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mrclintdavis's review
2.0
As others have said, the idea for this project was decent but its execution was bungled. What should've been a collection of thoughtfully written, objective arguments for why certain "classic" albums don't earn that title ends up coming off as a bunch of contrarian personal essays about traumatic adolescent experiences with said albums, with only the occasional piece that could be considered a serious piece of criticism.
I'll single out the essays about "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd" (easily the high point of the book) and the opening one about "Sgt. Peppers" as the best of the bunch. These are really the only ones that made me rethink my own positions by using great evidence and deep analysis. Many of the essays in here just sound like they were written by the most obnoxious caricatures of music critics: self-important windbags who are more worried about name-dropping other artists than breaking down the one they were tasked to cover.
I would like to see a less vindictive group of writers do this exact project, but maybe the best criticism of old records is to simply let them fade out of our minds instead of turning the spotlight up even brighter.
I'll single out the essays about "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd" (easily the high point of the book) and the opening one about "Sgt. Peppers" as the best of the bunch. These are really the only ones that made me rethink my own positions by using great evidence and deep analysis. Many of the essays in here just sound like they were written by the most obnoxious caricatures of music critics: self-important windbags who are more worried about name-dropping other artists than breaking down the one they were tasked to cover.
I would like to see a less vindictive group of writers do this exact project, but maybe the best criticism of old records is to simply let them fade out of our minds instead of turning the spotlight up even brighter.
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