Penetrating coverage is given of every phase and craze of rock in this indispensable second edition. Includes in-depth career biographies of more than 1,200 bands and artists. Photos.
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Rolling Stone
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
informative and enjoyable,
By "jcs@ga.unc.edu" (Carrboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Rough Guide to Rock, 2nd Edition (Rough Guide Music Guides) (Paperback)
The real strength of this book is the in-depth writing by knowledgeable fans who appreciate the music but who are also reasonably objective about the merits of individual albums. It is a welcome contrast to the Rolling Stone guides that offer the sometimes curt opinions of a handful of critics. Coverage is given to a number of British and European artists, such as Canterbury and Krautrock groups (you'll find Dagmar Krause here but not Bob Seger), that some American readers may find obscure but enlightening. Any guide that gives two full pages to Robert Wyatt (as well as two more to his former group Soft Machine) is OK by me. Be sure to check out the mock-serious Spinal Tap entry.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rock 101,
By David Group (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Rough Guide to Rock, 2nd Edition (Rough Guide Music Guides) (Paperback)
I own the 1996 edition, and recommend this book with some reservations. While I learned about a lot of bands I never would have heard of otherwise (draining my bank account as a result), there does seem to be a bias toward newer artists, particularly British (perhaps they could have included Wanda Jackson?). Also, there is a definite tendency toward artists who have yet to prove themselves in the long run (Alanis Morissette???) or artists of questionable merit (Meatloaf?). It is interesting to compare this book to the Trouser Press review guide, as their opinions are sometimes diametrically opposed to each other regarding specific albums.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive,
By
This review is from: The Rough Guide to Rock, 2nd Edition (Rough Guide Music Guides) (Paperback)
I've looked through lots of "rock history" books over the years. What makes this one different is that it was truly a joint venture by hundreds of different people and done mostly over the Internet. While most bios were done by fans, they still maintain objectivity. They aren't afraid to comment on a specific band's strengths and weaknesses and where a band did something great or not so great. They also give accurate bios of virtually every group that did or still does exist. Not only that, this book chronicles histories of hundreds and hundreds of bands, and not just the most popular ones, but also a lot of the more obscure bands around. While there are a few groups (mostly ones that are extremely obscure) not listed here, the books' editors took great pains to include as many essential bands as humanly possible. As for the ones missing, well there's always the next edition to include them in.Indispensable for any serious rock music fan's library.
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