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Review
As an in-depth account of seminal free-thinking radicals Crass, Berger's book is indispensable, drawing on the testimony of band members and associates, spelling out their extraordinary pasts".- Mojo "Not just an essential biography, this will fill in many gaps in most peoples' knowledge and appreciation of a vastly uncharted area of punk and post-punk".- Record Collector "... the first real history of the pioneers of anarcho punk".- Classic Rock "... engaging, useful and well-researched ..."- The Independent On Sunday
Product Description
This is the b format edition of the critically acclaimed biography. It is an amazing account of the subversive band that took punk to the limit! Crass were the anarcho-punk face of a revolutioary movement founded by radical left-wingers, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher. Not just another iconoclastic band, Crass was a musical, social and political phenomenon. Teetotal health freaks who were never photographed and remained contemptuous of conventional pop stardom, their members explored and finally exhausted the possibilities of punk-led anarchy. Here, members have collaborated on telling the whole Crass story giving access to many never-before seen photos and interviews. They tell the stories of putting out their own records, films and magazines and setting up a series of hoaxes that were dutifully covered by the world's press.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
With one more chapter to read, I think it fair to say that I've got the measure of this book.
As the three stars suggest, this isn't a bad book and it gives a decent enough account of the band and its pre-history. The problem is that it overly relies on a series of interviews and some very extensive quotations from Penny Rimbaud's previous publications. Often these sources are allowed just to stand by themselves, so sometimes Berger is only really present in the form of connecting phrases or paragraphs. When, however, he does add context or views on the political or social situation, the arguments are remarkably one-sided and often devoid of evidential support.
Chronology is also a problem, despite the chapter headings that ape Crass's own use of numbers (e.g. 421984 - four years to 1984). Future events are referenced before being properly introduced and so the less informed but interested reader is left struggling to understand what is meant. Berger is also an insider, who lived through much (all?) of what he discusses, so there's an assumed knowledge running through both the history of the band and the history of the UK at times.
The book is rarely critical (as I said, rarely - there is the odd moment, but they are few and far between) and lacks the depth and complexity of something like Jon Savage's England's Dreaming. The book is thus rather lazy, relying on access to those Crassers who agreed to be interviewed, rather than anything approaching research. That said, as a documentation, there's some really good material, but this certainly isn't a 'history' of the band.
As the three stars suggest, this isn't a bad book and it gives a decent enough account of the band and its pre-history. The problem is that it overly relies on a series of interviews and some very extensive quotations from Penny Rimbaud's previous publications. Often these sources are allowed just to stand by themselves, so sometimes Berger is only really present in the form of connecting phrases or paragraphs. When, however, he does add context or views on the political or social situation, the arguments are remarkably one-sided and often devoid of evidential support.
Chronology is also a problem, despite the chapter headings that ape Crass's own use of numbers (e.g. 421984 - four years to 1984). Future events are referenced before being properly introduced and so the less informed but interested reader is left struggling to understand what is meant. Berger is also an insider, who lived through much (all?) of what he discusses, so there's an assumed knowledge running through both the history of the band and the history of the UK at times.
The book is rarely critical (as I said, rarely - there is the odd moment, but they are few and far between) and lacks the depth and complexity of something like Jon Savage's England's Dreaming. The book is thus rather lazy, relying on access to those Crassers who agreed to be interviewed, rather than anything approaching research. That said, as a documentation, there's some really good material, but this certainly isn't a 'history' of the band.
8 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not the story of Crass, it is, rather, the author's perception of what Crass were, filled out with anecdote. On one occasion he goes so far as to make a comparison between Crass and Adam and the Ants, which says it all, really.
Crass were quite simply beyond labels, as they would have wanted it to be. Their strength lay in their cutting lyrics, their startling graphics, and their application of an anarchist philosophy to the music business.
The Crass message is timeless; it is just a pity that those that it is aimed at do not get to hear it.
I'll make no subscription to your paradise...
Crass were quite simply beyond labels, as they would have wanted it to be. Their strength lay in their cutting lyrics, their startling graphics, and their application of an anarchist philosophy to the music business.
The Crass message is timeless; it is just a pity that those that it is aimed at do not get to hear it.
I'll make no subscription to your paradise...
2 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
BAD WRITING AND LOTS OF TYPOS, A PRETTY POOR PRODUCT AROUND, EVER GET THE FEELING YOU'VE BEEN CONNED?
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