Scar Tissue

In my opinion, this was a very good read. Most books about musicians can be a little confusing, because of the use of another author. In “Scar Tissue”, you can tell that Anthony really put his time into it. It has great stories and memories of his times meeting friends, with his dad, forming a band, and traveling the world, with the mission of entertaining people. In the post by J. P. Stockton, he says that “We’re lucky Kiedis turned out the way he did in the end”, and i agree. Most of the book is about his battle with drug usage, and near death experiences for him, and some of the most important people to him. Thats a big part of the lasting effect the book puts on you, and how we are lucky that Anthony won his battle and can make the music that gives so many people the enjoyment of listening to it. In the book, it goes from Anthonys movement to quiet, comfortable Michigan with his Mom, to big, loud, influential L.A. and his Dad. Thats a huge huge huge part of the book, and even though its just described with a few sentences, this almost transcontinental move proves to change Anthonys life forever. The question is-for better, or for worse? This new L.A. lifestyle introduces Anthony to drugs, partying, misbehavior, and other acts of recklessness. But from Anthonys point of view, I think he does an excellent job at showing both the negative and positive sides. Thats why the book is so great. It has a first person view of both sides of the story. There is also a great equilibrium between the two, as the flow of the story and the style of writing make it so it happens without you even knowing it. Not only are we lucky Anthony turned out the way he did because of the music he makes, but because of this great story about his life that gets shared with everybody. Anthonys life is actually amazing. For a person to have that many great moments and memories, then be able to obtain all the information and turn it into a great book is incredible. You have to love Anthony, and as you read, you can feel the emotions he's feeling, like you're in his shoes while reading it. If you're as big of a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan as I am, you will notice that the book provides a lot of clarity into some of the songs written and performed by the group. Its all the little insight from him that makes you feel like if you see him in public, you could just walk up to him and act like you’ve known him and grew up with him and experienced all of the times in Scar Tissue right beside him. Of Course he has no idea who you are, and he is a human being bombarded by paparazzi and fans every second, so maybe just a wave and smile would suffice. But he is such an interesting guy filled with stories to tell for hours and hours. This book does a great job on telling the life story of a crazy, remarkable human being. A great quote from this book is “Every artist is at war with the world” (Kiedis 71). This quote can definitely be proved true, especially for musicians. In the book, Anthony constantly is taking Flea, Chad, John, and some former members, including Dave, Jack, Hillel, Dwayne, Arik, Jack S., and Jesse along for the ride of a lifetime. They had to go up on stage every single time and play like they've never played before to give their fans the best time ever. But there were also all the people thinking otherwise. The struggle of being a musician during Anthonys time was one like no other, as many, many people say that The Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the most influential bands of all time, as they introduced this new, punk, hip hop, rock, funk combination for the world to hear. They overcame the shunning words from music producers and record labels and any citizens against their music, and stayed strong for the whole ride. This book has a great impact on anybody who reads it, and i highly recommend it to anybody considering.

"Scar Tissue" by Anthony Kiedis, is a raw and unfiltered dive into the tumultuous life of a rock star ad quickly became one of my favorite books. Kiedis doesn't hold back as he chronicles his journey, from his early days in Los Angeles to the dizzying heights of global stardom. The narrative is filled with tales of addiction, love, loss, and redemption, making it a roller-coaster of emotions for the reader. What stands out in "Scar Tissue" is Kiedis's candidness. He bares his soul, revealing his struggles with drug addiction and the impact it had on his personal and professional life. The book also offers a behind-the-scenes look at the dynamics of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, shedding light on the band's evolution and the relationships between its members. While some parts can be heavy due to the depth of Kiedis's experiences, his resilience and journey towards self-discovery make it an inspiring read. For fans of the band and those interested in the life of a rock musician this book is a compelling and eye-opening memoir.

The lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Pepper, Anthony Kiedis, gets high for the first time at age eleven, with his father, who was an actor in the swinging ‘60’s and ‘70’s in Hollywood. Young Anthony had a relatively normal life with his mother and a more hedonistic lifestyle when staying with his father. What led to a lifelong struggle with hard drug addiction is unknown but May in part be from early exposure to drugs. I was not aware of the band’s struggles with addiction. Somehow, through it all, they managed to write songs, record albums, go on tour, and have relationships. The level of addiction is at times harrowing. And Kiedis gives an honest portrayal of the depths his addiction went to and how it affected his life. He reveals the close and complex relationship of band members, the early loss of a special band mate, Hillel, to a drug overdose, and he mentions relationships with other bands coming up at the same time, in particular, Pearl Jam and Nirvana. But perhaps the most interesting facts come back to his childhood where he was playmates, older brother figure, to Chastity Bono, by way of a close friendship with Sonny and Cher. Kiedis has some early acting credits as well. In fact, he was a Hollywood kid, and he met actors and musicians while growing up in Los Angeles. His exposure to many creative people in the hills above Hollywood shaped his point of view and mostly through his father accelerated his passage through the world of music, drugs, and sex. Another reveal for me anyway, is that he and bass player, Flea (Michael Balzary) and guitar player, Hillel, went to high school together and had been close friends before forming the band. Overall, it was a good read and a good effort from Kiedis. Ultimately, there is no climactic ending to the book (it is an autobiography or memoir from a living author) but Kiedis ends with where he was at the time he wrote the book, more or less learning to live with his obsession of using drugs and practicing steps to not use those drugs. It’s a battle. I wish him continued strength and success.

No matter how awesome you think you are, you have come nowhere near the sheer volume of drugs which Anthony Kiedis has consumed, nor have you had as much incredible sex with as many spectacular women. That, roughly speaking, is the theme of Kiedis’ autobiography and, if even half of what he says is true, it’s hard to imagine that anyone will ever be able to trump him in either endeavour. For those who do not know, Anthony Kiedis is the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a merry band of funksters who have over the course of a career spanning two decades broken down a startling number of musical barriers in the mainstream and produced some fantastic music along the way. The most damning indictment of the book is that there is literally no narrative structure here; Kiedis does not impose any sort of dramatic development on his story, so unless one is familiar with the outlines of Chili Pepper history, this is just one really, really, really long picaresque. And I use that word in its strongest pejorative sense: this is 465 pages of “this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; oh, and then this happened; did I mention that this happened? No? Anyways, then this happened; then this happened…” and on and on seemingly ad infinitum. Which is too bad: the Chili Peppers’ story could make for fascinating reading. They let their freak flag fly and eventually the music-buying public wandered over, trying to figure out what these guys were up to. They never really compromised their music, with even their poppiest tunes (except for the execrable One Hot Minute) slanted just slightly off-kilter to what the rest of the mainstream was doing. And the personalities in the band are, to put it mildly, eccentric: Kiedis is the beautiful, rapping, flowing, sex god, drug addict, front man; bassist Flea is the manic musician, the kind of guy who would probably be terribly unsettling to sit beside on the subway, but who, by all accounts, has a heart of gold; current (and former… it’s a long story) guitarist John Frusciante is a drug-damaged artiste; and Chad Smith, the drummer (of course) is the odd one out, the guy who doesn’t seem to fit in so well. Very little of this comes through in Scar Tissue; for example, Smith, who has been drumming for the band for more than fifteen years is barely mentioned, and almost no interactions between Kiedis and Smith are recounted, other than a drunken near-brawl in a hotel.

"Scar Tissue" is an unfiltered glimpse into the life of Anthony Kiedis, the charismatic lead singer and lyricist of the iconic band, Red Hot Chili Peppers. In this New York Times bestseller, Kiedis bares his soul, taking readers on a roller-coaster ride through the tumultuous world of rock 'n' roll. The book opens with the birth of the band in the gritty, neon-lit landscape of Los Angeles in 1983. Four self-proclaimed "knuckleheads" burst onto the scene with a unique blend of cosmic hardcore mayhem funk, setting the stage for a musical journey like no other. Fast forward over two decades, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have defied all odds to become one of the world's most successful and enduring bands. But "Scar Tissue" is not your typical rock star memoir. It's a searingly honest and unapologetic account of Kiedis' life—one marked by both incredible highs and crushing lows. Kiedis doesn't hold back as he shares his love affair with everything, including the darkness, death, and disease that have touched his life. Even his harrowing descent into drug addiction becomes a poignant element of his artistic journey. What sets this memoir apart is Kiedis' ability to intertwine personal experiences with the evolution of the band. He pays tribute to the powerful and inspiring women who've influenced his life while recounting the electrifying energy of Woodstock and the humbling presence of the Dalai Lama. It's a story of dedication and debauchery, intrigue and integrity, recklessness and redemption. "Scar Tissue" is more than a rock 'n' roll memoir; it's a testament to the indomitable spirit of an artist who has faced the darkest corners of fame and addiction and emerged with his creativity and integrity intact. Kiedis' writing is raw, visceral, and, at times, heart-wrenching. It's a book that resonates with anyone who has wrestled with their demons, chased their dreams, and found their way back from the brink. Whether you're a die-hard fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers or simply someone intrigued by the inner workings of the music industry, "Scar Tissue" offers a gripping, no-holds-barred account of a life lived to the fullest—a life that could only have been lived in the world of rock 'n' roll. Dive in, and prepare to be moved, inspired, and forever changed by Anthony Kiedis' remarkable journey.

An absolutely epic journey. Mr. Kiedis keeps it real and honest. I grew up with the Chili Peppers and all I can say is I feel like Anthony opened his heart and truly let me in to his world. This book touched my heart.

Amazing read

I wasn't a big Red Hot Chili Peppers fan in their day - for one thing, I always thought of them as more a tribe of half-naked Hollywood junkies than a viable musical act, and this book seems to back up my opinion. However, this book isn't really about the RHCP but more about the life and times of recovering addict Anthony Kiedis. It was recommended to me by several people, one of whom was involved in the LA music scene around the same time and praised the book for its honesty. On the one hand, I applaud Mr. Kiedis's skills as a writer, as well as his ability to craft a reasonably decent adult life following a pretty dysfunctional childhood with seemingly no animosity towards either of his parents. And the book is clearly honest about the realities of junkie-dom in a way that "A Million Little Pieces" was not. You never get the feeling the author is gilding the lily or exaggerating; he doesn't have to. As the son of a Hollywood drug dealer turned actor, who had his first sexual experience with his father's teenage girlfriend (with father's own blessing, no less) at age 11, and who went on to have sex with multiple girls, act in films, hang out with Sonny Bono and share a bed (platonically, but erotically) with Cher all before his midteens, and wind up fronting one of the world's biggest rock bands...nobody writing fiction could possibly top that. Juxtaposed with exciting world tours and girlfriends and groupies galore are the more sordid tales of ripoffs, dope sickness, failed withdrawal attempts and the like, that have peppered every true-life junkie tale since "Confessions of an Opium Eater". Somehow, Anthony manages to stay positive through all of his ups and downs, including the death of his friend/ bandmate, rehab, a relapse back into addiction supposedly caused by a dentist's malpractice, and rehab again. He generally comes off as a good-hearted likeable guy who doesn't seem to have let fame go to his head and realizes that addiction is a spiritual disease as well as physical. On the other hand, unless this fellow's emotions are completely dead, I would have expected some recognition that his upbringing wasn't the greatest. It's awesome that he has a good relationship with his family, and I'm not looking for "Mommie Dearest" confrontation levels here, but Kiedis seems to completely gloss over the point that a father providing his preteen son with ready access to drugs (and sex) and involving the kid in his own drug trafficking activities is, to put it mildly, NOT a good idea. Instead, Kiedis just seems bemused by the whole thing, even admiring of Dear Old Dad. A number of other books in the true-life addicts genre, including Danny Sugerman's "Wonderland Avenue" and Papa John Phillips' autobiography, are much more direct about coming out and saying that young teens running loose on the Sunset Strip popping pills was a lot of fun, but in the end, bad with a capital B. Kiedis can't seem to get himself to admit that. A goodly part of the book also details Kiedis's relationships with a long series of women and his erotic encounters with many more in a curiously detached manner. It's understandable that he'd have lots of women given that he's a handsome rock star living in Hollywood, and some of his detachment can probably be written off to the toll that addiction and recovery takes on one's emotions. But reading about a grown man seeing a woman for two minutes at an elevator, deciding on the spot that she could be his future wife (until she gets on the elevator and disappears forever), and then breaking up with his long-suffering committed girlfriend who has, by his own admission, done nothing wrong - he's just not in love with her any more for no good reason - sounds like Anthony's maturity meter got stuck at about age 14 rather than him being "honest". He seems more drawn to women who fight with him rather than women who are nice to him, yet we never get any real insight into why. By the end of the book, our hero is middle-aged and still doesn't appear even close to settling down with anyone (plus, since writing the book, he has reportedly fathered a child by another girlfriend and then split from her). Perhaps the kind of self-realization needed to explain this pattern is still down the road in Anthony's recovery journey, or perhaps it was just too intimate for the book, but it's hard to see Anthony as a fully evolved recovering adult when his closest and healthiest relationship appears to be with his dog. Overall, this is a reasonably interesting tell-all in the "junkie survivor" genre and makes Anthony Kiedis seem like the slightly sad sweetie he looked like in the "Under the Bridge" video. I wouldn't call it super honest though - go read "Wonderland Avenue" if you're looking for that. And if you're looking for a book about the band, that's yet to be written. I don't think the story of the Chili Peppers could be adequately told by one person given the number of musicians with strong personalities (Flea, John Frusciante, etc.) involved over the years. It would be great if the band decided to do something along the lines of Motley Crue's "The Dirt" with each band member chiming in.