Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book is a frustrating read for anyone vaguely familiar with the history of rock 'n' roll in the United States. Its definitely directed towards a British audience, and it often sounds like the author has never even been to New York--although I'm sure he has. At one point he calls New Jersey one of the outer boroughs of New York City! However, this little mistake is symptomatic of the book's other major failing--lack of editing. Phrases like:
"establishing a reputation as being part of New York's avant garde" (pg. 91) are typical. He has a strange obsession with hyphenated adjectival phrases as well. The following paragraph can serve as an example of bad editing and bad research:
"Despite the blue-collar no-nonsense rock of Springsteen and the fist-raising right-on righteousness of Lennon, the lumbering giant that was progressive stadium rock, led by Zeppelin, along with its smoother-sounding country cousins and well-meaning singer-songwriters seemed to have set the pattern for rock as we know it in tablets of stone. Indeed, its detractors were calling it 'Stone Age rock', played by musical dinosaurs. And its detractors were many."
(The detractors were vocal, but not many when compared to the number of fans these bands had.)
However, I think the real danger here would be to buy this book in the hopes of learning about New York City's rock music. There are so many mistakes and misstatements, it would be a horrible place to start. On pg. 9 he claims that "an honesty of approach and lack of pretension" characterizes "a New York attitude generally." (!?) Although I'm not sure what "honesty of approach" means anyway, it's somewhat shocking that anyone would characterize New York as not pretentious.
I understand the need to write a book quickly to fulfill a perceived void in the market (apparently rabid Strokes fans desperate to understand the rock-crit mumbo-jumbo surround the band), but this book only disappoints.
Click Here to see more reviews about: NYC Rock
This book tells a story, making the connections through rhythm & blues, folk and funk, disco and punk, to the contemporary cutting edge, tracing a musical evolution spanning five decades that is a microcosm of rock'n'roll itself.
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