Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant collection from a true original!
Review: For the uninitiated, Richard Meltzer is one of the most fearless, insightful, hysterically funny people to ever take up a pen. In this collection of short pieces, he merrily takes on (and in the process, deconstructs) the punk rock scenes of New York and LA; the late, lamented Lester Bangs, and a host of other topics, all of which are given the full Meltzer treatment. Provocative, brilliant and hilarious.
Rating:
Summary: R. Meltzer is America's greatest living writer
Review: I first read R. meltzer when he was doing phony horiscopes for a Philly hippie rag called The Drummer in the early 70's. I then continued to read his writing in the various music magazines of the day. His writing stood out for it's humor and honesty. If nothing else, R. Meltzer is totally honest, the title of the book says it all. R. Meltzer was around at the birth of Detroit Punk, New York Punk, and LA Punk. He gives you a first hand eye witness account. His writing in the LA Reader in the early eighties was the only thing that kept me sane during that time and place. All this and more is in this collection. You have not lived untill you read the writings in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A mixed bag
Review: Joe Carducci and Byron Coley are better interpreters of rock music. Lester Bangs was certainly a better writer. If you're looking for good rock writing/good rock interpretation you're not going to find it here, Blue Oyster Cult lyrics or no BOC lyrics.Meltzer's consistently ambivalent position about what he was doing, married to some rather bogus notions about what rock music actually is (I suspect he's the prime founder of the "rock music is attitude" school) make the first half of the book incredibly annoying, as well as a real chore to get through. Meltzer seemed to interpret rock writing as basically license to get away with as much as possible -- as such you can't rely on his work for anything except a glimpse into his skull. I find it amusing that he consistently cracks on Robert Christgau -- I'm no fan of Christgau's myself, but strip away the stylistic quirks and the two men have much in common (both men are former "angry young rebels" who've become crusty old fuddy-duddys; both men are more interested in the surfaces being presented than the music beneath them; both men have ultimately very conventional outlooks lurking underneath the bohemianism). I'm giving this three stars, though. For one thing, Meltzer's pieces have become legendary, and it's damn nice to have such a representative selection available. For another, Meltzer did improve as a writer, and the second half of the book is far superior to the first. Meltzer is quite interesting on jazz music -- I would have liked to have seen more of that sort of thing. (I remember he published some jazz reviews in Forced Exposure.) Final verdict? If you're "hip" enough to know who Richard Meltzer is, you'll probably want this volume. There are good things to be found here, just less than I'd hoped.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Writing, Some Of It About Music Sort Of
Review: Make no mistake: this is a Richard Meltzer anthology, not an anthology of music writing. It's a funny and fine autobiography, produced piecemeal through the various obscure journals that indulged Meltzer over the years. As for music, there doesn't seem to be anyone Meltzer even remotely likes, except for Jim Morrison, and I wish Meltzer had a less embarassing idol than that "crooner in the rock mileau." Also, I was annoyed with Meltzer's potshots at music writers who became bigger than he did, specifically, Bangs and Christgau. He did it before Bangs, Meltzer reminds the reader, as if Bangs didn't do it better. As for his criticism of Christgau, it's strange, to say the least, for Meltzer, who makes a point of NOT listening to anything he reviews, to accuse the Village Voice reviewer of not listening hard enough. Huh? Still, a fun book.
Rating: 
Summary: preposterous waste product
Review: Normally I enjoy reading this type of stuff, but this guy is just plain terrible,one of the most bizzare,abstract,pieces i've ever read.Everything here is self absorbed,non-linear nonsense.
I will stick with Nick Kent,Jim Derogatis,Chuck Eddy (yes,Chuck Eddy,he's odd,but hilarious) or just about anyone,before I slog thru this heap of poop again.
Rating:
Summary: Cheap Thrills & self-indulgent fun!
Review: OK, so this book is not for everybody. In fact, it's not for me, and it's certainly not for you! All of the articles in this anthology were written for no one but Dick Meltzer. The rock reviews won't help you decide on your next album purchase in the slightest (there may be more pages devoted to pro wrestling than to music), and the "autobiographical" bits don't make Dick sound like the kind of guy you'd like to meet, or even an interesting person. And yes, no matter what Dick says, Lester Bangs was a better writer (better than Keroac, too). But you shouldn't let any of that stop you from reading this. It's better than Dick's lame "Aesthetics of Rock" and it makes "Gulcher" unneccessary. Yes, you need to know the skinny on Dick's Beef with the Blue Oyster Cult. Yes, you need to know how little he remembers from his college philosophy courses. Why would you want to read a book of articles that you agree with? This is stimulating, if petulant, material that you'll want to read from cover to cover, especially if you keep it in the john like I did. I don't think Dick would mind my saying that. Rock and read on!
Rating:
Summary: Cheap Thrills & self-indulgent fun!
Review: OK, so this book is not for everybody. In fact, it's not for me, and it's certainly not for you! All of the articles in this anthology were written for no one but Dick Meltzer. The rock reviews won't help you decide on your next album purchase in the slightest (there may be more pages devoted to pro wrestling than to music), and the "autobiographical" bits don't make Dick sound like the kind of guy you'd like to meet, or even an interesting person. And yes, no matter what Dick says, Lester Bangs was a better writer (better than Keroac, too). But you shouldn't let any of that stop you from reading this. It's better than Dick's lame "Aesthetics of Rock" and it makes "Gulcher" unneccessary. Yes, you need to know the skinny on Dick's Beef with the Blue Oyster Cult. Yes, you need to know how little he remembers from his college philosophy courses. Why would you want to read a book of articles that you agree with? This is stimulating, if petulant, material that you'll want to read from cover to cover, especially if you keep it in the john like I did. I don't think Dick would mind my saying that. Rock and read on!
Rating:
Summary: WARNING: CONTENTS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE
Review: On the cover of the book sits a review by a fellow from the Los Angelas Reader. It simply states, "Meltzer is a writer who will hook you like a drug." Unbelieving at first, I scoffed at the notion of a book having such a power over a person. Two pages into it, I was officially a Meltzer junkie. As I turned the last page, I realized it was time for my family to ship me off to rehab. For an unbiast, cynical, sarcastic and all-around brilliant look at the music and events that shaped our culture, read Meltzer.
Rating:
Summary: WARNING: CONTENTS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE
Review: On the cover of the book sits a review by a fellow from the Los Angelas Reader. It simply states, "Meltzer is a writer who will hook you like a drug." Unbelieving at first, I scoffed at the notion of a book having such a power over a person. Two pages into it, I was officially a Meltzer junkie. As I turned the last page, I realized it was time for my family to ship me off to rehab. For an unbiast, cynical, sarcastic and all-around brilliant look at the music and events that shaped our culture, read Meltzer.
Rating:
Summary: Bowie, Dory Previn, Dory Bangs
Review: Tanya Tucker's sandwich. Flinging mac salad at the dude from the New York Dolls. Comparing Springsteen to the Fonz. "Redd Foxx Gets off the Pot" with its justly famous last line "(Tastes rather like beef Redd and the texture sure beats sushi!)".
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