1965, a 17 year old kid from Birmingham, England is on his last day on the job at a Metal factory before going pro as a musician, a lady who usually works the Metal bending machine calls in sick, and so the kid is asked to work the machine in her absence, at first all goes well, then suddenly, in moment of distraction the machine slices the tips of two of his right hand fingers, blood goes everywhere, and... Heavy Metal is born!!!
Almost every riff you hear in our beloved genre is influenced by one man; almost every guitar player has a little bit of this man in his arsenal, be that guitarist James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Dimebag Darrel or a 12 year old kid just starting to learn the ropes. Many men can say "been there, done that", but very few can say "been there, done that, created it!". One of these few men is the father of Black Sabbath, Anthony "Tony" Iommi. Who would have guessed that the left handed kid from Birmingham would become one of the founding fathers of Heavy Metal?
Ok, let's get to the point; Tony Iommi is a true legend in music, which is why I didn't waste any time in buying his first official biography. "Iron Man - My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black Sabbath" is a tell all affair that spares no punches (including to himself), from his early days growing up the only child of an Italian immigrant family, leaving school at 15 and dreaming of becoming a musician to his struggles through the early days of the Polka Tulk Blues Band (Sabbath's original name, I wonder if they would have succeeded if the name stuck, yeah "Polka Bloody Polka" has a nice ring to it). Iommi is a man who never reinvented himself, he didn't need to, and he knew what he had to do, even if he didn't always know how to do it.
The book is very honest and straight forward, much like Iommi himself, no rock is left unturned, Iommi even admits to not being liked by his father growing up (his father considered him an accident), admits to not being able to stand the kid named John "Ozzy" Osbourne that Bill Ward and Geezer Butler wanted to front their new band. Iommi tells all on the ever changing post 1978 line up, his marriages, his custody battles over his daughter, and even how he had to switch from a Fender to his now famous Gibson SG. From major stories on how his accident forced him to adapt his style of playing, which in turn allowed him to create the now famous Black Sabbath sound, to minor details like his troubles trying to convince string makers to create lighter gauge strings to make it easier for him to play. And of course an emotional goodbye to his longtime collaborator and friend, Ronnie James Dio. This book is a true "must read" to any starting guitarist, to any heavy metal fan and to anyone who wants an inside look at the history of one of the world's greatest and most legendary bands.
This book was not written to make you like Tony Iommi, it is simply an honest account of the life and career of a legendary man.
