This is a fully updated and concise edition of the six-volume encyclopedia in one volume. With over 3000 entries the book aims to answer any query about any aspect of 20th-century popular music, including rock, reggae, rap and R&B, as well as jazz, soul, country and folk. Each entry is intended to be broad-ranging and democratically inclusive, regardless of the whims of critical fashion. Whether Bow Wow Wow or Bowie, Led Zeppelin or Lead Belly, each entry receives the same approach. Included in each entry is information on birth dates, career facts, discographies and five-star album ratings.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Clear a spot next to the stereo system for this book. Culled from an original edition of six volumes, The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music boasts a million words devoted exclusively to pop music in all its glorious incarnations. With this book next to the CD collection, readers are virtually guaranteed to be able to answer all manner of niggling questions like the name of the Bangles' first album or Ira Gershwin's birth date. Album and video information along with suggested bibliographies accompany descriptions of music by the likes of Boy George, The Pet Shop Boys, Jimmy Boy, and Boy's Own, as well as thousands of other musical boys and girls. The force of the information in this hefty volume is twofold--the sheer amount of it and its evenhandedness. One hit wonders that have practically faded into oblivion are treated with the same depth of coverage as Goliaths like Elvis and the Rolling Stones. And with its objective tone, readers are free from the writers' opinions about a given band or performer and left to interpret the facts on their own.
From Library Journal
Last updated in 1998, The Virgin Encyclopedia (VE) combines many of the strengths of its competitors to produce one of the best single-volume popular music guides available. For this fourth edition, 350 new entries were added and the whole text revised through October 2001. Like The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock'n'Roll (RSE), the VE combines artists from various musical genres into one alphabetical sequence. In covering important artists in the worlds of jazz, country, Latin, folk, blues, gospel, and rap, the VE is broader in scope than the RSE, though not as broad as the All-Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music (AMG); nor is the discographical information as detailed as that in The Great Rock Discography. The biographical articles, ranging from a third of a column to a few pages, are followed by separate lists of new and compilation albums. Each album is rated on a scale of one to five stars, though individual reviews are not included. Unique to the VE are lists of videos and books by and about the artist, which are included in most entries. An index points readers to all references to the artist in the book, though it would have been nice to have the page number for the artist's article entry in bold. The VE strives for balance, but there is still a British bias; hence, one finds articles on the U.K.'s Levellers but not L.A. cult faves the Dickies. The VE packs more information than the RSE (more than 3000 entries), and may be more user-friendly than the AMG for general readers though the VE's hefty price tag makes the AMG a better value. Virgin also publishes companion guides to most of the genres included here. Recommended, barring budget constraints, for medium to large music collections. Lloyd Jansen, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., CA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A treasure trove of information,
By
This review is from: The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music: Concise 4th Edition (Hardcover)
This all-encompassing volume has about 3,300 entries covering various musical styles of the past century, but with the focus on pop and rock. In the introduction, the author points out that he had to choose from over 20,000 entries in his database - and he is planning to double the size of that database. Unlike so many books of this type, there are no pictures, allowing all the available space to be used for information.Obviously, this book can only cover a selection and cannot please everybody. However, a series of specialist volumes is available, so anybody wanting to focus on jazz, country, heavy metal, sixties, seventies or any of several other genres can find a book covering their particular interest. The author says that you can find artists in these specialist books for which there is no room here. Even so, there are a staggering number of obscure singers and bands here. My tastes in music are wide, but while my knowledge is extensive, there is a lot I don't know, even about my favorite genres. A book like this is invaluable to me. It is certainly the best book of its kind that I've come across.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must have for music collectors,
By "vinylgirl" (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise 3rd Edition) (Hardcover)
Colin Larkin is a godsend for music collectors. After picking up his excellent guides to Indie and Eighties music, I managed to find this behemoth - and was delighted once again.This volume is the perfect reference for anyone from the casual music fan to the serious collector. Unsure of which album to buy from an artist you've heard all about? Want more background on a favourite band? Curious as to how your favourite albums have been rated? Pour through this volume - it has all the answers you need. With two diehard music fans in the same house, you can bet that Larkin's books are never far from hand. Something is forever being looked up - and the information this volume provides is more than worth the price. While I'm sure there are some bands that have not been included, I have yet to fail in finding the information I needed in one of the volumes - and the entries are always honest and objective. And of course, it has become a challenge to pick up every one of the rare and elusive "five star albums." If you're looking for the ultimate music reference book, your search is over. You're here.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't worry, just get it!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music) (Hardcover)
Every reference book about rock music asks for arguments about what's included, and what's not. Like other music encyclopediae/discographies, this one inevitably has a few mistakes or judgments that are certain to strike some readers as strange. Never mind all that. This is an engrossing and endlessly useful book. Best of all, it does a great job of sampling the whole, much more expensive series of volumes from which it is distilled. Someday, I'd like to have the whole set, but for now, this is a great book, and a great bargain.
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