The lead guitarist for Aerosmith has experienced just about everything possible in the drug and booze-filled rock and roll lifestyle of the 70's and 80's. And amazingly enough, remembers most of it. Actually it's just as amazing Perry and Steven Tyler are still alive, considering the volume of drugs these guys took before they finally cleaned up. Interesting to read about his love/hate relationship with Tyler, and also how badly the band was treated and ripped off by various managers and record companies. Of course, they were so messed up they didn't notice until it was too late.

Of all the rock bios out right now, and there are a lot to pick from, Rocks: My Life In And Out of Aerosmith is the best-written and most absorbing. David Ritz, Perry's co-author, has an impressive list of credits and started out by co-writing Sexual Healing with Marvin Gaye. This book is not a catalog of the exploits of the Toxic Twins, or a re-living of glory days. Perry has always been a musicians' musician, the real deal, and the book is about how a boy in love with music became a man in love with music, and the pitfalls and successes that were part of that evolution. Apart from a sense that Perry and Steven Tyler will never settle their differences, and that Perry blames Tyler for this, there is not much said about Tyler, or about what was one of rock's most dynamic song writing teams for many years. Perry's account of the Aerosmith years seems somewhat disingenuous. Overall, though, Rocks is a very good read, but more interesting for people who love music and musicians than those who are looking for sordid tales of groupies and hotel room wrecking.