Here’s a round-up of the latest book reviews for Small Victories
Reviews of Small VictoriesClassic Rock magazine
“Harte’s eye for detail coupled with bullseye analysis and a breezy prose style illuminates the band’s dramatic and chaotic trajectory with authoritative calm…Moreish quotes and anecdotes further sugar the ride, and ultimately steer the book into the category marked “Essential”.”
Planet Rock magazine (UK)
“Genuinely insightful, Harte’s focus on the quintet’s punk attitude and thrillingly eclectic, forward-thinking music does a great service to both.”
Record Collector
“Harte’s work probes every cranny and crevice with the zeal of a hungry aye-aye looking for grubs…Small Victories delivers the goods on musical insights and in-fights.” “A fascinating insight into one of the greatest bands ever to capture – and perhaps fracture – the public imagination.”
Spectrum Culture
“Harte’s prose manages to describe the music as well as the delicate and challenging writing process that brought five very different egos together to create the quintessential Faith No More sound. Despite the band’s penchant for pissing off audiences (and each other), Harte recounts just how driven the band were for success and how that drive often conflicted with their need to be artistically true to themselves. Where a band like the Replacements acted out to satisfy some deep-seated need to sabotage themselves, Harte asserts Faith No More acted out to stave off boredom.”“Small Victories is a joy to read. Faith No More has an impossibly complex history and a habit of deliberately obfuscating the truth, and Harte has managed to streamline all of it into a cohesive and compelling narrative.”
Under the Radar
“Harte’s narrative is so engaging, one does not want the band’s tale to end. For the Faith No More enthusiast, there is much to dig into here. But perhaps more tellingly and to the book’s great credit, even the Faith No More newbie will be entranced and enrapt by the tale.”
The Wire
“Adrian Harte’s extraordinarily dense biography presents a strong case for the band’s multfacetedness…A notoriously volatile group of individuals, each member is portrayed as both flawed and virtuous; in other words, human. This tells a story their well documented public snipes at one another cannot. There’s some acute analysis from Harte regarding Mike Patton.”
Thanks Adrian! A fantastic piece of work. Loved it, absolutely fascinating. A band like this really deserve such a bio. Quotes from Patton that aren’t just rehashed from earlier articles would’ve been nice, although can’t really be a criticism if he didn’t want to be interviewed. Way to not leave out Beavis & Butthead’s commentary on “Digging the Grave.” So glad Trey Spruance got his say in there, although an explanation about why the end of “The Last to Know” is so lame would’ve helped:)
I will add…2 things that blew my mind as a fan who thought I knew everything…Roddy’s connection to Wall Drug (yes I’ve stopped at that roadside tourist trap wondering what I was doing there), and that Billy is a lefty! I knew Puffy was, but Billy too? Something that may seem insignificant, but maybe that’s why that FNM sound is so freaking different…the left handed rhythm section.
The book is truly a great read and does the band / subject matter justice. It was probably my favorite part of my trip to New Zealand / Australia. I’m back in the states now and finished the book in just a few days after picking it up. I will write a proper review wherever I can…I bought from a small stand-alone bookshop in Winter Park, FL, USA so not sure if I can post reviews elsewhere. Thank you for all your hard work and time Adrian & family! The part I loved the most…the last paragraph.