A History of Heavy Metal

By: Andrew O'Neill

Narrated by: Andrew O'Neill

Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Based on the "absolutely hilarious" (Neil Gaiman) stand-up show.

The history of heavy metal brings us extraordinary stories of larger-than-life characters living to excess, from the household names of Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Iron Maiden and Metallica to the brutal notoriety of the underground Norwegian black metal scene and the New Wave of British heavy metal.

It is the story of a worldwide network of rabid fans escaping everyday mundanity through music, of cutthroat corporate arseholes ripping off those fans and the bands they worship to line their pockets. The expansive pantheon of heavy metal musicians includes junkies, Satanists and murderers, born-again Christians and teetotallers, stadium-touring billionaires and toilet-circuit journeymen.

Award-winning comedian and lifelong heavy metal obsessive Andrew O'Neill has performed his History of Heavy Metal comedy show to a huge range of audiences, from the teenage metalheads of Download festival to the broadsheet-reading theatregoers of the Edinburgh Fringe. Now, in his first book, he takes us on his own very personal and hilarious journey through the history of the music, the subculture and the characters who shaped this most misunderstood genre of music.

©2017 Andrew O'Neill (P)2017 Headline Audiobooks

Best epilog ever

Loved it! I highly recommend it and it's a laugh to boot. Give it a try and enjoy.

A MUST READ FOR METAL HEADS

I gave this book a 5-star review. It's funny, highly entertaining and well written. I'm 46-years old and a life long metal head. Andrew O'Neill does a phenomenal job looking back through the origins of heavy metal and beyond. He even introduced me to bands I had never heard of and I have added them to my play lists. Let me say this: he is biased towards Death Metal / Black Metal. He seems to skirt past the fact these bands paint their face, live with their parents / grandparents and sell a significantly smaller amount of music. If the vocals sounds like a painful colonoscopy, he seems to adore the band and lavish them with praise, even if a dozen people have purchased their album. Know that going in and all is well. I still love this book - I have the written and audible versions. - Harry Psaros

Of all the books why does this have to be 10 hrs and Atlas Shrugged 62 (plus free to plussers)

My Favorite bands not mentioned are Mortification, Downside, Celldweller, Overkill, Saboton, Body Count, and Thrice

I am having so much fun with this book!

An excellent account of the history of metal broken down into the major subgenres and well read with great humor by the author himself. A must read!

Lars, sit down!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I didn't however, agree with some of his musical choices, but metal has a wide variety of bands and styles of metal to choose from. Overall, I would recommend this book to any metal head and will probably listen to it several times. Thumbs up!👍

Heavy metal 101

Great listen, very informative and interesting. You will learn some thing new about Heavy Metal. Awsome job narrating love British humor.

Hilarious and eloquent.

The narrator and author O'Neill is knowledgeable and witty. Recommended for beginners and veterans of metal.

Opinions Alert

See that? I warned you. Andrew O’Neil does not warn you - at least not in the title of this book. It should be called “My Opinions About Metal And Its History”. He knows a lot. Of course he does. His opinions about the taxonomy of the different genres ( I hate that word and thankfully he refrains from using it very much) are interesting, but highly critical of anyone who thinks otherwise. I can deal with that because he’s hilarious. I’m offended - and I’m 100% certain that it would make him very happy that I am- that he has a fairly anti-American attitude. I’m sick of that. I’m sick of people bashing my country while simultaneously extracting American dollars from its citizens. Other than that, the humor is worth the time spent.

Riveting and Rocking in Its Scope and Detail

Now I have to journey to see Andrew's live show! A superb memoir cum history if heavy metal from its subtle foundations to immense present. O'Neill leaves no stone unturned nor any band unscathed.

worth it on so many levels

Worth it on so many levels. Informative. Funny. and the delivery by the author / comedian / metal band member is exceptional.