33 1/3 Series of books

I just finished the GNR book and I'm sorry, I gotta call bullshit. The chapters where Weisbard chronicles his own ascent to Critic Valhalla are boring, and the track-by-track is pretty much just him going "haha I never should have written this book because these records mostly suck." I hear he is a top guy -- and he comes around here sometimes too, so probably just shooting myself in the foot here if I ever thought about presenting at the conference or whatever -- but he had an opportunity to do something cool and I think he mailed it in.

Is this bitterness because the fat dead Hawaiian ukulele dude book was greenlighted but my Cheap Trick proposal never had a chance? OF COURSE. But all the stuff about "oh here's what Jon Pareles said" and "I worked for Bob Guccione Jr. and he was nice to me so Axl is a dickbag"...I ain't buyin' it.

That's a shame to hear, because I could totally see a great book being written about the Use Your Illusions (obviously, since I started this thread, and should probably re-do it as a poll).

I came the conclusion a while back that the best possible 33 1/3 book I could write would probably be about Pearl Jam's Vitalogy, although I don't think I could ever bring myself to pitch it and possibly go through with re-living my grunge adolescence like that and be the guy who wrote a book about Pearl Jam. But it would be awesome.

SOMEONE among our generation needs to do this

the grunge book will be a big success when it finally drops

never forget

Seriously. I just hope that when someone does do a Pearl Jam book, it's about one of crazy pretentious albums like Vitalogy or No Code and not boring old Ten, my whole theory being that a band's weirdest or most indulgent album would make a way better book than their biggest or best. (xpost)

Did Geeta's Eno book come out?

I'm pretty sure Perpetua pitched Vitalogy this go-round.

(And suffice it to say didn't get in.)

so, anybody read aja?

I think next time I'll pitch The Weirdness.

oh wait, they already did a stooges book. fuck!

I thought about pitching August and Everything After.

jess you should pitch flipper.

DEAD MILKMEN BIG LIZARD IN MY BACKYARD WOULD SELL 15 COPIES GUARANTEED

I liked the Aja book. It delves very heavily into music theory which I thought was very interesting (how the fuck did they make those crazy chord progressions?) but not enough to turn people off.

My favorite so far is the Low book. Best written also. Stories of Bowie surviving solely on milk, coke and cigarettes == priceless.

haha Perpetua, dammit! actually I'm generally cool with him when he's writing about cheesy 90's alt-rock, so I'd probably read that. same reason I'd probably read a Counting Crows book. in theory, at least, the only 33 1/3 I've actually read so far was SOTT, but I might have to get that Aja one.

im kind of addicted to these things but i'm reaching the diminishing returns point now that i've moved outside of the writers i know already enjoy

ooh when did the AJA book come out? is it available in UK?

wow, I really don't think I can finish the Daydream Nation book.

The guy who is writing the Master of Reality book posts here, and I am really looking forward to that. If he's reading this, could you provide the ETA?

Thanks.

wow, I really don't think I can finish the Daydream Nation book.

It gets a little better after the over-the-top gonzo tongue bath he gives the band/album in the first 30 pages or so, but even then, the most interesting parts come from the interviews he does with Steve and Lee, rather than from his tenuously drawn lyrical exegeses.

I just read Eric's book finally, and I've gotta say he did it about the only way that could interest me at this point. There's been nine million words written about GNR, and few writers are gonna have anything to offer now except rehash. (And honestly, I feel the same way about the Replacements, a band I was a lot deeper into in their moment.) Eric did a great job of bringing new thinking along with the necessary history; also, any ambivalence he has about the music is fully justified. The Illusions were messy, overgrown and sometimes unlistenable from Day One, and those qualities seem amplified a million times given subsequent events.

NB: I haven't read Meloy's book yet, so that above comment is no bust on him.

Also hahaha "events."

Help me then with the "new thinking" part then, please, because I didn't get any of that. Just that the records aren't Appetite for Destruction? I think we all knew that. Is it that he is a well-known music writer? I personally knew that too.

The guy who is writing the Master of Reality book posts here, and I am really looking forward to that. If he's reading this, could you provide the ETA?

I don't know, really! I don't like to talk about work-in-progress, kinda weirdly superstitious about that

I just picked up the Notorious Byrd Bros one and am about a third of the way through. To be honest the writing seems average at best -- and his personal bio bits weren't as engaging as Matos's -- but I am unfamiliar enough with certain parts of the Byrds backstory that it is holding interest. I'm still very much looking forward to the discussion of the record in the next section; i'll withhold judgement til I finish.

shame about the Use Yr Illusions -- I was interested in checking that one as well, although I'm no fan of his writing. I liked that he chose to explore those two albs over Appetite. but if he is less than enthusiastic about them then fuck it.