AJ's review
Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 by Michael Azerrad
AJ's review
rating:
bookshelves: do-not-own, library, music, nonfiction
status: Read in October, 2007
rating:
bookshelves: do-not-own, library, music, nonfiction
status: 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 and Sub Pop's rise and fall) and Dinosaur Jr. It was also great to read about labels like Sub Pop, SST, K, Homestead, Dischord and Touch & Go (among others) and how they really made a huge impact on the indie scene. Although most of them are gone or bought out, their legacies cannot be denied.
The best thing about this book is that it focuses entirely on indie bands while they were indie. This means that the book isn't dominated by the bands I already know so much about, like Nirvana, So...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 and Sub Pop's rise and fall) and Dinosaur Jr. It was also great to read about labels like Sub Pop, SST, K, Homestead, Dischord and Touch & Go (among others) and how they really made a huge impact on the indie scene. Although most of them are gone or bought out, their legacies cannot be denied.
The best thing about this book is that it focuses entirely on indie bands while they were indie. This means that the book isn't dominated by the bands I already know so much about, like Nirvana, So...more
