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hazel_oat's review against another edition
LMAOOOOOOO THIS IS THE MOST PRETENTIOUS THING I HAVE EVER FUCKING READ. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I MADE IT TEN PAGES IN AND COMPLETELY LOST MY SHIT. HOW WAS THIS PUBLISHED? DID THIS GUY EVEN HAVE AN EDITOR? WHAT AN ASSHOLE.
suzukabunny's review against another edition
5.0
such an amazing book. Give its readers a glimpse through song and music production. This book shows us that not all artist deserve their credit (like kelly, avril, pink, or even britney). They mostly just claim to write songs or albums, but in reality its the writers, topliners, producers, and executive producers who did most of those hard work.
Its sad that Seabrook doesnt including country and rock singers/bands like Swift, Underwood, Urban, or Brooks to this book stories just because they write their own songs.
Overall, this book is fantastic an must to read
Its sad that Seabrook doesnt including country and rock singers/bands like Swift, Underwood, Urban, or Brooks to this book stories just because they write their own songs.
Overall, this book is fantastic an must to read
kimball_hansen's review against another edition
2.0
I'd give this a 2.5 because it was a little boring for me. It was strange hearing a person describe music from an almost scientific standpoint. I didn't think he explained the terms well like "hook." What's an example of a hook from a song? The author seemed very one-sided and focused on very few artists and it was more of a history of the artists rather than the how their specific songs became hits. It could have been much better had he taken a lesson from [a:Michael Lewis|776|Michael Lewis|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1317447168p2/776.jpg] or [a:Walter Isaacson|7111|Walter Isaacson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1192222433p2/7111.jpg]. The way he incorporated his personal touch with him and "the boy" didn't fit well at all. I still wonder why is there so much music from Sweden? Why is Stockholm this music producing capital of the world. Seems weird this wasn't expounded.
It's neat to think how little control these "musicians" have over the music they sing. And that the producers create songs and offer them to artists and if one doesn't want it then the next one in line will perform it. The music industry is way too political and corrupt. I remember listening to The Big Red Radio one morning and they described why certain songs get played more than others. I learned more from those 3 minutes on the radio than what I expected to learn from this book.
This book definitely did not "change the way you listen to music" like it was advertised. I'd like a book to write about real music like Rock and not about these "Hits" and worthless Pop which lasts for maybe a year then no one listens to them ever again. Rock songs lasts for decades whereas Pop fizzles out and dies quickly. Pareto's Law. 20 vs 80.
It's neat to think how little control these "musicians" have over the music they sing. And that the producers create songs and offer them to artists and if one doesn't want it then the next one in line will perform it. The music industry is way too political and corrupt. I remember listening to The Big Red Radio one morning and they described why certain songs get played more than others. I learned more from those 3 minutes on the radio than what I expected to learn from this book.
This book definitely did not "change the way you listen to music" like it was advertised. I'd like a book to write about real music like Rock and not about these "Hits" and worthless Pop which lasts for maybe a year then no one listens to them ever again. Rock songs lasts for decades whereas Pop fizzles out and dies quickly. Pareto's Law. 20 vs 80.
lyrareadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This is the sort of book that makes me miss liner notes. I used to pour over those things and in turn the links between various producers and songwriters and studio musicians let to the discovery of new music. Unlike those golden days, this shows how the writing of songs and production has become divorced from performance and now functions like a fast food assembly line. Interesting, depressing and insightful all at the same time.
After reading how hit songs are assembled, I understand why so many songs sound similar enough that you can swap lyrics from to another. Chances are high they were swapped around a few times in the studio.
After reading how hit songs are assembled, I understand why so many songs sound similar enough that you can swap lyrics from to another. Chances are high they were swapped around a few times in the studio.
alison_marie's review against another edition
4.0
A must-read for anyone who has ever consumed pop music in the last 20 years.
jdn_in_sat's review against another edition
2.0
I just couldn't get interested. I admit I'm really not familiar with the music or performers Seabrook talks about here, but even after several attempts and some skimming I just couldn't find a reason to care about any of this extended name-dropping session.
hugoh's review against another edition
5.0
A fascinating description of how top 40 hits are engineered: a handful of guys who figured out a formula and feed it to everybody through a variety of artists.
You'll never listen to contemporary hit radio the same way.
You'll never listen to contemporary hit radio the same way.
glowbird's review against another edition
2.0
This left a bad taste in my mouth. The book feels poorly organized and haphazardly researched. Fawning interviews with producers are interwoven with oddly mean, tossed off sketches of assorted pop stars. The conversations about Swedish producers and their influence on pop music was interesting, but the continuous bios felt overlong. Aspects of pop stars' lives are discussed in great detail, but these stories often have no impact on song selection or their work with producers and seem to be researched exclusively through "official" bio books and old magazine articles. Perhaps it's impossible to get access to these stars while producers are just begging to be interviewed. If that's the case then the book would have benefited from less attention to the face of the song. It had no effect other than to make most of the artists look idiotic, naive, and/or broken.
Some incredibly influential stars are not discussed at all. I found it particularly odd that Taylor Swift was not significantly mentioned, given that many of her most recent hits were written by producers discussed in the book.
The chapters on K-pop and Spotify were interesting but felt out of place in the jumbled narrative. Ultimately I couldn't tell you what this book is about. Song writing? Making money? Pop stars from the early 2000s? Negging on Britney and Kesha for kicks?
Some incredibly influential stars are not discussed at all. I found it particularly odd that Taylor Swift was not significantly mentioned, given that many of her most recent hits were written by producers discussed in the book.
The chapters on K-pop and Spotify were interesting but felt out of place in the jumbled narrative. Ultimately I couldn't tell you what this book is about. Song writing? Making money? Pop stars from the early 2000s? Negging on Britney and Kesha for kicks?