Come As You Are: The story of Nirvana by Michael Azerrad

I will begin this by saying that this is definitely one of my favourite music biographies because it doesn't sensationalise how cool the band was, and it doesn't gloss over what may seem at face value inane facts but were in actual fact important to Nirvana. My other favourite book is Everything: A Book About Manic Street Preachers which is similarly honest.
My Nirvana obsession began when I was thirteen and a friend burnt me the Smells Like Teen Spirit single CD, which I then played on repeat for a month or two annoying most everyone in my family. Now to me, Nirvana have become one of those bands that I don't go out of my way to listen to but will always sing along to as they're just classic, similar to Metallica, Guns n Roses and Queen. So when I got this book from my sister for Christmas I was pleasantly surprised, because the only book I had read about Nirvana before was Who killed Kurt Cobain and I'd also heard good things about it.
The book details the lives of all the different band members that came and went, as well as their unprecedented rise to fame. That is what you expect from a simple music biography however Come As You Are also goes into the darker side, especially of Kurt Cobain's life (understandable as he is probably the member that drew the most interest back when the book was written in 1993). From his recurring problem with heroine and other opiates, to his much criticised relationship with Hole frontwoman Courtney Love. The style of writing is decent, it's not so contemporary and full of metaphors that it takes away from the story, and it is good enough that it makes sense and flows coherently. There are also funny things that I didn't know about stuck in there, such as the fact that Dave Grohl was originally in a speed metal band, compare that to the Foo Fighters sound and laugh with me. Also the Nirvana members detested Guns n Roses, and Kurt referred to Smells like Teen Spirit as "lame".
The book also includes a chapter written after Cobain's death, and instead of the normal practice of accusing every man and his dog of killing Cobain as well as comparing handwriting samples in Kurt's suicide note, it simple reflects on his life and what made him such a brilliant lyricist and song writer.
If you like or have ever liked Nirvana; read this.