Acclaimed rock author and BraveWords scribe Martin Popoff has released four new “making of” eBook documents, focusing on Ratt, Judas Priest, and Badlands (details below).

Says Martin: “Each are sweet ‘n’ easy pdfs - or ePub or .mobi - with color pictures and lots of my previously unpublished interview footage with the bands. Same with the iTunes (coming soon) - all set for your Mac or iOS device.”

Ratt - Invasion of Your Privacy (1985, 20 pages)

Although the heart tells most students of hair metal that Out Of The Cellar is the best Ratt album, the head knows that 1985’s Invasion Of Your Privacy is the masterpiece of the catalogue, one thick slab of thinking man’s melodic metal, full up with sophisticated arrangements, soloing and top-shelf production that has aged well. Popoff is on record all over the place naming Ratt as the best band of the entire genre, so dig into this rare piece of historical nonfiction on the band and find out why.

zunior.com
iTunes
 
Judas Priest – Defenders Of The Faith (1984, 20 pages)

In this much expanded and rewritten chapter from Martin’s long out-of-print and collectible Judas Priest book, Heavy Metal Painkillers, Popoff looks at Priest’s dark and heavy wild ride from 1984. “Love Bites,” Eat Me Alive,” “Jawbreaker,” The Sentinel”… This was a Judas Priest grindingly heavy in opposition to the hair metal era just taking hold. Join Martin in conversation with all the principles as they revisit this headbanger classic.

zunior.com
iTunes
 
Badlands - Badlands (1989, 18 pages)

1989’s Badlands is widely recognized as a masterpiece of bluesy, organic hair metal, Jake E. Lee, Greg Chaisson, Eric Singer and legendary, now deceased vocalist Ray Gillen creating the best early days Whitesnake record that never was. Swaggering anthems like “Dreams In The Dark” were indicative of a band where the groove was sixth sense, fully instinctual, the work of natural rock stars. Come hear the story of this great music, but unfortunately, the politics as well that was always threatening to sink the band.

zunior.com
iTunes
 
Badlands - Voodoo Highway (1991, 14 pages)

The shocking story of Badlands’ second and last album, Voodoo Highway, is a cautionary tale of how badly the music business was run, back in the wild West days of hair metal, especially when it looked like the gravy train was over. Artists until the bitter end, Badlands insisted on making a bluesy or, more obscure record, and they wound up paying the price for it. Soon their lead singer, Ray Gillen, ex-Black Sabbath, would be dead from AIDS and the band would enter the history books as hard rock legends to those in the know. Of note, Popoff has documented the band’s debut album here at Zunior as well, so if you’ve got two bucks to spare, well, you can have the whole story.

zunior.com
iTunes