Rock Star Babylon: Outrageous Rumors, Legends, and Raucous True Tales of Rock and Roll Icons
This compilation of wild, salacious rock 'n' roll debauchery stories, most of which may or may not be true, probably seemed like a good idea at the time. But in the hands of British writer and comedian Holmes, it's a self-aggrandizing mess that's to be endured more than enjoyed. With smug self-satisfaction, Holmes blithely relates tales of rock excess, many of which have already made the rounds: the infamous Van Halen rider that stipulated no brown M&Ms; backstage, Stevie Nicks's bottoms-up delivery system for cocaine and a fair number of non-events like KISS's inclusion of band members' blood in the ink of their 1970s comic book. Holmes goes from bad to worse by padding the book with pointless footnotes that lean heavily on U.K. references and add nothing to the narrative. Perhaps worst of all, most of the stories (except for the most famous, which were already verified by others-i.e., "As Ozzy told Rolling Stone") have not been fact-checked, leaving it up to the reader to determine their veracity. The result is frustrating, unfunny and often pointless.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.