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Rip It Up and Start Again
by Simon Reynolds

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/272642.Rip_It_Up_and_Start_Again?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Rip It Up and Start Again" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173316828m/272642.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/272642.Rip_It_Up_and_Start_Again?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Rip It Up and Start Again</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/51552.Simon_Reynolds">Simon Reynolds</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8225932?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 4 of 5 stars<br/>I used to have a certain amount of disdain toward music criticism - I really enjoy reading reviews, analysis and everything in between for movies and books, but what's that old line about writing about music and it being comparable to dancing about architecture?  But I've been getting more and more into it lately, realizing that part of what I originally found offputting was that I lacked the technical vocabulary, something that has been improved over time.  And I also realized that music analysis can be really subjective, but that's all right when all you want is something to think about, not some gospel truth to cling to.
<br/>
<br/>So combine all of that with the fact that I love punk music and am fascinated by the social conditions that brought it about, and the fact that I became aware of this well-received book which looked at the period that came after and out of punk (a period which overlaps more with my conscious, pop-culture-consuming life than punk itself) and it really became inevitable that I would pick this book up.
<br/>
<br/>It's a well-written study, sometimes almost too much so, as the author tries visibly to make his words as musical as his subject matter - I guess that's an occupational hazard for music critics.  But it was also highly informative, which is what I primarily want when I set down to read a non-fiction book and learn a little something.  I appreciated the fact that each chapter examined a particular trend or movement in the postpunk music world, and therefore developed a mini-narrative, a throughline that had a beginning, middle and end.  Some of the stories were more compelling than others, but all of them were interesting examinations of both art and industry, as well as culture and politics of the late 70s and early 80s.  Now I have a whole list of bands and songs that I need to download, some I had heard of before but never known the context of, and some which are brand new to me but, at least on paper, pretty intriguing.  Perhaps I will add to this review once I do some critical listening of my own, to see if the "writing about music" in question managed to bridge the gap.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/329383?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Dale's review
rating:

status: Read in July, 2008

I used to have a certain amount of disdain toward music criticism - I really enjoy reading reviews, analysis and everything in between for movies and books, but what's that old line about writing about music and it being comparable to dancing about architecture? But I've been getting more and more into it lately, realizing that part of what I originally found offputting was that I lacked the technical vocabulary, something that has been improved over time. And I also realized that music analysis can be really subjective, but that's all right when all you want is something to think about, not some gospel truth to cling to.

So combine all of that with the fact that I love punk music and am fascinated by the social conditions that brought it about, and the fact that I became aware of this well-received book which looked at the period that came after and out of punk (a period which overlaps more with my conscious, pop-culture-consuming life than punk itself) and it really became inevi...more I used to have a certain amount of disdain toward music criticism - I really enjoy reading reviews, analysis and everything in between for movies and books, but what's that old line about writing about music and it being comparable to dancing about architecture? But I've been getting more and more into it lately, realizing that part of what I originally found offputting was that I lacked the technical vocabulary, something that has been improved over time. And I also realized that music analysis can be really subjective, but that's all right when all you want is something to think about, not some gospel truth to cling to.

So combine all of that with the fact that I love punk music and am fascinated by the social conditions that brought it about, and the fact that I became aware of this well-received book which looked at the period that came after and out of punk (a period which overlaps more with my conscious, pop-culture-consuming life than punk itself) and it really became inevitable that I would pick this book up.

It's a well-written study, sometimes almost too much so, as the author tries visibly to make his words as musical as his subject matter - I guess that's an occupational hazard for music critics. But it was also highly informative, which is what I primarily want when I set down to read a non-fiction book and learn a little something. I appreciated the fact that each chapter examined a particular trend or movement in the postpunk music world, and therefore developed a mini-narrative, a throughline that had a beginning, middle and end. Some of the stories were more compelling than others, but all of them were interesting examinations of both art and industry, as well as culture and politics of the late 70s and early 80s. Now I have a whole list of bands and songs that I need to download, some I had heard of before but never known the context of, and some which are brand new to me but, at least on paper, pretty intriguing. Perhaps I will add to this review once I do some critical listening of my own, to see if the "writing about music" in question managed to bridge the gap....less

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