Hell Bent for Leather: Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict

by Seb Hunter

Book Overview

Seb Hunter wasn't just a heavy metal fan. He was a blind devotee who threw away his education and future prospects to become a rock star. In Hell Bent for Leather, he reaches into the most embarrassing depths of the family photo album to reveal his Wayne's World-esque teen years, taking readers on a (very loud) musical journey from his first guitar to his first gig and on, through groupies, girlfriends, too many drugs, spiraling egos, musical differences,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060722932
• ISBN13: 9780060722937
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A Lot Of Fun

I am currently half way through Seb's tale on Heavy Metal baby steps and enjoying every single page. It is amazing how the love for this sometimes controversal sometimes predictable musical genre can bring people together regardless their origins, age or sub-genre of choice. I grew up here in Brazil and was a teenager in the 80's, but reading Seb's account on how he got hooked up in metal in Britain feels like I am reading my own life story. Everyone who once worshiped Angus Young and Lemmy Kilminster will feel tremendous empathy for this book, and regardless of the turns one might have made in life (you may now be a respectable lawyer or a brain surgeon), if once you wore that ragged black t-shirt, long greasy hair and played air guitar in front of your mirror, after reading this book you'll feel metal pumping in your veins again. You might as weel go and buy all those Anthrax albums you sold years ago.

An excellent read whether you're a fan or not.

"Hellbent for Leather: Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict" by Seb Hunter is quite possibly one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read. Part autobiography and part heavy metal primer, the book would be funny for anyone, but is especially meaningful for those of us who love heavy metal. At times, the author looks back at himself and certain aspects of metal fandom with a roll of the eyes (after all, who doesn't have a picture of themselves from their teens with a somewhat ridiculous haircut and ripped jeans?) but overall he treats the subject with the respect one would expect from a life-long fan. Hunter's life story parallels that of most metal fans. The book spans the author's history from the first time he heard ACDC's "Let's Get it Up" as a 10 year old, his introductions to all the various styles of metal as a teen, through various bands he played with, and eventually the crash when the realization that the career of Rock God has passed him by. Personally, I recall most of the same events in my own life, including the first time hearing Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" as a child, being mesmerized by it, expanding to Iron Maiden, Scorpions and Metallica in high school and then eventually joining a metal band in college, which ultimately went nowhere. For any of us with similar stories, this book is especially funny and interesting. However, Hunter's wry observations and dry English wit make this an entertaining read for just about anyone. If you don't know anything about the metal subculture, you will by the end of this book, however, if you do, he really nails most aspects of what it means to be a fan of this type of music. When his band forced a keyboard player on Seb, over his protest, he points out the following: "Motorhead don't use keyboards. If Lemmy saw a keyboard, he'd vomit. Slayer couldn't even pronounce the word, let along plug one in." He discusses the long hair, of course, in detail, as well as how to dress metal. If a fan of a particular band were to bump into another fan of that particular band, "what you want to be wearing is the limited edition tour t-shirt, the faded one and, most importantly, the one with the tour dates on the back...preferably for a gigantic world tour with tons of dates in Germany and places you've never heard of in America". Metal guitars, the best live album of all time (need you even ask, "Live After Death" of course) and which bands he would have thrown a two-liter bottle of piss at during the various Castle Donnington concerts (Meat Loaf, Bon Jovi, Thunder, Extreme and Warrior Soul amongst others). The author's father wanted him to get rid his first Venom album, and he argued "but it says they're At War With Satan....Dad!". I went through the same thing with mom and "Kill `em All". I was reading this book while traveling through Europe, usually on a train. People would often look at me strangely as I was laughing out loud like a loon, but it's impossible not to with some of the lin

fun read

This could have me or any one of my friends. Really fun to read, brought back a lot of memories!

hellbent for leather

I got this book at the library looking for the book Motley Crue wrote, and I loved it! I couldn't put it down.. Me being a girl, far past the decade of decadence of the 1980s, I wanted to know what it was like. Seb Hunter told it like it was, from his eyes. He grew up with ac/dc, iron maiden, judas priest, and many others, and decicated his life to being an extreme heavy-metaller. He had the hair, the looks, the clothes, the band, the drugs, and the girls. He told you everything you wanted to know about being a heavy metal rock star (the guitars, the solos, the music, the shows). The only bad thing about this book was that it made me so jealous that I grew up in our time of rap, and hip-hop. I want to live the life of glam metal. Seb Hunter has a brilliant voice, and first-hand experience. I read it in 2 days.

Most enjoyable read of the year

I got an advanced copy of this a couple of months ago and couldn't put it down. Now I've passed it on to every other member of my band. If you ever aspired to rock or just grew up in the time of spandex and big hair, you will find this book hilarious.