Altered State, Updated Edition: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House (A Five Star Title) [Paperback]

Matthew Collin (Author), John Godfrey (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Five Star Title | Publication Date: November 1, 1998

When Ecstasy was first mixed with house music sometime during the 1980s, the reaction triggered a diverse youth movement. It affected music, fashion, the law, government policy and other areas of public and private life. This work trails the drug from California, through New York and onwards in the history of Ecstasy and the culture and politics that surround it.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Matthew Collin has worked as a magazine editor, a foreign correspondent, a broadcast journalist and a features writer. He has been the editor of the Big Issue, the Time Out website and i-D magazine. His prevoius books, This is Serbia Calling and Altered State are also published by Serpent's Tail.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail; 2 edition (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852426047
• ISBN-13: 978-1852426040
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,496,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent "history" book on the rave scene!, April 18, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Altered State, Updated Edition: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House (A Five Star Title) (Paperback)

Excellent, informative history of the rave scene in England... everything is in here: how influential Ibiza was to the scene, MDMA and its history, smiley faces, baggy pants, all the main players and djs... it brought back a lot of happy memories of my raver days in NYC in the early 90s. A must read for those interested in this scene especially the beginning which shows that it all started in America: Larry Levan and the Paradise Garage, Frankie Knuckles's Warehouse parties, Dr. Shulgin and his MDMA studies... Britian took it to the next level in the 80s beginning with the Summer of Love and raves and was then past back to the US in the early 90s: Frankie Bones and the Storm raves, NASA, and the rest. This book tells you all about it!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A clearly written description of Ecstasy and its users, April 16, 2000

By 

Richard Ballard "rjballard" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Altered State, Updated Edition: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House (A Five Star Title) (Paperback)

Matthew Collin (with contributions by John Godfrey) has provided a clearly written and very detailed discussion of the drug Ecstasy's effect upon people, their goals and politics, and upon society. Mr. Collin does *not* stress music. Instead, Mr. Collin discusses music as part of Ecstasy's effect upon people.

Mr. Collin describes Ecstasy as "the euphoric peak of a lifetime". One's first Ecstasy experiences are strikingly empathic and stimulating. Tactile and verbal communication are delightful, and dancing and music acquire their own lives. Ecstasy's sensory and empathic effect combined with its related clubs, music and dress codes make it especially attractive to first-time drug users.

With continued use Ecstasy users lose the initial ecstatic feeling. To regain the original ecstatic feeling users first try larger Ecstasy doses. Within a year larger Ecstasy doses fail, and users try other drugs (cocaine or amphetamine-like Ecstasy variants). Once lost the ecstatic feeling is gone, but the user now is using hard drugs. And organized crime often accompanies hard drug sales.

The chapter "Techno Travellers" is intriguing because it discusses Ecstasy users' impact upon English politics and society. Groups of working class Ecstasy users (like the "Merry Pranksters" documented by Ken Kesey) believed that occupying public and private property and that providing deafening music was their right. They dropped out of society, acquired expensive vans and sound systems, and hosted shows and festivals. The travellers joined compatible environmental and political groups' demonstrations, their sound systems providing "a focus of attention". The author discusses the travellers' constant battles with English police (to the point of driving through police roadblocks and digging trenches in fields to stop vehicles). Mr. Collin speculates on how the travellers funded their travels.

Mr Collin has written a clear and fascinating book that documents how, in one short decade, Ecstasy "transformed whole areas of the social landscape of Britain -- but into what, exactly, was still unclear."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Feels real., September 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Altered State, Updated Edition: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House (A Five Star Title) (Paperback)

"Altered State" is the most interesting and affecting book I've read on Ecstasy Culture so far. Collins' mapping of the history of various scenes against the trajectory of the ecstasy experience (honeymoon / diminishing returns/ excess /disillusionment /comedown /reintegration) is original, intelligent and, like most good ideas, blindingly obvious. Unlike many commentators, Collins doesn't allow himself to get bogged down in cod-mystical tripe when describing the scene. Neither is he glib or superficial in his analysis,treating the phenomenon with the respect and seriousness which - at its best - it undoubtedly deserves. Most of the major players seem to be covered (strangely, though, the Orb are not even mentioned), although I'm sure there are more than a few people who would question the amount of attention lavished on Spiral Tribe. Still, as Collins is quick to point out, his version is merely his "mix" of events, and should not be regarded as definitive, as no text could be (nice get out Matt....:-) ). If you've ever wondered about the scene, this is the second best way to get to the heart of the matter. As a history for the nostalgic, it's second to none.