libbycrews's review against another edition
4.0
There are a lot of gems in here, and the albums discussed can give anybody a great lesson in the history of rock n roll. However, I was hoping for a little more depth in the conversations. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this read.
twainy88's review against another edition
4.0
I like music. I’m definitely in the target audience, maybe a little young BUT I really enjoyed this book. The narrator reminded me of Casey Kasem, subdued. I think the only thing I might change (but not sure) would be to have him be the interviewer and have others be the interviewees so it gives it an even more rockumentary feel.
All of the stories were heartfelt and/or funny. I’ve always loved music so I was answering the questions to a lot of the questions in my head.
You’re (I’m) not alone! All of the people interviewed had a first record that they bought or most influential band etc.
It was funny that it’s mentioned that younger artists when asked might not be as honest answering all of the questions as someone in their 40’s. True.
The age issue would be that I didn’t recognize a bunch of the people interviewed but I’ve heard of half the bands they were in so anyone could listen and enjoy this.
I asked for this title from NetGalley as I found the description interesting.
All of the stories were heartfelt and/or funny. I’ve always loved music so I was answering the questions to a lot of the questions in my head.
You’re (I’m) not alone! All of the people interviewed had a first record that they bought or most influential band etc.
It was funny that it’s mentioned that younger artists when asked might not be as honest answering all of the questions as someone in their 40’s. True.
The age issue would be that I didn’t recognize a bunch of the people interviewed but I’ve heard of half the bands they were in so anyone could listen and enjoy this.
I asked for this title from NetGalley as I found the description interesting.
celeste57's review against another edition
4.0
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher, HighBridge Audio, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
What’s a song that changed your life? One that moved you, inspired you, broke down a wall within you and helped you grow? What song can bring back a memory as sharp as a snapshot, bringing you back to a time and place and smell and one prismatic moment any time you hear the first notes playing through a speaker? I don’t think any other art form on the planet can so deeply evoke sense memories and wildly variant emotions that music. While I love books with every fiber of my being, it’s music that has the most power to move me. And I think this is true for far more people than realize it. Music is the language of the soul, and it’s fascinating to see what speaks to the hearts of different people. Especially those who move others with their own music.
It was interesting to hear how wildly different these artists approached discussing the music that shaped them. Some took a cerebral approach, others verged on spiritual, and some were just brimming with so much enthusiasm and joy that you couldn’t help but smile with them. Some of these artists, both those being interviewed and those whose records were the albums that changed the interviewed artists’ lives, I had at least a passing familiarity with. Some I had never heard of. But my knowledge of these artists and that art that moved them didn’t really matter in the slightest. Hearing any person, even a total stranger, talk about the music that matters to them, even if I’ve never heard of it, always feels valuable to me. The music that is important to us and the reasons it matters can be deeply personal, and I think any sharing of that is something special.
You can tell that Spitznagel, the author and interviewer behind this book, is incredibly passionate about music. Rock in particular. There is so much love and care in the way he approaches these interviews. It’s evident that he was truly invested in learning how all of these artists he approached would answer the question of what album changed their life. This book could have somehow ended up becoming about him. That didn’t happen here. He was a facilitator, not the star of the show, and that mentality made all the difference in making this book feel honest and authentic.
While I love the concept of this book, there were some failings in the audiobook format. This is a series of interviews, but both sides of every single interview are narrated by the same person, Michael Bulter Murray. While he did a great job, this could have been so much more had there been clips of the real interviews, or at least one additional narrator. The narrator did the best he could to ensure you could tell who was talking, interviewer or artist, but it would have been much easier to follow with two voices. However, I adjusted to having only one voice covering both ends of these interviews after a while, and I think the audio format was a very fitting way to ingest this book. By the time I reached the end, my complaints felt very minor.
I was intrigued by the title and premise of this book when I stumbled across it on NetGalley, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Honestly, I could have happily read twice as many such interviews without ever feeling bored. I had never heard of Spitznagel, but now I want to dig into his back catalogue. Anyone who loves music this deeply is someone whose work I want in my life.
You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.
What’s a song that changed your life? One that moved you, inspired you, broke down a wall within you and helped you grow? What song can bring back a memory as sharp as a snapshot, bringing you back to a time and place and smell and one prismatic moment any time you hear the first notes playing through a speaker? I don’t think any other art form on the planet can so deeply evoke sense memories and wildly variant emotions that music. While I love books with every fiber of my being, it’s music that has the most power to move me. And I think this is true for far more people than realize it. Music is the language of the soul, and it’s fascinating to see what speaks to the hearts of different people. Especially those who move others with their own music.
It was interesting to hear how wildly different these artists approached discussing the music that shaped them. Some took a cerebral approach, others verged on spiritual, and some were just brimming with so much enthusiasm and joy that you couldn’t help but smile with them. Some of these artists, both those being interviewed and those whose records were the albums that changed the interviewed artists’ lives, I had at least a passing familiarity with. Some I had never heard of. But my knowledge of these artists and that art that moved them didn’t really matter in the slightest. Hearing any person, even a total stranger, talk about the music that matters to them, even if I’ve never heard of it, always feels valuable to me. The music that is important to us and the reasons it matters can be deeply personal, and I think any sharing of that is something special.
You can tell that Spitznagel, the author and interviewer behind this book, is incredibly passionate about music. Rock in particular. There is so much love and care in the way he approaches these interviews. It’s evident that he was truly invested in learning how all of these artists he approached would answer the question of what album changed their life. This book could have somehow ended up becoming about him. That didn’t happen here. He was a facilitator, not the star of the show, and that mentality made all the difference in making this book feel honest and authentic.
While I love the concept of this book, there were some failings in the audiobook format. This is a series of interviews, but both sides of every single interview are narrated by the same person, Michael Bulter Murray. While he did a great job, this could have been so much more had there been clips of the real interviews, or at least one additional narrator. The narrator did the best he could to ensure you could tell who was talking, interviewer or artist, but it would have been much easier to follow with two voices. However, I adjusted to having only one voice covering both ends of these interviews after a while, and I think the audio format was a very fitting way to ingest this book. By the time I reached the end, my complaints felt very minor.
I was intrigued by the title and premise of this book when I stumbled across it on NetGalley, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Honestly, I could have happily read twice as many such interviews without ever feeling bored. I had never heard of Spitznagel, but now I want to dig into his back catalogue. Anyone who loves music this deeply is someone whose work I want in my life.
You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.
roshreviews's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
Books and Music are my life. The only thing that keeps me going other than reading is music. I can't even read while listening to music because my brain automatically starts grooving with the beat. That's why I didn't want to let go of the opportunity to read this book. It seemed like a great way to discover the music preferences of those who make us dance to their beat.
One line in this book says, "If you really wanna know a person, know more about the album they listened to in the dark." That sort of sums up the premise of this book. Author Eric Spitznagel meets with quite a few rockstars to get to know what they rock to. His interesting range of questions makes his respondents open up their hearts to the music of their earlier years. The musicians come from varied social levels, varied educational backgrounds, and varied genres of music. Honestly, I haven't even heard of many of those interviewed for this book. But that doesn't take away from the experience. What binds them all is the name they have made for themselves in the rock world and the passion they have for music. Both of these come out vividly in this book and hence the lack of familiarity isn't a constraint. I really enjoyed getting to know the artists better.
The book reaffirms the idea that all of us stands on the shoulders of those who came before us. It was so interesting to get an insight into what motivated those who motivated us towards music. The resultant list reads like the who's who of the music world. This book is a treat for all rhythm afficionados.
In fact, the entire book creates a great deal of nostalgia. As the musicians mention A tracks and LPs and cassettes and record shops, you can't help but go down memory lane. As one of the musicians says,
"Most of what's there today is just show." And I completely agree. Autotune can never substitute true talent, and Spotify can't replace the experience of browsing through record stores.
In an interview, the questions are as important as the responses. The author, who is also the interviewer, is very knowledgeable about his topic, and it shows. He knows exactly what to ask to make the interviews interesting and keep the conversation following. He also interjects humorous retorts in between the responses. The result is that the book doesn't become repetitive and boring in its content, though it could easily have because of its essential structure. The entire credit for this goes to Eric Spitznagel.
However, as far as the audiobook goes, I wasn't quite satisfied to the same extent. How I wish there were multiple narrators for a book based on the interview format! The narrator does read with clarity but he doesn't vary his voice between the interview questions and responses, forget about male and female responses. The result is that the audio production sounds like one big nostalgic drama instead of an interview. After a while, you do get attuned to having a single narrator playing the double role. But it's not much fun. This audio would have functioned much better with three narrators, one for the interviewer and one each for the male and female musicians interviewed. Of course, a better solution would have been to use the actual interview recordings for the audio version.
In spite of this minor drawback, I would recommend the book to every music lover, especially to those into rock and punk. I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to.
Thank you, NetGalley and Highbridge Audio, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
One line in this book says, "If you really wanna know a person, know more about the album they listened to in the dark." That sort of sums up the premise of this book. Author Eric Spitznagel meets with quite a few rockstars to get to know what they rock to. His interesting range of questions makes his respondents open up their hearts to the music of their earlier years. The musicians come from varied social levels, varied educational backgrounds, and varied genres of music. Honestly, I haven't even heard of many of those interviewed for this book. But that doesn't take away from the experience. What binds them all is the name they have made for themselves in the rock world and the passion they have for music. Both of these come out vividly in this book and hence the lack of familiarity isn't a constraint. I really enjoyed getting to know the artists better.
The book reaffirms the idea that all of us stands on the shoulders of those who came before us. It was so interesting to get an insight into what motivated those who motivated us towards music. The resultant list reads like the who's who of the music world. This book is a treat for all rhythm afficionados.
In fact, the entire book creates a great deal of nostalgia. As the musicians mention A tracks and LPs and cassettes and record shops, you can't help but go down memory lane. As one of the musicians says,
"Most of what's there today is just show." And I completely agree. Autotune can never substitute true talent, and Spotify can't replace the experience of browsing through record stores.
In an interview, the questions are as important as the responses. The author, who is also the interviewer, is very knowledgeable about his topic, and it shows. He knows exactly what to ask to make the interviews interesting and keep the conversation following. He also interjects humorous retorts in between the responses. The result is that the book doesn't become repetitive and boring in its content, though it could easily have because of its essential structure. The entire credit for this goes to Eric Spitznagel.
However, as far as the audiobook goes, I wasn't quite satisfied to the same extent. How I wish there were multiple narrators for a book based on the interview format! The narrator does read with clarity but he doesn't vary his voice between the interview questions and responses, forget about male and female responses. The result is that the audio production sounds like one big nostalgic drama instead of an interview. After a while, you do get attuned to having a single narrator playing the double role. But it's not much fun. This audio would have functioned much better with three narrators, one for the interviewer and one each for the male and female musicians interviewed. Of course, a better solution would have been to use the actual interview recordings for the audio version.
In spite of this minor drawback, I would recommend the book to every music lover, especially to those into rock and punk. I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to.
Thank you, NetGalley and Highbridge Audio, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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