Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1030953 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 726 pages

Synopsis
A guide to the cutting-edge of musical experimentation. Taking as its starting point the Sex Pistols' punk/new wave revolution of 1976-77, it winds its way through the early-80s post-punk gloom of Joy Division, The Smiths, the hedonism of The Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays, and on to Nirvana.

Customer Reviews

Complete guide to all Indie and Alternative bands
If you can find an Indie/Alternative band that isn't in this book, then you must know some weird, virtually unheard of bands.

The general idea is simple - a discography for every band that ever was. This book covers the Indie and Alternative bands, but there are other books in the series that cover your rock and hip-hop.

It is very easy to read; clear and well set out, as well as being extremely well researched. As a result you can dip into it as and when you wish. I haven't found a mistake in this book yet, and I've had it for about a year.

I bought it, only expecting discographies for major bands, such as Oasis etc. but it includes bands I never knew existed, such as Seafood, Bis and Idlewild.

So, if you are even only remotely interested in music, it is still a worth while buy.

A good but not flawless efford..
Well,ive only went through the "A" so far but it seems to me to be a good efford and i dont think that anyone interested in the indie- alternative scene can hope at the moment at least to find a better and more informative guide than this.But there are some shortcomings....First of all i would prefer that every release was rated and not only a few selected ones since a reader needs to be informed not just what has been released by an artist but also which releases are worth looking for but maybe that is too much to ask.. Also i got the impression that mr Strong is not a real fan of the particular scenes.His ratings are usualy too strict but again that is a matter of opinion..I also understand how difficult is to avoid mistakes in such a huge task but the point is that accuracy is expected in an authorative guide.So i dont consider it a mistake to ommit the title of an ep and simply write down the songs that it includes (see The return of the hypnocist e.p by The Apartments) but it is definetely a mistake to mention that Another sunny day havent released an LP.They have years before the book was issued:"London Bridge" :SARAH RECORDS 613 and i happen to own it....Also there are some important or mentionworthy bands missing.If i were to restrict my self to the letter i studied i can mention" The arms of someone new" and "The Astronauts" as examples, the latter being an almost unforgivable ommission ...One can also mention the Able Tasmans and many more...Lastly i must admit just turned to B C D and M to check wether 4 of my favourite bands outside America and Great Britain were icluded .The Bats and Clean where there but Died Pretty and The Moffs are saddly missing .I dont know if these bands are considered too obscure but they are far more important than most of the artists mentioned in the volume..An unknown to most but important british artist i also noticed missing is Steve Miro. A good efford nevertheless and i hope that in the next edition the above mistake gets corrected and that more artists are included...