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    Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith
    Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith
    Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith
    Audiobook14 hours

    Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith

    Written by Joe Perry and David Ritz

    Narrated by Joe Perry

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Joe Perry’s New York Times bestselling memoir of life in the rock-and-roll band Aerosmith: “An insightful and harrowing roller coaster ride through the career of one of rock and roll’s greatest guitarists. Strap yourself in” (Slash).

    Before the platinum records or the Super Bowl half-time show or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Joe Perry was a boy growing up in small-town Massachusetts. He idolized Jacques Cousteau and built his own diving rig that he used to explore a local lake. He dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. But Perry’s neighbors had teenage sons, and those sons had electric guitars, and the noise he heard when they started playing would change his life.

    The guitar became his passion, an object of lust, an outlet for his restlessness and his rebellious soul. That passion quickly blossomed into an obsession, and he got a band together. One night after a performance he met a brash young musician named Steven Tyler; before long, Aerosmith was born. What happened over the next forty-five years has become the stuff of legend: the knockdown, drag-out, band-splintering fights; the drugs, the booze, the rehab; the packed arenas and timeless hits; the reconciliations and the comebacks.

    Rocks is an unusually searching memoir of a life that spans from the top of the world to the bottom of the barrel—several times. It is a study of endurance and brotherhood, with Perry providing remarkable candor about Tyler, as well as new insights into their powerful but troubled relationship. It is an insider’s portrait of the rock and roll family, featuring everyone from Jimmy Page to Alice Cooper, Bette Midler to Chuck Berry, John Belushi to Al Hirschfeld. It takes us behind the scenes at unbelievable moments such as Joe and Steven’s appearance in the movie of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (they act out the murders of Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees).

    Full of humor, insight, and brutal honesty about life in and out of one of the biggest bands in the world, Rocks is “well-paced, well-plotted…a mini-masterpiece” (The Boston Globe).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateOct 7, 2014
    ISBN9781442377493
    Author

    Joe Perry

    Lead guitarist Joe Perry and singer Steven Tyler wrote the majority of the songs that form the backbone of Aerosmith’s catalogue. In 2013, they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

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    Reviews for Rocks

    4.5/5

    67 ratings10 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      I love that Joe read his book ( and not someone else. I cant listen to others reading someone elses bio, especialy when it comes to rock bands). Fantastic stories and very easy to follow. Just loved it.
    • 5/5
      It brings the author to being human and not just a rockstar. Could not put it down
    • 5/5
      I never knew anything but his name and Aerosmith. He is so much more. What an amazing well written autobiography.
    • 5/5
      I have always liked Joe’s playing, but been on the fence about his attitude. I couldn’t tell if he was cool, or just thought he was cool. He is cool. He’s a good person. As a guitarist I would have liked more about his approach to guitar but this book is for anyone that wants to know, not just guitar slingers. In the late 80’s a Sunset Strip band had a song called Ode to Joe. I think I’ll go crank it and then listen to the entire Aerosmith and Joe Perry Catologue.
    • 4/5
      Interesting If you are a fan. Kind of overstayed it's welcome with similar stories but overall worth a read.
    • 5/5
      Excellent writing. A behind the scenes look at a legendary American Rock Band, but also a beautifully written love story of New England beauty.
    • 5/5
      Best autobiography about a music artist. Joe goes beyond stories about Aerosmith - which are spectacular. He opens up his life, sharing who he is, not just what he's done. He'll inspire you, entertain you, and probably make you want to be a better person by sharing what can happen when you go all in on what you love and believe in. He did for me.

      Funny as it might be, the evening I finished this book, I was at the grocery store. While checking out I asked the kids bagging my groceries if he got pick out the music that was playing overhead, he replied " Rock 'n roll!". I replied back, Right on, dude!". I'll bet anything Joe Perry influenced that kid's reply. Read this book to find out why.
    • 4/5
      I’m a huge Aerohead so it’s strange that I haven’t read this book until now. It definitely read like Joe Perry wrote it, which is cool since he had a ghostwriter helping. I loved hearing a different side of well-known Aerosmith stories, but I wished he spilled more. I know he’s not the type, so I still really enjoyed the book, but still. I want the dirt, Joe! This book fueled my Aerolove again!
    • 4/5
      This one was kind of fun. Perry kind of glosses over the drug issues but the insight into his relationship with Stephen Tyler is fascinating. Never fails to crack me up how much stock these guys put in their solo records. All in all a good read that'll make you want to listen to your Aerosmith records again and that's the point of these books.
    • 3/5
      I received a copy of this eBook from the publisher, via netgalley, in return for an honest review.I was so looking forward to reading this autobiography, as I'm a fan of rock music and have enjoyed musician's memoirs in the past. This book started off well, and I found the first 25% or so really engaging and hard to put down. Perry's experiences in the studio and on the road with Aerosmith, as well as the formation of the band, are entertaining and interesting. The tempestuous relationship between Perry and vocalist Steven Tyler has been well documented in the press, so it's inclusion here is no surprise. Unfortunately, I found myself getting a bit bored with the endless confrontations between the two and a variety of other players. Reading about the music was great, but I feel this was very much overshadowed by so much emphasis placed on the tangled web of personal relationships the members of Aerosmith shared, both within and outside of the band.I found it quite interesting, but it lost me relatively early on. This took me so long to read, a sure sign that it didn't hold my interest. Disappointing, but sure to appeal to die hard fans. 3/5