Self centred, narcissistic douchebag.

I've read a lot of rockstars/musicians autobiographies and they all have some redeeming qualities. This guy doesn't.

Hands down one of the best books I've ever read. So raw and open. Absolutely brilliant.

The autobiography, Scar Tissue, gives a detailed personal account of the life of Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The reader learns of the wild upbringing of the young Anthony in Hollywood’s party scene. Born in Michigan in 1962, he lived there with his mother after his parents divorced. When he moved to Las Angeles to live with his father he began to live his life. His father, a popular drug dealer with the Hollywood celebrities, never seriously took on his role of a father. Instead, he included Anthony in all of his parties and was the first to introduce him to drugs. The book is Kiedis’s honest account of his adolescence lived with a false sense of immortality.
tThe young Anthony ’s childhood was one that is perfectly suited for a rock star such as himself. While exposed to virtually all the vices of society at a young age, Anthony drew his inspiration for his music from this lifestyle. When he was not partying or pulling outrageous stunts like jumping off a five story building and missing a swimming pool, he would be writing poetry. The chemistry he shared with his band was formed at Fairfax High School where all the members attended. The group formed a band of funk rockers with a neo-punk element. However, this bond was severely impacted, as well as all the lives of the band members, when guitarist, Hillel Slovak, overdosed on Heroin. This was the turning point described in the book that led Kiedis to reform his addiction.
tIn the midst of all the chaos in his life, the book also gives the account of Anthony’s career. The success of the Red Hot Chili Peppers is proven through his accounts of his many performances and albums. The relation between his songs and his struggles are also explained in this work. This book is perfect for any rock and roll fanatic, especially a Red Hot Chili Pepper’s fan. It gives an exciting account of someone who basically drowned himself in any substance he could get. It is a perfect example of struggle and recovery in one of the most wild industries in popular culture: Rock and Roll.

Overall: I had a lot of fun reading this, but in the end, there was too much anecdotes and not enough personal reflection on his behavior.
The last ten pages were a rant against his latest ex-girlfriend and how great he had been to her bla-bla-bla (so much of his love/sex life in these pages, so much things I didn’t want to know).
The last page or so showed me what this book could have been if AK had actually written it: something more profound.
Still, this was highly entertaining but I can see why people might dislike it: AK is full of himself. I personally think it makes it even funnier.
Also, this was written 20 years ago, so I like to think he had time to improve. Or not.

I found this worthy of the read as a chili pepper fan. Certainly perspective on drug addiction along with expected celebrity candy fun. 4 stars for personal enjoyment

Was a good and interesting read but felt I couldn’t devour a lot in one sitting. He had a unique up-bringing and introduction into life but the overall story of the Red Hot Peppers was not what I thought it was.
Towards the end of the book it became tedious and I was starting to get over reading about drug binges, relapses, getting better felt very repetitive.
Despite this it was an fascinating read.

I am pretty sure Anthony Kiedis had a relationship with Flea which he does not describe and he had plenty of pages on which he could have, too many pages.

“Scar Tissue” is a rather conventional rock n' roll autobiography from the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis. For fans of the band this book was written after the album Californication, which represented the band’s resurgence and ushered in their platinum decade. My wife cautiously recommended it as “airport reading.” Her description was apt. Nonetheless, for popular music fans, the book will be enjoyable. The tome is far less tragic than comparable rock bios like “No One Here Gets Out Alive” Sugarman’s defining story of Jim Morrison and “Hammer of the Gods,” which forever established Led Zeppelin as bulging deities in the rock pantheon.

Several months ago, I read “Open,” a riveting memoir of the tortured, yet soulful sports figure Andre Agassi. Shortly thereafter, I completed Keith Richards "Life." Richards' autobiography spans at least a half-century of musical and social upheaval. At the heart of his tale is the supremely talented and persistently focused lead guitarist and principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones - dosing, smiling and procreating his way to a saccharine sweet twilight. In contrast to Agassi’s pained humanity and Richard’s victorious lightness, Kiedis comes off as a controlling bandleader flourishing mid-career propelled by a prodigious work ethic and titanic narcissism. Whereas Agassi seems so much larger than his hometown, Vegas, Kiedis is oh-so very Los Angeles. Beyond the predictable struggles with drugs, sordid vignettes with legions of model-actresses and similarly hyphenated rock sycophants (roadie-pot dealer, girlfriend-masseuse), is the story of male friendship or in popular parlance, a bromance. The bromance begins curiously enough with Spider, his lothario cum drug dealer father. Hardly a patriarch, Spider is the Senior Dude to little Tony, the Junior Dude. Like many Southern Californian offspring of Acquarian-age parents, Kiedis grows up in a non-traditional atmosphere living hand-to-mouth, loosely guided and misguided by part-time parents who vacillate from child rearing to communal kibbutzing and moments between punctuated by light criminal high jinx. This unstable foundation orphaned Anthony into the LA punk scene at an early age. Luckily, the bromance continues with childhood bros Flea and the doomed Hillel Slovak, the core of “the Chilis.” Thus, the band was formed and played together right up to their first truly exceptional album “Mother’s Milk.” Although I was a fan of RHCP during this time (early 1990s), I, like others, was more drawn to the perceived grit and power of Nirvana in a manner similar to my admiration of the Wu-Tang over the Paul's Boutique-era Beastie Boys. In retrospect, I was misguided to ignore the superior musicianship of the Chilis. This was a common mistake of any fan with roots in 70s punk. There is a natural distrust of music which fratboys are also playing.

Like many rockagraphies, Kiedis’ story follows a familiar journey: unlikely kid from the track’s Other Side makes friends, friends make band, band gets hot, orgies follow soon thereafter leading inexorably to a 12-step program and the inspiring tell-all. Kiedis admirably negotiates his way through the detritus of shattered veins, scattered needles and broken hearts. By his own admission, he is a swordsman par excellence and gushes over his conquests, yet maintains a modicum of respect for them. Like Page, Plant and Richards before him, this rock god's taste for the feminine is impeccable. The carnal options are endless. But alas by Chapter 8, the rock hero yearns for, like, more dude.....Beautiful women, good drugs and piles of money can be so tiresome indeed.

Of great interest to rock fans will be the insights into contemporary artists – most notably producer Rick Rubin (the hip hop Brian Eno), River Phoenix, Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vetter. A brief dalliance with Sinead O’Connor is both touching and pointless - like many Chili songs.

I was motivated to read the book less by Kiedis and more so by the potential presence of John Frusciante, the Chilis brilliant, mercurial guitarist. As central as Frusciante is to the band’s funk-dipped, ska-infused melody mosh, in “Scar Tissue” he is only a supporting player in Kiedis' LALAland opera. This obvious slight speaks volumes about Kiedis. In “Life,” Richards’ clearly reveres Mick in spite of their creative differences and wildly contrasting life philosophies. He is inextricably linked to Richards as muse, brother, mother and manager.

Ultimately, fans of the Chilis will find this book to be essential reading, a perfect accompaniment to Kiedis’ own lyrics and the documentary “Funky Monks” which captures the 1992 recording of Blood Sugar Sex Magik – the Chilis’ genre-busting seminal hit. After reading this bio, fans of Kiedis will likely find that Behind the Music is an endearing, inspiring musician that actually wears very little Scar Tissue in the end. I also appreciate Kiedis' remarkably original and often improvisational lyrical talent more than ever. Unlike Morrisson, I rarely find his song writing awkward or embarrassing. He seems intelligent as well as a quick wit. I will file this one away and wait anxiously for the towering Frusciante biography. Someone write it already. Enjoy rock fans.

I picked this up years ago and then let it sit on my shelves collecting dust.
I probably should have left it there, covered in dust, slowly rotting away.
Though I am happy to be able to unhaul it.

This is 465 pages of Kiedis telling us what a stand up dude he is.
Except it is all about how awesome he is at getting chicks and doing drugs.
There is a little bit about the music, but that is really like 101 pages in the whole thing.
I am pissed I read the this and even more mad that I am wasting time on a review.
But if I can save one person from reading this, it will be worth it.
Save yourself the headache and put this back on the shelf, or better yet, in the garbage.

Keidis is a narcissistic character vacuum with little to say. His autobiography is the story of a narcissistic characterless hustler, written by a narcissistic characterless hustler.

The narcissist is an emotional vacuum. In order to feel interesting, the narcissist will often fill the inner void with image, extreme behaviour, cocaine, heroin - or multiples of these things, because they act as substitutes for identity and substance.

Then the narcissist becomes a pretty, loud, cocaine/heroin/speedball influenced character vacuum. The resulting shamelessness, when accompanied by a modicum of ability and talent, can work wonders on a stage and make "rock-stars" out of the average.

Artistry aside, as much as I appreciate the body of work of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anthony Keidis is just not an interesting person. I file this book in a long list of narcissistic, fake-ass, non-storyteller, 'autobiographers' which include Gene Simmons, Nikki Sixx, Don Felder, Tommy Lee, Bobby Blotzer and Scott Weiland, all of whose autobiographies suspiciously seem like attempts to dig their respective authors out of various financial holes. Sure, I get that a guy's gotta eat, but don't express your faded rock-star economic embarrassment in the form of bad literature.

Dude, you're supposed to be an artist. It takes serious dedication and effort for an artist to make people think books are shit.

I grew up too early for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. My college age son raves about them, calling them the new Doors which makes their lead singer Anthony Kiedis the equivalent of a modern Jim Morrison. There are some parallels between Kiedis and Morrison. Both crafted mind-numbing lyrics in the City of Light, trolling the back alleys, canyons and mountain retreats of the West Side. Both may have qualified as "erotic politicians", Morrison's clever depiction of the Doors to a stunned and befuddled media. Both were self-destructive semi-insane nihilists whose appetite for excess drove them to the edge (Morrison slipped over while Kiedis crawled back to write this engaging, moving testimonial).
Having read at least 50 rock bios over the course of my life (the lifestyle, decadence and the road are can do you in.. Long Time Gone by David Crosby, Somebody to Love by Grace Slick, I'm With the Band by Pamela Des Barres and Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugerman), I thought why not read about my son's favorite band and hopefully find some common ground for musical discussions.
This book was funny, insane, tragic, inspiring ... a heartfelt confession from a rock legend. The tales from the early days of the Hollywood punk scene, the overdose death of Hillel Slovak, the bouts with rehab, the disappointments, the descriptions of lyrics and personal struggles ... all of this prompted me to buy a few CDs and give these guys a listen. This is an incredible band ... in my day our biggest rock heroes were sparse power trios like Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, sometimes fronted by lead singers (Doors, Who). The RHCPs belong in the same genre. I never bought into the phenom of rap music... it always reminded me of the playground jive talk and dissin I used to hear at our heavily intergrated high school except it was set to a boring backbeat. But the RHCP converted me ... probably because the testimony of Anthony Kiedis in Scar Tissue proclaimed that there is a lot of pain and bitter experience behind the music. Not your run of the mill tribe of nihilistic LA punks. I recently learned that Flea actually went back to study at USC in his forties. A worthy read.

When I saw this book on sale, I knew that I had to have it!
It did not disappoint either! Anthony Kiedis gets right down to the gritty details of his life, from his childhood which will floor you! I was rapt while getting this glimpse into who he is down to the core.
When I finished the book I had a couple of thoughts. First, did he really live that life?! Secondly, is he still sober today?
What an incredible life to have said you survived from and he is still under fifty. Yet, I get it too. Just most people don't get to walk away so unscathed from that life. Then it hits you like a truck! BAM! Scar Tissue. Couldn't put a more appropriate title on a book.
Whether you like this band, or even Anthony Kiedis, you should read his story. It will open your eyes to the celebrity world a lot more, while telling you about this guy's eye-opening journey through life.