Joel McIver (born 10 February 1971) is a British author. His best-known work is Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica, first published in 2004 and appearing in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Black Sabbath, Slayer, Thunder, Ice Cube, and Queens of the Stone Age. His writing appears in newspapers and magazines such as The Guardian, the Daily Telegraph and Classic Rock, and he is an occasional guest on BBC and commercial radio and television.

Joel McIver
McIver in 2013
McIver in 2013
Born (1971-02-10) 10 February 1971 (age 53)
OccupationAuthor
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
GenreBiography
SubjectNon-fiction
Notable worksJustice for All: The Truth About Metallica

Education and career

edit

McIver is an alumnus of Backwell School[1] and the University of Edinburgh.

McIver was the editor of Bass Player magazine from 2018 to 2022, having spent six years before that editing Bass Guitar magazine.[2]

Works

edit

Since 1999, McIver has written 35 books.[2] In the introduction to Neil Daniels' 2009 book All Pens Blazing, writer Martin Popoff described McIver as "probably the top [rock] scribe in the world".[3] In a review in April 2012, Classic Rock magazine described him as "...by some distance, Britain's most prolific hard rock/metal author..."[4]

As well as writing his own books, McIver has co-written several musicians' autobiographies. The first of these was the memoir of sometime Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes, published in 2011.[5] Other memoirs co-written by McIver include those of Max Cavalera of Soulfly,[6] Megadeth bassist David Ellefson,[7] David Bowie's former drummer Woody Woodmansey[8] and blues veteran John Mayall.[9]

Awards

edit

As editor of Bass Guitar magazine, McIver received the 2018 Award of Excellence for Best Educational Project from the Players School of Music in Clearwater, Florida.[10]

The same year, Sony's 35th-anniversary-edition reissue of The Alan Parsons Project's 1982 album Eye in the Sky, for which McIver wrote extensive liner notes, won its category at the annual Prog magazine awards.[11] Parsons, along with surround mastering engineers Dave Donnelly and P. J. Olsson, won the Grammy Award for Best Immersive Audio Album for the box set at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.[12]

In 2018, McIver co-hosted a podcast called Dead Rock Stars with fellow writer Mick Wall. In June that year, The Guardian named Dead Rock Stars their podcast of the week.[13][14]

In 2024, an extinct species of brittle star was named Ophiolofsson joelmciveri by Dr Mats Eriksson of the University of Lund, Sweden.[15][16]

Bibliography

edit

As writer

edit

As official biographer or co-writer

edit

Forewords and introductions

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Interview in Venue magazine, 2008.[page needed][volume & issue needed]
  2. ^ a b "Articles by: Joel McIver". Guitar World. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  3. ^ Daniels, Neil; All Pens Blazing, 2009, p6[volume & issue needed]
  4. ^ "'The Complete History Of Black Sabbath: What Evil Lurks' Book Due In October". Blabbermouth.net. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  5. ^ "GLENN HUGHES Performs Solo Acoustic Set At 'Life of A Rock Star' Book-Launch Event (Video)". BlabberMouth.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "MAX CAVALERA's Autobiography to Include Foreword By Dave Grohl". BlabberMouth. Archived from the original on 15 November 2011.
  7. ^ "Exclusive: Megadeth Bassist's Autobiography Due Next Year". Blabbermouth.net. 21 December 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2020.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Formats and Editions of Spider from Mars : my life with Bowie [WorldCat.org]. OCLC 957648116 – via www.worldcat.org.
  9. ^ "Blues from Laurel Canyon: My Life as a Bluesman".
  10. ^ @BassGuitarMag (20 March 2018). "We're Deeply Honoured That the Staff..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.[better source needed]
  11. ^ "Steven Wilson, Caravan & Steve Howe among Progressive Music Award winners". Loudersound. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  12. ^ "2019 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Nominations List". grammy.com. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  13. ^ "Dead Rock Stars and the legend of Lemmy – podcasts of the week". The Guardian. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Joel McIver". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  15. ^ Thuy, Ben; Eriksson, Mats E.; Kutscher, Manfred; Numberger-Thuy, Lea D. (2024). "Ophiolofsson joelmciveri Thuy & Eriksson & Kutscher & Numberger-Thuy 2024". doi:10.5281/zenodo.13365653.
  16. ^ Thuy, Ben; Eriksson, Mats E.; Kutscher, Manfred; Numberger-Thuy, Lea D. (2024). "The beginning of a success story: Basalmost members of the extant ophiuroid clade from the Silurian of Gotland, Sweden". European Journal of Taxonomy (947): 216–247. doi:10.5852/ejt.2024.947.2631.
  17. ^ "Remembering Extreme Metal with Author Joel McIver; an Interview".
  18. ^ McIver, Joel (2003). Slipknot Unmasked (Again). Omnibus. ISBN 978-0-7119-9764-6.
  19. ^ "Nu-Metal: The Next Generation of Rock & Punk".
  20. ^ McIver, Joel (October 2012). Ice Cube: Attitude. Foruli Classics. ISBN 978-1-905792-34-4.
  21. ^ McIver, Joel (2002). Erykah Badu: The First Lady of Neo-soul. Sanctuary. ISBN 978-1-86074-385-6.
  22. ^ "Justice for All: The Truth about Metallica - Revised Edition".
  23. ^ "Extreme Metal II Due in April".
  24. ^ "Queens of the Stone Age: No One Knows".
  25. ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Making of Blood Sugar Sex…".
  26. ^ "The Making of "The Great Rock' N ' Roll Swindle"".
  27. ^ "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath: Updated Edition".
  28. ^ McIver, Joel (2010). The Bloody Reign of Slayer. Omnibus. ISBN 978-1-84938-386-8.
  29. ^ "Jawbone Press".
  30. ^ "Unleashed: The Story of Tool".
  31. ^ "Jawbone Press".
  32. ^ "Holy Rock 'n' Rollers: The Story of Kings of Leon".
  33. ^ "The Deciblog goes over the mountain with Randy Rhoads biographer Joel McIver". 26 August 2011.
  34. ^ "Overkill: The Untold Story of Motorhead".
  35. ^ "Machine Head: Inside the Machine".
  36. ^ "Ultimate Rock Riffs: 100 Heart-Stopping Opening Riffs f…".
  37. ^ "Know Your Enemy: The Story of Rage Against the Machine".
  38. ^ McIver, Joel (2015). Sinister Urge: The Life and Times of Rob Zombie. Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-1-61713-616-0.
  39. ^ "Ozzy and Black Sabbath: What Evil Lurks".
  40. ^ https://www.waterstones.com/book/deep-purple-and-beyond/glenn-hughes/joel-mciver/9781905792054
  41. ^ "Interview: Joel McIver and Megadeth's David Ellefson Discuss Their New Book, 'My Life with Deth'". 22 October 2013.
  42. ^ "Jawbone Press".
  43. ^ Matlock, Glen; McIver, Joel (2014). Glen Matlock's Sex Pistols Filthy Lucre Photofile. Foruli Classics. ISBN 978-1-905792-47-4.
  44. ^ https://www.moshville.co.uk/reviews/book-review/2014/09/review-bible-of-butchery-cannibal-corpse-the-official-biography/
  45. ^ "The Thunder Story: Giving the Game Away".
  46. ^ "Bowie drummer Woodmansey's autobiography to Pan Mac".
  47. ^ "Blues from Laurel Canyon: My Life as a Bluesman".
  48. ^ "David Vincent and Joel McIver Talk 'I Am Morbid' Biography". 20 February 2020.
  49. ^ "SKÁLMÖLD - Official Biography, the Saga of Skálmöld, Available Now; Includes Foreword from Current President of Iceland".
  50. ^ "Fathers, Brothers, and Sons by Frank Bello with Joel McIver".
  51. ^ "Still Too Sexy: Surviving Right Said Fred - Signed Edition".
  52. ^ "Only Death is Real by Tom Gabriel Fischer with Martin Eric Ain Hellhammer Early Celtic Frost Photo History". 11 February 2013.
  53. ^ "Only the Good die Young".
  54. ^ https://www.waterstones.com/book/peaceville-life/paul-hammy-halmshaw/ian-glasper/9781999667009
  55. ^ "Jawbone Press".
edit