A Fabulous Disaster
From the Garage to Madison Square Garden, the Hard Way
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4.8 • 14 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
From prolific metal guitarist and songwriter for Exodus (and formerly Slayer) Gary Holt comes a deeply personal memoir of his "destruction-laden" life, along with a firsthand account of the genesis of the Thrash Metal scene, from its origins in the Bay Area to its world domination.
As the guitarist and primary songwriter of Exodus and one of the originators of heavy metal, Gary Holt watched as his peers—Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax—soared to superstardom. As his fellow artists amassed millions of fans and record sales, Exodus' albums received critical recognition and inspired generations of listeners—but struggled to reach the same heights of success, as the band was plagued by years of bad management, bad luck, and bad decisions.
A Fabulous Disaster follows our narrator through the highest of highs and lowest of lows as he and his bandmates juggle major label contracts, MTV-sponsored tours and festivals, growing addictions to alcohol and meth, and the loss of key founding members. Ultimately, after the tragic death of one of his closest friends and former bandmates—Holt decides to save himself. Newly sober and determined to resurrect his career, he commits himself to Exodus, pushing the band to new heights.
An "unadulterated odyssey through decades of insanity," punctuated by Holt's unique insight and knack for storytelling, A Fabulous Disaster is a thrill ride from start to finish. His story proves that redemption—even from the pits of rock 'n' roll excess—is always possible.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Holt's haphazard debut recounts, and only sometimes regrets, the drug-fueled excesses of his career as guitarist for thrash metal band Exodus. Raised in the "shithole" of San Pablo, Calif., in the 1960s and '70s, an 11-year-old Holt was seduced by the heavy metal music in his brother's record collection; by age 17, he was playing in the newly formed Exodus. The band embarked on relentless tours across North America and Europe, attracting a committed fan base. By the late '80s, the group was "destroying everything in its path," Holt writes. "We were also snorting it, drinking it, smoking it." When grunge rock began to eclipse thrash metal in the early '90s, Holt left the band (they'd go on to reunite later that decade). His drug and alcohol addictions continued until 2003, when he'd finally sunk low enough to quit cold turkey. Getting sober restored his creativity: "I'd extinguished one flame—the crank pipe—and reignited another: Exodus." Holt provides a few useful peeks into the birth of a rock subgenre, but endless, repetitive recollections of his drug use and braggadocious claims about the band's current success ("We go out and smoke people. We will make your band look bad") grow tiresome. Only diehard thrash metal fans need apply.
