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Reckless Road: Guns N' Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction: Author Autographed Edition!
(Music Sales America). When teenager and amateur photographer Marc Canter set out to document his best friend Saul Hudson's rise as a rock guitarist in 1982, he never imagined he was documenting the genesis of the next great rock 'n' roll band. His friend became the legendary guitarist Slash, and Canter found himself witnessing the creation of Guns N' Roses front and center. The candid shots contained in Reckless Road, taken as the band toured in 1985-1987 and made the legendary album Appetite for Destruction, capture their raw, blood-sweat-and-tears performances as well as their intimate moments. Containing original gig memorabilia including show flyers, ticket stubs, set lists, press clippings, and handwritten lyrics as well as in-depth interviews with band members and the people closest to them, Reckless Road offers an explicit, first-person perspective readers won't find anywhere else. This book covers the first 50 gigs that Guns N Roses did. with 1000 plus unseen photos. Interviews with over 20 people including band members, roadies strippers, girlfriends, Tom Zutaut the A&R guy that signed the band, Mike Clink the guy who produced the record, Steve Thompson & Mike Barbiero the guys that mixed the record, and close friends of the band. The book is well designed and is a must for any GNR fan. This book covers 10 of the 12 songs off Appetite for Destruction the first time they were played!
348 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2007
55 people are currently reading
1041 people want to read
About the author
Marc Canter
3 books2 followersMarc Canter grew up with Slash and started documenting him in 1982. Marc is a family member of one of the most famous delis in the world, Canter's Deli. Canter's has been a landmark in Los Angeles since 1931 with lots of rock n' roll history. Marc took photos from the first gigs and was an official photographer for Guns N' Roses in 1985/1986 where he documented their first fifty gigs. Marc helped support the band with fliers, ads, demos, equipment, food and friendship. Marc's photos appear in the album artwork of "Appetite for Destruction" and Guns N' Roses "Live Era 87-93", Marc has many photos in Slash's, Duff Mckagan's, and Steven Adler's autobiography books and Marc put out his own book in 2007 "Reckless Road: Guns N' Roses and The Making of Appetite For Destruction". Independent Publisher Award winner for "pop Culture book 2008". Marc's photos have also been on MTV, VH1, and in many magazines around the world including Rolling Stone.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
April 4, 2008
Here's a joke I made up:
Q: What do you get if you cross Ulysses with the Bible and then add a bunch of pictures of tits?
A: A book that totally sucks and is boring compared to Reckless Road, a picture history of when Guns & Roses were a bunch of skinny teenagers with tight pants, giant hair and awful tattoos!
Hahaha!
I seriously just flip through this book and get excited and want to sweat, drink whiskey, and play guitar solos. Holy crap.
Q: What do you get if you cross Ulysses with the Bible and then add a bunch of pictures of tits?
A: A book that totally sucks and is boring compared to Reckless Road, a picture history of when Guns & Roses were a bunch of skinny teenagers with tight pants, giant hair and awful tattoos!
Hahaha!
I seriously just flip through this book and get excited and want to sweat, drink whiskey, and play guitar solos. Holy crap.
October 16, 2011
This book is awseome because it stops right where most music bios get boring, with success. From then on it's usually just the cliche drug use/ rehab/ divorces and charity reunion shows. This is like a massive fanzine detailing the as yet untold story of pre-fame Guns n' Roses. It has set lists, unseen photos, and audio links to raw audio and video recordings. The writing collects stories and interviews all the key players, strippers, girlfriends, managers, ex-drummers and roadies. And since the author was friends with Slash since high school, this book really does start from the very beginning. Marc Canter was also that friend that every band needs when they are starting out; the guy who helps make flyers, actually works a job and gets the band food, drives the wasted singer to the show, etc.) As such, he knows everything because he was actually there and helped it all happen. What happened was that their first album wound up selling 40 million!
March 12, 2011
Wow! Great job Marc Canter has done in collecting all of this really really early stuff. That is one guy who knew a good thing when he heard it.... I have to say Thank god for Marc Canter.
So often this sort of memorabilia and history of a band or anyone is not kept, and Marc Canter sure kept everything. Then not only do you have what is in the book but you are also provided with a password to go online and view the rest of his footage, videos, music, interivews, etc, etc. online. A brilliant record for the die hard Guns and Roses fan!
There are lots of commentaries through the book too, not just photos, and also descriptions of what happened and how the designs came about and any small tale Marc has. There is a section that seems mostly about Slash as Slash was who he actually started following. There is a flow chart of the various members of the band and the different bands they joined with along the way and different names they had and various combinations they had until their final, ultimately hugely successful Guns and Roses band.
Marc himself features in a lot of this book and I have to say this was something that (as much as I didn't really mind) I thought made him seem like a sales man "no really I AM who I say I am..." you know the type. It's like he is trying to sell his credibility or relationship with the band. Honestly Marc it is enough that you have all this material, we don't REALLY care who you are, just let us know about the band..... For all intents and purposes you are merely a groupie to us other groupies..... (Not to be mean, we love you really.)
A great book he has made, and I'm so thankful for die hard fans like this who keep everything.... Even if the wife tells him not to.
So often this sort of memorabilia and history of a band or anyone is not kept, and Marc Canter sure kept everything. Then not only do you have what is in the book but you are also provided with a password to go online and view the rest of his footage, videos, music, interivews, etc, etc. online. A brilliant record for the die hard Guns and Roses fan!
There are lots of commentaries through the book too, not just photos, and also descriptions of what happened and how the designs came about and any small tale Marc has. There is a section that seems mostly about Slash as Slash was who he actually started following. There is a flow chart of the various members of the band and the different bands they joined with along the way and different names they had and various combinations they had until their final, ultimately hugely successful Guns and Roses band.
Marc himself features in a lot of this book and I have to say this was something that (as much as I didn't really mind) I thought made him seem like a sales man "no really I AM who I say I am..." you know the type. It's like he is trying to sell his credibility or relationship with the band. Honestly Marc it is enough that you have all this material, we don't REALLY care who you are, just let us know about the band..... For all intents and purposes you are merely a groupie to us other groupies..... (Not to be mean, we love you really.)
A great book he has made, and I'm so thankful for die hard fans like this who keep everything.... Even if the wife tells him not to.
March 6, 2020
This book is a collection of early band photos and also a typo and bad spelling fest of the highest order. It includes bad and unnecessary spelling mistakes like "quite" instead of "quiet", standard oopsies like "here" instead of "hear" and so on. But it also gave me my new ALL TIME FAVORITE spelling mistake of "heroine addict" (yo! I am one, too! We all should be!).
It actually reminded me of the same typo in "The Commitments" (both book and movie), where someone puts up a banner that says "Heroine kills" at one of their concerts, so this typo made me smile for this reason, too.
As a fellow photographer I wasn't impressed with the photos at all, they're all pretty badly executed flashlight pictures, mainly from concerts, better snapshots that most people could have made. The few portraits lack depth and there is no hidden dimension in the images that would tell you more about the characters in Guns N' Roses. But I guess Marc Canter was young, he was an old friend of Slash's that had access to the band in those early days (before the record deal and "Appetite for Destruction") and it takes a better and more developed photographer to make good portraits. But still.
Why the three stars after all this criticism? Because of the band. Because of Axl's hairspray do, his buttcheek-pants and his eye-shadow (I happily sent pictures of the funniest wardrobe and hair choices to my friends on WhatsApp). Also because of Slash's comatose backstage images (still surprised he survived the years with the band, dear god...), because of Duff's lipstick. Steven's goofy smile. Etc. Etc. So, yes, I'm a fan. And this book is fun for fans. Anyone else, don't bother.
But, everyone, please, become heroine addicts!
It actually reminded me of the same typo in "The Commitments" (both book and movie), where someone puts up a banner that says "Heroine kills" at one of their concerts, so this typo made me smile for this reason, too.
As a fellow photographer I wasn't impressed with the photos at all, they're all pretty badly executed flashlight pictures, mainly from concerts, better snapshots that most people could have made. The few portraits lack depth and there is no hidden dimension in the images that would tell you more about the characters in Guns N' Roses. But I guess Marc Canter was young, he was an old friend of Slash's that had access to the band in those early days (before the record deal and "Appetite for Destruction") and it takes a better and more developed photographer to make good portraits. But still.
Why the three stars after all this criticism? Because of the band. Because of Axl's hairspray do, his buttcheek-pants and his eye-shadow (I happily sent pictures of the funniest wardrobe and hair choices to my friends on WhatsApp). Also because of Slash's comatose backstage images (still surprised he survived the years with the band, dear god...), because of Duff's lipstick. Steven's goofy smile. Etc. Etc. So, yes, I'm a fan. And this book is fun for fans. Anyone else, don't bother.
But, everyone, please, become heroine addicts!
February 3, 2009
A big fun picturebook of Guns'n'Roses before they made it big, via Marc Canter, who got bitten by the "why don't we document everything, it's cheap!" bug a quarter century before the rest of the planet, and happened to be in the right place and time to photograph the band's first fifty shows.
Everything is ordered chronologically, with set lists and stage patter meticulously captured from each performance. The text is oral history style, with interviewey bits collaged from all parties present at the time, getting a bit cheerleadery at times but that's not really why you're reading this book, is it? It's the pictures! The clothes! The hair! The open-mouthed rockin' out stage poses! Axl's big shiny sunglasses! Duff being gorgeous yet slightly silly in a glammed-out Colonel Sanders necktie! Slash, drunk! Although it must be said - and this is why I picked up the book - it's a solid portrait of what the L.A. bands had to go through while trying to make it big, so it also wins on the informational front.
Loads of misspellings, but this isn't the kind of book where that matters.
Everything is ordered chronologically, with set lists and stage patter meticulously captured from each performance. The text is oral history style, with interviewey bits collaged from all parties present at the time, getting a bit cheerleadery at times but that's not really why you're reading this book, is it? It's the pictures! The clothes! The hair! The open-mouthed rockin' out stage poses! Axl's big shiny sunglasses! Duff being gorgeous yet slightly silly in a glammed-out Colonel Sanders necktie! Slash, drunk! Although it must be said - and this is why I picked up the book - it's a solid portrait of what the L.A. bands had to go through while trying to make it big, so it also wins on the informational front.
Loads of misspellings, but this isn't the kind of book where that matters.
June 19, 2025
Appetite for Destruction is, without question, my favorite hard rock album of all time. Slash’s childhood friend Marc Canter was there for all of it: the shows, the ups and downs, and the journey to finishing the album and its success.
Using fantastic behind-the-scenes photos and having a front-row seat for the formation of the band, this is a one-of-a-kind collector’s item for GNR fans. It made me feel like I was there every step of the way.
I had two issues with the book that prevented it from getting the five-star treatment: the typos are too many to ignore, and the book can be a little bit repetitive at times. Still, this is a must-own for fans of the band.
Using fantastic behind-the-scenes photos and having a front-row seat for the formation of the band, this is a one-of-a-kind collector’s item for GNR fans. It made me feel like I was there every step of the way.
I had two issues with the book that prevented it from getting the five-star treatment: the typos are too many to ignore, and the book can be a little bit repetitive at times. Still, this is a must-own for fans of the band.
May 27, 2022
iconic band❤
February 27, 2012
It's appeal is clearly limited to the hard core Guns fan, but you'd have to go a long way to find a more loyal Guns fan than myself. I loved this book, author and photographer Marc Canter is a childhood school buddy of Slash who had unlimited access to the band from the time before they even were a band until the release of Appetite. Canter's intimacy with the band allowed for some really great candid photos and behind-the-scenes insights, and his documentation of, literally, every performance Guns 'n' Roses ever made prior to the release of Appetite for Destruction is an amazing slice of music history.
The book is also 'enhanced', meaning an internet site accompanies the book featuring Marc Canter's earliest tape recordings of some of those shows. It doesn't get much cooler than that (well, an actual CD would have been nice...)
The book is also 'enhanced', meaning an internet site accompanies the book featuring Marc Canter's earliest tape recordings of some of those shows. It doesn't get much cooler than that (well, an actual CD would have been nice...)
January 24, 2024
Reckless Road follows the band Guns N' Roses as it evolves from one of hundreds unknown bands in Los Angeles into one of the most successful bands in the world. It is mildly interesting, but the story is told through a series of short comments by the band members and various people they met along the way. It is not a narrative. It lacks structure. For that reason, it is not a very satisfying read.
March 18, 2011
I have seen the future of books, baby! And it has a whole bunch photos and videos in it.
Too bad the story isn't very entertaining.
Too bad the story isn't very entertaining.
March 8, 2016
Not boring at all. Learned interesting things not in other books. Perfect length as well. Bought at Canters Deli!
November 30, 2025
I preferred the books from Duff McKagan and Slash, but they were from a single point of view. This book was less in depth from one band member’s point of view, and provided a broader perspective of the band’s formation and the events leading up to them getting signed and recording their first record. The author was around the band during the whole process, being a childhood friend of Slash. The events are told from different people’s perspectives in each chapter, including the managers, producers, friends, girlfriends, band members, and former band members.
I found a few new pieces of information that I haven’t read in other books, so that was the good part. Also, there are several concert fliers, set lists, and photos throughout the book that are interesting for fans of GNR. I had two issues with the book, and both were minor. One was basic editing, as I was distracted at several points by things that didn’t seem correct. The other was repetition of stories or information. A couple of times I felt like the summary of events at the beginning of the chapter was good enough, and the individual tales didn’t really add much value.
I would recommend this book to anyone that is a fan of GNR or the Appetite for Destruction album.
I found a few new pieces of information that I haven’t read in other books, so that was the good part. Also, there are several concert fliers, set lists, and photos throughout the book that are interesting for fans of GNR. I had two issues with the book, and both were minor. One was basic editing, as I was distracted at several points by things that didn’t seem correct. The other was repetition of stories or information. A couple of times I felt like the summary of events at the beginning of the chapter was good enough, and the individual tales didn’t really add much value.
I would recommend this book to anyone that is a fan of GNR or the Appetite for Destruction album.
September 3, 2017
I don't remember getting this for my Kindle but I noticed it the other day and figured what the hell, I'll give it a try. It was pretty boring for me because I'm not a hardcore fan. I'm sure real fans would love it, there's tons of pictures. I do think Appetite for Destruction is a great album and like reading about the making of albums but it still didn't do much for me. Although that was definitely the best part of the book, when it actually got into the making of. I do think I would enjoy a trashy biography of the band, ala Hammer of the Gods, cause trashy rock bios are a guilty pleasure of mine. The 2 stars are mostly for the messed up editing and formatting which I'm sure is Kindle's fault and not the fault of the author. Otherwise I'd probably give it 3 stars cause it's clearly a labor of love and I admire that, even though I wasn't the intended audience.
February 27, 2018
For a long-time fan, this had some cool nuggets about G'N'R before they were all over the media. It was particularly interesting to see the order in which the songs from their debut were created (and extra neat to see a few tunes show up that didn't hit wax until Use Your Illusions). That being said, it would have been neat for a book called "the making of A4D" to have more details about the recording process and how songs were selected. Also, while it's evident that the author does in fact have a long history with the band, it's obnoxious how much he goes out of his way to jam that down the reader's throat (even going so far as putting a shout-out that he received during one of the band's sets in boldface, presumably so that it would be impossible to miss how extremely, extremely important he is.
Overall, though, a neat read with a ton of great photos.
Overall, though, a neat read with a ton of great photos.
January 6, 2018
O livro tinha tudo para ser excelente, com exceção de dois grandes "poréns": 1) Izzy achou a idéia muito interessante, até o autor ter a idéia de "jênio" e contar que a entrevista seria com as ex-namoradas e "parceiras no crime", ele não quis participar mais; 2) Axl Rose odeia falar sobre o passado, não tem qualquer contato com as pessoas daquela época e, para completar, este livro foi lançado na época de Chinese Democracy, claro, Axl enxergou que a intenção era boicotar seu album e Marc entrou para a lista negra.
Sem a opinião do "coração da banda" e do líder desta, o livro perde bastante o seu valor histórico.
Sem a opinião do "coração da banda" e do líder desta, o livro perde bastante o seu valor histórico.
April 2, 2022
i purchased the signed copy of this recently when I was at canter’s deli. I’ve read lots of books on GNR, but this has to be one of my favorites! the pictures were just wonderful and I love reading their story from different perspectives. this is a really unique book and worth reading for any gnr fan :-) there were some blaring typos/misspellings (I’m the grammar police… sorry!) but easy enough to look past. great read!
February 12, 2018
A fun look at the early history of GNR from a childhood friend who documented them with photographs and interviews from the beginning. You get the story of the band and their uncompromising dedication to both music and outright destructive rebellion. Got my signed copy at Canter's deli itself, where many of the early photos were taken!
May 29, 2018
I love guns n Roses. Always have. Fave band....but this book disappointed me. The pics where good. A lot of club Pics etc. The writing tho turned me off. I dont need to know every set list from every gig and I honestly was waiting for body flatulence to be noted in between songs to be written out. Also even as I skimmed and tried to just see the pics....so many errors 😰😰
July 4, 2021
Návrat do osmdesátek, kdy tahle kapela začínala, byl poutavý a zajímavý. Všichni členové kapely byli evidentně divočáci, kteří muzikou skutečně žili. Hodně fotek ze zákulisí, koncertů, hodně komentářů všech lidí kolem. Ale přijde mi, že kniha vznikala v době, kdy byl Axl se zbytkem kapely rozkmotřelý…
March 30, 2019
This is an ok book, it starts at the band's formation and gives insight to the very first concerts. The pictures are indeed worth a thousand words, I loved seeing the rare photos I haven't come across before.
December 28, 2022
I mean, you mostly get this book for the pretty pictures. But I almost gave it only three stars because there are so many typos and grammar mistakes that I wonder if anyone ever proofread the text. To be able to follow the story, it also didn't hurt to read Slash's and Duff's biographies first.
May 6, 2021
An okay read but fluffy, no detail, no grit ultimately disappointing
November 18, 2021
A great book covering one of my favorite bands.
January 31, 2023
Interesting info on how the group came to be. Not a lot of personal details on their personal lives but more on the managerial aspect.
This one is more for the die-hard fans.
This one is more for the die-hard fans.
October 14, 2023
Bellissima raccolta fotografica e della storia della band, seguita sin da prima della sua formazione
Bello, molto dettagliato anche se il finale è lasciato alquanto andare
Bello, molto dettagliato anche se il finale è lasciato alquanto andare
January 23, 2026
One of the better/best Gn'R bios, imo
August 14, 2019
The book was certainly excellent.
July 29, 2012
I wish this book was around in 1988. I was a teenager and one of the biggest Guns N' Roses fans you ever met. My walls (and ceiling) were covered in GNR posters, I had a jacket with nothing but GNR badges and patches and numerous scrapbooks with every picture/article I could find big or small. My parents were worried that I had gone a little overboard. In hindsight perhaps they were right. Fast forward "a few" years and I am still a huge fan. I don't have wall to ceiling posters anymore but I do have my vinyl copy of "Appetite For Destruction" framed and hung prominently on my wall. If you are reading this you may have already noticed from my profile that this is not the first (nor the last) GNR book I've read. This one however is one of the most comprehensive. Marc Canter, the author is a childhood friend of Slash and eventually the rest of the band. Through their inception and early days in the clubs Marc has kept copious amounts of pictures, flyers, ticket stubs, etc from the early part of their career. All of which is displayed on the 348 pages contained within. It is essentially a gig-by-gig documentary of the early days complete with stage commentary. But there is one caveat - this book is for the die-hard fan. If you are only a casual fan start with "Watch You Bleed - The Saga Of Guns N' Roses" by Stephen Davis. If that peaks your interest then move to this and then Slash, Duff's and Steven's bios in whichever order you prefer. But Guns N' Roses are a love 'em or hate 'em kind of band so if you are remotely interested in this book you're already a fan. Maybe just not quite as big a fan as I was in 1988....
September 7, 2012
The first thing I want to say about this book is that I lerned some things I think I could have lived without ever knowing! Spoiler Alert: I really didn't need to know that when they were recording "Rocket Queen", Axl wanted there to be authentic porn sounds in the background so he took Steven Adler's girlfriend into the studio and, well, I'm sure you know the rest. No wonder the band split, with Axl pulling stunts like that! Jesuchristo!!
Now, that aside, I did enjoy reading the stories from when all of this was coming together. It did get a little confusing at times though because there were accounts from people who I don't think really mattered. I found my self flipping back several times in an attempt to figure out who a person was. I really enjoyed the pictures, but I would have liked more of the behind the scenes pics rather than the pics of the on stage.
Two of the biggest and really only issues with the book were the typos and the videos that didn't work. I wonder if the typos were in there because Canter wanted to keep the book authentic and put the accounts in there the way the guys wrote them. If that was his angle, I don't think it worked. About the videos, I had the Kindle edition, which was supposed to have audio and video content at the beginning of each chapter; however, in it's place there was an error message. I was very disappointed and hope that this will be brought to the publisher's attention and corrected.
I do recommend this book for any die hard Guns n' Roses fan (like myself) who wants an insider look at the making of one of the greatest bands ever.
Now, that aside, I did enjoy reading the stories from when all of this was coming together. It did get a little confusing at times though because there were accounts from people who I don't think really mattered. I found my self flipping back several times in an attempt to figure out who a person was. I really enjoyed the pictures, but I would have liked more of the behind the scenes pics rather than the pics of the on stage.
Two of the biggest and really only issues with the book were the typos and the videos that didn't work. I wonder if the typos were in there because Canter wanted to keep the book authentic and put the accounts in there the way the guys wrote them. If that was his angle, I don't think it worked. About the videos, I had the Kindle edition, which was supposed to have audio and video content at the beginning of each chapter; however, in it's place there was an error message. I was very disappointed and hope that this will be brought to the publisher's attention and corrected.
I do recommend this book for any die hard Guns n' Roses fan (like myself) who wants an insider look at the making of one of the greatest bands ever.
January 7, 2010
This book is a biography book. A guy named Marc Canter had a feeling that this band was going to make some history so he decided to tag along. He has collected every single piece of information this crew has given, including pictures and audio. The band members saw Marc as another person from the band because he has been with them since the start. They Have a lot of there own drawings and how they either became the bands new album cover or one of there own tattoos. They have a lot of pictures of were the band had the first gigs and backstage and many more. The original band member were Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven. Over the years the band had been replacing people or the band members just got tired so they left.
I gave this book 5 stars because i really enjoyed the books pictures because the pictures that they have in the book you cant find in the internet or any were else. I also liked the back stories on how there album covers were inspired and how there tattoos have a back story to it. I also enjoyed learning about how the lyrics have a little back story to them.
My Favorite part of this is when the band first started because they ha glam the hair and they dressed like an 80s glam band with all the glittery clothes and make up. They looked very pretty. Also there hair was all teased and i love that looked.
So i would recommend you read it if like this band and like looking at pictures.
I gave this book 5 stars because i really enjoyed the books pictures because the pictures that they have in the book you cant find in the internet or any were else. I also liked the back stories on how there album covers were inspired and how there tattoos have a back story to it. I also enjoyed learning about how the lyrics have a little back story to them.
My Favorite part of this is when the band first started because they ha glam the hair and they dressed like an 80s glam band with all the glittery clothes and make up. They looked very pretty. Also there hair was all teased and i love that looked.
So i would recommend you read it if like this band and like looking at pictures.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews