Time Out 1000 Songs to Change Your Life

by Time Out Guides

Music can shock and soothe, amuse and appall, but above all move the listener. In more than 30 essays and features, a variety of writers, critics, and musicians explore those songs that made a difference to their lives, to society, and to music history itself. Illustrated throughout with full-color posters, album covers, and photographs, the book is organized by theme and features informative sidebars. Sampling everything from folk songs to fugues, hip-hop to hymns, Time Out 1000 Songs to Change Your Life includes musician interviews and complete discographical details.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2008

Reviews

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

(There’s 577 more songs in this book; the title is just to make the number a perfect one.) I have already read their books on film and books, both of which were good. And like those books, the writings here are organised in groups with a main theme. The book’s release time, 2008, may show in here, like in some future-hopes for certain music directions or bands/singers, but it’s not really important. A certain UK-centredness is in here, but the book does stretch to other countries, and has non-UK writers too. The writers may have differing views on certain things, but it just makes things better. Like the introduction says, the book is not to meant to be perfect, or include everything that is out there (even in 2008).

The articles are themed in groups like blue feelings, ways of escape, pleasures, euphoria, etc. (and each theme is from an album title). At the end are indexes to all songs mentioned, and the same with bands/singers who recorded them. Some songs are mentioned in several articles (like fe. Britney Spears’ “Toxic”, or Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It”). Within the articles are boxes for themed song-lists, past Time Out interviews with certain musicians, and artists mentioning a certain song important to them, sometimes just a recent favorite. These are listed together within the indexes also. Plus there is some websites for further reviews, discographies etc. and a list of the authors who wrote the stuff in the book.

What’s in the articles? Some examples: on “Gloomy Sunday”’s impact, on songs about Mexico (makes you think – all those naughty senoritas etc. clichés), the naughtiest rap songs, how US and UK differ when you think about mental or geographical spaces, exotica, songwriting tips (and later, how song inspiration comes), on jazz improvisation, drugs, film (songs and soundtracks), songs on fame… By the way, classical does get a word in, at least in talk about Schubert’s “Winterreise”, and evil characters in opera. Non-English music doesn’t really get a chapter of its own, though non-English European rock/pop gets its chapter.

Yes, it’s not a ‘perfect’ book on the most-important songs ever – and one’s own tastes may be different or narrower – but it’s a good way to start thinking about looking outside one’s own tastes, perhaps to look for some of the songs on Youtube and so on; I certainly got myself a small list of songs to try or just listen to. I really think it’s important for music fans to try strange things, like one would try new foods – that’s the way I started expanding my tastes back when I really got into music, and then without the use of the Internet. Much fun and good knowledge can be found here.

[Paul Bryant · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I bought the new iPod "Classic" and I'm currently feeding my collection into its tiny digital maw, and what with that and iTunes, where you can buy individual songs for 79p, it's a good time to be a geeky musical magpie with a long memory. Of course you won't be surprised that my first purchase from iTunes was "The Day the Circus Left Town" by Eartha Kitt, her heartbreaking valediction to all of our lost childhoods, a song which defines the notion of bittersweet so crushingly it will never be undefined. File next to Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes". And the second one was "Oh Lizzie" by Johnny Dodds. And the third was "Rock a Billy Baby" which was the flip of "Last Train to San Fernando" by Johnny Duncan. I've been looking for these three songs in good quality for years.

And I realised with a jolt that my daughter Georgia, music lover though she is, will probably never buy a cd in her life, and as I finally drool off to the place where old fanboys go, she'll survey my piles of cds & shake her head & say what am I going to do with all this stuff?

Anyway, this present book is one of many many books that look very scrumptious but are at least two chillies short of a proper chicken madras & so it didn't take long to find its way to Oxfam on Sherwood High Street.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very British perspective and some of it hasn't held up all that well. As the book goes on, several of the pieces stop following the original theme and became more about particular artists or genres than about identifying songs across the spectrum that fit various themes. You could probably find a better way to seek out new music at this point.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved reading the essays about all different types of music - especially those that talked either about genres that aren't my favourites or things that I don't know much about. For example, there was an essay on the impact of drugs on music and music scenes, and an excellent essay on jazz music, and improvisation. Sometimes you just have to talk to someone who both understands and appreciates a genre to start to appreciate it yourself. This book was just filled with great essays/articles that I started out cherry-picking, and ended up reading most of them.

Surprisingly, I didn't find myself running to the computer to listen to many of the songs that they talked about in the book, and I can't explain why that was. Maybe because I was enjoying the theory enough, and I didn't need to supplement with examples. Maybe. Maybe it's because there were a lot of songs from artists that I hadn't heard of, and they didn't spark an interest. And the rest I already knew well enough. I don't know.

Bottom line, it's a great book if you're looking to read essays from some insightful people (with a decidedly British slant) about music, but not necessarily a great book if you're looking to broaden your musical horizons.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I'm usually reluctant to trust anything that comes in list form I decided to give this a try and I'm glad I did. The variety of opinion is provided by several writers and, although you won't agree with everything, it's interesting to have so many points of view. It is also a very good way to find music you've never heard before.