Dark Black and Blue: The Soundgarden Story

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Dark Black and Blue: The Soundgarden Story Details

Review "A well-researched history of the Seattle grunge pioneers who blazed a trail for many of the bands that followed in their wake in the Eighties, Nineties and beyond. If anyone wants to understand how and why Soundgarden was such an important band, this book is a good place to start." --David de Sola (author of Alice in Chains: The Untold Story)   "I can't recommend this enough for people looking to learn more about Soundgarden; the amount of interesting tidbits and trivia scattered throughout this thing is pretty incredible. It left me with a newfound respect for the band, and also found me putting Badmotorfinger back in my regular rotation for a while, so, mission accomplished." --BraveWords   "The great thing about reading Prato's work is that usually you can sense how big of a fan he is and can feel confident that because of this fandom, he has done everything in his power to bring the reader the facts. Prato himself mentions in the intro to the book, 'There have been few rock bands that I connected with as greatly and whose music meant as much to me as Soundgarden'." --Screamer Magazine    "He's first and foremost a fan, but don't walk away thinking this is yet another exercise in modern day hagiography. The seasoned music journalist dissects the band's history in riveting detail without glossing over any of the complicated elements that made their chemistry what it was." --musicnotherdrugs.com   "When you read a book about a favorite artist, you can tell when it has been written by someone who respects them, happens to be a longtime fan, because of the way they treat the language of what they write. It's not that they necessarily gush or sugarcoat unfavorable details about the subject's life, but that they handle that life with greater precision, making sure facts are clarified and observations are on point. It's how Greg Prato has approached writing about one of his favorite rock bands, Soundgarden, in his latest music biography, Dark Black & Blue." --glidemagazine.com   "There's much to admire about this book. At over 400 pages it's incredibly detailed and filled with quotes from band members, management, fellow musicians and people from the music industry and I for one learned a lot about the band." --Focus on Metal   "I have been a fan of Greg Prato's writing since I first picked up his book Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on Another - about Blind Melon's singer Shannon Hoon. I love his approach of gathering different perspectives from an artist's colleagues and fans alike. With Dark Black and Blue, Greg has dug deep into the past and present to give readers a look inside the multi-dimensional world of one of the most influential rock bands to come out of the '80s. Some would say that Chris Cornell had the strongest voice and talent of our generation. When he passed unexpected, he left a huge void in rock and roll. Let Greg Prato take you "Down on the Upside" and into the world of Soundgarden and Chris Cornell." --Travis Stever (Coheed and Cambria guitarist) Read more

Reviews

I noticed after the first couple times reading this book that the cover is oddly empty. Then I realized that is because it doesn't have the typical logo of the publisher on it, because it is self-published. While I like the independent DIY ethos, this book didn't find a publisher, I am certain, because no publisher would have it. Put simply, the author can't write. This book is terrible. In spite of myself, because it is the only book chronicling the history of my favorite band, I read the whole thing. The best part is the appendix containing interviews with several people who knew Soundgarden, because Prato's awful writing isn't a factor. I was angry every time I picked this book up because I knew I'd have to withstand the pain of the writing to get to the story.Like bad acting, you know bad writing when you see it. But let me share an example passage and a couple of things the author does that make him so hard to read. First, the book could be shorter by at least a third, if you took out the personal anecdotes and worthless observations. Here is an example from page 180:"And then...a song that if you were to ask me what my personal favorite Soundgarden song of them all is, I would feel confident selecting. And that tune is the musical lumbering leviathan, otherwise known as "4th of July." Not only the heaviest song on the album, "4oJ" is the heaviest and darkest-sounding song Soundgarden ever recorded-as it was detuned to a dangerously string-flapping C, and contains a simple yet awe-inspiring main guitar bit, and one of the most epic "string scripts" ever (signaling the song's end). Another CCC (he certainly deserved a "most valuable player" award for SU, didn't he?), it also is a testament to at the variety of songs Cornell could not only pull off...but do so masterfully (especially if you were to stack up something like "Black Hole Sun" alongside "4th of July").This passage exemplifies the author's rambling and irritating writing style. It also has several examples of his use of initials for Soundgarden's album and song names. He may think doing that was efficient or cute, but it comes across as amateur and annoying. He also lacks subtlety. I didn't mark the passage that comes to mind so I can't share it here, but he's referring to where the book title comes from. He says something like 'and hidden somewhere in this book is the source of the title!' rather than just letting the reader come across the quote and thinking, "So that's where the title comes from."It brings me no pleasure to write such a negative review. The author will probably read it, and negativity is something I work to avoid, but I need to share my honest assessment of this book so others know what they are getting. If you really love Soundgarden and you have discovered this book exists, see if you can get a used copy. That way, if it turns out to be too painful to read all the way through, at least you aren't out full price.

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