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quietdomino's review against another edition
3.0
As Hopper points out, the title is not strictly true, but close enough to make me sad that I can't time travel back to my college self to cite these essays for all the rockboys who told me, "It's not that I'm against female guitarists, it's just that i don't like how women's voices sound..."
divvves's review against another edition
2.0
The beginning of trashing emo lyricism was awesome as well as painting the nostalgic landscape that was early 2010s pop radio.. not to mention good insight into gender in the music industry.. JH’s reach was surprisingly vast!
but this is music journalism and at its base it is always mostly dumbfounded.. and these pieces come from buzzfeed, spin, etc. they are condensed because editors are attention manipulators..
and JH’s personal voice doesn’t impress me.. she feels like someone who is more into the game for conversational cool points, hanging out at festivals.. i don’t totally buy in to her credibility, especially when she compares kurt cobain to jim morrison or actually writes that given commercial circumstance a musician can make more than obama.. that is really naive.. and that is coming from me
but this is music journalism and at its base it is always mostly dumbfounded.. and these pieces come from buzzfeed, spin, etc. they are condensed because editors are attention manipulators..
and JH’s personal voice doesn’t impress me.. she feels like someone who is more into the game for conversational cool points, hanging out at festivals.. i don’t totally buy in to her credibility, especially when she compares kurt cobain to jim morrison or actually writes that given commercial circumstance a musician can make more than obama.. that is really naive.. and that is coming from me
beckyramone's review against another edition
I just couldn't get into this. I thought I liked music writing, but maybe I just like album reviews.
venneh's review against another edition
5.0
I read the original of this back in 2016, and wrote the following: “What the title says. I don't typically delve deep into music criticism, but the opening piece (on women in emo and a girls place as the subject in songs) hooked me hard. My favorite of the stuff seems a bit front loaded, but honestly, it's all well written and has an eye to multiple elements/angles within a piece. Worth reading if you find it. Me, I need to read more of her. Blazed through this in 24 hours.”
Due to the larger amount of pieces that the FSG version collects, I didn’t quite blaze through this in 24 hours, but I still read through it on a lot of car trips and during downtime in the hotel and airport. This is a significantly larger collection of her work, and absolutely what I was hoping for.
The piece on girls in emo and their place in how songwriting is done is still the standout piece, though her piece where she gorgeously writes out why all the people who said “oH tHE TrUMp ADmIn wILl gIVe Us gReAT aRT” are horrifically wrong is definitely up there. (She still manages to underestimate how bad the next four years were.)
Go pick this up. Especially if you are looking for excellent music criticism.
Due to the larger amount of pieces that the FSG version collects, I didn’t quite blaze through this in 24 hours, but I still read through it on a lot of car trips and during downtime in the hotel and airport. This is a significantly larger collection of her work, and absolutely what I was hoping for.
The piece on girls in emo and their place in how songwriting is done is still the standout piece, though her piece where she gorgeously writes out why all the people who said “oH tHE TrUMp ADmIn wILl gIVe Us gReAT aRT” are horrifically wrong is definitely up there. (She still manages to underestimate how bad the next four years were.)
Go pick this up. Especially if you are looking for excellent music criticism.
louisereadsandreads's review against another edition
Great collection of essays on rock, music, women who rock, and the state of the industry. Loved all of it.
repercussions's review against another edition
5.0
Jessica Hopper is absolutely required reading for anyone who has wondered where all the female perspectives in music have been for the last... ever. Incredibly written. Required reading.
jwithy's review against another edition
4.0
There's so much in here that was absolutely amazing. A few pieces were just not my cup of tea, but the writing was great. Highly recommended if you are someone that likes reading music reviews/essays.
nelsey's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
i think i found this book at the wrong time because it just dragged on so intensely by the end of it. whether it be the repetitiveness or the fact that this was required reading, i just can’t really say i enjoyed my reading experience