To many teenagers the band Stone Temple Pilots and their  music may be unknown. People that have no knowledge of Stone Temple Pilots most likely have not heard the painful backstory of the band’s lead singer, Scott Weiland. Although Weiland’s tragic life may be virtually unknown among teenagers, his story is one worth hearing or in this case, reading.

In this memoir, Scott Weiland captures the essence of his chaotic life while clearly displaying the traits that make him tragically human. Weiland takes the reader through moments in his life, expressing them like background music. While explaining the story of the first time he used heroin, Weiland gives the reader only a glimpse of his feelings and what actually happens. These details and snapshots create a heartbreaking story that provides powerful lessons and warnings that anyone could learn from.

Scott Weiland struggled in life from an early age, and his life simply became more difficult as time progressed. At a young age his parents divorced leaving him with his mother, her new husband, and a half-brother, while his biological father started a brand new family without him. Weiland looked up to his father greatly, desperately wanting to be noticed by him but never receiving the love and praise for which he so desperately longed.

As he grew older and reached high school, he began experimenting with drugs. This early experimentation would eventually become problematic, but it greatly influenced his musical success.

This book maps out Weiland’s life as he gets older, dealing with drug abuse and family issues while also reaching fame and fortune in the music industry. It was Weiland’s music career that pulled him toward one of the most violent downfalls of fame and fortune: heroin. After trying the drug once, he became a regular heroin user and his life quickly became dependent upon it. He also began to experiment with other hard core drugs which further allowed for such a violent and tragic downward spiral.

Weiland went to rehab many times for his drug problem. Each time he found himself worse off than before as he continued to live his life reliant on drugs and the feelings they gave him.

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Weiland examines his substance abuse and its effect on his life and those he cared about. It contains a balanced combination of his life and music, intermixed with the artistic abilities that boosted him toward fame and fortune.

This memoir shows the reader all the difficulties in Weiland’s life that resulted from his drug abuse. While his reliance on drugs caused him many problems with friends and family, many of his genius lyrics express the pain and suffering he felt. To Weiland, drug use and music were the two ways in which he could escape the pain he felt from reality. It seemed as if without both outlets he could not cope with the abandonment of family and friends when things became more difficult.

Weiland provides insight into his music by introducing a specific event on which a song was based and the lyrics themselves. It turns out that the real inspiration behind many of the band’s songs are Weiland’s continual struggle to find love and his drug abuse. Weiland pours his entire soul into the lyrics, cleansing himself of that pain if only for a moment. The constant shift between personal experiences and lyrics gives the reader a sense of him as both a person and a musician. For fans of Stone Temple Pilots, it will be impossible to listen to beloved songs the same way.

The story itself proves tragic and saddening, but this book is well worth someone’s time because of the beautiful and straightforward way in which it is written. It is a well organized book because it moves in chronological order and constantly connects the events in Weiland’s life to his music.

Another great part about this book is Weiland’s portrayal of himself. He does not try to make himself seem like this incredible rock god. He shows himself in a way that makes someone realize he is simply human. For a moment while reading this book someone discovers he is not Scott Weiland lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots, he is just a man trying to fix his own mistakes.

Fans of Weiland’s music and people that want to learn more about his life would really enjoy reading this memoir. This is also a wonderful read for people that have not have not heard of Scott Weiland or Stone Temple Pilots because of the life lessons spread throughout the book. Weiland’s heartbreaking story and beautiful lyrics come alive within the pages of this novel, making it almost impossible to set down.