Product Description

Paul D'Ianno is one of rock 'n' roll's wildest, most notorious figures. In this autobiography, "The Beast" reveals the shocking stories of his life on the road, including the night he shot out a passing motorist's tyres with a rifle and the truth about his arrest for carrying a sub-machine gun. His tale is one of drugs, guns, alcohol; of extended periods banged up in a US Federal Penitentiary; and of course his time fronting one of the biggest rock groups of all time - Iron Maiden. Paul's antics off-stage are even more shocking than his behaviour on-stage. He truly is a man who makes Led Zeppelin look like a bunch of convent girls. He has lived a life treading the fine line of the law, and has battled through crazed drug addictions from the heights of worldwide fame to the pit of bankruptcy and beyond. This book is a look into the dark and disturbing times of a man who has spent his whole life courting his demons. Unfortunatly those demons always seemed to have got the upper hand.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #649337 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Hard Radio, Canada
Bloody ‘ell, ... an explosive, violent, funny, daft, shag-worthy, and charming storyteller’s biog of this cad for the ages.

The Walthamstow Guardian, Newspaper
Depending on your point of view, he is either Waltham
Forest’s proudest export or its most vile creation.

Kerrang Magazine
Paul Di’anno has done it all and lived to tell
the tale in this thoroughly entertaining – and
completely obscene – account of his life so far.

Customer Reviews

Worth a read
I was interested in this book because as a teenager I was a huge fan of Iron Maiden, a newly emerging rock band with a gorgeous handsome lead singer who wore tight black leather trousers - Paul Dianno. I had wondered what had become of him over the past 25 years and was pretty shocked to find out.
I found the book well written and humerous. It was interesting to read about how Iron Maiden and Paul's other bands began and why he left Iron Maiden. However, most of the book involves Paul candidly describing in detail his drink and drug fuelled rampages, violent fights and lots of liasons with women which were both humerous and shocking.I couldn't put the book down at first but towards the end I found it got a bit predictable and so my interest wained.
Paul referred to the Bruce Dickinson V Paul Dianno debate and did concede that he thought Bruce Dickinson may be a better lead singer than him. I beg to disagree, although Bruce is cool, Paul Dianno is Iron Maiden's greatest vocalist.

Excessive existence
The Beast is not a book designed for music aficionados
who wish to read about the original Iron Maiden singer.
It’s more of an action adventure story staring a Jack Daniels,
cocaine fuelled fighting machine that just happens to be a
vocalist in a rock band. Take the extremities of The Dirt,
remove most of the drugs, replace them with violence and
you’ve pretty much got The Beast.
Once you’ve read this book you won’t want to step into the
same pub as Paul Di’anno, never mind spill his pint. This is
a very honest account of an excessive existence that the singer
has chosen not to glamorise. Although Paul kicking his own guitarist’s teeth out and chasing journalists from venues are
amusing there are more serious topics contained within this
tome. Di’anno confesses to wife beating that led to a spell in
the LA penitentiary as well as admitting that he was holding
Maiden back and that Bruce Dickinson is a superior vocalist.

This is the opportunity to tap into the mind of one of the
maddest rock stars of all time. It’s no mistake that certain
stores have the book filed under Serious Crime.
Ian Camfield

Paul Di Anno - The Beast, The Legend
Wherever this book is one of the world's greatest pieces of literature ornot(it ain't) it is still an excellent book that is worryingly hard to putdown. You get the general picture of the vain that the book is written infrom the first sentence on the foreword. But to me its the perfect startto a downright hilarious read.
When I read the last chapter which was what other people thought of himfrom knowing him through the years and one said that he was a bulls***er Ilaughed to myself but thought, ah well it was still great anyway. Doesthat make me doubt any of hes stories? Well yeah but without knowing himhow can I tell what he is saying is absolutely true anyway. People lie intheir biographies all the time.
So altogether I would say that this is worth reading if you are a fan ofhis or someone who likes books about Gangland because many parts of it aresimilar story wise to Gangland goings on. After reading the book you willeither love him or hate him but hey at least you would have read about himand would have a more reliable opinion than half the people who alwaysslag him off just because they are sad.