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From | Benjamin Lukoff <blukoff@alvord.com> |
Subject | Re: Revolution in the head |
Date | Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:47:49 -0700 (PDT) |
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Wow, that's a negative review...but at least it was well thought out and
written. I'd have to disagree with it, though. I am interested in seeing
the new edition!
On Sun, 14 Oct 2007, Scott Shaw wrote:
> I didn't know of the book, but it sounds like yet another I should own that
> I hope to one day have time to read.
>
> One Amazon reader didn't agree with everyone else.
>
> Does anyone feel like he does?
>
> Scott S
>
>
>
>
> 1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
> A harsh, negative piece of nonsense, July 9, 2007
> By Chris Federico (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
>
> I can't begin to articulate how sick I am of seeing my favorite songs
> get bashed by critics with bad taste.
>
> Nor can I, for the life of me, understand the positive prior reviews
> for this book-length diatribe. The prose further illuminates the uselessness
> of the so-called "music critic" -- a job requiring no credentials but
> apparently necessitating snide, negative opinions whenever possible, even
> when the writer has gone to all the trouble of coming up with an entire book
> about one band in which to house his disapproval of the music.
>
> MacDonald, as with most critics, is incapable of allowing any of the
> songs to remain free from his insults and subjective judgments. If you want
> to read an entire volume consisting of a snob putting down Beatles songs,
> this is the book for you.
>
> Typical examples involve his section devoted to "Nowhere Man," in
> which he uses quite a few synonyms for "boring" and leaves it at that; "Lucy
> in the Sky With Diamonds," which he calls "poorly thought-out"; and a
> constant suggestion of where the Beatles "might have" gotten song ideas in
> many cases, relying on pure speculation to give the impression that Lennon
> and McCartney were incapable of coming up with any material of their own.
>
> He lets the occasional positive comment slip through, but his typical
> critic's desire to enhance his own reputation for cynical wordplay, rather
> than to actually inform the reader of anything, forces him to state
> something he personally doesn't like about most every piece of music, in
> order to balance out any positive things that might have popped out of his
> pomposity. In this process, he leaves out hundreds of details and thrilling
> moments that make Beatles songs moving to many.
>
> He often falls back on musical terminology that even the Beatles
> didn't know. One doesn't want to read about which weird scale or mode a song
> has incidentally been written in, in a book that tries to boast sociological
> insight.
>
> There are also several inaccuracies regarding who plays what in which
> song, etc., and even the title is misleading. The book isn't so much about
> how the Beatles songs affected people in the sixties, as about the sixties
> and the Beatles separately. The former is wrapped up tidily in the
> introduction, which provides a pocket version of the decade's events.
> MacDonald can write fluently about the sixties, provided he can limitlessly
> use terms that end with "-ist" and "-ism."
>
> Then, the era is barely returned to, the prose degenerating into
> song-by-song blurbs that always find some way to be negative, even about
> some of the Beatles' most beloved tunes.
>
> The only truly good Beatles books are the Beatles' own Anthology, the
> fascinating Recording the Beatles, anything by Mark Lewisohn and, if you're
> truly interested in a critic's opinions (why, exactly?), Tim Riley's Tell Me
> Why -- guilty of a few of the same things, but at least more thorough, well
> written and positive.
>
> I see that this is coming out in revised form this year. I'm not sure
> how, as the author decided to take his own life; maybe they plundered his
> hard drive for documents. Either way, save your money. It's simply not a
> well written book, and will leave you with a bad taste.
>
>
>
>
> > I've loved the Beatles as long as I can remember.
> > In the last decade or so I rarely put them on anymore as
> > I've heard them so much in my four decades that it just seems
> > unnecessary....
> > The music is etched in my brain. However, I just picked up this book
> > based on a thread here a while ago and someone mentioning it being one
> > of the best Beatle books ever written...
> >
> > I've had it in the back of my mind to keep an eye out for it.
> > I ran across it and initially almost put it back, thinking
> > "Another song by song impression book.... no thanks".
> > But I read one song's worth, then another and another
> > and walked out with it. I haven't been able to put it down since.
> > This really IS one of the best books about the Beatles.
> >
> > I'm writing this to thank whoever mentioned it in the first place
> > and got my attention... as well as sort of "bumping" the topic in case
> > it piques someone elses interest. It's really helped allow me to listen
> > to them fresh in many ways and I didn't think that was possible.
>
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