life

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome Book!!

Awesome Book!! It’s a must read or listen for any Metallica Fans!! Looking forward to volume 2.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Too wordy

There is a time for literary prose and a time to just tell the story. This one tries to hard to be a work of literature......

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful