Metal on Ice: Tales from Canada's Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Heroes

by Sean Kelly

Overview

A musical genre as tough and hard as the Canadian Shield.

Canada has produced many successful proponents of the genre known as heavy metal, which grew out of the hard rock of the 1970s, exploded commercially in the 1980s, and then petered out in the 1990s as grunge took over, only to rise to prominence once again in the new millennium.

The road to Canadian musical glory is not lined with the palm trees and top-down convertibles of the Sunset Strip. It is a road slick with black ice, obscured by blizzards, and littered with moose and deer that could cause peril for a cube van thundering down a Canadian highway.

Drawing on interviews with original artists such as Helix, Anvil, Coney Hatch, Killer Dwarfs, Harem Scarem, and Honeymoon Suite, as well as prominent journalists, VJs, and industry insiders, we relive their experiences, motivations, and lifestyles as they strove for that most alluring of brass rings – the coveted record deal. It’s a new perspective on the dreams of musicians shooting for an American ideal of success and discovering a uniquely Canadian voice in the process.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459707092
Publisher:	Dundurn Press
Publication date:	10/08/2013
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Sean Kelly is the billboard-charting guitarist of his own band, Crash Kelly. He has released several classical guitar albums, and tours as lead guitarist for Grammy Award–winning superstar Nelly Furtado. Kelly has also performed with Helix, Carl Dixon, Gilby Clarke, and Carole Pope, among many others. He lives in Toronto.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: The Players
Chapter 2:  The Motivations
Chapter 3: The Road
Chapter 4: The Big Deal
Chapter 5: The Border
Chapter 6: The Peaks
Chapter 7: The Valleys
Chapter 8:  The Epilogue
Discography

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/16/2013
Veteran rocker Kelly provides a fascinating history of Canadian hard rock. The author combines a methodical approach with obvious enthusiasm for his subject, first setting the stage by introducing the significant figures in this field, icons such as Anvil, Coney Hatch, Harem Scarem, Helix, Killer Dwarfs and more. What follows is an celebration of the world of hard rock, ranging from the demanding lifestyle forced on Canada's itinerant musicians by that nation's thinly settled geography to the challenges of trying to expand into the U.S. market, from Canadian rock journalism to the exploitive machinations of the music industry of the day, and from the heights of the golden age of the 1970s and 1980s to the dark age of the 1990s, when hard rock and metal were pushed aside by the grunge fad; the one element that gets short shrift are the women of Canadian rock, relegated to a single chapter. Drawing on his own experiences and that of the musicians he interviewed, the author has created a masterful account whose main flaw, aside from its focus on men, is brevity; the reader is left hoping this is merely introductory and works of greater depth will follow. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

The book can be summarized as equal part history lesson, advice for musicians, as well as a long overdue shout out to those early Canadian hard rock heroes (too many to mention) who busted their asses, chasing their musical dreams.

loudguitars.com

Just finished reading the Sean Kelly book Metal on Ice. For those of you who are fans of Canadian '80s rock this is a real page turner. Growing up, Sean was a real fan of Canadian bands like Coney Hatch, Brighton Rock, Honeymoon Suite, Harem Scarem, Killer Dwarfs, Helix, etc. and wrote this book about how it influenced his life. The book is filled with great interviews and road stories and fond (and not so fond!) memories of the '80s and early '90s Canadian Rock scene. Highly recommended!

www.bravewords.com

...if there truly is a School of Rock, there is no doubt that Metal on Ice will be on the curriculum.

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal

Metal On Ice puts you onstage with a pointy guitar, in a van with no heat in Alberta, and inside clubs like Rock'N' Roll Heaven with the bands and in their own words. Awesome reading.

provocativepenguin.com

... it's a quick way to remember a time long ago, when MuchMusic ruled the airwaves and vans had astral princesses riding intergalactic dragons painted on the side.

vueweekly.com

If this book were a song, it would be a lighter-waving power ballad to Canadian bands such as Helix, Coney Hatch, Honeymoon Suite, Killer Dwarfs and more.

San Antonio Express-News

Sean Kelly understands this need for documentation and celebration.

alancross.ca - Alan Cross

Metal on Ice is a mini encyclopedia of Canadian Metal. It is a book of memories for those that lived it and a wealth of info for those that didn’t. Even if you were there or grew up in that era listening to the music you will enjoy reading the stories from the artists you looked up to as a teen. ...Essential reading for ALL metal music fans.

Metal-rules.com

Metal on Ice is a walk down memory lane with a group of friends you never met, yet they have sung their hearts out to you over many years.

welovemetal.com

Sean Kelly has done an admirable job of tracing the evolution of rock north of the 49th parallel...

beauty-in-ruins.blogspot.ca

... it's a quick way to remember a time long ago, when MuchMusic ruled the airwaves and vans had astral princesses riding intergalactic dragons painted on the side.

... it's a quick way to remember a time long ago, when MuchMusic ruled the airwaves and vans had astral princesses riding intergalactic dragons painted on the side.

-- "vueweekly.com"

...if there truly is a School of Rock, there is no doubt that Metal on Ice will be on the curriculum.

...if there truly is a School of Rock, there is no doubt that Metal on Ice will be on the curriculum.

-- "Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal"

Metal on Ice is a mini encyclopedia of Canadian Metal. It is a book of memories for those that lived it and a wealth of info for those that didn't. Even if you were there or grew up in that era listening to the music you will enjoy reading the stories from the artists you looked up to as a teen. ...Essential reading for ALL metal music fans.

Metal on Ice is a mini encyclopedia of Canadian Metal. It is a book of memories for those that lived it and a wealth of info for those that didn't. Even if you were there or grew up in that era listening to the music you will enjoy reading the stories from the artists you looked up to as a teen. ...Essential reading for ALL metal music fans.

-- "Metal-rules.com"

Metal on Ice is a walk down memory lane with a group of friends you never met, yet they have sung their hearts out to you over many years.

Metal on Ice is a walk down memory lane with a group of friends you never met, yet they have sung their hearts out to you over many years.

-- "welovemetal.com"

Metal On Ice puts you onstage with a pointy guitar, in a van with no heat in Alberta, and inside clubs like Rock'N' Roll Heaven with the bands and in their own words. Awesome reading.

Metal On Ice puts you onstage with a pointy guitar, in a van with no heat in Alberta, and inside clubs like Rock'N' Roll Heaven with the bands and in their own words. Awesome reading.

-- "provocativepenguin.com"

If this book were a song, it would be a lighter-waving power ballad to Canadian bands such as Helix, Coney Hatch, Honeymoon Suite, Killer Dwarfs and more.

If this book were a song, it would be a lighter-waving power ballad to Canadian bands such as Helix, Coney Hatch, Honeymoon Suite, Killer Dwarfs and more.

-- "San Antonio Express-News"

Just finished reading the Sean Kelly book Metal on Ice. For those of you who are fans of Canadian '80s rock this is a real page turner. Growing up, Sean was a real fan of Canadian bands like Coney Hatch, Brighton Rock, Honeymoon Suite, Harem Scarem, Killer Dwarfs, Helix, etc. and wrote this book about how it influenced his life. The book is filled with great interviews and road stories and fond (and not so fond!) memories of the '80s and early '90s Canadian Rock scene. Highly recommended!

Just finished reading the Sean Kelly book Metal on Ice. For those of you who are fans of Canadian '80s rock this is a real page turner. Growing up, Sean was a real fan of Canadian bands like Coney Hatch, Brighton Rock, Honeymoon Suite, Harem Scarem, Killer Dwarfs, Helix, etc. and wrote this book about how it influenced his life. The book is filled with great interviews and road stories and fond (and not so fond!) memories of the '80s and early '90s Canadian Rock scene. Highly recommended!

-- "www.bravewords.com"

Sean Kelly has done an admirable job of tracing the evolution of rock north of the 49th parallel...

Sean Kelly has done an admirable job of tracing the evolution of rock north of the 49th parallel...

-- "beauty-in-ruins.blogspot.ca"

Sean Kelly understands this need for documentation and celebration.

Sean Kelly understands this need for documentation and celebration.

--Alan Cross "alancross.ca"

The book can be summarized as equal part history lesson, advice for musicians, as well as a long overdue shout out to those early Canadian hard rock heroes (too many to mention) who busted their asses, chasing their musical dreams.

The book can be summarized as equal part history lesson, advice for musicians, as well as a long overdue shout out to those early Canadian hard rock heroes (too many to mention) who busted their asses, chasing their musical dreams.

-- "loudguitars.com"

Veteran rocker Kelly provides a fascinating history of Canadian hard rock.

Veteran rocker Kelly provides a fascinating history of Canadian hard rock.

-- "Publishers Weekly, Starred Review"

From the Publisher

Sean Kelly understands this need for documentation and celebration

alancross.ca