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Reign in Blood (33 1/3) | 
 enlarge | Author: D. X. Ferris
Publisher: Continuum
Category: Book
List Price: $10.95
Buy New: $5.92
You Save: $5.03 (46%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 21642
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 153
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.4 x 4.7 x 0.5
ISBN: 0826429092
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.421660922
EAN: 9780826429094
ASIN: 0826429092
Publication Date: April 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
D.X. Ferris explores the creation of the most universally respected metal album.Slayer's controversial "Reign in Blood" remains the gold standard for extreme heavy metal: a seamless procession of ten blindingly fast songs in just twenty-eight minutes, delivered in furious bursts of instrumental precision, with lyrics so striking that Tori Amos was moved to record a cover. Reign in Blood saw the emerging underground standouts from Huntington Beach team with Rick Rubin - 2007's Grammy-Award winner for producer of the year, then known strictly for creating hip-hop albums with groups such as Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys - to permanently fuse classic rock's technical proficiency, hardcore punk's speed and metal's brute power. Working in a much-maligned genre, guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King emerged as the Lennon and McCartney of speed metal, penning a collection of apocalyptic scenes comparable to the dark work of novelists like Cormac McCarthy and Herman Melville.The album came together though the efforts of a team that would go on to be some of the biggest names in the current music business. Issued on America's premier rap label at the pinnacle of the thrash movement, Reign in Blood sparked a new genre called death metal and continues to serve as a touchstone for metal musicians. The disc marked Slayer's coronation as the kings of thrash and their ongoing twenty-five year streak of vitality places them in the small fraternity of rock's greatest groups. Through interviews with the entire band, Rubin, engineer Andy Wallace, and a who's who of headbangers from three decades, D.X. Ferris explores the creation of the most universally respected metal album."33 1/3" is a series of short books about a wide variety of albums, by artists ranging from James Brown to the Beastie Boys. Launched in September 2003, the series now contains over 50 titles and is acclaimed and loved by fans, musicians and scholars alike.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Great Album, Great Book October 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
D.X. Ferris' entry into the 33 1/3 series covering Slayer's seminal "Reign In Blood" is in my opinion one of the best to date.
Like most of the other 33 1/3 series books, Ferris gives a concise overview of the players, times and circumstances that resulted in the creation of Slayer's "Reign In Blood." Ferris obviously did his homework on this one and seems not only to be a fan but a competent journalist.
What I found most interesting about this were the asides regarding Rick Rubin, his history and his unusual production style. Even if you are not a member of the Slaytanic Wheremacht, this great entry in the 33 1/3 series deserves a place on your bookshelf.
 great album, really bad book October 4, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
the 33 1/3 series is, imho, unbelievably spotty: some of the books from the series are among the best examples of music criticism/journalism to be published in the last few years, while others are just completely useless wastes of bookshelf space.
i picked this one up based on the back cover's claim that there was in-depth discussion with not only the band but with producer rick rubin, engineer andy wallace and album cover designer larry carroll. while the book does technically contain interview clips with all of these principles, they are contained within an unbelievably unscholarly work that makes great pains to express how awesome the album in question is, without really explained why, or why it was made, or how it was made.
the book begins with a pretty rambling introduction that just never really takes off-- for a record that, musically, is so devoid of any fat or wasted space, this book amounts to little more than the endless prattling of a diehard fan. the surprising thing is that i find myself thinking this, as i am myself a pretty diehard slayer fan-- however, i think i was hoping for more of a critical assessment of the band, the album, and the album's place in history and society.
the book is front-loaded with, imho, rather obvious sentiments about how awesome the album is, as well as a bombardment of pretty stereotypical assessments of the culture of heavy metal at the time. considering how shocking and bizarre the album was upon its release, and how the band itself have managed to grow into respected elder statesmen as well as stable family men, all on a foundation built upon this record and its bold statement of chaos, disrespect for authority and relatively careless appropriation of what can best be termed "dangerous ideas", you would think that the stage would be set for a really meaningful and in-depth investigation into a fascinating time and place. instead, you get the author's pretty sophomoric rantings and comparisons, all executed with absolutely no wit or grace. for example, here is the final paragraph of the book, where the author is for some reason comparing slayer's discography to the "terminator" series of sci-fi films:
"'Reign In Blood''s rough predecessor, 'Hell Awaits', is the equivalent of the first 'Terminator'. Unlike that violent film franchise, Slayer has never rebooted with an all-new lineup. And the band has never made an album comparable to 'Terminator 3'--a wholly ignorable outing that fails to improve on a single facet of its forerunners. Therein lies Slayer's greatness."
these sort of mangled empty comparisons are par for the course in this book-- the writer just seems out of his league turning his ruminations on why slayer rules into a book-length thesis; you get the impression that the 33 1/3 people okay'd this one based on the lack of metal coverage in their to-date list of titles; a great book could indeed be written on this album, and why it is special; unfortunately, this ain't it.
How Thrash was, in it's beginning stages August 29, 2008
This book is the manual for why the thrash metal movement began, why it thrived, and what was the ultimate in thrash metal recordings, Slayer's "Reign In Blood". I was there when thrash was huge, my former band, Graphic Violence, was produced by Carl Canedy, who produced bands like Overkill, and Anthrax. I lived the original thrash movement. Thrash is now making a revival, and for those who werent there, this is the book to read. Honest and somewhat revealing, this tome shows the youth and vitality of the guys in the band, as they recorded the most important recording of thier carreer.Without hearing it from the horses mouth, the only way to know how it went down is this book...
Simple enough August 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book rules. If you like the band, you'll love the book (because it rules).
Required reading for metal fans July 19, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book should be required reading for any metal fan.
The interviews are consistently interesting and give the reader a good sense of the real metal scene of the 80's. This book ain't about fluffy haired poseurs and their power-ballads.
Ferris provides everything you ever wanted to know about the record Reign In Blood, and tons of info on thrash metal in general. Even if you don't particularly care for Slayer, this book goes beyond the band and provides rare insight into the era of now-classic thrash.
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