Reviews
Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever by Will Hermes
jefftakacs's review against another edition
5.0
While covering just five years in the history of music in New York City, Hermes takes the reader on a whirlwind trip through each of the five boroughs and dives into so many musical genres. The beginnings of punk rock, hip hop, Phillip Glass, Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen are all documented along with the city’s next steps in jazz, salsa and more. All excellently researched and stuff to the gills with facts and anecdotes that keep the reader engaged.
His biggest accomplishment in this book is that he is able to cover so much ground and so many genres and musicians while telling a cohesive story. While I’m not a New Yorker, I felt like one as I read this. I learned so much while reading this and absolutely enjoyed every bit of it. Highly recommended for any music fan of any genre!
His biggest accomplishment in this book is that he is able to cover so much ground and so many genres and musicians while telling a cohesive story. While I’m not a New Yorker, I felt like one as I read this. I learned so much while reading this and absolutely enjoyed every bit of it. Highly recommended for any music fan of any genre!
staceysfeast's review against another edition
4.0
Splendid, exhaustive, and dense. It’s not for amateurs.
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
gjpeace's review against another edition
3.0
While the subject matter is fascinating, there still isn't much to get excited about with this book. Hermes takes a very wide approach to writing about the time period, attempting to show in chronological order the entirety of the music scenes going on at the time - e.g. the CBGB crew, loft jazz, salsa, the beginnings of hip-hop, etc. This ultimately results in a pretty fascinating overview of the City at the time, showing how the movements of each band/artist impacted others both in and out of the city, but it also results in a fairly shallow take on the subject, as Hermes' need to show everything ultimately limits how the depth with which he can explore some of the more interesting (at least, to me) material. To be honest, I thought the first chapter was acting as an introduction, laying the groundwork for the future chapters by giving us brief, two-to-three paragraph long descriptions for each artist. Turns out, the entire book is written like that. It's an easy read - even fun, at times - and it's quite informative if you're new to the material like I am, but I can't help but wish there was more here. Still, I now have a good list of music to work through now, which is one of the things you want to get out of a book like this. Overall, this is a pretty good introduction to the music of the time, and if you're a music-obsessive like I am, you'll definitely find some great, fascinating moments here, but it can't imagine this book to be anything near authoritative nor, I hope, the best-written book on the time period. I am a little disappointed with this one.
caddysnack's review against another edition
3.0
New York in the mid to late 70s was one of the most creatively active and diverse periods in American history, and it's probably the number one destination for my time machine To Do list. So I expected to really love this book, but it lacks strong narrative and is an uninspired read. It's hard to say how much of that is due to the writer, because it's a necessarily overwhelming period to cover. I did find that his musical descriptions were not helpful, and I ended up skipping sections on genres I didn't care about (well, one: jazz) because his writing couldn't engage me. I think anyone interested in this period who already has a strong familiarity with it would be better off reading more focused books rather than this overview.
My favorite part of the book involved this quote from Robert Palmer, NY Times, responding to negative reviews of disco as "part of a general refusal to see disco partying as anything but mindless escapism when, in fact, a good case could be made for it as a vital tribal rite, an affirmation of high spirits and shared delight, a coming together to let loose that in no way ignores the problems of everyday life, but relieves them. Maybe we need a whole new aesthetics for the disco one that includes the ritual as well as the music."
My favorite part of the book involved this quote from Robert Palmer, NY Times, responding to negative reviews of disco as "part of a general refusal to see disco partying as anything but mindless escapism when, in fact, a good case could be made for it as a vital tribal rite, an affirmation of high spirits and shared delight, a coming together to let loose that in no way ignores the problems of everyday life, but relieves them. Maybe we need a whole new aesthetics for the disco one that includes the ritual as well as the music."
heavens_night's review against another edition
1.0
Surface level information presented in the blandest way possible. Could get more information from skimming over a few Wikipedia articles.
Also, the author insists on calling everyone that is vaguely androgynous the t slur. And at one point refers to a trans woman as "anatomically male". It can't make the book much worse then it is, but leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Also, the author insists on calling everyone that is vaguely androgynous the t slur. And at one point refers to a trans woman as "anatomically male". It can't make the book much worse then it is, but leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
oceanwalk's review against another edition
4.0
A great book that takes an in-depth look at music in New York City between 1973 and 1977. In those five years, as the city faced monumental challenges, punk rock, hip-hop, loft jazz, disco, salsa and minimalism were either created or reinvented. Hermes does a great job of following the artists who pushed music forward, as well as those who were lost in the shuffle. It's the story of immense change in a city that's always changing.