Scan barcode
oz617's review
5.0
Brilliant overview of goth bands, artists, books, movies, and the contexts than birthed them. Especially thankful for reminding me about Diamanda Galas - been trying to remember her name for ages
bookishbarnowl's review against another edition
3.0
*3.5 out of 5*
I feel a little guilty for not rating this higher because it is clear that this book has been incredibly well researched. However, I wonder if I not quite the book's target audience. I adore goth culture, literature and several goth bands but this book has had me thinking that maybe I am not quite the enthuasist that I thought I was. I loved the parts of the book that weaved goth music within the narrative of current affairs of the time and enjoyed learning about certain bands such as 'Joy Division', even though I'm not a massive fan (Honestly, couldn't name a song beyond 'Love will tear us apart). However, some of the bands were just a bit too niche for me and there wasn't enough of a draw for me to read about them so I found myself skim reading those parts. The niche aspect worked out well for me at times. For example, I really enjoy a few songs of 'Specimen'. I discovered them on a retro music programme. I had no idea the were the house band of the 'Batcave', a Soho club that pretty much kicked off the whole goth subculture in the South of England. I wish I could take a time machine and travel back to attend a club night there. I can imagine it would be a hell of a lot of fun.
I love the way each chapter of the book ends with a mini profile of a 'gothmother', 'gothfather' or 'goth parents'. These outlined the lives of individuals that had an influence on goth music such as Jim Morrison, Percy and Mary Shelley and Johnny Cash.
Regarding the goth/post-punk bands that I do enjoy, I couldn't get enough of these parts of the book. I enjoyed learning more about Siouxie and the Banshees and discovering song meanings that I hadn't given much thought to before (I didn't even realise 'Monitor' was about a snuff film in a sort of '1984' world). Although I'm not the biggest of fans, I enjoyed reading about Bauhaus, the Cramps, the Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Cult/Southern Death Cult as I am rather partial to a few of their songs (ashamedly, I discovered the Cramps along with everyone else when the first season of 'Wednesday' was released). I was a bit disappointed that we didn't cover more about the band, 'The Damned'. For me, alongside Siouxie, the Damned is one of my favourite goth bands. I enjoyed the sections about Echo and the Bunnymen and the Cocteau Twins. I think some people may dispute whether they are goth (I'd argue the Cocteau Twins definitely started off goth) but I don't really care. I think this book has shown that I like a smattering of goth bands and several post-punk and goth-adjacent artists. Some would probably deem it absolute sacrilege that I cannot get into 'Sisters of Mercy' but they just don't do it for me. However, give me Siouxie and the Banshees and the Damned any day of the week. Bloody love them!
I feel a little guilty for not rating this higher because it is clear that this book has been incredibly well researched. However, I wonder if I not quite the book's target audience. I adore goth culture, literature and several goth bands but this book has had me thinking that maybe I am not quite the enthuasist that I thought I was. I loved the parts of the book that weaved goth music within the narrative of current affairs of the time and enjoyed learning about certain bands such as 'Joy Division', even though I'm not a massive fan (Honestly, couldn't name a song beyond 'Love will tear us apart). However, some of the bands were just a bit too niche for me and there wasn't enough of a draw for me to read about them so I found myself skim reading those parts. The niche aspect worked out well for me at times. For example, I really enjoy a few songs of 'Specimen'. I discovered them on a retro music programme. I had no idea the were the house band of the 'Batcave', a Soho club that pretty much kicked off the whole goth subculture in the South of England. I wish I could take a time machine and travel back to attend a club night there. I can imagine it would be a hell of a lot of fun.
I love the way each chapter of the book ends with a mini profile of a 'gothmother', 'gothfather' or 'goth parents'. These outlined the lives of individuals that had an influence on goth music such as Jim Morrison, Percy and Mary Shelley and Johnny Cash.
Regarding the goth/post-punk bands that I do enjoy, I couldn't get enough of these parts of the book. I enjoyed learning more about Siouxie and the Banshees and discovering song meanings that I hadn't given much thought to before (I didn't even realise 'Monitor' was about a snuff film in a sort of '1984' world). Although I'm not the biggest of fans, I enjoyed reading about Bauhaus, the Cramps, the Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Cult/Southern Death Cult as I am rather partial to a few of their songs (ashamedly, I discovered the Cramps along with everyone else when the first season of 'Wednesday' was released). I was a bit disappointed that we didn't cover more about the band, 'The Damned'. For me, alongside Siouxie, the Damned is one of my favourite goth bands. I enjoyed the sections about Echo and the Bunnymen and the Cocteau Twins. I think some people may dispute whether they are goth (I'd argue the Cocteau Twins definitely started off goth) but I don't really care. I think this book has shown that I like a smattering of goth bands and several post-punk and goth-adjacent artists. Some would probably deem it absolute sacrilege that I cannot get into 'Sisters of Mercy' but they just don't do it for me. However, give me Siouxie and the Banshees and the Damned any day of the week. Bloody love them!
emosheeran's review
slow-paced
2.0
I expected more from this. I’m not sure how a book can have so much information, yet at the same time make me feel like I learned absolutely nothing. There was something about the writing style that kept me from enjoying what I was reading, which made this quite cumbersome and grueling to get through. If I didn’t know the bands and people in here and it wasn’t said that this is about the Goth scene, I wouldn’t have a clue which scene is being talked about. It’s just so general and relays information in the same way every chapter, as if it’s Wikipedia. Even though the author is part of the scene and was there in the origin days, they added nothing to the book; it was so impersonal. I also wasn’t a fan of how the information was ordered. Instead of dedicating a chapter to a band, it was done by year, which made my brain all jumbled. So many names were mentioned, introduced in the middle of talking about someone else, and crossed over into other chapters that it was honestly hard to follow. And once again, if I didn’t already know most of the people in here, I would be a lost cause.
Since there was so much written, I would’ve expected way more mentions of obscure bands and not mainly the cult classics, and even though there were multiple mentions of the same lot, it still seemed skimmed over. Everything just didn't work for me.
One bit that did stand out was the section about Mary Shelley’s very tumultuous marriage; that was the most entertaining part of the book by far.
Seeing as I’m in the minority when it comes to my rating, I’m sure others will like this a lot more than me, but yeah, this kind of felt like a waste of my time. 2 stars get given because it did seem like the author put a lot of work into compiling this regardless.
Since there was so much written, I would’ve expected way more mentions of obscure bands and not mainly the cult classics, and even though there were multiple mentions of the same lot, it still seemed skimmed over. Everything just didn't work for me.
One bit that did stand out was the section about Mary Shelley’s very tumultuous marriage; that was the most entertaining part of the book by far.
Seeing as I’m in the minority when it comes to my rating, I’m sure others will like this a lot more than me, but yeah, this kind of felt like a waste of my time. 2 stars get given because it did seem like the author put a lot of work into compiling this regardless.
grace_machine's review against another edition
4.0
Very good. Brendan articulates a lot of things that I have been feeling about video games for a long time, but with a heavy arsenal of research and theory to supplement it. At lot of the stuff about embodiment in this book has helped me think through a ton of games I have played since starting it. It has its limits. Brendan's theoretical framework does not exclude disabled people, but it also doesn't bring them in and I would love to see someone roll with this to write a comprehensive video game theory about disability.
A good entry point into games studies and a work I will use and think about in my criticism from now on.
A good entry point into games studies and a work I will use and think about in my criticism from now on.
More...