Sound N’ Fury
Rock N’ Roll Stories
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jun 24, 2025
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- $11.99
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- Pre-Order
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Experience rock history through sharp, engaging stories featuring icons like Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, and Aerosmith — perfect for music lovers and the uninitiated alike — from legendary manager Alan Niven.
Most rock ’n’ roll books are a bore. They all have the same narrative arc and are aimed at the dwindling following that now follows an artist that has long passed their AARP date.
Sound N’ Fury does not have a story arc. It is a collection of anecdotes, like a record comprised of various tracks — each one has its point and purpose. Alan Niven, who guided Guns N’ Roses from the gutter of Los Angeles to Wembley Stadium, shares stories from his remarkable life as a manager with an immediacy delivered by an extraordinary recall of dialogue. Readers will encounter not just Guns N’ Roses (who have sold almost 10 million tickets to their shows) but The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Clarence Clemons, Whitesnake, Elton John, and others who came from humble origins and experienced fame known only to few. Small-town minds collided with worldwide adulation, expectations, and demands. The results are amusing, affirming, and, predictably, disastrous. Keep in mind that rock ’n’ roll is God’s occupation for the unemployable.
Written with a crisp and fluid style, the magnificence and idiocy of the music world will dance off the pages and engross even those who are not rock fans.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Niven debuts with a bumpy collection of anecdotes from a career spent managing some of rock's bestselling acts, most notably Guns N' Roses and Mötley Crüe. Among other episodes, Niven recalls Axl Rose's frequent failures to appear at concerts and events (including the band's 2012 induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame); the comically low-budget shoot for the "Sweet Child o' Mine" music video (the threadbare set was "full of pigeon shit when we went to see" it); and the power struggles between band members as Rose assumed increased control over Guns N' Roses in the 1990s ("He now had the reins," the author remembers thinking as the group worked on material for Use Your Illusion. "Keeping the money flowing would now be the priority, and to do that everyone in the band would bend a knee to Rose"). Niven's blunt delivery has a certain appeal—he critiques Mötley Crüe as "more sizzle than steak"—though after a while his hubristic tone and tendency to repeat himself becomes wearying. This is best suited for devoted Guns N' Roses fans.
