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jarvvis's review
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
A lot of really interesting essays, the Andy Warhol one is probably my favourite, followed by Madonna, Northern Soul and The Beatles. There’s a bit too much Jefferson Airplane and shitting on gangsta rap, but it’s still a good read.
jonbrammer's review against another edition
4.0
There were some great pieces here, from some legendary writers not necessarily best known as music journalists, i.e. Will Self and Nick Hornby. I especially enjoyed the on-the-ground reporting from Monterey Pop and Altamont - in comparison you could look at the late '60s festival scene as either a utopia or hellscape. My least favorite essay was the one on Joni Mitchell - I love her songs but the interview confirms her tendency towards navel-gazing pretension.
vanessakm's review against another edition
3.0
This collection of rock journalism spans from the late 1960's through the 1990's, but most of the articles discuss the music of the 60's and 70's. In fact, the two most recent articles in this collection are a reflection on Altamont 30 years later and a review of sorts of the remastering of some Abba albums (a piece written by Nick Hornby that is worthwhile for the title alone, "Abba: Welcome to the Palindrome.")
Most of the articles are from the British press, but a few are from American magazines. Rolling Stone is notably missing from the list of publications. The collection still is mostly focused on American music, and you'll recognize many of the contributors: Greil Marcus, Jon Savage, John Mendelssohn, Glenn O'Brien, the aforementioned Hornby.
I enjoyed some articles, but some were a slog to get through so while individual articles might be a 4 or a 4.5, 3 is appropriate overall. As is the wont of music journalism, certain florid excesses in the writing wore thin over time, and I just wanted to be done at a certain point; visible straining to make a mundane event into THE cultural signpost of the decade here (dude, it's a fucking Grand Funk Railroad concert), pretentious navel-gazing there (I could not hack my way through Robot Hull's history of psychedelic music. And no, I did not misspell his name.) Some articles had interesting subject matter but were mishandled by the writer. David Dalton's eyewitness retrospective on the tragedy at Altamont was somewhat ruined by a needlessly snarky tone. David Toop's article on the connection between the Beach Boys and Manson was too enamoured with being a think piece about American culture that wanted to tie Kenneth Anger, D. W. Griffith and Manson together for reasons known only to the author.
A few of the pieces I did like:
Some of the pieces were interesting to read, because I had just forgotten so much about what it was like at the time. Robert Gordon's tense interview with Ice Cube delves into the violence and misogyny in his lyrics, and who can even remember that controversy now. Jerry Gilbert's portrait of Springsteen written in 1974 is endearing because he's somehow managed to stay the same modest, mumbling guy. Overall, a fun read.
Most of the articles are from the British press, but a few are from American magazines. Rolling Stone is notably missing from the list of publications. The collection still is mostly focused on American music, and you'll recognize many of the contributors: Greil Marcus, Jon Savage, John Mendelssohn, Glenn O'Brien, the aforementioned Hornby.
I enjoyed some articles, but some were a slog to get through so while individual articles might be a 4 or a 4.5, 3 is appropriate overall. As is the wont of music journalism, certain florid excesses in the writing wore thin over time, and I just wanted to be done at a certain point; visible straining to make a mundane event into THE cultural signpost of the decade here (dude, it's a fucking Grand Funk Railroad concert), pretentious navel-gazing there (I could not hack my way through Robot Hull's history of psychedelic music. And no, I did not misspell his name.) Some articles had interesting subject matter but were mishandled by the writer. David Dalton's eyewitness retrospective on the tragedy at Altamont was somewhat ruined by a needlessly snarky tone. David Toop's article on the connection between the Beach Boys and Manson was too enamoured with being a think piece about American culture that wanted to tie Kenneth Anger, D. W. Griffith and Manson together for reasons known only to the author.
A few of the pieces I did like:
- Al Aronowitz's story about the early days of Beatlemania (for the Saturday Evening Post)
- Steve Turner's unpublished story about David Bowie and the business of how one consciously becomes an idol
- Glenn O'Brien's interview with Madonna, back before the Blond Ambition tour when she still sounded like a human person
- Mike Farren's British take on a visit to 1970's Nashville, which sounds like it's going to be a total cliche of Brits laughing at hicks. It does have a bit of that, but it's still deeply entertaining. I also learned that one of Nixon's last acts in office was to attend the opening of the new Grand Old Opry in March of 1974. If you want to see Nixon trying to play the piano and use a yo-yo (it's debatable which one he is worse at), you should go to the Internets immediately, because, of course, this footage exists.
- Michael Lydon's review of the Monterey Pops festival
- Greil Marcus's review of The Band's performance at Winterland, which is so lovingly detailed it will make you weep for having missed it
- Paul Williams' loving take on the music of 1960's San Francisco
Some of the pieces were interesting to read, because I had just forgotten so much about what it was like at the time. Robert Gordon's tense interview with Ice Cube delves into the violence and misogyny in his lyrics, and who can even remember that controversy now. Jerry Gilbert's portrait of Springsteen written in 1974 is endearing because he's somehow managed to stay the same modest, mumbling guy. Overall, a fun read.
_jasonjeong's review against another edition
4.0
Notable pieces: Steve Turner with Bowie, Will Self with Morrissey, and Mary Harron with Warhol
chantalem's review
4.0
Some of the articles in here are golden. The bowie one was very very cool to read. Reading articles written at the time things were happening is so interesting as you can see an evolution in opinions as well as how music journalists write. The hip hop articles were annoying to read but it gives you insight into how much things have changed I guess, though it would be nice to see a positive article about hip hop.
blairecee's review
4.0
pretty great both for historical value and some legitimately excellent reporting and criticism. unfortunately both of the only pieces covering hip hop are cringe-worthy, filled with the condescension of old white men looking down their nose at this morally dissolute gangster rap nonsense, but the highlights include a piece on the marketing of david bowie, playful banter with madonna, a visit to northern soul mecca the wigan casino, a stunning account of altamont, an analysis of the who's career through the lens of mod culture, a great article about warhol that really cemented my understanding of his place in culture, and a neat essay about how one of charles manson's songs wound up on a beach boy album.
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