We Sold Our Souls

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And you know what? I don't care WHAT kind of genre we mix it with or whether it IS mixed. Music is a LIFE. And for me, I don't even care what style it is. I've been in my Metal phase. I've owned the breakaway. I've told the world to ****-off. We Sold Our Souls was a fun romp of a book from the rural setting of Pennsylvania, the depressed economy of West Virginia, to the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas. Right now, choosing among providers is not a choice between surveillance or no surveillance, but only a choice of which feudal lords get to spy on you. This won’t change until we have laws to protect both us and our data from these sorts of relationships. Data is power and those that have our data have power over us. It’s time for government to step in and balance things out.

If you love metal music, read this. If you love horror, read this. If you love reading the personal journey of a character to 'find themselves', read this. Like a lot of music is, this is a look into the soul of selfish, snobby musicians and the ultimate price they (seemingly inevitably pay) to be successful. The novel is a charming testament to friendships and life's imperfections, with dashes of rot and savagery to earn its keep in horror literature....It's a rollercoaster [that] lands as a vampire story concreted in vileness and Southern charm.”If you’ve ever been frustrated trying to put together furniture from IKEA, you’ll get a laugh out of Hendrix’s spoof mystery.” This book has some of the best concept-album ideas I've read and I fell right into it as if I was listening to Mindcrime or The Wall. No sweat. This is both a tribute and a soul-stomping realistic love-note to the downtrodden and the dreams of the fighters.

As Kris rallies herself and sets off on a journey she never anticipated, the gaps in her memory take form as much for the reader as for her mission. Although completely from Hendrix's imagination, I couldn't help but get a "Lovecraftian" vibe from this novel--I mean that as the highest compliment. I’d been meaning to read something by Grady Hendrix for ages, so I jumped at the chance to review We Sold Our Souls. I’d heard so many of my friends rave about his writing in general, but as a metalhead, I was especially sold on the idea of an entire horror story revolving around this washed-up former metal star and her old bandmate’s essential deal with the devil to gain his fame. The first scene of this is hilarious and sad. A naked man with a pillowcase over his head comes into her office and pisses all over her desk. He then farts and leaves. Her brother, who is a policeman’s first question is not “are you ok?” His first question was, “Jesus Kris, couldn’t you clean this up?” It is sad, and it shows how much she has fallen from her former life as a guitarist. the riff that said they all underestimated her, they didn't know what she had inside, they didn't know that she could destroy them all." After a particularly depressing work night, Kris notices a billboard on her way home, proclaiming the farewell tour of Koffin--The Blind King.

I also arranged for two industry screenings in Los Angeles and London that I totally financed at great expense in an attempt to find a distributor for the film. Take The Exorcist, add some hair spray and wine coolers, and enroll it in high school in 1988 — that’ll give you My Best Friend’s Exorcism...Campy. Heartfelt. Horrifying.” Her meaningful guitar riffs had a power she worked years to cultivate into that perfection. They were not entirely forgotten, but clearly pushed aside for a mundane job she had no passion for. There are a ton of band references in this novel as well as breaking down the overall culture of what it’s like being a metalhead, preparing to go to an epic metal concert, and just all the little details behind it. I’m pretty sure Hendrix has to be a metalhead since he was completely spot on with everything that goes into being one and the fandom behind it with a great horror twist. For most of the book, I was planning on giving this five stars but I thought there were a few too many unanswered questions at the end. The ending was satisfying but felt like it was missing something just the same, like when you don't have any bay leaves and decide to make the soup anyway.

This book was just so much fun. I think it has it’s flaws, but I enjoyed reading it so damn much that I am happy to forgive imperfections. I also don’t think Hendrix was going for very high-brow here, and for the kind of book this is, it’s a wonderful, weird ride. It pokes fun at all the stereotypes one can associate with metalheads, but in that loving way. I think it was Christopher Guest who said that you can only do satire about something you really love, and that’s what is going on here. Publishers Weekly calls it "...a gloriously over-the-top scare fest that has hidden depths...explosive...poignant..." but be careful when reading their review because it contains a LOT of plot details. And he’s the screenwriter behind Mohawk, which is probably the only horror movie about the War of 1812 and the upcoming Satanic Panic.Terrific...Sharply written...[ My Best Friend’s Exorcism] makes a convincing case for [Hendrix’s] powers as a sharp observer of human behavior, filtered through a fun genre conceit that doesn’t skimp on the spooky—or the bodily fluids.” Surveillance is the business model of the internet for two primary reasons: people like free and people like convenient. The truth is, though, that people aren’t given much of a choice. It’s either surveillance or nothing and the surveillance is conveniently invisible so you don’t have to think about it. And it’s all possible because laws have failed to keep up with changes in business practices. WE SOLD OUR SOULS is the story of a band in turmoil, maybe not a great band, but one that affected people. One that got people through the hard times...one that helped them celebrate the good. But when the lead singer decides that this isn't enough for him, he investigates...other avenues. Will the band survive his efforts and appeals to be something greater? Will they survive at all? You'll have to read this to find out! Heavy metal has always been more than music. It's a feeling, a belief, a raw and valid frustration about life as it is, an honest statement of truth beyond the smoke, of reality without the make-up. It is a subculture which has its own beliefs and language - some of which I don't even understand or grasp because I'm not all the way inside. But the words in this book is that same language, so if Grady Hendrix isn't into it more than I am, he does a damn fine job of making me believe. A fast-paced ride, firmly rooted in the pulp horror tradition…Hendrix’s darkest novel yet will leave readers begging for an encore.”— Booklist, starred review