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Reviews
Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop by Marc Myers
rainbopagn's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
3.0
While the author states in the beginning that this is supposed to be in a podcast format, I think podcast is the only way to do bios of music. I skipped around to read about songs I knew/liked and it was a fun palette cleaner.
ericthec's review against another edition
4.0
I've been recommending this book to many friends in the past weeks. It a great casual read with short chapter. But there's some great tales of creativity and blind luck on the writing and recording of 45 popular songs. Get it?? 45? The genres range from pop to r&b to rock to country. It's great to have Spotify on hand to hear the originals and some later covers. Strongly recommended for music fans.
butnotalexander's review against another edition
3.0
Thought this was going to be more about the theory side of making the songs, and while a cursory google search could have told me otherwise there are still a number of good stories in this thing. It's worth it just for the Joni Mitchell chapter alone.
txa1265's review against another edition
4.0
Not perfect or comprehensive, but lovely and fun
The book hits a certain rhythm you will either love or not - but if you are interested chances are you will like it. I love all the stories, the details, the memories.
I know that I, like most, have some issues with the songs chosen - because of the chronological nature, you almost want to be able to note iconic songs and moments ... but you need to let it go, this isn't THAT book. You need to appreciate it for what it DOES deliver ... and it does that quite well.
The other minor niggle is that I found some of the technical things didn't sit right - like everything around power chords seemed to be twisted and spun to suit The Rolling Stones rather than reflect history ... and that is actually why I gave this 4 rather than 5 stars.
Overall I loved this book and recommend it highly to music lovers and anyone who loves to delve into the history of art.
The book hits a certain rhythm you will either love or not - but if you are interested chances are you will like it. I love all the stories, the details, the memories.
I know that I, like most, have some issues with the songs chosen - because of the chronological nature, you almost want to be able to note iconic songs and moments ... but you need to let it go, this isn't THAT book. You need to appreciate it for what it DOES deliver ... and it does that quite well.
The other minor niggle is that I found some of the technical things didn't sit right - like everything around power chords seemed to be twisted and spun to suit The Rolling Stones rather than reflect history ... and that is actually why I gave this 4 rather than 5 stars.
Overall I loved this book and recommend it highly to music lovers and anyone who loves to delve into the history of art.
henskm's review against another edition
3.0
For the most part, an engaging read. Occasionally, I got bogged down and lost in the nitty gritty of the production side of the music industry, but I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the musicians themselves speak about their work, career trajectories, influences, and inspirations.
sandin954's review against another edition
3.0
A set of newspaper columns repurposed as a book. For each song usually the writer and performers were interviewed. Some interesting choices and information but wish it had a bit more depth.