BRIAN SLAGEL with Mark Eglington
“FOR THE SAKE OF HEAVINESS: The History of Metal Blade Records”
Book Review by Mike Hackenschmidt

                                                                                       9.5/10

 

Brian Slagel is the founder and CEO of Metal Blade Records. For the Sake of Heaviness is the story of the founding of the label and the 35 years that followed. The book is incredibly inspiring to an aspiring writer like me and I have a lot to say about For the Sake of Heaviness. However, rather than write a book about a book, I have instead decided to keep this as brief as possible and instead express my opinion with music. Brian usually connects people and music but in the case of this book he’s writing. I usually write so in the case of this book, I will connect people with music. There will still be commentary on For the Sake of Heaviness so feel free to connect musically with Brian thru one of the following playlists while you read: Apple Music

 

 

Note on the playlists; I’ve intended them to be played while reading the book. The bands are in the order they appear in the book and only I only included a band twice if there was some significant reason. I did my best to include them all but did skip bands from interviews (more on that later). Also, if Brian mentioned a specific album or song, I tried my best to include it. For the YouTube I only included official videos where possible. There’s a ton of unofficial videos on YouTube and I only dipped into that well 3 times when I felt the video was too good or too important for the story to skip. In the case of Warriors of the World, I included what I consider to be the best/worst fan video ever created and I’ll challenge anyone to show me anything that even comes close. This was specifically included to show the effect Brian’s work has had on the masses. On to the review…

 

Starting with the cover, points are given for sticking with Metal’s (unofficial) official colours red, black, and white. The imagery is simple and recognizable, assuming the reader has ever turned over their cassette, LP or CD to see who enabled it.

 

The foreword by Lars Ulrich is surprisingly palatable, with Lars setting the scene upon which the story would unfold. I’m not keen on Lars, from what I know of him, though I’ll admit it’s hard to really understand anyone through the media. I’ve never met the guy but I was still more than surprised that I enjoyed reading what he had to say. I also noted a discrepancy between Brian’s recounting of the tale vs Lars’ and that turns out to be a theme throughout the book. They didn’t try to hide the fact that memory doesn’t always serve as was the case in the mini Twitter war that broke out between Dave Mustaine, Brian Slagel and Chris Barnes. All’s well that ends well, though. Note though that the first print of For the Sake of Heaviness is going to become a collector’s item one day. You’ll know if it’s legit if it has the part about Metal Blade Records trying to sign Megadeth.

 

Beyond that, For the Sake of Heaviness offers valuable information regardless of your motivations for reading it. If you’re an aspiring musician you get to hear how many, many bands broke into the scene. If you’re simply a fan this book is loaded with stories about bands and Brian is very generous to include talk of other bands from other labels that he happens to like. In fact, Brian comes off extremely likeable in his stories of how he helped not just bands, but even some labels get off the ground. If you’re looking for history, For the Sake of Heaviness outlines the tape trade and the formation of Metallica plus Brian’s contribution to finding their bass players. Hell, if you’re the competition and just want some insight to what goes on at Metal Blade, Brian even gives a peek into the future of the industry. Finally, if you happen to be someone like me who’s aspiring to make a living in the music industry outside of being a performer, this book reads as an inspirational how-to outlining how Slagel used his social acumen to scratch and claw his way forward despite an empty bank account with the support of a like-minded few friends and his mother.

 

For the Sake of Heaviness is written mostly in chronological order so it’s fairly easy to follow. The only time he broke chronology is when the story calls for it. Thankfully it was always a recollection to something he’s already spoken about. I never felt as if he expected me to already know very much, which is nice for the younger readers who might not have acquired as much knowledge as some of the veterans. Personally I had a bit of a hard time remembering who some of the non-famous side characters were but that’s more my fault since I was able to back track, re-read and realize that he’d done a pretty good job of explaining them.

 

Within the book, there are several interviews with people of note including Chris Barnes, Betsy Weiss, James Hetfield, Joey Vera and his wife plus several others. The interviews were cleverly placed and corroborated Brian’s story nicely though as mentioned above, there were some discrepancies. I think it’s pretty cool that they left those in, rather than trying to hide them. That would be pretty lame; we’re humans, after all and our memories aren’t perfect.

 

In summation, I would highly recommend this book to anyone into metal. Whether it’s history you’re after, feel good stories, the notes Brian took while attending the School of Hard Knocks or you’re just looking for ideas on how to expand your collection, for the Sake of Heaviness delivers.

 

Band References in For the Sake of Heaviness and the track I added to the Playlists
Playlist —>	Apple Music	YouTube
Michael Schenker Group	Armed and Ready	Armed and Ready
Saxon	Play it Loud	747, Crusader, Denim and Leather
Slayer	Tormentor	Black Magic
Armored Saint	False Alarm	Can You Deliver
Bitch	Live for the Whip	Damnation Alley
Omen	Death Rider	n/a
Lizzy Borden	Rod of Iron	Under Your Skin
Metallica	Hit the Lights	Hit the Lights
Deep Purple	Lazy	A Child in Time
Black Sabbath	Killing Yourself to Live	Killing Yourself to Live
UFO	Let it Roll	UFO Live At The Roundhouse Theatre 1975 (HD)
Judas Priest	Victim of Changes	Victim of Changes (Live at Long Beach 1984)
KISS	Rock Bottom	Deuce (Live on Letterman 2012)
Dead Kennedys	Too Drunk to Fuck	Holiday in Cambodia
X	Home is Where the Floor Is	n/a
Wall of Voodoo	Call Box (1 – 2 – 3)	far side of crazy
Oingo Boingo	Wild Sex (In the Working Class)	On the Outside
Van Halen	Atomic Punk	Hot for Teacher
Quiet Riot	Metal Health (Bang Your Head)	Bang Your Head (Metal Health) Live
Snow	N/A	n/a
Xciter	Paris is Burning	n/a
The Kats	Older Girls	n/a
AC/DC	Hells Bells	Hells Bells (from Live at Donnington)
Iron Maiden	Phantom of the Opera	Women in Uniform / Invasion
Scorpions	20th Century Man	Can’t Get Enough
Manowar	Fast Taker	Courage
Mercyful Fate	Nuns Have No Fun	NUNS HAVE NO FUN (Live in Denmark) (probably unofficial)
Accept	Love Child	Balls to the Wall
Motörhead	(Don’t Need) Religion	I’m so Bad (Baby I Don’t Care)
Mötley Crue	Too Fast for Love	Girls, Girls, Girls
Ratt	Round and Round	Back for More
Diamond head	Sucking my Love	Diamonds
Bitch	Heavy Metal Breakdown	n/a
Cirith Ungol	Master of the Pit	I’m Alive – Live
Avatar (Savatage)	City Beneath the Surface	Gutter Ballet
Demon Flight	n/a	n/a
Steeler	Backseat Driver	n/a
Black ‘n Blue	School of Hard Knocks	I’ll be There for You
Uli John Roth (with Electric Sun)	What is Love?	Uli Jon Roth – Full Show – Live at Wacken Open Air 2015
Trauma	Such a Shame	n/a
Exodus	A Lesson in Violence	Bonded by Blood – Live 1997
Savage Grace	Sceptors of Deceit	n/a
Hellhammer*	Messiah (1984 Rehersal Hellhammer track)	n/a
Celtic Frost	Into the Crypts of Rays	A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh
Silver Mountain	1789 (Live)	n/a
Fates Warning	Damnation	Damnation
Trouble	Fear No Evil (Live)	n/a
Voivod	Warriors of Ice	Clouds in My House
Metal Church	(My Favorite) Nightmare	Reset
Overkill	Blood and Iron	Goddamn Trouble
Cannibal Corpse	Hammer Smashed Face	Hammer Smashed Face
Six Feet Under	Lycanthropy	Lycanthropy
Anthrax	Caught in a Mosh	Caught in a Mosh – Live
Dio	Rainbow in the Dark	Wild One – Official Music Video
Megadeth	Mechanix	Wake Up Dead
D.R.I.	I Don’t Need Society	Suit and Tie Guy
Corrosion of Conformity	Rednekkk	Loss for Words
Nasty Savage	Indulgence	n/a
Ozzy	I Don’t Know	I Don’t Know
Megadeth	Holy Wars… The Punishment Due	Holy Wars – Live
Pantera	Cowboys from Hell	Cowboys from Hell
White Zombie	Thunder Kiss ’65	Thunder Kiss ’65
Hallows Eve	Horrorshow	n/a
Candlemass	The Well of Souls	Dark Reflections
Sacred Reich	The American Way	Low
Cryptic Slaughter	Rest in Pain	The Lowlife Chronicles 1984-1988 – official trailer
Hendrix	Freedom	Freedom
Zappa	Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow	The Torture Never Stops
Thin Lizzy	Black Rose (Live)	Bad Reputation
Alice Cooper	No More Mr. Nice Guy	No More Mr. Nice Guy
Ian Gillan	No Laughing in Heaven	No laughing in Heaven on Australian TV 1981
starz	(She’s Just a) Fallen Angel	n/a
Earl Slick	Zig Zag	GFS Pickups: Earl Slick Tests the GFS Professional Series 1952 Telecaster Pickups
Mother Love Bone	Crown of Thorns	Temple Of The Dog – Hunger Strike (all I could find official sry)
Pearl Jam	Black	Even Flow
Alice in Chains	Would?	Would?
Death Angel	Thrashers	Dethroned
Faith No More	Epic	epic
Queensrÿche	Silent Lucidity	Silent Lucidity
Goo Goo Dolls	Know My Name	n/a (Could only find radio friendly crap)
Red Hot Chili Peppers	Aeroplane	Californication
Morbid Angel	World of Shit (The Promised Land)	World of Shit (The Promised Land) [Full Dynamic Range Edition]
Obituary	Ten Thousand Ways To Die	Ten Thousand Ways To Die (Official Music Video)
Venom	Welcome to Hell	Witching Hour
Gwar	Sick of You	Sick of You
Slipknot	The Devil in I	The Devil In I (LIVE)
Armored Saint	Reign of Fire	Reign of Fire
Ozzy Osbourne	Suicide Solution	Suicide Solution Live 1989
Judas Priest	Better by You, Better than Me	Rob Halford (Judas Priest) singing in court
W.A.S.P.	I Wanna Be Somebody (Live)	Babylons Burning (Official Music Video)
Twisted Sister	Burn in Hell	We’re Not Gonna Take it [Extended Version] OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
Body Count	Free Speech	COP KILLER
Gwar	n/a	Phallus In Wonderland (Trailer)
King Diamond	Give Me Your Soul	Give Me Your Soul
MERCYFUL FATE	Witches’ Dance	Witches’ Dance
Korn	Blind	Blind
Tool	Schism (Vitamin String Quartet)	Schism
Pantera	Cowboys from Hell	Cowboys from Hell
Flotsam and Jetsam	Fade to Black	Ugly Noise
Anvil	Metal on Metal	Metal on Metal
King’s X	King	Black Flag
Lamb of God	Black Label	Walk with Me in Hell
Unearth	Black Hearts Now Reign	The Swarm
As I Lay Dying	Forever	Parallels
The Black Dahlia Murder	Funeral Thirst	Nightbringers
Rainbow	Stargazer	Do You Close Your Eyes
Amon Amarth	The Pursuit of Vikings	The Pursuit of Vikings
Whitechapel	Possession	Possession
Behemoth	Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel	Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
Masquerade	Flux	n/a
Labyrinth	Kathryn	A New Dream
Memory Garden	Hallowed Soil	The Evangelist
Holocaust	Death or Glory	n/a
Savage	The Devil Take You (1980 Demo)	n/a
Quartz	Stand Up and Fight	n/a
Jaguar	Back Street Woman	Axe Crazy – Live at Metal Assault 2014 – High Quality liveclip by streetclip.tv
Manowar	Swords in the Wind	Warriors of the World – (Unofficial – Best/worst Fan Video ever made)
Ken Baumgartner	n/a – Sadly Couldn’t find this 🙁	Bomber (Unofficial but awesome)
Harm’s Way	Amongst the Rust	Amongst The Rust (not 100% sure this is the right band…whatever!)
Monte Pittman	A Dark Horse	Before the Mourning Son
Jim Breuer and the Loud & Rowdy	Old School	Old School
Death	Scavenger of Human Sorrow	‘The Sound of Perseverance’ Reissue (Full Album Stream)
Iced Earth	Transyvania (Iron Maiden Cover)	Great Heathen Army
Charred Walls of the Damned	The Soulless	The Soulless

 

Released: 29th Aug 2017 via Metal Blade Records and BMG

 

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Slagel, demonstrating metal etiquette by wearing someone else’s shirt

 

This review is the property of Mike Hackenschmidt and Metal Gods TV. It is strictly prohibited to copy any part of this review, unless you have both of the parties’ permission, or are the band/record label/PR company in question. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be considered as Plagiarism and you will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

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