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nina_chan01 's review for:
Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Volume II
by Eddie Trunk
I got a chance to read this Metal and Hard Rock encyclopedia thanks to Goodread’s First Reads, and I’m glad I did.
Seeing how I was born too late to live in the really meaty part of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal, a lot of the bands that Trunk explores in this volume were completely new to me. Even the bands that I thought I knew from hearing their most famous songs on the radio held interesting surprises when I listened to the suggested playlists. I recommend taking the time to look for the songs. My iTunes account took a nose dive and my iPod is now packed with some great music that I would have never even thought to look for.
Now for the book itself.
The writing is decent and there are some great photos and extra tidbits of information that go beyond the group and their music to give some insight into the musicians and their other interests.
It sometimes feels a little repetitive on two fronts.
One is that the rock&roll live style became the cliché because it appears to be true and every single entry reads like a plotline to a drug/booze/mayhem filled plotline of “they got famous, became addicts, separated, got back together years later.” Slight variations, but the story remains the same pretty consistently. If you plan to sit and read thru the book, this could make it a bit less entertaining. I stopped every couple of bands and had a look/listen thru the suggested playlist and their general discography to keep from feeling like I kept reading the same thing over and over.
This isn’t really a problem with the writing, more a problem with the music industry, but it could be something that keeps someone from truly getting how great this book is, so I’m mentioning it.
The second thing that felt repetitive was how often the author repeated himself when talking about different bands. The amount of times he declared a band worthy of being in the fifth entrant into the “Big Four” would have it be closer to the “Big Ten”. There are a couple of things like this that bothered me a bit while reading, but Trunk’s enthusiasm seeps thru the pages so you can forgive his lack of originality when coming up with ways to express it.
A great reference book for music lovers and introduction for those just starting to dip their toes or wanting to explore further into the music genre.
Seeing how I was born too late to live in the really meaty part of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal, a lot of the bands that Trunk explores in this volume were completely new to me. Even the bands that I thought I knew from hearing their most famous songs on the radio held interesting surprises when I listened to the suggested playlists. I recommend taking the time to look for the songs. My iTunes account took a nose dive and my iPod is now packed with some great music that I would have never even thought to look for.
Now for the book itself.
The writing is decent and there are some great photos and extra tidbits of information that go beyond the group and their music to give some insight into the musicians and their other interests.
It sometimes feels a little repetitive on two fronts.
One is that the rock&roll live style became the cliché because it appears to be true and every single entry reads like a plotline to a drug/booze/mayhem filled plotline of “they got famous, became addicts, separated, got back together years later.” Slight variations, but the story remains the same pretty consistently. If you plan to sit and read thru the book, this could make it a bit less entertaining. I stopped every couple of bands and had a look/listen thru the suggested playlist and their general discography to keep from feeling like I kept reading the same thing over and over.
This isn’t really a problem with the writing, more a problem with the music industry, but it could be something that keeps someone from truly getting how great this book is, so I’m mentioning it.
The second thing that felt repetitive was how often the author repeated himself when talking about different bands. The amount of times he declared a band worthy of being in the fifth entrant into the “Big Four” would have it be closer to the “Big Ten”. There are a couple of things like this that bothered me a bit while reading, but Trunk’s enthusiasm seeps thru the pages so you can forgive his lack of originality when coming up with ways to express it.
A great reference book for music lovers and introduction for those just starting to dip their toes or wanting to explore further into the music genre.