Thank you to Tantor Audio, the author and NetGalley for an LRC in return for an honest review.

As one of the "Big Four" of thrash metal, along with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, Megadeath were at their peak in the late 80s early 90s. This book goes behind the scenes and tells (in great detail) how Marty Friedman came to be in one of the most celebrated metal bands of all time. My partner at the time, in the 90s, was a total worshipper of the above mentioned metal bands. Whilst I was nowhere near to being a Metalhead, I did let him convince me to go to Slayer and Mettalica concerts with him, the latter actually turning out to be a fantastic experience! The only thing I gained from the Slayer concert was a neck I couldn't move properly for 2 weeks, as a result of really getting into the spirit of the night headbanging!

If you were/are a fan of Megadeath or a follower of Friedman's career pre and post megadeath, no doubt you will thoroughly enjoy this book. If you are a casual fan there are parts of Friedman's life covered here, that are probably not universally known; like the fact that he is fluent in Japanese and now has a massive career in Japan, having relocated there in 2003. He is also the Ambassador of Japan Heritage and has written the official theme song for Japan’s Agency of Cultural Affairs.

My one issue with the audiobook is that I would've preferred to have listened to Marty Friedman narrate his own life story. Not that Eric Michael Summerer didn't do a good job, on the contrary he excelled with his clear and energetic narration. It's just that Friedman himself, shows how great a voice he has by narrating the introduction. In my opinion, if the author has a compelling voice (and this is definitely the case with Friedman) then they should narrate their own book. I find this is more authentic and has more of an emotional impact on the listener.

With regards to the book itself, I have one major qualm, which made me feel quite uncomfortable. The one thing Friedman should not have included is mentioning yet again, that G**y G*****r was one of his influences. He made this remark in the early 2000s and the comment hasn’t aged well. Many fans at the time were left uncomfortable or disappointed, so I think he should've respected their wishes and not repeated the insensitive words. He could've easily just stated that he was influenced by Glam Rock. I know there's the whole 'separating the Art from the Artist' debate. But I think it's widely accepted that the aforementioned criminal cannot be separated from his heinous crimes. I regret having to include this in my review, but I feel strongly about it. I believe it is a glaring oversight by the publishers, who should have removed this reference before the book’s release. So unfortunately that is one whole star I have deducted from the rating.

#DreamingJapanese #NetGalley

For those of us who grew up and live to digest the heaviest of metal, then one is aware of Megadeth. Better know. As a guitar god, Marty Friedman introduces the read into his life, his business, his pleasure, and most importantly, his accolades. This memoir will inform, entertain, and inspire you. A true must read!

This will be long winded I think, and before I even start, I’ve been arguing with myself a lot over this review. I’ve read a lot of metal/rock star memoirs, but when I try to cast my mind back the main ones I remember would be the likes of Slash, Tommy Lee, Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Duff, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil etc etc, we could pretty much say I wanted all the dirt, particularly from Motley Crue and Guns n Roses (big fan) along with some of the unauthorised biographies. The time period eludes me, but it feels like I went through a big phase of trailing to Waterstones to snap them all up. So I’m initially going to out myself as a hypocrite and perhaps acknowledge how much you change as a person is the span of say 20 years. I’m absolutely positive that the majority of these guys (and Mrs. O) must’ve talked about the girls, they had to surely? Particularly Tommy Lee, I’m sure his penis told its own story. So either I’ve really evolved or this title might’ve been more acceptable during that time period, at least to me. Or perhaps the fact that every one of them was messed up on drugs makes their behaviour seem different, or my memory is even worse than I thought.

There were some real points of interest, for example, I genuinely had no idea that Marty Friedman was so big in Japan, nor had I any idea how much career came after Megadeth for him. I nearly rolled right off the sofa and died when he pointed out that he was responsible for recording Welcome To The Jungle for Guitar Hero, to think I developed a claw nailing 5 stars on that game with no clue who was behind the music. That’s round about where the interest runs out though. Others may really enjoy Marty repeatedly telling you he’s a mensh while smack talking everyone he’s ever worked with (this is a big lie, he does seem to like some people) sure, dish a little bit of the dirt, but it really felt like he was playing for laughs in the dishing up of said dirt. Then we get to the girls, and I mean girls, he starts with some really unnecessary details on memories of teenage experiences and from there I don’t think there’s a chapter that passes without mention of a conquest, he really made me feel sick with the mention of Japanese skin……. I’m going to leave it there I think, more dirty old man than mensh.

I should’ve given up really, but I wanted to see if this 69 year old man redeemed himself, and he didn’t.

The narration was good.

Thanks to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧