ANDY BLADE (Cherry Red Books)
When the name Eater is mentioned, most people automatically think of their claim to fame, the fact that they were the youngest of the first wave of punk bands. 14 to be precise. This is a shame because it detracts from the fact that they were a pretty neat band, but it does provide for some interesting stories in this, guitarist Andy Blade’s autobiography. The book goes way beyond the Eater story, covers his pre punk youth right up to the present day and pulls no punches. We get the juice on family breakdowns, aversion to school, trying to combine a life of schoolboy by day and rock star by night, post punk musical adventures, exploits in Israel and Morocco, making friends, betrayal, life on the dole, drug experiments, stealing guitars and much more. Undoubtedly the punk stories will be what interests most, and there are plenty of them. We get the low down on what some of the movers and shakers were really like, uncompromising tales of bands like Slaughter and the Dogs, The Buzzcocks and Chelsea and hilarious tales of run ins with Johnny Rotten when Andy is caught in bed with the future Mrs Lydon. This book is probably doomed to be read by us oldies who remember and love Eater, but it deserves a far wider readership as Blade’s way with the English language makes it a treat to read and the defrocking of some of the punk heroes in here are down right hilarious. Just read it, you wont regret it.

CAROL CLERK (Omnibus Press)
Hawkwind, arguably the inventors of space rock, have been walking a tight rope between mainstream and underground since the dawn of the 70s, when dinosaurs ruled the charts. For almost four decades they have plodded on relentlessly with more line up changes than the Tory front bench. The only constant throughout has been the ‘captain of the ship’, Dave Brock. The book details the coming and going of all the various members, including members that have gone on to be far more famous than Hawkwind (Lemmy with Motorhead) and members that were bigger than Hawkwind before they joined the band (Ginger Baker of Cream fame). For a very brief period page three legend Samantha Fox performs with the band, but does not play as big a part as the extremely ‘chesty’, Stacia. Even Vera Lynne makes an appearance.

Hawkwind let it all hang out at the Windsor free festival in 1972

Some of the old members have stayed loyal to Brock while others have fallen out with him big time. Nik Turner’s relationship with Brock is fraught to say the least, with Turner seeing Hawkwind as a community belonging to all the members of the band and Brock seeing himself as the captain and dictates who and what goes. The friction between the two eventually ends up in court because Nik formed his own band with ex members called, suitably, xhawkwind (who still play now, all be it under the name Space Ritual).

As you would expect there are tales of sex, drugs and debauchery, run ins with the police, customs, the tax man and psychopathic fans. From the free spirited psychedelic days of the 60’s Ladbroke Grove scene, to recording in Brock’s own studio on his Devon farm; taking in the stardom that came with Silver Machine, free parties, benefits, festivals, Stone Henge, tours of America and monumental stage productions that would inspire Spinal Tap along the way. They have influenced scores of bands over the years and love ‘em or hate ‘em, today’s festival scene would not be what it is without them.

If you want to know anything about the band, it is in this book, without a doubt one of the most exhaustive biographies of a band ever written. Unfortunately, its comprehensiveness is its downfall. The falling out of the members results in lots of back biting, sniping, allegations and arguing over money and song credits can get tedious after a while. With 540 pages to wade through it can be hard work on times and would probably be more ‘entertaining’ if it were half as long. Its not the authors fault, she is only writing the truth and on times the band come across as a bunch of squabbling kids and whose heads you want to bang together. If it is such hard work, why read it? Well, amid the bickering there are some classic rock ‘n roll tales; it reveals stories that are unknown and it brings on a nostalgic grin when you remember events that you have attended. And lets face it, we have all been touched by the band at some point, either directly or indirectly, whether we know it or not.

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RACHEL TREZISE (Parthian) 2007
South Wales is currently awash with quality 21 st century metal(ish) bands, Lost Profits, Bullet For My Valentine, Funeral For A Friends etc, which makes it amazing that Midasuno remain unsigned. They are after all, equal to any of the above and one would think they would have labels camped outside their homes in Merthyr with contracts in their hands. On the face of it this book is a tale of being on the road with the band during their ‘Midsummer Murder Tour’ in 2005, but it is much more than that.

Midasuno, live @ Coal Exchange, Cardiff, 2007

The back cover claims that this is a ‘warts and all’ story; if this is true, their aint many warts. Rachel states that some things have been kept ‘off the record’ but we don’t think that has made too much of a difference. There are not tales of rock ‘n roll debauchery, there are no Sex Pistols punch ups, there are no tellys chucked out of the window ala Led Zeppelin, no mammoth drug taking sessions of the sort old time Welsh rockers Man indulged in; this is not the sort of adventure Hunter S Thompson, who is mentioned several times in the book, would have been involved in. In fact, compared to the youth, or even old age, of most of the Iguana posse these lads seem quite tame, although they do have thier moments. They wear eye make up, worry about Misfits shoelaces and go around in a van driven by the drummer’s dad. So what though, driving cars into swimming pools does not make you a better guitarist and drugs aint big or clever. They are ordinary valley boys trying to make themselves a name in the big bad world beyond the Severn Bridge and who can fault that. Having seen them live and heard the CDs, we can forgive them for not being hell raisers, in fact they deserve credit for not trying to be something they are not. No hotels are smashed up, no service stations ram raided, no 'Class A's' are snorted, but the boys do have a good time and it sounds a lot more fun than sitting in Merthyr Legion.

What makes this book stand out though is the fact that it is not just a tour rockumentary, it is the tour seen through the eyes of a young talented author cum rock journalist who bears her soul on every page. Unlike many books of this sort, Rachel takes a prominent role in the telling of the story, talking of her impending marriage, her other books, ‘proper jobs’ she has done, her childhood, trips to New York and how an author/journalist never switches off, constantly writing things in her head. Her use of the English language is a marvel to read, when we are taken into a club we feel we know what it is like without ever having been there, and when the band play at venues we are familiar with a knowing smile is generated recognising and agreeing with her diagnosis. Descriptions of taxi drivers and the lumpen proletariat of the valleys are both simplistic and spot on. We cannot think of anyone else that takes Motley Crue or Guns ‘n Roses seriously, but she manages to paint them with a romantic gloss that ALMOST makes us want to go out and buy something by them.

If anyone else had written this book, it may have been a waste of time but it will introduce the literary world to one of the finest rock bands in Wales and it will introduce hordes of unwashed youth to the joys of literature, and in the process may well inspire them to pick up a guitar or even write with proper words instead of text speak.

For review of Midasuno EP CLICK HERE

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John Robb (Ebury Press) 2006
On first glance this book looks like it could be a bit of a mess, basically lots of quotes one after another. The fact that all the quotes fit nicely with each other and the book flows quite organically is no small feat and Robb deserves a pat on the back for the way he has managed to put it all together.

Starting out in the early 70s with the first wave punks talking of their pre-punk influences and exploits, the book comprehensively takes us through to 1984. The book is some 500 pages long and as Robb states at the end, he would have liked to continue beyond 84 but the book would have become unmanageable.

Its interesting to see how different players have different points of view, some times radically so. Attitudes to Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McClaren, for instance vary from a major driving force behind punk to a parasite. There are interesting views on ‘selling out’, Mark Perry of Sniffing Glue Zine and Alternative TV having harsh words for the Clash for signing to CBS.

No stone is left unturned and contributions come from the big boys like the Pistols, The Clash and The Damned and lesser-known bands like The Vibrators and Subway Sect.

Its interesting to hear of the early days, when punk was almost a secret thing going on in London, how it started spreading geographically, then musically, splitting into post punk, Oi, anarcho punk and so on.

For us oldies it is a trip down memory lane. For any young 'uns out there it is worth a read because like it or not punk was groundbreaking in many ways and its impact can be felt right through to today, whether it be punk influenced stadium bands, your bank manager having spikey hair or the black bloc having a go at the G8. Without punk it would have all been very different.

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JEFF COLLINS (University of Wales press) 2007
Rockfield, it has to be said, is world famous. Some of the ‘greatest’ albums of all time have been recorded there and it has a history that few other studios could compete with.

It all started from a humble beginning, brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward in 1963 converted an existing farmhouse into a studio and in 1965 it became the world's first-ever residential studio, set up so that bands could come and stay in the peaceful rural surroundings to record. Over the years the studios expanded, adding an extra studio and eventually the brothers went their separate way, resulting in a rival studio near by.

The early years accounted for many of the albums on our shelves here at Iguana HQ. Black Sabbath, Rush, Love Sculpture Hawkwind and Motorhead recorded there. Budgie, big favourites with us, recorded seven albums there and one of the most famous singles of all time, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, was written and recoded there.

Through the Eighties the studio was a temporary home for the likes of Simple Minds, Adam and the Ants, The Damned, Clannad, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Undertones, The Waterboys, Robert Plant, Icicle Works, Bauhaus, That Petrol Emotion, Fields of the Nephilim and The Wonderstuff. In the Nineties and Naughties the Stone Roses, Sixty Foot Dolls, Pogues, Black Grape, Oasis and Paul Weller all spend time in Rockfield.

With this book we get tales of studio shenanigans, and Monmouth mayhem from some of the main players themselves, giving an interesting insight to the making of some of rock’s ‘finest’ moments. We also get a peek into the world that is the beast of the record industry, with tales of how, on occasion, the last word on how the finished product sounds lies with the record label, not the artist.

The book is written by someone with an in depth knowledge of the rock and a passion for the subject. Where it falls down for us is some of the bands that he has chosen to focus on. While we love most of the stories from the early days, tales of Judas Priest, Coldplay, Kasabian, Tiger Tailz and Tokyo Dragons mean little to us and there are other bands that have recorded there that we would have liked to have read more about. But hey, there is no accounting for taste and if he interviewed everyone the book would have been straining the legs of your coffee table.

We at iguana would not normally go for books about big name stars, but add to the mix the fact that it is in Monmouth, which is just up the road from us, we know people that have worked there, we have visited the studio and we know lots of the local towns and pubs referred to and we have a book that we could not resist. When we had finished, we were glad that we had made the effort.

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