1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die (1001 Must Before You Die) [Paperback]

First of all I must say that I have found this book to be useful, informative, maddening, haphazard, brazenly populist, wilfully obscure, engrossing and just plain wrong about lots of things. So why five stars for a work of such gross imperfection? Because ultimately it does what a work like this should do; acts as an excellent aid to exploration and discovery of new (to me) music. Also it is an entertaining and informative read.

I discovered the book by chance as the title caught my eye in a bookshop because I already owned the 1001... film book. I was a little dubious at the expansion of the 'franchise' but when I realised I'd been reading it for over half an hour and still couldn't put it down I figured I'd best make the purchase.

The book has justified its purchase easily as I have been led to discover many albums that I'm sure would have remained unknown to me. It is particularly useful in that it explores a wide range of genres over a large time frame .I have bought many albums as a direct result of their inclusion in the book but more importantly, a great many more as a result of those initial purchases, that aren't in the book(but are just as good or better).

It is important to note that this book covers albums NOT artists and does not include compilation albums. It is an approach I approve of but one that weighs heavily against some important artists(Motown/disco acts for example and indeed artists in popular music prior to the mid-sixties). It also means that on those rare occasions where an artist is better appreciated by way of a "Best of/Greatest Hits" album you may find yourself being pointed towards a release of merely average quality, in order to include an important artist(a perhaps understandable compromise by the editor).
Another thing to be aware of is that this is the work of many(90) different reviewers and thus avoids the failings of the solo-author(too narrow a range, plays favourites, not enough time for one person to listen to/research everything properly etc) only to substitute them for others. At least a couple of times I have read reviews of albums by the same artist which offer slightly conflicting opinions because they are written by different reviewers so there is a lack of that clarity/unity of purpose that can be provided by a single vision.

Finally I feel that the book has received a lot of criticism, some justified, some entirely unfair and misdirected. My own biggest complaints are, over representation of some artists,the usual under representation of female acts(but they've done better than in most such guides),the tendency to not pick the best albums by an artist a lot(but not all) of the time and a tendency to include some albums purely because they were big sellers in a particular genre or in a particular year (particularly in the 80s and 90s).

If there is one thing a book like this confirms, it is that it is not possible to like everything. If you think that nearly every album in this book is someone's favourite(or top ten at least) it doesn't mean that you will appreciate them. Some genres just don't take. On the other hand I have found myself delving deeply into areas that I had only dabbled with before or exploring new areas that I'd been wary of thanks to this book.

In summary I think this book will appeal most to the enthusiastic and inquisitive music fan who can treat this as a useful tool rather than as a 'definitive list of the most important albums' and it would be a very fortunate person indeed who could find nothing of use in this.

I guarantee this book will appeal to all but the most jaded or informed music fan. It is a veritable treasure trove of material: most of it familiar, a lot of it less so (or occasionally never heard of). Listed in chronological order and arranged in decades, each album covered is given a neat and informative summary often leaving me with an urge to explore the artist further. The selections are eclectic and occasionally surprising but, in the main, the albums featured here are ones that are (rightly) already in the pantheon of what are considered to be 'classic albums'. Naturally the later inclusions are bound to be more contentious as only time will judge whether they are the modern day classics that the contributors claim them to be.

This book is satisfying on so many levels. As a general reference book of classic rock and pop, as a primer for more in-depth musical exploration, as a 'bluffer's guide' to rock: this book is all of these things and more. And, as the review title suggests, it is perfect for dipping in and out of as each inclusion can be read in a couple of minutes. And, yes, I really do keep it next to the toilet! (Is that too much information?)

A friend and I saw this in a bookshop and flipped it open with the intention of having a dig at the contents: most rock books don't do any more than show the ignorance and narrowness of the compilers. In the event, we turned over every page right to the end. Sure not every entry will please everyone, but the main point is that virtually every great album we could think of -- and our taste is pretty eclectic, from Beefheart to Beethoven, via Arcade Fire and Ray Charles -- is here, including many that we thought "only we knew about". For any one looking to build or expand their collection this book is just fantastic.