In The Book of Rock guitar heroes rub shoulders with tortured geniuses, and the flamboyant masters of showmanship receive the same treatment as reclusive poets. Showcasing a gallery of 500 saints, sinners, and martyrs of rock history, The Book of Rock provides a fresh, provocative guide to the world's most influential singers and musicians. Each artist is given equal deference--500 pages, 500 defining photographs, 500 defining quotes, with text that highlights their achievements and their influence, along with essential biographical information, critical comments from the artists themselves or fellow musicians, and a selected discography. The Book of Rock pays tribute to the artists that imposed an indelible mark on the half-century of musical extravaganza we call rock ‘n' roll. Selections include Aerosmith, Beastie Boys, Eric Clapton, Dead Kennedys, Eurythmics, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Gabriel, Buddy Holly, INXS, Judas Priest, Kinks, Little Richard, Midnight Oil, Nirvana, Sinead O'Connor, Pavement, Queen, Ramones, SoundGarden, Ten Thousand Maniacs, U2, The Verve, The Who, X, Yardbirds, and ZZ Top.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
The author Philip Dodd is a writer and publishing consultant specialising in music and popular culture. As a publisher with Octopus and Virgin, he concentrated on books on rock 'n roll and pop, working directly with acts ranging from U2 to the Rolling Stones, and Take That to Pink Floyd. He compiled the recent Virgin book on the Rolling Stones. He lives in London.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
thank you philip dodd,
By Bonnie (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Book of Rock (Hardcover)
This is a beautiful, beautiful book. Unlike most coffee table-type books, which usually have lengthy essays from historians and self-appointed pundits, this one is nothing but page after page of photos--one dazzling full-page photo for each featured band or musician, in alphabetical order, with a short description and quote superimposed upon each. The Book of Rock is NOT a history of rock or an encyclopedia of musicians. It gives very little information about each band (though the names of band members, albums and key songs are listed at the bottom of each page). Instead, the Book of Rock is a weighty pictorial journey through hundreds of shapers of rock music--in many cases, people who helped define generations and decades of music, from Guns n' Roses to John Lee Hooker, from the Grateful Dead to STP. As a pictorial, it's about as beautiful as it can get. The photos look like they're straight out of Rolling Stone (alternating between b&w and color, sharp and grainy), the layout is great. Pretty much a dream come true for any rock music fan.**if anyone would like to send me this book for christmas, i will have no real objections
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Eye-Candy And Not Much Else,
By AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Book of Rock (Paperback)
With all due respect to those reviewers who assigned 5 stars to this glossy book store bargain-bin item, look at it again. Closely. The pictures of each artist/group, while eye-catching, take up three-quarters of the mostly single-page entries, which then go on to provide minimal text around a quotation.
And, especially for the benefit of you readers who grew up in, and continue to reside in North America, as with "The Great Rock Discography" by Martin C. Strong, author Philip Dodd {also based in London) chooses to toss in numerous performers who are virtually unknown on this side of the Atlantic to the exclusion of some of the biggest names in the history of the genre, such as Big Joe Turner, Jackie Wilson, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Bobby Darin, The Four Seasons, The Platters and, perhaps most incredibly of all, one Fats Domino. All were among the 43 inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (opened in 1986) in the first five years of its existence. Many more such greats are also omitted in favour of the likes of Anthrax, The Bangles, Blur, The Pink Fairies, etc., which, in all fairness, may have some limited appeal to a select number of Rock fans in various parts of Europe. But if you're looking at the title and think this provides pictures and information on all the greats .... think again.
3.0 out of 5 stars
There is a new edition (2005)...,
By
This review is from: The Book of Rock (Paperback)
But still there are omissions. Most of them are very important artists (Fats Domino) that left their mark long ago (as another reviewer has noted), and some maybe weren't considered because by the time of the new edition weren't still considered "worthy" to be mentioned in the book, for example John Mayer. I have to unfortunately concur with some of the reviewers that most of the leftovers are American, while some of the included are known mostly only in England. There are three problems with the selection of represented artists: first, the definition of "Rock"; second, the subjectivity of the selection; and third, the 500 limit (one wonders if the publishers were the ones that decided on this number). One has to wonder which of the three reasons stated above was the reason for leaving out artists like The Dave Matthews Band ("not-rock" ?), The Wallflowers, Neil Diamond, Bread, Gary Puckett, The Monkees, Bread, The Righteuos Brothers, James Taylor, The Grass Roots, etc, etc (subjectivity? 500 limit?). I know, I know... some of the ones mentioned before may not have the "respectability" of others, or maybe they are rather "Pop-ish", but certainly some of the artists included could also be considered in a similar way (Abba?). Then there are artists that are represented as part of a band (or bands) and also as solo artists, which I think is fine, except that it leaves behind the likes of George Harrison and Phil Collins. I guess the author has the right, after all, to include whichever musicians he deemed worthy, but at times it seems like he's trying to impress by showing bands so obscure that one has to honestly ask why are they here and if their careers' contributions should receive such an "honor", or even if there is such a thing as "contribution" from their careers.
The good part? The photos are, in some cases, very unusual and surprising, the quotes are intriguing (although in the majority of the cases rather negative or self-deprecating) and the text is to the point and not pompous at all. This is one of those books to leave around and once in a while return to it to discover something new as in a zoology-book-kind-of-way manner. It's certainly entertaining, but it needs a revision with a new edition. After all, what do critics know anyway?
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