Reading 33 1/3

1. DUSTY IN MEMPHIS (DUSTY SPRINGFIELD) - WARREN ZANES ] ] I’ve wondered a lot what the first book in the series would be like, to the extent that I’ve been avoiding reading it. The first...

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34. IN UTERO (NIRVANA) - GILLIAN G. GAAR ] ] Gillian G. Gaar is quite clearly encyclopaedic about Nirvana, and In Utero includes a massive amount of detailed information without resorting to...

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49. ACHTUNG BABY (U2) - STEPHEN CATANZARITE ] ] Stephen Catanzarite takes on U2’s seventh album - which he describes as being “the record on which U2 can be said to have discovered its geni...

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75. SPIDERLAND (SLINT) - SCOTT TENNENT ] ] Scott Tennent manages remarkable efficiency in the book, comprehensively covering Spiderland while also producing the first book on Slint’s whole c...

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7. ABBA GOLD (ABBA) - ELISABETH VINCENTELLI ] ] Abba Gold starts with two points - albums are seen as superior to compilations, and being an Abba fan puts you on the wrong side of the cred wars...

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70. FACING FUTURE (ISRAEL KAMAKAWIWO'OLE) - DAN KOIS ] ] Dan Kois begins with the night Israel Kamakawiwo'ole* met engineer Milan Bertosa in the middle of the night in 1988, recording ‘Somew...

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64. ILLMATIC (NAS) - MATTHEW GASTEIER ] ] Matthew Gasteier presents Illmatic through a series of dualities or oppositions, and the introduction falls under ‘Black/White’ - Gasteier is white...

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62. PINK FLAG (WIRE) - WILSON NEATE ] ] Wilson Neate interviewed the four members of Wire - Bruce Gilbert, Robert Grey (then Robert Gotobed), Graham Lewis, Colin Newman - and producer Mike Thor...

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27. BORN IN THE U.S.A. (BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN) - GEOFFREY HIMES ] ] Geoffrey Himes approaches Born in the U.S.A. as an album compiled from the many tracks recorded during the period 1981-4, describ...

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52. LET’S TALK ABOUT LOVE (CÉLINE DION) - CARL WILSON ] ] Carl Wilson’s book is one of the best-selling and most widely praised in the series, distinguished both by its subject matter and...

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18. EXILE ON MAIN ST. (ROLLING STONES) - BILL JANOVITZ ] ] Exile on Main St. was mostly recorded in Villa Nellcôte, a 19th century mansion rented by Keith Richards, and the first third of the ...

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5. MEAT IS MURDER (THE SMITHS) - JOE PERNICE ] ] It would be remarkable if any book in the series manages to contain fewer words about the album than this one. Joe Pernice describes the book as...

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58. SHOOT OUT THE LIGHTS (RICHARD AND LINDA THOMPSON) - HAYDEN CHILDS ] ] There are three narratives outside the songs in Hayden Childs’ examination of Shoot Out The Lights - the one about Ri...

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77. TUSK (FLEETWOOD MAC) - ROB TRUCKS ] ] Rob Trucks starts out with a warning that a character by the same name appears in the book, acknowledging that this generally doesn’t go down well, ...

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41. USE YOUR ILLUSION I AND II (GUNS N’ ROSES) - ERIC WEISBARD ] ] I think this is the only book in the series that’s about two albums, released separately though they share cover art and a...

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45. DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME (MINUTEMEN) - MICHAEL T. FOURNIER ] ] Double Nickels on the Dime is a 45-song double album, with each side’s tracks chosen by a band member (Side D, Side Watt, ...

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72. WOWEE ZOWEE (PAVEMENT) - BRYAN CHARLES ] ] Bryan Charles takes a first-person approach to Pavement, starting with his own relationship to Pavement as a fan and going through the process of ...

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65. RADIO CITY (BIG STAR) - BRUCE EATON ] ] Radio City introduces the album through Eaton’s experience of coming across it for the first time, describing how it sounded it to him and how it �...

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50. IF YOU’RE FEELING SINISTER (BELLE & SEBASTIAN) - SCOTT PLAGENHOEF ] ] Scott Plagenhoef takes on Belle & Sebastian as a whole, plus their assortment of cultural contexts and how music fand...

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67. ANOTHER GREEN WORLD (BRIAN ENO) - GEETA DAYAL ] ] In the preface, Geeta Dayal describes using an Oblique Strategies deck in writing the book. It’s fitting, of course, as the cards were ...

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