Author and journalist Joel McIver is featured in a new interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com. He discusses his latest books, which include Crazy Train: The High Life And Tragic Death Of RANDY RHOADS, and Overkill: The Untold Story Of MOTÖRHEAD. An excerpt is available below:

UG: Helping musicians co-write their autobiographies is something you'd like to delve further into and concentrate on, judging by our conversations on the subject. Could you tell me about that?

McIver: "Without meaning to sound like a pretentious dickhead author, there's something very rewarding about sharing someone's journey through their life story. I think it's because the co-writer has to guide the subject along, using intuitive judgement about what shapes their story and which elements need to be expanded or explored: it's a very immersive experience in that sense. The process is inevitably very emotional for the subject and, given the people I work with, there are always plenty of eye-opening stories. I'm currently co-writing the autobiographies of three famous heavy metal dudes that you've heard of (no, I can't tell you who they are at this stage) and in each case every interview leaves me speechless. It takes a few minutes to emerge back into real life, especially if you've just been talking about a particularly emotive experience. Anyway, I still like writing my own books so I imagine I'll continue to do both jobs – as long as people keep asking me to do them."

UG: In writing Crazy Train: The High Life And Tragic Death Of Randy Rhoads, what were your motives? In writing the book, what did you wish to achieve?

McIver: "It was simple. I wanted to tell the truth about Randy and his giant contribution to heavy rock, which I think has become underappreciated because it's so long since he died. Most of the visitors to your site will know about the importance of Randy's playing, of course, but the general public does not, even though most of them know who OZZY OSBOURNE is."

UG: In what ways did Rhoads arguably broaden his wings on Diary Of A Madman, and possibly hint at the direction he might've taken his playing on future Ozzy albums?

McIver: "The sad thing is that while Blizzard and Diary are both excellent showcases for Randy's playing, he was nowhere near the peak of his talent and I don't think he ever got to show us what he could really do. Had he appeared on a third studio album, we might have seen him take the leap forward that the first two albums suggested might be coming. As for his future direction, Randy would doubtless have begun to incorporate more of the same technical moves that many of the shredders adopted in the late 80s – sweeps, tapping and so on – but I like to think that he would have retained his melodic identity. Also, of course, he might well have quit Ozzy's band and returned to LA to study classical guitar, as he told Ozzy he wanted to do."

Click here for the complete interview.