- Hardcover: 376 pages
- Publisher: Virgin Books; 4th Revised edition edition (21 Feb 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1852279230
- ISBN-13: 978-1852279233
- Product Dimensions: 26.7 x 19.8 x 7.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 800,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
The Guardian
'The popular music database to end all music databases'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"* '...this typically accessible and authoritative study knocks all such previously existing works into a cocked hat' The Sunday Times * 'Without question the most useful reference work on popular music' Jools Holland * 'a body of work that remains the last word in rock reference books' Q
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This all-encompassing volume has about 3,300 entries covering various musical styles of the past century, but with the focus on pop and rock. In the introduction, the author points out that he had to choose from over 20,000 entries in his database - and he is planning to double the size of that database. Unlike so many books of this type, there are no pictures, allowing all the available space to be used for information.
Obviously, this book can only cover a selection and cannot please everybody. However, a series of specialist volumes is available, so anybody wanting to focus on jazz, country, heavy metal, sixties, seventies or any of several other genres can find a book covering their particular interest. The author says that you can find artists in these specialist books for which there is no room here. Even so, there are a staggering number of obscure singers and bands here.
Once you focus on who is in this book rather than who isn't, it is quite impressive. The book I am reviewing is the fourth edition, so any errors that existed in earlier editions have hopefully been corrected. Each entry contains basic details about the singer or band, their music and the author's opinions, plus a brief discography. Again, this discography is deliberately limited. The idea is to provide an introduction to music that is new to you, so the emphasis is on stuff that was readily available at the time book went to press. Fans of a particular singer or band must look elsewhere to track down all the rarities.
My tastes in music are wide, but while my knowledge is extensive, there is a lot I don't know, even about my favorite genres. A book like this is invaluable to me. It is certainly the best book of its kind that I've come across.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a work of genius. For any true music fan this is a snip. It is the most comprehensive work of its kind and the layout is stunning, how on earth have they crammed so much into one book. Every album has a star rating to a system which i truly cannot fault, this is a great feature. The perfect book for settling any musical arguments.
5 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Yes, this is an excellent book, although I think one reviewer goes too far when he describes it as the work of a genius! My real gripe however is that is probably out of date even before it goes to publication. And I know it's good to thum through a real book, but it's a costly item and more up to date information can be found on the net.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
HUGE BOOK OF INFORMATION
I got this for christmas 2005 and little did I know that this book was 3 years out of date. It's good for me to write down my PINK FLOYD album list and to read about my favourite... Read more
Published on 11 May 2006 by PSN: Funeral-Bringer
I'm saddened.
This is a reasonable reference book but I am afraid it lacks heart. The writer/editor is clearly not a musician himself, and I think one should at least have the rudiments of... Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2004 by Georgina Raddish
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