Vook App: Reckless Road Guns N' Roses

I've mentioned before that I'm skeptical the road to rich content is as simple as integrating video with the written word.  So when I was approached to review a Vook app called Reckless Road (Guns N' Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction) I said I'd be happy to review it but I also explained my bias up front.  The fellow who requested the review was pretty convinced he's got a terrific product and still wanted my feedback, good or bad.  Now that I've had some time to read through Reckless Road and watch many of the videos included in it I can see the value of the Vook approach. It lends itself well to a product like this. Earlier Vook samples I looked at last year felt forced, as though there had to be a certain number of videos for every written piece; the result wasn't all that interesting to me.

With Reckless Road, however, I became more curious as I went along. This is probably due to the fact that I'm always fascinated by behind-the-scenes looks at things, especially rock bands.  It also helps that the author, Marc Canter, is a close friend of the band and collected all sorts of great photos and other memorabilia over the years.  That said, I was never much of a fan of Guns N' Roses, but reviewing this app makes me wish similar ones were available for the bands I followed back in the 70's. Remember that old VH1 series, Behind the Music (the original ones, back when they covered great bands like Thin Lizzy)? Canter's Vook app feels like a modern version of that approach, with the added benefit that you can hop around the story to your heart's content, without having to remember to record it on a VCR!

For $4.99 this is an app any Guns N' Roses fan would greatly appreciate.  I'm hoping the Vook folks can get insiders to create similar ones for Led Leppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and some of the other timeless bands from the greatest era in rock.