Stephen Davis - Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses

It's confession time again - this time, it's that I've never read Hammer of the Gods. Despite not being a huge fan of Led Zep though I've always been aware that it's one of those books that I should tick off the list. Its author, Stephen Davis, turned his attention to Guns N' Roses for his 2008 biography Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns n' Roses, published shortly before the much-delayed Chinese Democracy finally emerged that November.

Equally unauthorised as its predecessor, Davis was always going to be up against it as anyone who worked on the band's tours in the 1990s had to sign a confidentiality statement, preventing them from speaking to the media without prior authorisation (effectively Axl's authorisation). At the end of the book he remarks that thirteen people he interviewed requested anonymity and it's entirely possible that the thirteen includes former band members.

Such was the world of Guns N' Roses, the one-time LA street band that had lived and rehearsed in a storage room measuring roughly twelve feet by twelve feet before morphing into the biggest rock group on the planet, touring in a private jet - except Izzy, who insisted on travelling by road to remain grounded - but barely on speaking terms with a frontman who had virtually forced his colleagues to sign away any claim to the band's name.

In light of this it's remarkable that Davis managed to write much more than a few pages. This book has come under fire for perceived inaccuracies (and some blatant errors, eg Bon Jovi's debut album being 'Slippery When Wet') but credit where credit's due, he's made a pretty decent fist of it. I might need to read Slash's autobiography to copare and contrast - and notably there's one story in 'Watch You Bleed' that has also been told differently in Andy McCoy's Sheriff McCoy: Outlaw Legend of Hanoi Rocks, but more on that anon.

Despite catching on to Guns N' Roses relatively early much of the detail regarding their pre-record deal activities were an eye-opener. Reading about what happened at the 1988 Monsters Of Rock show, which I attended and have some pretty unpleasant memories from during Guns N' Roses' set, left me cold. Worse still though is what it states on the Download website: "Throughout the festival’s illustrious history, there were just so many highlights ... The enormous gathering for Iron Maiden in 1988, at the same festival that really kickstarted the momentum which was to make Guns n' Roses the biggest band in the world." Can't help but feel that this misses the point somewhat.

It might be that there will never be a truly definitive Guns N' Roses biography. Given that some readers slate 'Watch You Bleed' and instead recommend Mick Wall's W. Axl Rose: The Unauthorized Biography is bizarre given that Wall was personally name-checked in Get In The Ring.

Recommended in the absence of an alternative!

Now reading: Andy McCoy - Sheriff McCoy: Outlaw Legend of Hanoi Rocks

See also:
Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds - self-titled