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abbeyjfox's review
2.0
i like the concept, but i got really bored. and, this book is awfully dated. (i mean nelly furtado....really?!). i liked the chapter on 'smoke' by ben folds five though. and it did make me ponder about what my top 31 songs would be. i really would have appreciated more personal narrative from him, but i know that wasn't the point.
once again, no hornby is ever as good as high fidelity for me.
once again, no hornby is ever as good as high fidelity for me.
refusetoshine's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
agoldstarforyou's review against another edition
3.0
I read this book purely because of my love of Nick Hornby's writing style and I was not disappointed. Though the content of the book wasn’t really something I was entirely interested in, I enjoyed the book due to the way Hornby writes with passion in a very accessible way. Overall, though not the book for me; I love the author and still enjoyed it.
_feargus's review against another edition
4.0
In 26 essays Hornby covers 31 songs and, in particular, which elements of each emotionally resonate with him. The song choice is fantastic, ranging from tunes by Springsteen, to Royksöpp, to Nelly Furtardo, and all the way back to Patti Smith. My edition also includes 5 additional essays, covering 14 albums, written for the New Yorker.
Here Hornby truly captures what makes us love pop music. Written in his usual provocative yet free-flowing style, I can't say I agreed with every take, but it was enough to make me laugh and think. It's fun to listen to songs before and after each essay, they really do push you to re-evaluate your opinions. It turned me on to a few new favourites, namely "Born For Me" by Paul Westerberg. Truth be told, whilst I love the Replacements his solo material had never encapsulated me. I didn't even like the song much when I first listened to it before reading the essay; however, on my succeeding listen my doubts were soothed. The extra essays, whilst intriguing, are nowhere near as convicting as the rest of the book. Perhaps that's what happens when writing for the New Yorker. With that being said, Hornby's writing on Aimee Mann and Steve Earle are worthwhile.
All in all, as with the rest of Hornby's work, I can't recommend this enough to any intelligent individual obsessed with pop culture and, most importantly, music.
Here Hornby truly captures what makes us love pop music. Written in his usual provocative yet free-flowing style, I can't say I agreed with every take, but it was enough to make me laugh and think. It's fun to listen to songs before and after each essay, they really do push you to re-evaluate your opinions. It turned me on to a few new favourites, namely "Born For Me" by Paul Westerberg. Truth be told, whilst I love the Replacements his solo material had never encapsulated me. I didn't even like the song much when I first listened to it before reading the essay; however, on my succeeding listen my doubts were soothed. The extra essays, whilst intriguing, are nowhere near as convicting as the rest of the book. Perhaps that's what happens when writing for the New Yorker. With that being said, Hornby's writing on Aimee Mann and Steve Earle are worthwhile.
All in all, as with the rest of Hornby's work, I can't recommend this enough to any intelligent individual obsessed with pop culture and, most importantly, music.
plathheart84's review against another edition
4.0
This book of essays by Nick Hornby are a wonderful passionate read. From the start he sets out to tell us about songs he loves, 31 to be exact (obviously). I love the way Hornby connects his writing to music. He has a way with words that compels you to listen to the songs he adores. As much as I love Nick Hornby's way of writing he did bug me a couple of times, he makes statements about music snobs and comments on how there are those people who think if you listen to anything but classical or jazz you are some sort of social miscreant, but then at the end when he delves into the top ten albums in the billboard charts at that time he judges everything that he thinks is too loud or offensive in such a close minded way that it seems completely contradictory and he comes across like a music snob himself.
Now I listen to a lot of hip hop and a lot of loud music and I can safely say that the loudness is not the be all and end all of their music. I adore the lyrical content of my favourite hardcore band as much as I do anything else. I don't know whether its an age thing but I hope I never become so easily swayed into not listening by a musical genre.
Now I am from a different generation from the author so a lot of the music he mentions has completely bypassed me. Although I am a massive fan of music so I listen to some of the people mentioned such as Bob Dylan and Patti Smith. I am however open to new experiences and have already taken the time to search out some of the songs that Hornby talks about with such fervour and adoration. The songs all seem relatively good but obviously they don't hold the memories for me that they do for him.
Another little annoyance with this book is that as much as the author claims to be a fan of music he bunches everything you could think of under the banner of "POP" music. Now he talks a few times of snobbish folk who look down on pop as something beneath them. In a way I admire the way he disregards silly opinions by questioning what makes this music good, is it longevity? or simply the ability to make you happy whether that be for one moment or a lifetime? But I think he misunderstands what most people judge as pop music. I for one wouldn't be putting people like Patti Smith in with Britney Spears. Their sounds are completely different and their messages opposing.
In my head pop music is the shiny, over produced, generic, sing a long music most radio stations play. The creators are 9 times out of 10 not the singers, they have no creative input, the songs are made by big corporations to make money. When artists/musicians such as Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin create music it is theirs through and through so I believe it is worth more than the pop title he is giving it, although he would probably call me a music snob for this opinion, he is taking the word pop as its most basic form and brandishing anything popular with the title. Anyway I am simply saying that most of the time its this see through lack of creativity that makes people dismiss pop music as a whole. Most listeners wouldn't throw everything under the pop banner in the way that Hornby does but I think he does it because if he likes something he likes it regardless of where it came from or which label produced it.
Regardless I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about his music tastes and in connecting his fiction to his listening habits he has given us an insight into his life. I would love more authors to write something like this, its so interesting to actually get to know them instead of their characters for once. And I suppose when it comes down to it we all have our opinions and this book is just filled with one persons.
Now I listen to a lot of hip hop and a lot of loud music and I can safely say that the loudness is not the be all and end all of their music. I adore the lyrical content of my favourite hardcore band as much as I do anything else. I don't know whether its an age thing but I hope I never become so easily swayed into not listening by a musical genre.
Now I am from a different generation from the author so a lot of the music he mentions has completely bypassed me. Although I am a massive fan of music so I listen to some of the people mentioned such as Bob Dylan and Patti Smith. I am however open to new experiences and have already taken the time to search out some of the songs that Hornby talks about with such fervour and adoration. The songs all seem relatively good but obviously they don't hold the memories for me that they do for him.
Another little annoyance with this book is that as much as the author claims to be a fan of music he bunches everything you could think of under the banner of "POP" music. Now he talks a few times of snobbish folk who look down on pop as something beneath them. In a way I admire the way he disregards silly opinions by questioning what makes this music good, is it longevity? or simply the ability to make you happy whether that be for one moment or a lifetime? But I think he misunderstands what most people judge as pop music. I for one wouldn't be putting people like Patti Smith in with Britney Spears. Their sounds are completely different and their messages opposing.
In my head pop music is the shiny, over produced, generic, sing a long music most radio stations play. The creators are 9 times out of 10 not the singers, they have no creative input, the songs are made by big corporations to make money. When artists/musicians such as Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin create music it is theirs through and through so I believe it is worth more than the pop title he is giving it, although he would probably call me a music snob for this opinion, he is taking the word pop as its most basic form and brandishing anything popular with the title. Anyway I am simply saying that most of the time its this see through lack of creativity that makes people dismiss pop music as a whole. Most listeners wouldn't throw everything under the pop banner in the way that Hornby does but I think he does it because if he likes something he likes it regardless of where it came from or which label produced it.
Regardless I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about his music tastes and in connecting his fiction to his listening habits he has given us an insight into his life. I would love more authors to write something like this, its so interesting to actually get to know them instead of their characters for once. And I suppose when it comes down to it we all have our opinions and this book is just filled with one persons.
laurabb's review against another edition
4.0
I wish there was a CD to go with this edition. Thankfully youtube could help me out, and I'm listening to each song now, after reading the essays.