Review: The Dirt: Confessions of The World’s Most Notorious Rock Band

Sergio reviews Mötley Crüe’s memoir.

Book Title: The Dirt: Confessions of The World’s Most Notorious Rock Band
Year: 2001
Author: Mötley Crüe with Neil Strauss
Pages: 431

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be an out-of-control rock star, look no further than this book. It’s a drug-induced, groupie-shagging, alcohol-binging, ego-invested story that follows the journey of four completely different personalities and how they managed to co-exist for over 2 decades leaving a trail of musical success and debauchery (Please note: the book was written before the current reunion in 2004, so at the time, the band’s future was unknown and assumed to be over). Just like the ad which initially got Mötley Crüe started – it is ‘loud, rude and aggressive’.

The book is written in an interesting format and contains chapters written by each band member, and occasionally a section written by former managers, label representatives or people from their history. This gives it almost a documentary type feel, and also showcases the different perspectives on certain highlighted situations – for example, when Vince left the band, Nikki said he quit, whilst Vince maintained he was fired.

What really got me into the book was that you could feel that it wasn’t over-dramatised and was more honest than a lot of other memoirs out there. This particularly surprised me, because I normally feel that Neil Strauss tends to be a bit over the top and dramatic in his work, but kudos nonetheless.

In conclusion, The Dirt can definitely be heralded as the ‘Rock Bible’ and the archetype of how to write a rock ’n roll book. After reading this book, I’m still wondering how it’s possible that one of them didn’t die from a drug overdose or a STD!

92/100

- Sergio Pereira
sergio@musicreview.co.za
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