I really wanted to love this book, the subject matter is something I work in and have experienced personally. I would highly recommend this book to any fan of music in general, as it's such an important book that lifts the lid on the often glamourised life of being a rockstar. There is a significant amount of personal history in here, which is interesting on its own - but it’s not really what it has been billed as. Before becoming the year's most talked about music book, Bodies: Life And Death In Music starts out as the story of a father and a son.

In Bodies, author Ian Winwood explores the music industry’s many failures, from addiction and mental health issues to its ongoing exploitation of artists. The only thing i'm disappointed in with this edition is that it didn't include the chapter on Taylor Hawkins. Ian speaks to Stuart Richardson, formerly of Lostprophets, about how the spiralling methamphetamine use and uncontrollable narcissism of Ian Watkins distracted everyone, including his bandmates, from discovering the true depravity that would result in the frontman being sentenced to 29 years in prison for sex crimes against children. It is like a government health warning but would help you enter with your eyes open and ready to protect yourself.Whether it's because of drug abuse in the rock community, or mental health woes allowed to go unchecked by an uncaring industry, self-destruction isn't cool in 2022. That much is explored with such creative and intimate detail from Winwood, who delves deep into his own career and the rich tapestry that forms it.

I found this book disturbing, but ultimately positive as, for the author himself and bands still making music now there seems to be an improvement.But name dropping aside it’s part rock biography by a man who has seen a lot and part a record of his own downfall and battle with addiction, and he’s very honest about that. And there are those who are no longer with us, including Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington and Mark Lanegan, whose frailties would have been the same if they’d worked in offices rather than the world’s biggest stages, but their fates might have been different.

Instead, it's a memoir with heart and purpose, delivered by a correspondent seemingly at war with himself, from the frontlines of the music industry. The book also deviates to talk about the difficulties for women working in the industry, the sexism and the abuse. It's an unusual life, that of a touring musician, long stretches of travel, un-sociable hours, endlessly surrounded by drugs and alcohol. In general, I just don't enjoy books written by music journalists, which is strange because I happily read music magazines. Also I am sorry for once thinking that Nick Cave made better music when he was a heroin addict, I'd rather he was well.I really enjoyed this (insofar as you ‘enjoy’ something that’s hella dark in places) and think it’s an important, nuanced and powerful exploration of the music industry and the damage it does to people. Ian Winwood is a music journalist whose work has appeared in the Daily Telegraph , the Guardian , Kerrang! It’s clearly a book with limitations: Winwood sticks with the world he knows best – heavy metal, hard rock and punk predominate – which means the vast majority of the interviewees are male and almost all are white. It blends this with a genuine insight into mental health issues that can plague any of us, regardless of ages, sex or perceived success.