BOOK REVIEW: DOUBLE TALKIN’ JIVE by Matt Sorum

Shane | 11 July 2025 | Reply

BOOK REVIEW: DOUBLE TALKIN’ JIVE by Matt Sorum
New South Books/ Rare Bird Books, 16 Aug 2022
Hard cover, rrp $39.99
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
78%

By now Axl Rose has taken Guns n’ F’n Roses so far off piste from their original, classic, raw vision that it’s hard to see any of his post-classic lineup sidemen as anything more than hired help – but cast your mind back to 1992 when Stephen Adler was kicked out of the band for being too degenerate for the most degenerate band on the planet and his replacement seemed a legit Gunner, for a while, at least.

Matt Sorum had come from a stint in The Cult, and in this very entertaining book he regales the reader with tales of debauchery and excess which both make out toes curl and make us nostalgic for the bad old days.

Unfortunately, he often alludes to situations or issues then fails to follow them up. As just one example, ordered to bed rest after a post-Cult tour binge he receives a call from Slash and is in the fold the next day with no follow up mention of his serious medical condition. It’s as if sections of his manuscript have been excised, though given what is on paper it’s unlikely further details on some of these incidents could be more shocking or upset anyone or create legal problems.

Of course, he’s allowed to keep some things close to his chest out of discretion – what happened on a post-Freddie Mercury benefit concert night out with Liza Minelli and George Michael, for instance, is only teased, and whilst we’d all love to know more, discretion can be the better part of valour.

Despite these niggles, the peek behind the curtain into The Cult, G n’ R, Velvet Revolver and more is both enriching and exciting, and well worth the price of admission, whilst his harrowing tales of drug addiction and dark days are defiantly sobering.