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Fear of Music: The Greatest 261 Albums Since Punk and Disco [Paperback]

Garry Mulholland (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 15 Nov 2007

If there had been a music book of the year award in 2002 Garry Mulholland's This is Uncool: The Greatest 500 Singles Since Punk and Disco would have walked away with it. The next logical step is Fear of Music: the Greatest 261 Albums Since Punk and Disco. In Garry Mulholland's words: 'Entire albums don't slap you in the face when blasted out of a radio in the hairdressers. You have to buy them, listen to them, and form a deeper relationship...'

The book features plenty of Mulholland's witty, irreverent and insightful criticism, taking in classics from the last thirty years by everyone from Television, David Bowie and The Smiths, through to Eminem, Snoop Doggy Dog, Earth, Wind and Fire and The Prodigy.

Garry Mulholland has that knack of writing about music with such clarity that brings it all back again, and has you searching for some long-lost dusty record.

Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Orion; New Ed edition (15 Nov 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0752882430
  • ISBN-13: 978-0752882437
  • Product Dimensions: 2.5 x 18.4 x 17.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 74,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'A thrilling call to go thumbing through your old CDs and vinyl... enthralling. *****' (Caspar Llewellyn Smith - Observer Music Monthly OBSERVER )

'An infectious enthusiasm that will leave you listening afresh to those Mojo-approved apres-Punk staples... and a long overdue privileging of pop that is black, gay or female.' (TIME OUT )

'Full of short, excitable essays about the records Mulholland still dribbles over... this book's full of wide-eyed love, as a fan's testimonies should be.' (THE WORD )

'The brilliantly written work of an enthusiastic and savvy music fan. It's sexy to look at too. And chunky enough to chuck in those heated arguments about music.' (TIME OUT - Christmas Presents )

'Crisp, witty and insightful reviews... the choices are thought-provoking throughout in a fascinating book and an ideal companion to its predecessor.' (EVENING HERALD )

'Brilliant dip-in/dip-out material, it offers fresh reviews of the elpees that Mulholland would trample over his wife and kids to rescue from a burning house.' (HOT PRESS ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

TIME OUT

'An infectious enthusiasm that will leave you listening afresh to those Mojo-approved apres-Punk staples... and a long overdue privileging of pop that is black, gay or female.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Ole Mulholland! 11 Jan 2007
By Steve
Format:Hardcover
I'm generally pretty scathing of these books that "list" the albums/books/artworks/films/clothes that you must hear/read/see/wear etc etc, but this little book has two things in its favour: first, the style of writing is of the "pitchforkmedia" variety- it's very passionate, "poetic" criticism which tells you lots about the formative nature of each record in terms of the writer's tormented adolescence, but very little about what the music actually sounds like. Whether you think that's a good or a bad thing is up to you- but at the very least it marks the collection out as different from similar anthologies.

Secondly, this is a post-punk anthology- that means no Beatles, no Dylan, no Led Zep, no Pink Floyd and no Van Morrison, and thank God for that! There's no need to recommend albums like Dark Side of the Moon, because there isn't a single person left on the face of the earth who isn't aware of its canonical status. Instead, the likes of Talking Heads, Public Enemy, Echo & the Bunnymen, De La Soul, and New Order are well-represented here (the latter are generally not considered an "albums" band, a view which this collection shows to be nonsense).

Of course, eventually we will groan at the canonical status of these albums in the same way that we now feel about Dylan et al, but at least this book offers temporary respite- the author deserves credit for highlighting some new "classics" to breath life into the hoary old canon of 60s rock. So, (to paraphrase Frank Black) we should all sing (one-two-three) "Ole, Ole, Ole for Mulholland"!!!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars The Never ending quest 31 Jan 2009
By Mr. S. A. Perrin
Format:Hardcover
The quest being to find the definitive book that compiles ALL the greatest albums. This of course is impossible. We would have to write our own individual books. Just a quick flick though Garry Mulholland's book reveals glaring omissions. No "Leftism", no "Nevermind" or "In Utero". Only one Sonics album included but room for 3 Pet Sop Boys albums. I'm thinking this could be a list of 1261 great albums and I would still be left unsatisfied. That said this book is well written and just like other "Best Albums Ever" books I have discovered new music in my never ending quest to build a fabulous cd collection. Worth a read.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Great - if only he'd let the music do that talking... 6 July 2007
By Ms. S. E. Christie
Format:Hardcover
A semi-sequel to 'This Is Uncool', Mulholland's rather ace list of the greatest singles since punk and disco, `Fear of Music' is not quite as good as its predecessor but still an entertaining read.

Mulholland's selection (an arbitrary 261 albums) are interesting - a mix of the canon and the off-beat - as is his writing; even when he's discussing music you don't know or don't particularly care about, he can make it exciting. He says with passion exactly WHY he loves these albums. The chronological format once again works in Mulholland's favour: he catalogues the shifts of genre and subject matter across the decades with ease but with enthusiasm. However, it is where Mulholland attempts to describe the albums' responses to the changing societies and cultures they were made within that the book falls somewhat flat.

Mulholland's strategy in 'This Is Uncool' was to have a couple of pages at the start of each year detailing the events that had gone on - politics, economics, personal change - and in broad strokes paint how they effected the singles made and they way he listened to them. All very interesting; it coloured your reading of that year's songs, making Mulholland's discussion of his favourite singles more mutli-faceted and prfound.

However, Mulholland does away with this format in 'Fear of Music', instead choosing to flag up each album's politics within its own, small passage. The way music responds to society and politics can be highly interesting, but 'Fear of Music' is not academic or detailed enough to achieve this level. Instead, Mulholland seems to use any excuse he can to flag up his own personal problems with Western culture; racism, homophobia, sexism.... Read more ›
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A book of lists 29 May 2007
By Dave
Format:Hardcover
This book is refreshing as it does not include bands such as Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin, preferring to analyse stuff that has musical quality and relevance - such as the genius of (agreeing with prevoius reviewer) De la soul, Talking Heads, Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Quest. I have to admit some of the albums included may be debatable... but isn't that almost the point.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Musical 'thought crime' never sounded so good 11 April 2009
By Vauxhall1964
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
In "1984" Orwell said: Whoever controls the past controls the future; whoever controls the present, controls the past. Nowhere is that more true than in 'rock criticism', where a canon of 'greats' has been established over the last quarter century, which is practically 'thought crime' to challenge. Garry Mulholland, first in his celebration of the single "This Is Uncool", and now in its companion volume dedicated to the album, is our own musical Winston Smith, daring to question the rockist Big Brother. Citizen Mulholland dares to think the unthinkable. He is an equal opportunities music lover; pop is as valid as rock, women as lauded as men, gay artists are welcome and 'greatest hits' collections are rightly prized as essential. Mercifully the book starts in 1976, neatly avoiding the need to engage with hoary rock dinosaurs of that decade or the all too familiar 'classics' of the Sixties. As with his singles book the author falls under the spell of rap and hip hop as the 80s end, which, along with the increasing underground and obscure albums chosen for the last ten years of 'Fear of Music', gives the impression of a degree of scraping the bottom of the barrell...either that or an apparent dearth of quality music to be found in the mainstream. Or, whisper it, maybe standards in popular music were just higher in the 70s and 80s.
"Fear of Music" is a great read but also a useful catch-up guide for those who missed out on these albums first time round. With his generous, open-minded tastes Mulholland is the best guide you could wish for. No, there's no Radiohead's "OK Computer" or "Kid A", no "Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine", no Guns & Roses or Metallica. And, yes, he picks three Pet Shop Boys albums and no Nirvana. That is precisely the point he is making. And it sounds good to me.... Read more ›
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