Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. As a result, the story of their success (and eventual collapse) becomes even more interesting when you understand what their battles were off-stage. It was fucking brilliant. He is also the co-author of the New York Times bestsellers There and Back Again and The Rock Says. The book is a must-read for Van Halen fans, and it is highly recommended for people who want to learn more about the insanity of the music business. Interesting details are shared about the business side of the group’s career, too, such as how a bad contract with Warner Brothers evolved into a much more lucrative agreement, scrapping with merchandise counterfeiters in arena parking lots, and handling paternity suit concerns. If not, don’t bother with it. This all also makes me realize I need to do a deeper listen to Van Halen. Separating the art from the artist can be tricky, but I think it's doable. The manager who shepherded Van Halen from obscurity to rock stardom goes behind the scenes to tell the complete, unadulterated story of David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, and the legendary band that changed rock music. During his time behind the scenes, he saw it all and lived to tell the tale, helping the band grow from club-performing novices to hardened veterans who sold out stadiums. If you went to high school in the early 1980s as I did, going to a Van Halen concert gave you instant access to “The Cool Kid’s Table”. What a great book this is. ), (2 1/2). And I would certainly love to hear the band's point of view on all this (though I know that. Being a huge fan of rock and roll and the band Van Halen, when I came across this book last week at Barnes & Noble it screamed, “Buy and read me now!” I don’t always read business and personal development books as I also have a passion to read biographies and this one was just what the doctor ordered. Monk details many stories and anecdotes I had never heard before........sex, drugs, goliath sized egos and nasty business dealings. Runnin' with the Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times, Loud Rock, and the Down and Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van Halen: Monk, Noel, Layden, Joe: 9780062474100: Books - Amazon.ca I skimmed every time he went into a long w. I'd give this 2.5 for the gossip factor. It's interesting to read about how they went from top of the world to just a band falling apart, with some true rock n' roll stories along the way. In 1987, as Harper & Row, it was acquired by News Corporation. Will they like your writing or think you're a hack? Great stories from the prime Van Halen days. Having recently read and review Greg Renoff's excellent pre-history of the band, Van Halen Rising, Runnin' With the Devil made a fitting segue picking up just about where Rennof's book left off.Noel Monk was a rock industry veteran, having stage managed Woodstock, worked for Bill Graham at the Fillmore East, and was the road manager for the Sex Pistols on their one and only tour. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 20, 2017. Ultimately i think he feels sorry for them. An enjoyable look behind the scenes with Van Halen in the early days, written by their primary manager in their rise to fame. Right from the start, Monk (and co-author Joe Layden) do a terrific job of storytelling. Hate it? Some Van Halen loyalists may not like the honesty, but in 30 years of reading every article and book I could find about the band, this was by far the most complete description I've ever come across about these four guys. The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. For the first time, they seem like real people, instead of simply "rock stars." You hear of bands being screwed over by the music business (which is true) and how quickly they learn to do the same when the power shifts. Complete with sixteen pages of never-before-seen photos of life with the band, Runnin’ with the Devil offers Monk’s backstage view of Van Halen’s journey from obscurity to headliners, only to watch it all fall apart. Pretty good. Highly recommended. You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post. Definitely not a "tell-all" sort of book. The only instance where this tell-all account seemed to go a step too far were the comments about Eddie and Alex Van Halen's parents. It brought to mind that. While the book offers some hilarious and horrifying insight into why the band imploded during the highest point of their career I still couldn't help but feel like there where a few lingering questions as to why the manager seemed a little passive during some of the fights and bad decision making. As I tumble down the far side of my 40s on the way to 50, I have to believe it was my 14-year-old self who dug deep into his pockets for the lawn-cutting money to buy this book. Noel monk chose a great ghost writer for this book and it made a huge difference in the overall experience of reading this book. It was Edward’s album. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We are proud to provide our authors with unprecedented editorial excellence, marketing reach, long-standing connections with booksellers, and insight into reader and consumer behavior. If you love the Van Halen you'll dig this. Consistently at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement, HarperCollins also uses digital technology to create unique reading experiences and expand the reach of our authors. I think I enjoyed the overall book from an industry standard. Interesting content supplied by Monk and very good writing by Joe Laylend. At HarperCollins, authors and their work are at the center of everything we do. Some of these items ship sooner than the others. Working with a band from near obscurity to stardom is an interesting tale and sheds more light on the band and the music industry. In order to navigate out of this carousel, please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. But it mostly reads like your typical "sex, drugs and rock and roll" book with enormous egos. A wily Republican strategist rings in on the challenge facing Democrats in 2020. Tales of famous bad boy dickhead antics you've read variations of in a hundred other rock bios?