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More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984by Simon Reynolds
Review-a-Day (What is Review-a-Day?)"[E]ssential reading....Rip It Up and Start Again reminds the reader of a time when music was the only thing that mattered, of a time when the music you listened to (or didn't listen to) was the lingua franca of life as you knew it. Even if you weren't around or paying attention during the postpunk years, Rip It Up and Start Again will reward the curious reader with endless musical diversions to explore." Gerry Donaghy, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review) Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Rip It Up and Start Again is the first book-length exploration of the wildly adventurous music created in the years after punk. Renowned music journalist Simon Reynolds celebrates the futurist spirit of such bands as Joy Division, Gang of Four, Talking Heads, and Devo, which resulted in endless innovations in music, lyrics, performance, and style and continued into the early eighties with the video-savvy synth- pop of groups such as Human League, Depeche Mode, and Soft Cell, whose success coincided with the rise of MTV. Full of insight and anecdote and populated by charismatic characters, Rip It Up re-creates the idealism, urgency, and excitement of one of the most important and challenging periods in the history of popular music. Review:"In the reactionary wake of 1970s punk rock came postpunk, a more complex, fragmented brand of music characterized by stark recordings, synthesizers and often cold, affected vocals. Postpunk stands as 'a fair match for the Sixties,' argues Reynolds, both in terms of the amount of great music created as well as the music's connection to the 'social and political turbulence' of its era (the early 1980s). Seeking to address a gap in music and pop culture history, Reynolds (Generation Ecstasy) has penned an ambitious, cerebral effort to establish a high place in rock history for bands such as Joy Division, Devo, Talking Heads, Mission of Burma and, of course, Public Image Limited (PiL), fronted by former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon (Johnny Rotten). Reynolds, an energetic writer, especially captures the postpunk ethic in telling the story of PiL's short journey from record company darlings to utter oblivion. Unfortunately, by the time he gets to bands like Human League and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, his passion is undermined by his subject. Reynolds succeeds in depicting the icons and the richness of an era that clearly manifests itself as a primary influence among a new generation of musicians." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"Shed[s] dazzling light on a neglected era of music. The definitive word on the subject." The Times, London
Review:"Anyone who claims to have read five better books about pop is mad, or a liar." The Guardian, London Review:"It's easier for a critic to attack than to praise, but Reynolds takes more pleasure in expressing passion for the music he loves than in putting down what doesn't fit his program.... Review:"The history of postpunk rock gets a microscopic examination by a keen-eyed English observer....A compelling read, swamped in the end by the new wave of '80s rock." Kirkus Reviews Review:"Reynolds's enthusiasm makes up for any omissions or critical missteps that inevitably come when trying to cover such a disparate ideological and musical subgenre." Library Journal About the AuthorSimon Reynolds is the author of Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno
and Rave Culture, Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock, and The Sex
Revolts: Gender, Rebellion, and Rock ’n’Roll (coauthored with Joy
Press). A senior contributing writer for Spin, his pop culture writings
have also appeared in many other major publications. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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