Alternative Rock: The Best Musicians & Recordings

This is one of the best rock books around. If you are new to the scene or working on filling the holes in your collection, you need this book. It goes into rock history and where ska came.

I would like to respectfully disagree with a couple of the previous reviews. This book (though no longer the most current) is a GREAT reference to both casual music fans and music geeks alike. Even if not every band you would like to see or should potentially know about from '75-'00 is included, many of them are, and even if the synopses/reviews may not be your opinion, you can not deny they are at least fair and informed. The book is already large, and if more were included it may become ponderous and overwhelming for some. It is not an encyclopedia, but it is the closest this genre is likely to see. I spent several hours reading it before I bought it (we had it at my job) and learned many things about bands I knew about, as well as some I had never heard of. The book does a good job of putting the artists in the context of their time and regional culture, and does a great job as a piece of reference in catalogueing the recordings. As for the complaint about not including hip-hop or Zappa. I am a big fan of both, I was once reprimanded on my college "alternative" radio show for including a couple songs by Zappa era Steve Vai, and I agree that the "alternative" genre such as it was (I consider it to now be a dead genre) was too restrictive and became nothing more than a marketing strategy. However it is a recognized and fairly well defined genre, like it or not, and I feel that the artists represented in this book are a fine cross-section of the most important players in said genre. As much influence as Zappa had both musically and attitude wise to many a "alt rocker" he resides just outside of this classification (along with most other classifications, to his credit). So to sum up, if you are looking for a fine reference tome on Alternative Rock and the bands who made it what it was, you could do a lot worse than this. If you are looking for the end all be all volume on one particular band or are likely to get offended by someones opinion of your idols, then look elsewhere. I myself, am glad it was written.

I was first acquainted with Dave Thompson's writing through a book called Industrial Revolution and liner notes from Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's Generation-The Best of. The Industrial Revolution book used an encyclopedic format and in a way was a precursor to Alternative Rock. This book covers everything from the history of Alt music: Velvet Underground and Glam, through Punk and all of the post punk derivatives you can muster: Hardcore, Goth, Industrial, and some of the more moderate New Wave music of the Eighties. Though not every band under the sun was spotlighted or even mentioned, it is about as comprehensive as you can get. Each selected band has a concisely written bio and discography, not to mention that each album is rated and most were reviewed. Also included is a section on the producers and record labels. This is the type of reference book that you will open time and time again. The book's only disappointment were two ommissions that are not justifiable: The Fall and The Mekons. There are other bands I would have liked to have seen: Girls Against Boys, Yo La Tango and some of the other Matador and Touch and Go bands out there. However, this book is an inspiration to those who love music and for those who love to write about music.