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A review by captain_trips
The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the demise of English rock by John Harris
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
A worthwhile read for fans of the major players in 90s British pop rock.
Harris provides an intimate and, often times, debauched overview of the very specific musical and cultural phenomenon known as Britpop. The shift was a perfect storm of growing weariness with conservatism, conscientious rejection of American alternative rock, and the arrival of Oasis - truly the X factor of what became known as Britpop for better or worse.
The book has the vibe and tone of an extended music magazine article. Harris follows the same handful of key players over the course of several years with lots of quotes and references to other articles and interviews.
The book maybe gets too bogged down in detailing interpersonal relationships among the various players. But it also serves to highlight how cliquey the circle was. My interest also dipped whenever the through-line of Tony Blair and New Labour was brought up. Britpop ended up being tangled up in the political zeitgeist and rebranding of Britain because both promised optimistic visions of the future for the country. It's definitely a major aspect of the larger Britpop story and offers a poetic parallel of rise and fall for both, but 20 years on from the book being written, I feel it was the most dated angle and I just kind of trudged through Blair's portions until we got back to more Oasis shenanigans.
Overall, I enjoyed it as a thorough exploration and post-mortem critique of one of the last great major Rock'n'Roll cultural movements.
Harris provides an intimate and, often times, debauched overview of the very specific musical and cultural phenomenon known as Britpop. The shift was a perfect storm of growing weariness with conservatism, conscientious rejection of American alternative rock, and the arrival of Oasis - truly the X factor of what became known as Britpop for better or worse.
The book has the vibe and tone of an extended music magazine article. Harris follows the same handful of key players over the course of several years with lots of quotes and references to other articles and interviews.
The book maybe gets too bogged down in detailing interpersonal relationships among the various players. But it also serves to highlight how cliquey the circle was. My interest also dipped whenever the through-line of Tony Blair and New Labour was brought up. Britpop ended up being tangled up in the political zeitgeist and rebranding of Britain because both promised optimistic visions of the future for the country. It's definitely a major aspect of the larger Britpop story and offers a poetic parallel of rise and fall for both, but 20 years on from the book being written, I feel it was the most dated angle and I just kind of trudged through Blair's portions until we got back to more Oasis shenanigans.
Overall, I enjoyed it as a thorough exploration and post-mortem critique of one of the last great major Rock'n'Roll cultural movements.