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Your Favorite Band is Killing Me Paperback – May 17, 2016

by Steven Hyden (Author)

4.2 489 ratings

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Steven Hyden explores nineteen music rivalries and what they say about life in this "highly entertaining" book (Rolling Stone) perfect for every passionate music fan.

Beatles vs. Stones. Biggie vs. Tupac. Kanye vs. Taylor. Who do you choose? And what does that say about you? Actually -- what do these endlessly argued-about pop music rivalries say about us?

Music opinions bring out passionate debate in people, and Steven Hyden knows that firsthand. Each chapter in Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me focuses on a pop music rivalry, from the classic to the very recent, and draws connections to the larger forces surrounding the pairing.

Through Jimi Hendrix vs. Eric Clapton, Hyden explores burning out and fading away, while his take on Miley vs. Sinead gives readers a glimpse into the perennial battle between old and young. Funny and accessible, Hyden's writing combines cultural criticism, personal anecdotes, and music history -- and just may prompt you to give your least favorite band another chance.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publication date

May 17, 2016
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.76 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0316259152
ISBN-13

978-0316259156
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Highly entertaining.... Whatever side you take in these endless debates, Hyden's a dude worth arguing with."―Rolling Stone

"Consistently insightful and funny...Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me connects the dots of music history in new and intriguing ways. Hyden reminds us why we invest so much in these competitions, how they help shape identity for so many of us, while never losing sight of how silly they can be."―Alan Light, New York Times Book Review

"Fluent, frequently hilarious, ultimately persuasive.... [Hyden's] as entertaining on Eric Clapton vs. Jimi Hendrix (chapter 7) as he is on Taylor Swift vs. Kanye West (chapter 5).... Hyden [is] a critic worth reading."―Chris Klimek, Washington Post

"Funny, informative and essential reading if you ever again intend to argue loudly with a friend about music."―Seth Meyers

"Steven Hyden didn't come to settle your rock arguments--just to make them louder. In this brilliant book, he pours a little kerosene on some of music's most heated feuds--some legendary, some forgotten, one involving Limp Bizkit. Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me is not only hilarious but surprisingly moving--Hyden captures the secret emotional details of why these stories matter, and how picking sides can accidentally tell you way too much about who you are."―Rob Sheffield, author of Love is a Mix Tape

"Every serious argument about music is ultimately a non-musical manifesto--it's 10 percent about aesthetics, 40 percent about how the respective arguers view the world, and 50 percent about how those arguers view themselves. Steven Hyden lives inside this ratio and argues with himself, which means it's impossible to win. But that's what makes YOUR FAVORITE BAND IS KILLING ME so fascinating: The title is real. He's funny, but he's not joking."―Chuck Klosterman, author of Fargo Rock City and Killing Yourself to Live

"If Nick Hornby's writing had a love child with Chuck Klosterman's, the result would be Hyden's clever prose.... By combining music journalism and pop psychology with some of his own life lessons, Hyden has created a literary mix tape that will be music to pop-culture junkies and the music-obsessed."―Publishers Weekly

"Even the most knowledgeable music fan will learn from Hyden's musings, and anyone with a sense of humor will find his prose laugh-out-loud funny.... An outstanding piece of pop culture writing for readers who consider music an important part of their lives."―Craig L. Shufelt, Library Journal (starred review)

"Hyden is an effortless writer, and he draws clever connections between artists and cultural phenomena spanning decades.... Illuminating and often hilarious.... Hyden is wise enough to know that declaring a winner is pointless (and so the book never does), but smart enough to discuss everything that might come with 'winning.'"―Jeremy Gordon, Pitchfork

"Rich with unexpected tangents and entertaining insights, the book reveals Hyden's well-established talent for pumping out some of the most thoughtful writing on some of the least-cool artists (at least in critical corners)."―Zach Schonfeld, Newsweek

"Steven Hyden is one of the most original, thoughtful pop culture writers out there."―Bill Simmons, author of The Book of Basketball

"I learned a lot, I laughed a lot, I dug out my old Oasis CDs. Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me is so authoritative, informative, compelling, and stone-cold hilarious that I am hereby initiating a beef with Steven Hyden."―Dave Holmes, author of Party of One

"Funny, smart and will provide fodder for the next time you get together with your music-loving friends."―Deborah Dundas, Toronto Star

"A funny book that is also full of ideas -- especially about how people relate to culture and how meaning changes as we age."―Scott Timberg, Salon

"Wildly readable... No matter who you might be on any rock-aware cultural spectrum, this is great fun. But it's a bit more than just that, too."―Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News

"With sharp, nail-on-the-head observations, Steven Hyden dives into the minutiae of what we all know is the most important conflict of modern times but are too embarrassed to admit: Who is the cooler band? Who is the better band? Why are they better/cooler? Are they better because they are cooler, or vice versa? Have I blown your mind yet? Then just imagine what this book will do."―Adam Scott, star of Parks and Recreation and Party Down and co-host of U Talkin' U2 to Me?

"Steven Hyden works a tangent like a barroom storyteller.... Funny and insightful."―Ken Szymanski, Volume One

"Hyden masterfully weaves together disparate narratives to reveal the themes we embrace when we pick sides in pop music."―Josh O'Kane, The Globe and Mail

"For my money, the best current music writer out there is Steven Hyden. His profile and feature writing joins the keen observation of a journalist with the true-believer mentality of a rock fan."―Aarik Danielsen, Columbia Daily Tribune

"Well-researched, hilariously written and solidly conceptualized, Your Favorite Band is Killing Me is a winding crash course through the last 50 years of feuding pop stars and the people who back them, with a narrator who can seamlessly reconcile and separate his own journey with that of the public view. Hyden's well-honed vision has forged a book that covers a broad berth of events and ideas with hyper-specific examples to uncover the relatable human truths in the middle."―Matt Bobkin, National Post

"Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me is entertaining, hilarious, and thought provoking. It uses feuds in music and pop culture to explain something about all of us, our behavior, and our strange need for these spats between show business people. I had a great time reliving some musical arguments of my youth, but it also made me realize just how weird the 90s were--really, really weird."―Craig Finn of The Hold Steady

"A pop-culture journey to self-realization that makes some intriguing stops."―Kirkus Reviews

"One of the various ways the book seems to be connecting with readers ... is Hyden's ability to take these debates and use them to find understanding, not just about the culture but also his own life."―Shane Nyman, Appleton Post Crescent

"An entertaining, informative look at rivalries in pop music."―Michael Schaub, Men's Journal

About the Author

Steven Hyden has written for Uproxx, Grantland, The A.V. Club, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Slate, and Salon and is the author of Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock and Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me: What Pop Music Rivalries Reveal About the Meaning of Life. He lives in Minnesota.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Back Bay Books (May 17, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316259152
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316259156
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.76 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #680,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #692 in Popular Music (Books)
- #1,588 in Music History & Criticism (Books)
- #2,333 in Popular Culture in Social Sciences

Customer Reviews:
4.2 489 ratings

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Steven Hyden

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Steven Hyden is the author of "Twilight Of The Gods" and "Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me." His writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Washington Post, Billboard, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Grantland, The A.V. Club, The Ringer, Slate and Salon. He is currently the cultural critic at UPROXX, and the host of the Celebration Rock podcast. He lives in Minnesota with his wife and two children.

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Timothy Haugh

Exceeded My Expectations

Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2018

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It isn’t often that a book greatly exceeds the expectations I had going into it. Mr. Hyden’s look at pop music rivalries is one. I wasn’t sure that I would even like this book since my interest in pop music is relatively minor and, besides Beatles vs. Stones, I wasn’t really much aware of any of these other rivalries. I thought, at best, this book would be a humor-filled romp through recent music history. It is that, but it turned out to be more. Mr. Hyden was able to use these rivalries as a starting point for larger commentary about our society.

For example, he uses the Taylor Swift vs. Kanye West controversy epitomized by West’s interruption of Swift’s 2009 VMA award acceptance speech to explore the meaning of awards and why some people/music/movies/etc. are more likely to win awards than others. He uses Clapton vs. Hendrix to discuss how “survivors can’t help but pale in comparison to dead people” (p. 121). He describes how Neil Young vs. Lynyrd Skynyrd was a non-rivalry to discuss how music and fame is often co-opted by people who want to use it for their own purpose often very disconnected from the source material.

This book was more than just a pleasant surprise for me. It is a book that delivers much more than the promise of its premise. It is a book that comments well on the current state of our society in a pleasurable way. It has become one of my favorite recent reads.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Thoughtful analysis of music and culture that clearly connects to our real-life behavior

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2016

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Without going chapter by chapter, I think Steven Hyden did a good job of using musical and cultural comparisons as an entry point to discuss how we behave in so many other ways.

For example, Oasis and Blur he uses to say that when he was growing up, you couldn't like both - if you liked Oasis, you must not like Blur. I think that's fair, especially when we're young and we're trying to create our "identity." This is equally applicable to real life - it seems like you can't "like" open carry gun laws and also "like" pro-choice - even though the two have nothing to do with each other, the beliefs are mutually exclusive. Our identities are restricted to a certain beliefs and we behave like they can't overlap.

When he talks about the "culture wars" of songs, he used "Southern Man" and "Sweet Home Alabama" as a good example - he claims (and I'm not sure I buy this) that "Alabama" was written as a joke, almost, not a serious pro-south anthem. But that was in 1975 - in 2016, there's no irony to that song and it's as straightforward as it comes. The culture decided that the song represented a simple statement, regardless of what the artist did or didn't intend.

There's lot of relevant examples, and cogent analysis. I want to try and use this in a college classroom setting as examples of how our relationship with music speaks to and mimics our real-life personalities. It is very 1990s specific, however, and most college students would only be vaguely familiar with many of these artists. So it's a potentially good resource, but maybe not ideal for audiences younger than about 30.

15 people found this helpful

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Alexander Donalson

Steven Hyden has been one of the best music writers in the game for years

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2016

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Steven Hyden has been one of the best music writers in the game for years, so I've been eagerly awaiting this book from the moment it was announced. Luckily it doesn't disappoint. Hyden delves into music rivalries not to make grandiose declarations of who was better than whom (although, hey, that can be fun too sometimes!), but to try to get to the bottom of what these rivalries tell us about how we process music (and everything else around us). It also serves as a great source of music history. While I was familiar with many of the stories included, I also learned quite a bit about some artists I'd never really thought twice about before. Hell, he even got me to take Oasis seriously! Above all, it's a hugely entertaining read and by the end you'll be rooting for your favorite artists to start brawling with each other so we can get another volume at some point down the road.

2 people found this helpful

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Benjamin P. Glaser

Good enough

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2020

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There were some good stories and general info, but it seems like this book needs flushed out more. A lot more meat on the bones of the stories, especially Skynyrd and Neil and Dave and Lars.

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PatrickGoesPop

A Refreshing Change Of Pace for Music Lovers

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

Hyden is not interested in score settling or contending for TMZ. In "Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me" he strips the mythology away from some of music’s greatest rivalries/feuds and focuses on the far more relatable and enduring human elements. Patience is at times required of the reader as Hyden often goes on personal tangents with varying degrees of fulfillment towards the larger point he is trying to make. But ultimately I saw endearment in his quirky writing style that and was willing to go along on his layered journey. The reader will find themselves thinking of even the most tired debates (Beatles vs. Stones, Prince vs. Michael Jackson) in new ways that go far beyond who’s music is superior. The irony is that by, for the most part, not choosing sides, Hyden points out their futility and by doing so may have settled them all anyway.

One person found this helpful

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Todd Gelfeld

Fantastic voyage through the history of musical rivalries

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2021

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This is such a fun read that I truly didn’t want it to end. Hyden is informative, hilarious, and relatable. As a diehard music fan, I got a lot out of these personal anecdotes, as well as the music history. Highly recommend!

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Oak

I thought this book was great. Not so much about music rivalries as much ...

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

Steven Hyden is a little younger than me and has a lot of the same music tastes so, yeah, I'm in the target demographic for this book. That being said, I thought this book was great. Not so much about music rivalries as much as what music rivalries mean to fans, Your Favorite Band is Killing Me ends up explaining more about who we are because of what we love than about what we love.

3 people found this helpful

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G. Baker

Interesting and informative

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

Book was quite interesting and very informative on many topics I didn’t have the knowledge of, but now I do.

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Amanda M.

J'ai adoré ce livre!

Reviewed in France on April 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

J'aime vraiment les livres où quelqu'un prend un sujet et l'applique à la fois à sa propre vie et au monde en général. Ce livre fait exactement cela, mais avec des rivalités musicales. Je l'ai traversé dans quelques jours. Suppression d'une étoile parce que je n'aimais pas la façon dont l'auteur parlait de Britney et Christina dans leur chapitre. Malgré cela, l'auteur est engageant et vous permet de rester facilement intéressé. Je recommande.

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