Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991
by Michael AzerradSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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Read in June, 2006
The finest music-related piece of literature I've read. Azerrad wrote the seminal Nirvana book Come As You Are, which was my primary source for an non-fiction essay I wrote in 7th grade about the band (yup), and Our Band Could Be Your Life plays on Azerrad's strengths as well as the success of that book. The central question: How did Nirvana essentially come out of nowhere and in 1991 release Nevermind, which within a few months would supplant Michael Jackson, of all people,...more
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I loved this book. Azerad profiles bands like Black Flag, Minutemen, Mission of BUrma, Butthole Surfers, Sonic Youth, Big BLack, Minor Threat, The Replacements, Fugazi, BEat Happening, Mudhoney, and Dinosaur Jr. It's the royaly of 80s underground music in America.
There are bands that could have been incouded, namely the Pixies, but Azerad wanted to focus on bands that made a big splash in America. And while the Pixies were an American band, they were on 4AD, an English label. They began to ...more
There are bands that could have been incouded, namely the Pixies, but Azerad wanted to focus on bands that made a big splash in America. And while the Pixies were an American band, they were on 4AD, an English label. They began to ...more
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Read in January, 2005
The title of Michael Azzerad’s chronicle of the American indie rock scene of the 1980s comes from a song by punk’s working class heroes, the Minutemen, and there probably hasn’t been a single phrase ever scrawled more evocative of the spirit that surged through the era Azzerad writes about than "Our Band Could Be Your Life." As punk flamed out at the end of the ’70s, a generation not quite old enough to have participated in the initial wave salvaged its remains for principles t...more
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
anyone into indie music from the last few decades
You can tell that Michael Azzerad was allowed to "geek out" a little bit in the writing of this book. I don't know if there are many musical historians as knowledgeable as he is, especially in the realm of indie music from the last few decades.
In this book he basically does a mini-bio of several of the most important bands of the "american indie underground". He does not, and could never, cover them all. But, he does speak on some of the most influential bands of the eig...more
In this book he basically does a mini-bio of several of the most important bands of the "american indie underground". He does not, and could never, cover them all. But, he does speak on some of the most influential bands of the eig...more
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Read in January, 2005
I love this book, and re-read it every few years or so. I've read criticism of this book by those that lived it that the author -- by nature of not having lived this scene himself -- gets some of it wrong. I assume that's true, but it's as close as I'll ever get to living this period of the American music underground, so I savor every word. What these bands went through to continue making music on their own terms simply blows my mind, and their do-it-yourself ethic continues to be an inspiration...more
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Read in August, 2008
This was kind of a fun book, although it took me a while to get into it. I wasn't very familiar with any of the bands except by name (despite having seen Mission of Burma in concert several years ago) but had some firsthand knowledge of the hardcore scene, at least as it existed after the time period this book covers. In that sense, it was lovely to see the font from which all of the angry boys with Xs on their hands sprung.
As someone largely unfamiliar with the bands' music, the fact tha...more
As someone largely unfamiliar with the bands' music, the fact tha...more
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
young hipsters, old hippies, and all the punks in between
Sometimes I just need to indulge my guiltiest of pleasures: the music nerd in me. The 1980s were an exciting time to be aware of underground music in the U.S., only to be corrupted by the post-Nirvana band-grab of the 90s. Azerad's chronicle articulates this and documents a baker's dozen of America's most important bands and the underground rock scenes that they championed. About half the bands come out as heroes (particularly The Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Mission of Burma, Fugazi and Beat Happeni...more
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Read in October, 2007
What a great book. I found it a bit slow at first while it went over some bands that I wasn't terribly familiar with, but it's such an informative and interesting history of indie rock in the 80s and 90s. It covers the bands and indie labels that evolved into some of my favorite music of all time.
The author has a chapter on each band covered in the book, from Black Flag to Beat Happening and everyone in between. My favorite chapters were on Mudhoney (an excellent history of the Seattle scene...more
The author has a chapter on each band covered in the book, from Black Flag to Beat Happening and everyone in between. My favorite chapters were on Mudhoney (an excellent history of the Seattle scene...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
music nerds
This is a great collection of snapshots, covering 13 bands that kept punk alive through the '80s and changed it into the ethical and political code it's become - and also the hidebound, narrow-minded code of conduct it has sometimes become. The writing's pretty hyperbolic at times, which gets a bit grating. I did learn a lot though: who knew hardcore sprouted so fast, became dogmatic, and had a backlash in just 3-4 years?
While there are great inspirational stories of bands starting their...more
While there are great inspirational stories of bands starting their...more
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Super-fucking-great. A lot of the bands I've loved throughout the years are unlikely to be written about in "rock journalism" books, so when I found one that had large chapters devoted to many of them, I was pretty pumped. The bands featured are: Black Flag, The Minutemen, Mission of Burma, Minor Threat, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Dinosaur Jr., Fugazi, Mudhoney, and Beat Happening. Aside from providing the obvious biographies of the band...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Mike by:
Beau Golwitzerrecommends it for: Anyone interested in the most interesting time of American rock music
Loved it. I am a big "indie" rock fan and some of the bands chronicled in this book are some of my favorites.
Because most of the bands in the book never were huge superstars, there is a hell of a lot out there written about them.
This book tells stories about life on the road, in the recording studio, and other tasty tidbits of these great bands.
The 13 bands that are written about are:
Black Flag
Minutemen*
Mission of Burma*
Minor Threat
Husker Du*
The Replacements ...more
Because most of the bands in the book never were huge superstars, there is a hell of a lot out there written about them.
This book tells stories about life on the road, in the recording studio, and other tasty tidbits of these great bands.
The 13 bands that are written about are:
Black Flag
Minutemen*
Mission of Burma*
Minor Threat
Husker Du*
The Replacements ...more
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Read in January, 2005
Wow, what a read. The big plus for this tome is that Azerrad spills as much ink on some bands who were slipping off the radar - notably Mission of Burma (at least at the time the hardcover was published, pre-reunion) - and on how he's able to let the story of one band from this geographic region lead into this band from that region... so at the end the reader has an idea of how 6,7,8 different little underground scenes birthed a nationwide network that is still around and supporting interesting...more
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Read in June, 2004
Of all of the recent books about 80's & 90's punk/hardcore/indie rock, this one is probably the best. Superbly written and with a unique presentation (instead of picking a specific genre or scene, Azerrad picks bands he finds compelling & makes each one it’s own chapter), this book will have you reading with rapt attention about bands you have no interest in actually listening to. I mean, the guy wrote a chapter about Beat Happening and got away with it. He probably deserves a medal fo...more
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An essential document of essential rock bands, but it comes across as a bit forced in parts, where Azerrad tries to force significance into things by making unqualified blanket statements. It's also a bit hard to keep track of the time lines of the individual groups - the overlaps make it a bit difficult to tell just who was up to what when.
The whole book has a Philip Glass quality. Barring the final two chapters, which go into the history of Sub Pop and the explosion of the scene, the sto...more
The whole book has a Philip Glass quality. Barring the final two chapters, which go into the history of Sub Pop and the explosion of the scene, the sto...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
people into punk/indy music who maybe went to high school in the 90s
If you have even a passing interest in punk, or maybe your son just turned 14 and is "really into punk" right now and you want to buy him a christmas/passover present then this might be the book for you! but don't be surprised if he starts wearing flannel shirts and pawns his accordian fora guitar. And don't be surprised if he srtars a band, "borrows" the car so he can make it to the "gig" and then wraps the car around a tree! Man, I've seen it happen.
Avtually...more
Avtually...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Bryan by:
Morgan Nicholsonrecommends it for: anyone who likes anything
Excellent and candid account of the rise of the indie music scene from the stagnating hardcore status-quo in the early 80s. Covers the histories of bands like Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, The Minutemen, Butthole Surfers, etc. through the beginning of the 90's when Nirvana broke into the mainstream. Very inspiring; it reminded me how much I love the bands described within, and gives an enlightening sense of context to the music. For fans today it is hard to disentangle a band from its legac...more
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Read in January, 2001
I'm not sure if there's a better band biography (or set of band biographies, as it may be) out there. This book is GREAT! Sometimes it might seem sorta formulaic, but, well, it inspired the hell out of me when I first read it, and now I can't live without playing music. Although it shows all the bad sides of having a band, somehow it still really, really makes you want to play, even if now is a completely different time, etc... Anyway, most of the bands that are covered are amazingly good, thoug...more
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recommends it for:
everyone
I've owned this book since 2001. I consider it both a great read and a handy rule book for those artists out there who want to remain independent. From Black Flag to Beat Happening, "Our Band..." is a great chronicle of american punk rock (which is usually called "alternative/indie" to appease those too afraid to fully get into punk or metal). Azerrad's writing is straight to the point without being curt, and poetic without any ham fisted hero worship. Like when you heard you...more
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Read in November, 2005
Reeaaaallllly, you're going to exclude the Pixies because they were distributed by Electra Records in the US but you're going to INCLUDE Sonic Youth and The Replacements even though they've had a billion records out on major labels? Ok, whatever. Good thing for Azerad this is a damn fine book or else I'd be pissed. Pissed I say! If you're a music nerd like me, you will drool over this damn book. I read it right before going on a 12 day tour in a 1976 Chevy van through the armpits of Califor...more
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Read in January, 2003
An interesting but ultimately unsatisfying read. While much of the subject matter is fascinating , with all of the drinking, drugging, and dust ups, it runs out of steam pretty quickly. The second half of the book starts to feel all contract obligationy, like "My editor needs another 40000 words, and I so do not give a shit". It also kind of hates on hardcore, which was an important component of the era and music scenes being discussed. Really, it's enjoyable in a tabloid sort of way, ...more
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