33-1/3 Book series

[PopTodd]

I've only read one -- the one about Murmur. And I only picked it up because it was written by a high school friend of mine. I did really enjoy it, though.

And now, another friend of mine (a former coworker) has signed the contract and is in the middle of writing another one -- about D'Angelo's Voodoo. So I'm sure that I'll read that one, too.

 

Overall, it's like, they kinda intrigue me, but I'm not really motivated to read any of them for some reason. At least not until a friend gets involved in the project.

 

Hoping some discussion in here will either convince me to read others or tell me why I'm right in not reading any more.

 

Y'all read any? What did you think?

[lost highway]

I've read a ton of them, their range of quality is completely disconnected from the quality of the album they're about (which those are all great anyways).

 

Memorably good:   Velvet Underground, Eliot Smith XO, Television Marquee Moon, Beach Boys-Pet Sounds (music theory heavy, but that's kind of my bag)

 

Memorably bad: The Replacements-Let It Be (Colin Meloy decides to make it a story about how he discovered rock and roll, ugh), Radiohead-OK Computer (complete with a semiotic analysis of the compact disc as a media format)

[jff]

I've read several of these.  They vary widely in quality.  Some are song by song analysis, some are fan fiction, some are long form band bios, some are cultural commentary, some are about the author more than the subject.  

 

I enjoyed Marquee Moon, Paul's Boutique, and Forever Changes.  I felt like I learned something about why and how these albums came to be. 

 

Doolittle and Piper at the Gates of Dawn were pretty good, but I felt like I'd read it all before.  

 

Trout Mask Replica was pretty good as a Cliff's Notes version of what happened during the making of that album.  Worth reading if you haven't read Lunar Notes or Beefheart: Through the Eyes of Magic.

 

Double Nickels on the Dime was a tough read for someone like me who knows the music on the album pretty well, but doesn't connect the songs with their titles due to the overwhelming number of songs.  Maybe not an album that needs song by song analysis.  

 

Led Zeppelin 4 was awful.  Reads like the explanation of an occult conspiracy theory,

 

I even read the Celine Dion book, because it's supposed to be an interesting take on popular tastes.  I didn't find it particularly interesting.  The general public has shitty taste and are easily tricked, and that's OK.  There, I just saved you the trouble of reading it. 

 

All in all, having read some of these books, the novelty has worn off and I'm not particularly inclined to read any more of them, although I probably will, depending on the album.

[uncool2pillow]

Memorably bad: The Replacements-Let It Be (Colin Meloy decides to make it a story about how he discovered rock and roll, ugh), Radiohead-OK Computer (complete with a semiotic analysis of the compact disc as a media format)

 

See now... I liked Let it Be because I think that was a good way to handle the Replacements. They were an intensely personal band to me and reading someone else's experience was fun. 

 

I also read Bowie's low. Completely different, entirely about the music, Eno, Iggy, Visconti. A great read too.

 

Funny you should post this yesterday. I just received Workbook in the mail. It's my all-time favorite LP. We'll see how the book is. It appears to be closer to Let it Be with personal reflections and exchanges of emails by the 2 authors.

[tinnitus photography]

ha, i liked the Dion book. it was an interesting treatise about critiques.

 

 

the best one by far is the John Darnielle book about Master Of Reality, but i know some people really hate it because it's a fictional tale of teenager and there's very little about Sabbath in it. still, i thought it was a truly great piece of writing.

i've had the Exile On Mainstreet one for a while now and i know that Janovitz is a good writer and knows his Stones too, so that should be a good read.

 

B000 was pretty good. i thought Sweetheart of the Rodeo was sorta dull.

 

i think i read the Joe Pernice one about Meat Is Murder (another fictional story, only tangentially-related to the LP).

[jff]

In my limited experience, these are better when they're about artists/albums who don't already have a bunch of books written about them.

[worldrecordplayer]

Thanks for this topic. I'm not familiar with this series. Are these hard copy books? I'll have to start reading!

[uncool2pillow]

Paperback. About 4x6.

 

https://333sound.com/33-13-series/

[worldrecordplayer]

Thanks for the pointer. Lots of titles I'd want to read there. 

 

One I know I won't be reading is Mr. Tinnitus Photography's favorite, the Master of Reality book. As I've told Tim, my first rock concert was Sabbath at the Academy of Music on the Master of Reality tour. And I've spent the last 37 years wondering why!

[tinnitus photography]

Thanks for the pointer. Lots of titles I'd want to read there. 

 

One I know I won't be reading is Mr. Tinnitus Photography's favorite, the Master of Reality book. As I've told Tim, my first rock concert was Sabbath at the Academy of Music on the Master of Reality tour. And I've spent the last 37 years wondering why!

you still might like it... it's got nothing to do w/ Sabbath really (aside from the fact that the protagonist really likes that record), just the story of a messed up teenager. it's pretty gripping, actually.

[Sir Stewart]

I've only read two: The Paul's Boutique one I go back to time and again because of all the fun Beastie anecdotes from the era. The other, on TMBG's Flood, is godawful because it tries wayyyyyyyyyyy too hard to convince the reader that TMBG's act was all about being "geeks" and about their influence on "geek culture" - yawn.

[lost highway]

See now... I liked Let it Be because I think that was a good way to handle the Replacements. They were an intensely personal band to me and reading someone else's experience was fun. 

 

I suppose that makes it a truly gutsy piece of art. It connected with someone and infuriated another.

 

I'm really looking forward to Jawbreaker-24 Hour Revenge Therapy, and I've been saying that Wilco-A Ghost is Born is the greatest Wilco story never told. It might have some tough times in it, but of the most "classic" Wilco records, it's the one not immortalized by Kot's book, or a documentary. It's really an artistic peak and the transition from sick Tweedy going in, to healthy Tweedy going out on tour with the record.

[worldrecordplayer]

you still might like it... it's got nothing to do w/ Sabbath really (aside from the fact that the protagonist really likes that record), just the story of a messed up teenager. it's pretty gripping, actually.

Thanks for the recommendation. Between work, listening to music, the New Yorker, Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, and all the tv shows I try to keep up with, I have a hard time reading books. But I will try to get to this on my next vacation.

[brownie]

I've read three of them: R.E.M. Murmur (very good), Big Star Radio City (very good), and Oasis Definitely Maybe (don't remember a thing about it, so maybe not so good.)

 

I forgot all about this series.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. Between work, listening to music, the New Yorker, Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, and all the tv shows I try to keep up with, I have a hard time reading books. But I will try to get to this on my next vacation.

They are a quick read.

[jff]

I've been saying that Wilco-A Ghost is Born is the greatest Wilco story never told. It might have some tough times in it, but of the most "classic" Wilco records, it's the one not immortalized by Kot's book, or a documentary.

 

Yeah, that'd be a good story.  We've mostly only heard the rehab story from that time period.  I remember reading part of an AGIB article in Spin, or Magnet, or something like that when I was at a mall bookstore.  The part I read focused on the unorthodox recording process they were using at the time, and talked a bit about the Wilco Book recordings.  I wish I had bought that magazine.  It's probably the closest thing to the "AGIB story" that I've come across.   Anyone know what magazine I'm referring to?