SPILL BOOK REVIEW: SEAN KELLY – BATTLE AXES: A HARD ROCKIN’ HISTORY OF POINTY GUITARS

SEAN KELLY – BATTLE AXES: A HARD ROCKIN’ HISTORY OF POINTY GUITARS

ECW PRESS

BOOK REVIEW BY JULIE CORRELL

Rock ’n’ roll has never been particularly good at following the rules, and eventually its guitars stopped following them too. Pointy guitars were born from the anti-establishment era! With sharp angles, exaggerated points, and futuristic silhouettes, these unconventional instruments looked nothing like the traditional guitars our grandparents played. What began as a series of daring designs would eventually become an essential part of rock ’n’ roll’s visual identity.

In Battle Axes: A Hard Rockin’ History of Pointy Guitars, Sean Kelly takes an entertaining deep dive into these distinctive and often outrageous instruments, revealing that behind every sharp angle and bold silhouette is a story of innovation, music, technology, and musicians who dared to be different.

The pointy guitar has become so closely associated with hard rock and heavy metal that it is easy to forget just how unconventional these instruments once seemed. Some resembled arrows, others looked almost like aircraft, and a few seemed more suited to a science-fiction film than a concert stage. Yet designs such as Gibson’s Flying V and Explorer would eventually become iconic, particularly as musicians paired their striking appearance with the power and volume of hard rock and heavy metal. When these guitars first appeared, however, they were anything but conventional.

This is where Battle Axes becomes more than a book about guitars. Kelly examines the relationship between music and visual identity, showing how the instrument itself became part of the performance.

As rock music grew louder and heavier, guitarists began asking more of their instruments. They wanted greater speed, precision, versatility and, increasingly, an instrument that could command attention from a concert stage. Manufacturers responded with increasingly specialised designs, leading to the rise of companies and builders such as Jackson, Charvel, Kramer, B.C. Rich, Dean, Ibanez, Hamer, and Lado.

Competition among manufacturers grew fierce, and there seemed to be few limits to what designers were willing to try. Dimebag Darrell and Dean Zelinsky’s Razorback is a perfect example of just how far guitar design could be pushed. Its dramatic shape became instantly recognisable and demonstrated that a guitar could be as visually memorable as the musician playing it.

Now let’s move forward to the first time you heard “I Want My MTV” — the era that truly bonded sound with imagery. MTV transformed the way audiences experienced music. Album covers, music videos, concert photography, and elaborate stage productions made the visual appearance of a musician almost as important as the music itself. The guitar became an essential part of the artist’s performance and identity.

One of the most fascinating connections Kelly explores is the unlikely partnership between ZZ Top, Dean Guitars, and MTV. Billy Gibbons’ distinctive Dean ML became an important part of the band’s visual identity during the Eliminator era, when ZZ Top’s music videos seemed to be everywhere on MTV. The guitar’s exaggerated, angular shape fit perfectly with the band’s equally distinctive image, demonstrating how an unusual instrument could become part of an artist’s identity rather than simply a tool for making music.

Kelly understands this connection exceptionally well. A guitar could say something about its owner before the musician played a single note. A traditional design might suggest blues, country, or classic rock. A radically shaped instrument communicated something entirely different: speed, individuality, rebellion, and a refusal to conform.

For guitarists, the choice could become intensely personal. Kelly draws on the experiences of musicians, guitar designers, and builders, collectors and industry insiders who helped shape the story. The book includes perspectives from artists associated with some of rock’s most influential bands, including KISS, Def Leppard, Alice Cooper, Twisted Sister, Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row, Megadeth, Quiet Riot, Ratt, Stryper, Racer X, and Triumph.

Think of the guitars that have become inseparable from the musicians who played them. The instrument becomes part of the artist’s identity, until it can be difficult to imagine one without the other. ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and his famous purple faux-fur-covered guitar immediately come to mind.

That is one of the most enjoyable aspects of Battle Axes: Kelly understands that musicians do not necessarily choose guitars based solely on practicality. Sometimes they choose them because they make a statement. And sometimes that statement is simply, look at this thing.

Kelly also reminds us that musical tastes are ever-changing. When grunge emerged in the early 1990s, the flamboyant guitars and larger-than-life image of ’80s hard rock quickly fell out of favour. But what was once considered excessive has found new appreciation. Today, those bold designs are being collected, reproduced and celebrated for the lasting influence they had on rock music.

That makes Battle Axes particularly timely. It is not simply looking backwards at a vanished era; it invites readers to reconsider why these guitars mattered in the first place.

For readers who are not particularly familiar with guitars, some of the detailed discussion of manufacturers, models and technical specifications can occasionally feel overwhelming. However, Kelly does a good job of grounding the history in the musicians and music that made these instruments famous, making the subject accessible even to those who would not consider themselves guitar aficionados.

Kelly’s enthusiasm is one of the book’s greatest strengths. He writes as someone who understands the instrument from the inside. His experience as a guitarist and performer gives him credibility and a genuine appreciation for the relationship between a musician and their guitar.

At the same time, Battle Axes reaches beyond the dedicated guitar collector. Readers who know the difference between a Flying V and an Explorer will enjoy the details, while those who simply love rock music will appreciate the larger story.

But seriously, this book is about more than the design of a guitar.
It is about the way music is created visually.
It is about musicians who want to be noticed.
It is about manufacturers willing to push design to the next level.
And it is about music fans who look at an unconventional guitar and think, I want one of those.

ISBN-10: 177041794X
ISBN-13:‎ 978-1-77041-794-6

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