Customer Reviews

All Music Guide: The Experts' Guide to the Best CD's, Albums & Tapes (All Music Guide Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is a very comprehensive, useful and well-organized guide. But there is not nearly enough about world music artists. For that, you need to turn to "World Music: The Rough Guide" or "The Brazilian Sound."

Musichound, Virgin, Roughguide, Penguin... they can all take a hike. For my money, the All Music Guide series provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the music available to the masses. I may not agree with all the commentary -- and somebody's got to explain whether there's any real difference between a dot that's filled in vs. one that's empty -- but I've found it to be an essential tool in helping me build my music collection and expand the breadth of my listening tastes. Especially helpful are the timelines describing the orgins of various music sub-genres. Personally, I never was able to figure out the difference between "house" and "industrial," and where did "ska" come from? The answers are in the All Music Guide. I've graduated from the all-encompassing tome, which covers all music categories ranging from classical to country to rap, to the All Music Guide to Rock. For anyone looking to build a collection of so-called "essentials", this book is the one to get.

This is a good book but the guides to jazz, rock, and blues are much better and more complete. Also, the classical section is rather skimpy.

They did a pretty decent job. Some problems crop up, however, as there are errors throughout the book on specific bands that even the casual fan would catch. Hey, I'm not a fan of all these bands, but I caught most of the errors. There are also proof reading errors throughout the book.

These points aside, most of the reviews are fairly well written and informed. Whether or not you agree with the opinions expressed, the authors generally have solid reasoning for their comments. Still, one could wish for better accuracy for a book that is supposedly so comphrensive.

Hey guys, if you're looking for an additional writer I'm available!

"The most useful single volume your money can buy. The Rolling Stone Record Guide pales by comparison." -- Joel Selvin

Even though this is the 1997 3rd edition, there were few reviews for music after 1994. There were few listings for bands that began after 1994. I returned the book. Very dissappointing!

Hi,

Let me just begin by saying that this is a very thorough (maybe even comprehensive) book about, well, pretty much all the music out there! Except for the fact that it ends in 1997, so the last music in here is The Wallflowers and Shawn Colvin. And Hanson. Which is too bad, because there was a lot more good music that came out after Mmmmbop.

In fact, it seems like there's always new music coming out! I mean, think about it: This book is 1500 pages long! I bet a dozen new records get released in the time it takes to print even one copy of this. This might not bother most readers, but for the truly obsessive-compulsive music fans out there (guilty as charged, hah!) it's like you can never get a truly up-to-the minute catalog of all the music out there.

If only there were some way that you could have a continually updated version of this book, that would really suit my needs better. Heck, it wouldn't even have to be a book. This might be better in like a magazine or "Facts-on-File" type product, where readers could order periodic updates through the mail and then sort and alphabetize them at home, maybe using three-ring binders. That way it would be like a book that never goes out of date and includes all kinds of contemporary hits! From Candle in the Wind 1997 right up through Spoon Man.

Also, I'm curious if other music fans out there have trouble with the index and table of contents in this book? It seems like a really slow way to find a band or song you're searching for. You'd think there'd be some kind of invention to make this easier, like a card catalog or something. There might even be a way to do this with floppy discs, but who knows! I'm not much of a computer junky!

Anyway, I'm off to read more about The Verve Pipe and Duncan Sheik!

Sorry to say, but I guess I own all or most of the guides out there. I can't resist. The All-Music Guide is my hands-down favorite. I can't agree with everything I read in it, but dollar-for-dollar, this single book has saved me a small fortune in buying CDs. Great in the bathroom too.

This AMG book tries to cover too many genres and fails--though not miserably--in its attempt. I'd recommend more genre-specific books (like the Musichound series) for anyone who wants reliable, in-depth information. This book might satisfy a CD-buying novice, but not much more.

This book needs no review. Buy it