The Book of Daniel From Silverchair to DREAMS
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley January 5, 2019
Author Jeff Apter
Distributor: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 9781760296292
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Release Date: December 2018
Website: https://www.allenandunwin.com
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Arriving, you could hardly say bursting, onto the rock scene in Australia in 1994 the group, which was to go on to attracting an almost cult like following, during and after the years of their rise and fall from stardom, Silverchair, led by Daniel Johns amazing lead vocals, stormed the world at a time when rock or ‘grunge’ music coming out of Australia was at an all-time average level.
In The Book of Daniel, Jeff Apter takes a journey back over the years to rediscover what it was that saw this group of young schoolboys from Newcastle, originally known as the Innocent Criminals, rise to the very top of the charts, time and time again with hit after hit until their final, of final concerts in 2011.
The Group received numerous accolades, awards, and in 2008 Daniel Johns won the covered APRA Song Writer of the Year for the hit song, and perhaps one of the best pieces written during their years at the top, “Straight Lines”.
Silverchair remained together longer than most, but as with all groups, eventually sited an irreparable internal fallout as the reason for their demise. Ill health and a marriage breakup saw Daniel Johns at an all time low in his life, suffering from chronic reactive arthritis, severe depression, an eating disorder and drug addiction. Very slowly he began to climb out of the mess his life had become to emerge as one of the foremost writers of 2018, a man who has faced the horror life at the top can offer and survived against the odds.
Apter has written an excellent documentary of the life and times of Daniel Johns from the perspective of a Music journalist who has followed this group and Daniel Johns from the beginning to the end with honesty, bringing the life and times of Daniel Johns to life vividly, allowing a glimpse into what can become a very public face and a very private hell.
Silverchair fans everywhere will enjoy this insider’s view of a man who at forty is still a rebel, still creating magic with his music and with the massive reception to his latest album, performing now under the new and fresh name DREAMS with Luke Steele, his return to the world of hard hitting, biting, driven music of the 21st century.