When Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe was arrested at gunpoint as his band entered Prague in June 2012, accused of killing a fan he pushed off stage at a show in the city two years earlier, it was as much of a surprise to the him as it was to any of his fans.
He was eventually acquitted of manslaughter, but a year of hell and bureaucracy left him with a corking story to tell from the Czech prison he called home for a while.
What elevates it above many banged-up-abroad books is Blythe’s skill as a storyteller. Rather than just narrating what happened to him, he gives an in-depth glimpse into the mind of an alcoholic and the life of a touring rock band, and weaves in fascinating and relevant tales from history, such as the bloody and violent background of Pankrác prison where he was incarcerated, which apparently still houses a guillotine used by the Nazis during World War II.
Smarter and a hell of a lot darker than your average rock memoir.
