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List Price: $14.95 | | Publisher: Broadway
Salesrank: 318882
Released: July 11, 2006 |
| Our Price: $6.00 |
| Used Price: $3.76 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Editorial Review:
For the generation coming of age in the years from 1987 to 1994, RIP magazine was every bit as crucial as Rolling Stone. Life on Planet Rock describes how Lonn Friend, the editor of RIP, became the Zelig-like chronicler of the biggest musical moments of that time—from introducing Guns N’ Roses (in nothing but a top hat, underwear, and cowboy boots) to sitting in during the making of Metallica’s Black Album. Life on Planet Rock provides revealing portraits of artists as varied as Kurt Cobain, Gene Simmons, Alice Cooper, Axl Rose, James Hetfield, Steven Tyler, and many more. Part oral history, part candid and humorous memoir, it is a wormhole back to a fast-moving time in music that saw tastes flash from new wave to hair metal to grunge, told as only someone who was there through it all could tell it.
Life on Planet Rock: From Guns N' Roses to Nirvana, a Backstage Journey through Rock's Most Debauched Decade Reviews:
Boring.. 
2009-09-15 - Pretty much sums it up. If you have read any of the books on 80's hair metal (The Dirt, Slash, Hell Bent for Leather) you are going to be EXTREMELY disappointed. The stories are long and pointless. By mid-book, you know the author pretty well; he's the guy who name drops every important person known to man, yet the stories of association are bland and uninteresting. They go on and on and there are several chapters that leave you screaming for the end and not in a good way. You also get the sense that the author was a bitterly obsessed fan; always searching for stardom but only acheiving it through limited contact, then getting pissed when an 'A' list rock star doesn't wish him Happy Birthday.
The metaphysics of Planet Rock 
2009-07-30 -
There are dozens of memoirs out there to satisfy one's voyeuristic needs to the dirty lavatory that is rock stardom. From the well researched to the overly imagined, take your pick which book can throw your imagination inside the back of the tour bus, drop you inside the private lives and studios of rock nobility, or stick you just stage right of true rock legends. Yet, of all the accounts put forth, very few can truly say, "Yeah, man. I was there and this is how it went down." Mostly, with the exception of Walter Yetnikoffs; HOWLING AT THE MOON (and a few others), we usually get a one track vision of a singular artist or group. Fun reads, but accurate and revealing? Let's be honest. Most authors never had the access or true connection because of the insulated lives of which they are writing. The likes of Cameron Crowe are rare for a reason.
Enter Lonn Friend's LIFE ON PLANET ROCK; A dizzyingly impressive collection of inside stories and anecdotes from a man who literally rubbed shoulders with some of rock's true heavyweights. Although the head of the once sacred and wildly successful RIP magazine could probably write a novel on each of the band's he has befriended here, we are instead treated to a cornucopia of firsthand experiences and relationships of two worlds that simply could not exist without each other. Lonn Friend may be the last true great rock journalist who influenced sales with his honest insights and glossy photo spreads. It seemed his years at HUSTLER were more about prepping his niche in the annals of rock history than natural progression of rock fanzine overlord. The bottom line here is that nobody was ever in the right place at the right time as much Friend has been when it comes to music and journalism. True fans will find themselves both envious and jealous of the access and unable to put the metal journal down for very long. It's just too much fun being there with him.
More importantly for me as a reader, I found myself waxing philosophical on Friend's insights into growing up in The San Fernando Valley during a time where the trends of rock music began their metamorphosis every few years just over the hills into Hollywood and Los Angeles. From punk to metal to new wave to even the Northern extension of Seattle's grunge movement, one could bounce from venue to venue within miles of each other and experience rock history nearly on a weekly basis. The kid in the middle of nowhere all over this country could only dream of living such a life. For those of us that were there, it was magical and we knew it. Friend reminds us just how lucky we were.
In addition, there is an elevation behind Friend's writing that can be discovered if you look closely enough. Melded into his personal conversations with rock royalty one can find reference to the most unlikely born again Christian, Marianne Williamson, Kahil Gibran's THE PROPHET, and Eckhart Tolle's THE POWER OF NOW. Heady stuff one would not think to find from the men who slung Les Paul's below their knees to conquer daughters all over the world. It's all here, from Axl to Alice to Metallica and metaphysics. PLANET ROCK will lead you to unexpected elevated planes to rock around. How cool is that? The perfect summer read and absolutely worth your time.
A good "friend" of rock 'n' roll 
2009-03-28 - Approximately three-fourths of the way through "Life on Planet Rock," I deduced that the author, Lonn Friend, was the guy on TV who used to fawn over Bon Jovi back in the VH1 "Behind the Music" days. Friend annoyed me back then, but after reading his book I actually respect the guy. As a dedicated music fan, rock 'n' roll journalist and, at one point in his career, a brief talent scout for a major record label, Friend can truly boast about living life on Planet Rock. The tales within his book are fun to read about and were truly captured behind the scenes. Due to his amiable personality and genuine love of rock music, Friend befriended many famous musicians like Axl Rose, Lars Ulrich, Steven Tyler, Jimmy Page and many others. His tale is personal, too. In his career-long quest to stay on top of the music that drives him, Friend traveled the world with his tape recorder, doing interviews, watching concerts, taking notes backstage and ingratiating himself with the musicians he respects. Though all this running around with celebrities came at the price of eventually breaking up his family and other personal problems, the author's dedication seems to have made him happy in the end. And, lucky for Friend's readers, there is a lot of juicy stuff to pore over, from Chuck Berry to Kurt Cobain.
Halfway through "Planet Rock," what struck me as surprising was Friend's shift from the decadent 1980s heavy metal scene to a wide array of other rock bands and time periods -- I didn't expect this from the prideful former editor of RIP magazine, a respected publication that used to concentrate solely on heavy metal music. Friend's passion for the Beatles, The Who, the Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam and, despite not clicking with Kurt Cobain, Nirvana is heartfelt and remarkable. This guy loves Bon Jovi and The Clash all in the same sentence, fitting for someone who at one time thought of himself as a "chameleon" who wore different personality hats to suit the situation he happened to be in.
Deeply personal, sensitively written, vibrant, reverential, interesting and full of authentic love for the wild rock 'n' roll genre, Friend's life within "Planet Rock" is cool to read about if you like this kind of stuff. It's easy to see why so many rockers dug him. Impressively, Friend is one of those people who followed his passion to the hilt, working hard to get to the top of his writing game. As one of his friends once told him:
"Fate is what you're given; destiny is what you do with what you're given."
Life on Planet Rock Rocks!
2008-08-17 - I recently met Lonn Friend, and wanting to know more about him, bought a copy of Planet Rock. I didn't read the hard-edged RIP magazine, which he had been the Editor-In-Chief of during the late 80s early 90s, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that his book covers a wide array of rockers that he has known, from Alice Cooper to Slash, and depicts his experiences with rock stars in a very down-to-earth, honest manner.
Though Lonn seemed to be able to transform into a chameleon and become friends to a plethora of musicians, the downside of being a shape-shifter is that sometimes, you lose who you are in the process. Lonn openly admits this happening to him at times. This made his journey more real, more authentic, and I wished that he had delved deeper into this inner part of his odyssey.
But, most people will pick-up the book wanting to read about rock musicians, and Lonn does give a good encapsulation of his relationships with the stars. Each chapter primarily focuses on one musician or band, and there are some laugh-out-loud moments too. My favorite was Axl Rose's rant about Warren Beatty during a show in France that was being offered to thousands of people in the States via pay-per-view TV and FM radio. What came out of his mouth illustrated just how human (and angry) rock stars can be.
Lonn witnessed the dark and the light within many musicians, and that's what makes Planet Rock so appealing. Rock stars are just like the rest of us, dealing with life's ups and downs, and Lonn Friend wonderfully captures the essence of how their lives touched and intertwined with his own incredible life.
This book is awesome, dude!
2008-06-21 - I can't even begin to do this book justice. It is an autobiography of former RIP editor Lonn Friend and chronicles not only his adventures with various rock n' roll performers, but his divorce and career struggles. It also serves as a time capsule of America during the late 1980's and early 1990's. I only bought this book to read the chapter about Guns n' Roses, but it is so beautifully and poignantly written, I was hooked! I am going to make all my co-workers read this book.
