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Murder in the Front Row: Shots From the Bay Area Thrash Metal Epicenter
Featuring hundreds of unseen live and candid color and black-and-white photographs, "Murder in the Front Row" captures the wild-eyed zeal and drive that made Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth into legends, with over 100 million combined records sold.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published October 11, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
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November 7, 2020The pictures are amazing - too bad so many of my music heroes turned out to be obnoxious homophobes.
December 25, 2013
Great pictures from a great era of the metal genre. What I really liked about them was that they were not shot by pros, but by people from the scene.
March 6, 2016
this book makes me want to cut the sleeves off all my t-shirts.
April 17, 2018
This photo book is an act of love and dedication to the pioneering Bay Area Thrash Metal scene of the 1980s. These photos were taken by 2 rabid fans who had unfettered access to shows, practices, parties, and rehearsals of the biggest names in thrash metal.
The quality of the photos are not professional. The lighting and focus are not perfect. The camera angles and zoom are sometimes wonky but in my opinion this is what makes this book so precious and raw and vital.
In my own world of the 1980’s punk rock (I’m 49) I also took photos of similar quality at all the shows I attended. I published a fanzine. I tape traded. It was a different genre of extreme music but the same spirit. In fact, intermixed with my punk rock records were albums by Slayer, Metallica, Hirax, and a few other seminal acts.
Most of the photos in this book are of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus, Possessed, Testament but there’s plenty of random fan shots that nicely sums up the energy, intensity, soul, and dedication of this Metal Militia.
I should note I’m not a preverbal metalhead. For a couple of years in highschool, before I found punk, I was a NWOBHM fan, but that was 35 years ago !
I like extreme music but I listen to primarily punk. I have enjoyed exploring metal through the following exhaustive metal books Patterson’s Black Metal, Christie’s Sound of the Beast, Ekeroth’s Swedish Death Metal, and Mudrian’s Choosing Death. I suppose you can say I went down a bit of a rabbit hole these past 6 months with an ensuing YouTube soundtrack.
The quality of the photos are not professional. The lighting and focus are not perfect. The camera angles and zoom are sometimes wonky but in my opinion this is what makes this book so precious and raw and vital.
In my own world of the 1980’s punk rock (I’m 49) I also took photos of similar quality at all the shows I attended. I published a fanzine. I tape traded. It was a different genre of extreme music but the same spirit. In fact, intermixed with my punk rock records were albums by Slayer, Metallica, Hirax, and a few other seminal acts.
Most of the photos in this book are of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus, Possessed, Testament but there’s plenty of random fan shots that nicely sums up the energy, intensity, soul, and dedication of this Metal Militia.
I should note I’m not a preverbal metalhead. For a couple of years in highschool, before I found punk, I was a NWOBHM fan, but that was 35 years ago !
I like extreme music but I listen to primarily punk. I have enjoyed exploring metal through the following exhaustive metal books Patterson’s Black Metal, Christie’s Sound of the Beast, Ekeroth’s Swedish Death Metal, and Mudrian’s Choosing Death. I suppose you can say I went down a bit of a rabbit hole these past 6 months with an ensuing YouTube soundtrack.
May 13, 2022
A treasure for metalheads.
January 10, 2019
I ordered this directly from Bazillion Points Books, the hallowed scriptorium of all things METAL: https://www.bazillionpoints.com/produ...#
If you grew up in the ‘80s like I did, you probably recall the slew of magazines dedicated to rock and heavy metal tucked in the far back of the grocery store racks. Circus, Metal Edge, Hit Parader, etc. I honestly can’t recall the obtuse ones dedicated to bands beyond the Big Hair hard-rock-slut-stuff, but those are the ones I picked up and pinned photos to my walls. I discovered Megadeth before Metallica, but when I tape-traded with a girl I was nuts for—“Ride the Lightning” for Dokken’s “Back for the Attack”—and even though we never hooked up, we both got what we wanted most in music. Thrash led to Speed led to Death in quick succession. Whether you remember or don’t, were born before or after this Crucible time-period for Metal in all its wondrous flavors, Murder in the Front Row will jettison you back with whiplash-like trauma. A few insider memoir-essays begin a thick scrapbook of archival photos showcasing all the oily hair and knee-blown denim and spiked wristbands I remember with reverence. There are brand news bands emulating the thrash and classic heavy metal sounds of the ‘80s today. Metal has tremendous staying power for a new generation who crave throwback styles and halcyon dreams, while other bands push the boundaries of Metal ever-forward with fury and finesse, and that is really amazing.
If you grew up in the ‘80s like I did, you probably recall the slew of magazines dedicated to rock and heavy metal tucked in the far back of the grocery store racks. Circus, Metal Edge, Hit Parader, etc. I honestly can’t recall the obtuse ones dedicated to bands beyond the Big Hair hard-rock-slut-stuff, but those are the ones I picked up and pinned photos to my walls. I discovered Megadeth before Metallica, but when I tape-traded with a girl I was nuts for—“Ride the Lightning” for Dokken’s “Back for the Attack”—and even though we never hooked up, we both got what we wanted most in music. Thrash led to Speed led to Death in quick succession. Whether you remember or don’t, were born before or after this Crucible time-period for Metal in all its wondrous flavors, Murder in the Front Row will jettison you back with whiplash-like trauma. A few insider memoir-essays begin a thick scrapbook of archival photos showcasing all the oily hair and knee-blown denim and spiked wristbands I remember with reverence. There are brand news bands emulating the thrash and classic heavy metal sounds of the ‘80s today. Metal has tremendous staying power for a new generation who crave throwback styles and halcyon dreams, while other bands push the boundaries of Metal ever-forward with fury and finesse, and that is really amazing.
March 31, 2023
The photos are mostly very good - lots of good stage shots and staged shots. Plus a ton of mugging for the camera (i.e. mostly flipping the camera off).
The only thing I didn't care much for were the text pieces, which frequently seem to say things like "This guy (usually not a band member) would hit people or berate them for not being 'metal enough.' Boy, those were great times. It was all in good fun." Reminded me of my own metal youth and what total jagoffs most of the other kids in that scene were and how much I couldn't stand them. But I'm sure teenage-my bullies meant it all in "good fun."
The only thing I didn't care much for were the text pieces, which frequently seem to say things like "This guy (usually not a band member) would hit people or berate them for not being 'metal enough.' Boy, those were great times. It was all in good fun." Reminded me of my own metal youth and what total jagoffs most of the other kids in that scene were and how much I couldn't stand them. But I'm sure teenage-my bullies meant it all in "good fun."
June 29, 2017
Really cool photos and articles. It's interesting to see how these bands got started.
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May 5, 2014781.66 O395 2011
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews