This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl by Paul Brannigan

May 14, 2012 VegasGal rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: ditched-2012, read-2012

It's unfortunate when a book gets so bogged down with other unecessary information it gets to be a chore to read... and it clearly doesn't have enough stories about the original purpose to sustain an entire book so it needed to rely on other stories to attempt to dazzle the reader. I normally don't rate books I couldn't finish, but this particular book wasn't all that good in the 58% of it that I did manage to trudge through, so I thought it needed a rating. If you don't mind minimal facts/stori...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Trisha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, biography

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was a nice present from my brother and his wife for Christmas, and I finally got around to reading it!! Though I loved what I was reading, it still took me a fair while to get it done, which seems strange. But anyway...this is not the kind of book you should read if you're not interested in music. Maybe you're interested in Dave Grohl, maybe you've got a little crush on the purported "nicest man in rock" (though the man himself disputes he's this ALL of the time)...but if you're wanting to...more This was a nice present from my brother and his wife for Christmas, and I finally got around to reading it!! Though I loved what I was reading, it still took me a fair while to get it done, which seems strange. But anyway...this is not the kind of book you should read if you're not interested in music. Maybe you're interested in Dave Grohl, maybe you've got a little crush on the purported "nicest man in rock" (though the man himself disputes he's this ALL of the time)...but if you're wanting to read 400 pages about Dave, this isn't the book for you. This is definitely a good read for anyone who loves rock music and is interested in the history of certain genres in America (and elsewhere, for that matter).

The book has a great focus on the punk/hardcore scene of Washington D.C., since that's what Dave Grohl grew up on so to speak. It also touches on other areas like, naturally, grunge, and also the underground (or overground in the case of Metallica) metal scene. It does tell Dave's story, from humble beginnings to where he is today. And it was news to me that Foo Fighters had had such dramatic moments in their history. I guess I've lost the desire to stay totally on the pulse with my favourite musicians' personal lives - I was really into that as a teenager, but the phase has passed me by - so I didn't pay attention to any of this stuff while it was actually happening. One thing that Dave Grohl hasn't lost, it seems, is his utter enthusiasm for life, for music, etc. He's gotta be just a little bit ADD, surely? hehe

I loved how the book ended, with that scene with Dave, Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic revisiting some "mouldy oldies". What I would have given to be in or near that room while that particular jam session was going on! Anyway, in conclusion this is a great read for anyone who's enthusiastic about music in general. Not just Dave Grohl. But it does help if you're interested in his story! And yes, Kurt is mentioned a lot. For other people apparently this was a problem, but for me, who hasn't read any Nirvana or Kurt biographies (or hardly any biographies at all, really), it wasn't a bother at all.(less)

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Mar 19, 2012 Phil Simon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: music

I agree with another reviewer's three-star rating of this book. While well written and researched, I really wish that the book contained more of an inside peek into Grohl's motivations. Also, as previously pointed out, the book starts out slowly and tends to gloss over the last five years of Foo Fighters' history.

I agree that Nirvana is an important band and I enjoyed learning more about Grohl's role in it. Still, Grohl has spent more than five times as long in FF as he did in Nirvana. I feel a...more

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Jan 30, 2013 T. Edmund rated it 3 of 5 stars

Maybe its just me, but I hate books, non and fiction which start with a disclaimer. In This is a Call - author Brannigan is quick to point out that this work is unauthorised and in fact the real Dave Grohl is somewhat of a closed book, despite being the 'nicest man in rock.' I guess the the hope is the enigmatic front-man is revealed by this piece, however what we get is more like a historical record of Grohl's early punk years, the Nirvana times, and of course the Foo Fighters rise and rise.

I h...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Matt Choi rated it 4 of 5 stars

From Nirvana to Foo fighters, Dave Grohl is an undeniable figure in music, as we know it today. Growing up with a love for punk music, Grohl started playing the drums. From the moment he played his first beat, everybody knew he was not the usual. At age 17, he dropped out of school do join local punk band Scream, after 2 years of playing with Scream, he joined rising grunge icons Nirvana. From playing bars to selling out stadiums, it was more than a dream for Grohl. However this all went downhil...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Chloé Blencowe rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love Dave Grohl (as do most people) and I was so excited to buy and read this book but I almost felt let down with the lack of... 'Dave' to it. It's well written and clearly thoroughly researched but I felt that it was becoming too heavy and more of a burden to read than enjoyable. The in-depth account of the Sex Pistols, the underground culture Dave was around for, it was mildly interesting but really quite irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.I think the reader did a good job in giving y...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm a big Dave Grohl fan (I have a picture of him hanging in my hallway and asked the wife if 'Grohl' could be our young son's middle name. She didn't think I was serious) and received this book as a present from the aforementioned missus.
I read a bit, but initially found it a bit smug and kind of 'I know Dave', 'one time Dave said to me' and 'I think that Dave' blah, blah, blah. I put it down and consigned it to the doom of being tucked 'just under the bed'.
Then, one day, I treated myself to a...more I'm a big Dave Grohl fan (I have a picture of him hanging in my hallway and asked the wife if 'Grohl' could be our young son's middle name. She didn't think I was serious) and received this book as a present from the aforementioned missus.
I read a bit, but initially found it a bit smug and kind of 'I know Dave', 'one time Dave said to me' and 'I think that Dave' blah, blah, blah. I put it down and consigned it to the doom of being tucked 'just under the bed'.
Then, one day, I treated myself to a soaky bath and wanted something to read while I shrivelled. So I grabbed this book and continued from where I left off.
As I said, I'm a Dave Grohl fan. As well as following his career since Nirvana as closely as possible (including seeing the Foos some 7 or 8 times live), I've also read numerous books on Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, the Foos and Dave himself, as well as Wikipedia entries and so on.
Where this book differs, for me, is that because it is written by a journalist, it answers the 5 Ws all journalists should answer (Who did What, Where, When and Why) and it adds in How too. And so rather than just say, Dave decided he liked punk and then he decided to play drums and then he got in a group and then got in Nirvana, this tells us more about why that happened. The music scene around where he grew up, the characters that went with it and the other people along the way.
Yes it diverts off at some length about this band or that, or this person and them, and they have seemingly little relevance to the Dave Grohl of today, but the truth is they had an impact on him then and helped him on the course that fans of him today find him.
Having made my way through what is a rather lengthy tale, I find that I have pretty much followed his entire life - surely the purpose of a biography - until present(ish) day.
Yes, the actual contribution from Dave Grohl himself in terms of quotes is limited, but the research, additional quotes and contributions from others helps to tell the story.
Those who have read this will remember that Dave is quoted therein stating that he doesn't want to put his whole self on display. "I want to save a bit of me for me," he is quoted as saying. Therefore, we're highly unlikely to ever see an autobiography or maybe even an 'authorised' biography of him.
As substitutes go, This Is A Call: The Life And Times Of Dave Grohl is an exceptional alternative.(less)

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Aug 21, 2012 Karl rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is not your typical biography in that Paul Brannigan chooses to spend as much time discussing the eras of music that are Dave's influences and his history as he does Dave's actual life. This actually is a good thing, in Dave's case, because of his wide variety of influences and is a reflection upon the various times in the life of Dave. Brannigan's background in the music industry gives him a bit of an inside track into understanding what makes Dave tick. I was amazed to find little tidbits...more

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Jan 31, 2012 Carla Coulston rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hubby and I were slightly deflated to discover this was an 'unauthorised' biography; however, the disppointment was short-lived as it became evident the depth of personal insight Paul Brannigan has into the mind and heart of one of our favourite rock identities... not to mention his iron grasp of the nuances of rock history in general.
More than just an insight into Dave Grohl, this book more than ANY other single rock biography I've read (and I've read MANY) gave a unique overview of the alterna...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Elise Camuso rated it 5 of 5 stars

In the informational novel “This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl”, by Paul Brannigan, the life of the former Nirvana drummer and current Foo Fighters front man are shared, along with his road to stardom. Described as “the nicest man in rock”, the auspicious rockstar known as David Eric Grohl has been interviewed many times, which acts as the basis of this book. Throughout the first four chapters of the book, which are titled “Learn to fly”, “This is a call”, “Chaotic hardcore underag...more In the informational novel “This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl”, by Paul Brannigan, the life of the former Nirvana drummer and current Foo Fighters front man are shared, along with his road to stardom. Described as “the nicest man in rock”, the auspicious rockstar known as David Eric Grohl has been interviewed many times, which acts as the basis of this book. Throughout the first four chapters of the book, which are titled “Learn to fly”, “This is a call”, “Chaotic hardcore underage delinquents”, and “God looks down”, Brannigan shares the basic information about Grohl. After being born on January 14th, 1969, in Warren, Ohio, Grohl and his family, which consisted of his mother and sister, moved to a sunny suburb of Washington DC, known as Springfield, Virginia. At the age of twelve, he began learning to play guitar but quickly grew tired of lessons and instead taught himself. In Virginia, Grohl attended theThomas Jefferson High School. After being elected vice president of his freshman class, he decided to play pieces of songs by his favorite bands over the intercom with his guitar. During his junior year, Dave and his mother, Virginia, decided that he should transfer to Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria on account of his bad behavior at the Thomas Jefferson High School. While in high school, Grohl played in several local bands, and later taught himself how to play the drums. At the age of 13, he played in his first real gig- a live music venue in Washington DC. As he grew older and wiser, so did his musical talent. At the age of 17, Dave Grohl auditioned to be the drummer in a local DC band known as “Scream”. Although Scream disbanded in 1990, Grohl did not want to stop playing the drums, which gained him a part in the legendary band “Nirvana”, along with singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic. Unfortunately, the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994 ended the band’s brief run in the Seatle grunge scene. With his heart set on rock and roll, Dave Grohl retreated and was unsure of what to do of himself. He did not know much at the time, but what he did know for sure was that he was not done playing music. On July 4th, 1995, Dave Grohl created an entire album by himself, recording his own vocals, drums, and guitar riffs. After recording the songs, he chose the name “Foo Fighters”, after the term used by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II. In 1997, after making drummer Taylor Hawkins, bassist Nate Mendel, guitarist Chris Shiflett, and guitarist Pat Smear a part of the band, Dave Grohl recorded the band’s most popular and loved song, Everlong, as the second single on the album “The Colour and the Shape”. After the release of Everlong, the band has created other great hits, such as “Best of You”, “Learn to Fly”, and “The Pretender”. The Foo Fighters released their latest album, Wasting Light, in 2011, and will hopefully be recording more in the future. This Is A Call shares the reader with all this information and more about Dave Grohl, and contains a straight recap of the highlights of Grohl’s discography.
Even though it took me a long time to complete reading the entire book, I would read all 353 pages all over again. I didn’t just love reading this because the Foo Fighters are one of my favorite bands or because Dave Grohl is pretty much the second Messiah, I loved reading it because it shared important life lessons along with incorporating amazing music into it. This book is filled entirely with quotes said by the man himself, Dave Grohl, and half of them are inspirational with the other half being about his insatiable love for rock and roll. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes the Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Dave Grohl, or even just rock music in general. Along with reading about the life of Dave Grohl and his road to fame, the author also includes information about other popular rock bands, such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Them Crooked Vultures, Queens of the Stone Age, and Tenacious D. Anyone who loves old fashioned rock and roll music will most definitely love this book as well. (less)

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Dec 30, 2012 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, non-fiction

While I wasn’t sure I wanted to read this book since it is an unauthorized biography, I have to say that it was a really enjoyable read. The reason I probably did appreciate the book that much is that my knowledge of the history of rock music, or music in general, is essentially inexistent. While some have criticized Brannigan’s many historical tangents into the punk rock scene, I really liked it, because I didn’t know anything at all about the DC underground punk and hardcore scene. In that sen...more While I wasn’t sure I wanted to read this book since it is an unauthorized biography, I have to say that it was a really enjoyable read. The reason I probably did appreciate the book that much is that my knowledge of the history of rock music, or music in general, is essentially inexistent. While some have criticized Brannigan’s many historical tangents into the punk rock scene, I really liked it, because I didn’t know anything at all about the DC underground punk and hardcore scene. In that sense, the book really picked my curiosity leading me to look into some bands I never heard of before, like Bad Brains, Killing Joke and many more.

The book’s narrative makes it a fun read. Always going back in time, in a sort of genealogical manner, Branningan presents us some of the music that influenced Dave Grohl’s own music. That being said, I agree with some of the critics who have said that when reading the book we sometime forget that it is supposed to be about Dave Grohl. Lenghty passages are devoted to some bands that were part of the punk and hardcore scene that has influenced Grohl. For my part, however, I did thoroughly enjoy those passages which I think gives the less informed reader (like myself) a lot more about the “times” in which Grohl grew up musically (even if it sometime doesn’t go into much detail about his own “life”).

Before I received this book (which I got from my girlfriend as a gift), I read a readers review (or two) which kind of threw me off a bit. Some were saying that while the book was good, it didn’t go much into Grohl’s inner motivation(s) to do music. Surprisingly, the thing I liked the most about this book was exactly that: Grohl’s inner motivation to do music. They were maybe hoping to read on things like personal issues which influence his music. But like it has been recalled often time by Brannigan (and Grohl himself), even though Grohl’s parents got divorced in his pre-teen years and that his relationship with his dad wasn’t great, the hyperactive Grohl was never one to delve into those issues through is music. Yes, he faced other difficult times – the death of Kurt Cobain after which he didn’t know if wanted to do music anymore; Hawkins’s overdose; and the Foo Fighters sometimes fragile state. But it isn’t his personal issues that essentially motivate his music. Nor does he have a certain agenda (political or other) that he translates into music.

What does motivate Dave Grohl’s to do music, then? Grohl does music for the love of music in itself. That’s his fundamental motivation since the day he started playing drum beats on pieces of furniture in his home as a kid, and this is where some readers review missed the point, because the book does present a lot of passages when this idea is plainly stated. As Grohl says at one point: “... my motivation was much more musical than anything. And I feel like our band has remained true to this ideal, just to do whatever satisfies us musically. If it feels right and instinctive at the time, then we should do that and not have anything keep us from it” (p. 277). Prior to this passage Grohl reflects on something he calls the “musical guilt” that sometime bands feel. By which he means the guilt of not staying true to their music roots (growing up in one genre and moving on to something different that might displease some people). That guilt never stopped him. While always moving forward musically from his time with Scream, Dain Bramage, Nirvana and from the mid 1990s til now with his band the Foo Fighters, Grohl also spends a lot of energy expressing his musical diversity in other projects like Probot, Them Crooked Vultures, to name a few.

In sum, for the less knowledgeable in the history of rock music like me, this book, while taking most of its information in already published interviews, makes a great effort of bringing all this together to give us the story of Dave Grohl and a lot of the fascinating background that comes with it. Furthermore, I would also add that Brannigan’s narrative made me appreciate even more the diverse work that has been done by this genuine rock star that is Dave Grohl.
(less)

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Aug 22, 2012 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

Important note: this book is not actually about Dave Grohl. Really it's the writers personal take on the evolution of punk music with an aside about Grohls life; Stuck in for marketing sake (so far as I can tell).

I was seriously disappointed and desperately wish that Grohl would write his own book. But respect that he's very private and not even close to done in music. Therefore maybe now isn't the time for him.
90% of the book is about the authors opinion and not based on fact, quotes etc.
Th...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Deanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

Well written, full of information, though it's somewhat the wrong kind of information. Punk rock history, the beginning and end of Nirvana. Details about the various things that happened to the Foo Fighters over the years... this book is supposed to be about Dave Grohl! For much of the book it felt like it was about everything BUT him. It gets better as we get closer to present day, but it still doesn't delve into the life of the man like I'd hoped. But, I guess having read it I now know why - h...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Aj Sharma rated it 2 of 5 stars

I bought this book because it it caught my eye on the shelf in a bookstore one day. The cove is all pretty and kind of pop art-esque. I knew the book was unofficial, and it was really just written from a bunch of interviews, with a whole lot of filler. That's pretty much what this book is. I mean, do I really need to read so many pages about Kurt in a Dave Grohl book? i've already read a ton about him. I like Sunny Day Real Estate, but I don't care to read about them, or really pages and pages a...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Todor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So I grabbed the book for a change from all the scientific research lately and I have to say it pleased me a lot. D.R.I.'s vocalist sums up my own opinion of Dave Grohl pretty well: "he has got what every musician wants: freedom". He just seems to have made the right desicions on an impressive journey, not devoid of drama and losses.

I can see how the first 100 pages of the book can be excessive to a big part of Grohl's mainstream rock fanbase - they tell the story of his hardcore and punk rock...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Sharon Thomson rated it 1 of 5 stars

Paul Brannigan was the renowned editor of Kerrang! magazine between 2005 and 2009. He then went on to write a short book on sayings from Lemmy of Motorhead. This is probably where Paul Brannigan should stay - writing short articles and books.
Although only 353 pages long, this book seemed to drag on. It was more of a history to punk and music from the early 90's to today, than an autobiography of Dave Grohl.
It was very interesting to read about the music industry, but it seems that Paul cannot ge...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Tiffany rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bio_autobio, music, history

A great trip through the life and mentality of Dave Grohl, including genealogy, rock & roll history, and U.S. history -- a bit of something for everyone!

I thought this was a really great biography of Dave Grohl. Yes, it is unauthorized, and yes the author does sometimes spend a little too much time talking about tangential topics, and sometimes not enough time talking about how a particular event really affected Grohl or what he thought about something (which might be a result of it being an...more A great trip through the life and mentality of Dave Grohl, including genealogy, rock & roll history, and U.S. history -- a bit of something for everyone!

I thought this was a really great biography of Dave Grohl. Yes, it is unauthorized, and yes the author does sometimes spend a little too much time talking about tangential topics, and sometimes not enough time talking about how a particular event really affected Grohl or what he thought about something (which might be a result of it being an unauthorized biography, not one Grohl sat down for and spilled his guts out), but still, I thought it was a really good book.

I can see how some readers might think there's too much rock history and not enough Grohl, but for someone who doesn't know a lot about the history of punk or metal, Branningan's background info was an enjoyable lesson and gave me a frame of reference for the people, places, mentalities, and styles that would later be referred to.

The middle of the book does get Nirvana-heavy and more about the band overall or Kurt (and Courtney), and not so much about Grohl or Grohl in relation to the band/the band's reception/fame. However, I do think Brannigan was attempting to make the connection between Nirvana history and how Grohl was affected by it... those connections just weren't all that clear sometimes, and it seemed like the book was becoming a Nirvana/Kurt Cobain biography, rather than a Dave Grohl biography.

So, on the one hand, I found it informative and an interesting biography, if not 100% of Dave Grohl, at least of the music scene and the bands he's been a part of. However, I could see where superfans of DG might get bored with this book -- this is the kind of book that if it had been about R.E.M., and I've read literally almost every substantial book written about them, I might start to say, "Oh, my God, enough already. We don't need your critical theory take on every song! Oh my God, we *know* such-and-such." However, I did think that Brannigan incorporated those analyses and tidbits into the text better than some R.E.M. authors I've read.

Good book, 4 stars. By the way, best f'ing part of the book: "the most memorable incident at Word of Mouth [recording In Utero] saw the Seattle police department arrive at the studio door following up a noise complaint, as Dave Grohl's ferocious drumming inside the soundproofed live room was so loud that it could be heard echoing throughout the surrounding neighborhoods" (210) [emphasis added]. Mother of God. The man is a BEAST. (And a sexy beast, too.)(less)

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Nov 16, 2012 sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

back in the 90s i was a complete nirvana tragic. i spent 20 years collecting memorabilia, and was pretty sure there wasn't much i didn't know about dave grohl, or anyone even remotely associated with that band in any way. so i was surprised and happy to discover a few little-known facts and anecdotes tucked away in the pages here.

this book was a fluent read, the story told in a way that held your interest - often biographies can be a hard sell in the beginning, but this had me captive from the w...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Bailee rated it 1 of 5 stars

i found this book really hard to get into.
I thought awww yeh this book is gonna be sick we are going to know more about the man behind the music.
Inside i found it as alot of going back and fourth and that really annoyed me, it was great knowing the history of dave.

If anything i found it more fact then an actual book, did not in my mind compare to scartissue which i couldnt put down but it was story of how he and the band become to be and thats what i wanted from this book. Didnt happen so i didn...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Krista McCracken rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is a Call was an interesting read, and did provide bits of inside into the life of Dave Grohl. However, it is clear that this is not an authorized biography, the book is packed with 'filler.' Brannigan describes at lengths the development of the US punk-rock scene, which though interesting doesn't directly focus on Grohl. Sometime it seems as though only a few lines in a single chapter actually relate to the person the biography is about (eg. The introduction of Nirvana in the book). Overal...more

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Jun 23, 2012 Jack rated it 3 of 5 stars

The author is a music journalist, and seems to be a very good one. The problem is, that he took the opportunity to write about Dave Grohl, and spent an awful lot of time writing about the punk underground in DC and about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana. While interesting, there were pages and even successive chapters that barely mentioned Grohl. The part about the Foo was quite nice, but I came out of the section on Nirvana not knowing really what Grohl was doing, or how he felt about all that was going...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Megan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first 100 or so pages were boring - more about the 'times' of Dave Grohl rather than the 'life'. I didn't need the 10 page history of punk rock, which just came across to me as the author showing off and name dropping. I'd give this part of the book one star.

The next 100 pages were the book's redeeming feature, when - SPOILER ALERT! - Dave joins Nirvana. The voyeur/rubber-necker/whatever-you-want-to-call-it in me found the description of the band's rise and the lead up to it's demise the mos...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great vacation book. Not sure how Grohl himself would feel about this work, which sometimes leans a little too hard towards "fanboy" writing, but certainly an entertaining read. His story is pretty inspiring as well, so don't let the maudlin quote on the cover spook you off of reading it. It's more a book about the Foo Fighters than about Nirvana, which is probably appropriate considering the number of albums and sheer effort Grohl has put into the Foos. Best read with access to some of the musi...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Eric Nierstedt rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book has a lot of great insider stories, but not always about the right thing. For a book focusing on Dave Grohl, there's a lot more of focus on the hardcore punk and metal scenes that Grohl grew up. The lengthy section on Nirvana turns the book into yet another story of Kurt Cobain. And when there is finally focus on Foo Fighters, the book zips through their history, though there is decent material on the band's hard times, like the recording of One By One. Grohl's music really overshadows...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Kristen by: Chris Waltmann

Shelves: biographies

I learned many things about Dave Grohl and his bands that I didn't know previously. There was a lot of effort by the author to research the musical environment and surroundings in which Dave grew up with. This is also helpful as many musicians he knew from his teen years, made appearances later in the book, usually collaborating with Dave on projects.
I did notice there were some discrepencies with dates, in particular with regards to recording and release dates in the 1990s with the Foo Fighter...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Brad Sorensen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love the Foo Fighters, Nirvana, and Dave Grohl. I can't get enough. I was excited when I heard about this book. The first 100 pages were a disappointment as the authors just name drops every punk band that ever existed and there is next to nothing about Dave Grohl, even though it is allegedly a biography. But then it gets good. The Nirvana section is captivating. And the Foo Fighters section goes album by album with in-depth information and reviews. It was great for a junkie like me. My only q...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Connie Crosby rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

There is a lot of amazing content in this book, but I'm not sure I needed all of this in a biography. Knowing the history of every band that ever influenced Dave Grohl, every early concert he played, and an analysis of every song he played is just too much for someone looking to read a casual biography. A lot of this content would perhaps have been better presented as lists in an appendix.

That being said, I learned a lot about one of my favourite musicians that I would have missed such as other...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Constadina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

I really liked this book and I liked the fact that it's not only about Dave Grohl's life
but it also describes the music scene that took part when a certain song/album was created which gives it a better and deeper understanding. I honestly don't know how I survived the part where Kurt died :'( I swear when it was coming towards the end of Nirvana I almost didn't want to continue reading cause I knew what was coming and I caught my self tearing up a few times...Anyway this book is a really good r...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Jemma rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well worth a read if you are at all interested in Nirvana and indie music in general. It feels like you really get to know Dave through this biography and he does genuinely seem more likeable than your average celebrity.

It is a good job that the title is "and Times" though because this also reads as a history of the "punk" movement in the US. Some people might feel shortchanged by this but actually it does put Dave's expereinces in context. Not unlike Ian Kershaw's "Hitler" biogs in that respect...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Starts out really slow and is totally cluttered by all the DC punk scene history, this is one of the better unauthorized music bios I have read.
Dave Grohl is a pleasure to read about simply because he rocks. He's not the typical rockstar but at the same time can still express modesty at being labelled the nicest guy in rock.
There were moments in this book where I found myself laughing out loud at Dave's fan boy antics when meeting members of the bands he loved growing up and also moments where...more

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BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10650929-this-is-a-call?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1317306896l/10650929.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10650929-this-is-a-call?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl by Paul Brannigan[/url]

This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl

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This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl

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