Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious and wise
Review: Although I don't agree with every choice the authors make, and think that some of their entries descend into nothing more than pure venting (the latter keeps my rating at 4 stars), this is a very funny, very informative, and very intelligent book. The authors make no bones about being nearly (nearly?) malicious when dealing with such overblown performers as Phil Collins and Billy Joel, and are completely unafraid to sacrifice sacred cows or to speak ill of the dead, such as Jim Morrison. The book came out over a decade ago and still doesn't come across as dated, save for a few minor points -- i.e., one of their Rules includes "Do not die before Albert Goldman," which is moot now that Goldman is dead. But overall, the book does what it sets out to do: shows that rock and rollers are human and can make missteps just like the rest of us, and thankfully pierces the pretensions of overrated (written in a suitably snooty font in the book) artistes. However, where is Volume II, which is hinted at, if jokingly, when they decimate one of Pat Boone's "white bread cover versions"? Surely there are enough ghastly records to fill another volume.
Rating: 
Summary: Prepare to Laugh (and Be Offended)
Review: Anyone who likes pop and rock music to the extent I do will be overjoyed by this book...and probably offended at least once. The authors know no sacred cows, and proceed to skewer such untouchables as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones et al (curiously, the Beatles as a unit emerge unscathed). I of course have set out to get copies of every one of these worst singles and albums of all time, so if you know where I can get a copy of Irene Ryan's "Granny's Miniskirt", lemme know...
Rating:
Summary: Prepare to Laugh (and Be Offended)
Review: Anyone who likes pop and rock music to the extent I do will be overjoyed by this book...and probably offended at least once. The authors know no sacred cows, and proceed to skewer such untouchables as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones et al (curiously, the Beatles as a unit emerge unscathed). I of course have set out to get copies of every one of these worst singles and albums of all time, so if you know where I can get a copy of Irene Ryan's "Granny's Miniskirt", lemme know...
Rating:
Summary: an absolute must for any fan of music
Review: I've owned this book for a long time, and it's brilliant. The commentary is dead-on (at last, someone else thinks Billy Joel is HORRIBLY over-rated). It also explains WHY great artists such as David Bowie and Paul McCartney have put out so much [junk]. It pulls no punches, I love it. It also itroduced me to the wonderful world of the Shaggs. I can't say enough about it, so I'll stop. Just buy it.
Rating:
Summary: an absolute must for any music fan
Review: I've owned this book for a long time, and it's brilliant. The commentary is dead-on (at last, someone else thinks Billy Joel is HORRIBLY over-rated)...It pulls no punches, I love it. It also itroduced me to the wonderful world of the Shaggs. I can't say enough about it, so I'll stop. Just buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but still flawed
Review: The concept of this book is exhilirating: reviewing thousands of lps, eps, singles, and artists' works and then finding the worst examples of rock and roll in each subject. In many instances, the authors picked the right subjects. Unfortunately, they limited themselves to mostly mainstream artists. Of course, reviewing indie releases would have been a bigger hassle, but its still dispiritng. Reading the book, the points the authors make tend to make one realize that other artists' songs and albums should be there. Goth rock, punk, new wave, and other alternative rock are missing. It could be because the authors enjoy them, but at the beginning they mention how cult artists are as bad as mainstream artists in many instances. Still, the authors are frequently funny, and its nice to know that rock fans can make fun of the music that they and basically us all grew up on without an iota of self-consciousness
Rating:
Summary: Hysterical, especially if you're a music fan
Review: The entry about William Shatner's foray into the world of vinyl in the chapter 'the Worst Dylan Covers Ever' is almost worth the price of the book by itself. You will not agree with everything, but that's sort of half the fun.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and wise
Review: The tradition of "The 50 Worst stuff" started with The 50 Worst Films by the Medved Brothers. The stuff the Medveds chose films that were horrible but they clearly were having fun with their attacks. In fact, they invited the reader to join in the fun as the reader would sit and think how could any sane person come up with this junk. After films, it was natural that someone would choose the category of the rock'n'roll. And Guterman and O'Donnell took on the task. They claim the material was meant to be amusing or to infuriate. They also claim this book was an attempt to get rock criticism away from being pretentious and stuffy. Do they succeed? I did laugh with Richard Simmons' Reach or John Travolta in Travolta fever. I was infuriated with their attacks on The Guess Who and Jethro Tull. But if they're trying to come off as unprentionous, casual and lighter than other rock critics, they fail. The Medved Brothers maintained a light and funny tone throughout their "50 Worst Films" because they see Bad Cinema as cause celbre. Not the case here. Guterman and O'Donnell aren't always out to have fun or infuriate. A good deal of the time, they seem to use the book as a platform to vent their frustations which is neither funny nor infuriating and makes the authors sound serious as the rock critics they attack here. At least 2/3 of the book is spent on major artists(i.e,Bob Dylan,Stones Chuck Berry) lesser moments. They'll review something as Dylan's "Live In Budokan" or Berry's "My-Ding-A-Ling" and come off like a hardcore fan who was disappointed and expected something better. Now granted, "Live In Budokan" or "My-Ding-A-Ling" were neither Dylan nor Berry's high point. But if only your ears are the issue here(and not your heart or expectations), this stuff isn't all that bad. Other times they vent their frustations on popular artists who they don't like. When they review The Doors' Alive She Cried, a good deal is focused is on how they can't belive that Jim Morrison is still popular long after death. The attack on Morrison sounds more like a parent asking his kid "How can you listen to that crap?" than someone who wants to annoy a Doors Fan. Another case is where Billy Joel is listed as the worst rock'n'roller, but most of the attack is dedicated to how much his attitude annoys the authors. Graham Parker in one line alone makes his attack more amusing or annoying (if you're a fan) than anything the authors come up with, "In Russia, they are so misinformed about America, they think Billy Joel is a rock'n'roll star!" Finally, some details are flat out wrong. The book starts off with 33 1/3 rules of rock'n'roll. One of them is that Heavy Metal should be fast". Well, if you take Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin as pioneers of heavy metal, you'll find a good chunk of classics that were not fast. How did you explain "Iron Man" or "Dazed and Confused" whose pace is slowed down to a crawl? In fact, Black Sabbath, influenced gazillions of metal bands with their dark riffs AND SLOW RHYTHMS. I did mentioned Graham Parker. Well, his live Parkerilla made the list and they attack Parker for making a bad record so his record label Mercury would drop them. Graham has said in interviews and on his web site, his decisions on making Parkerilla had nothing to do with Mercury. (A more unimportant note, I have noticed a couple of entries seem to have orignally come from reviews that Jimmy Guterman wrote for Rolling Stone. The entries on Bon Jovi's Slipper from Wet, Bruce Willis' Return of Bruno or Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford or Howe are a couple I noticed that is an exact word for word copy of Guterman's Rolling Stone review. In fact, 3/4 of the Billy Joel attack is lifted from Guterman's review of Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Vol I or II. Wonder what Owen's role was in the book? Hmmmmm!)
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat schizophrenic!
Review: This book seems torn between being an entertaining list of fascinatingly awful music and mere invective against artists the authors don't like. When the book focuses on curiosities like Elvis' hilariously cringeworthy "Having Fun with Elvis on Stage" and Think's generation-gap stinker "Once You Understand", it is witty and enjoyable. On the other hand, the authors' swipes at so-called "sacred cows" is often mean-spirited and not very fun to read. While I applaud anyone who takes shots at bloated soft-rockers like Billy Joel, I really don't think that U2's "The Unforgettable Fire", whether flawed or not, is worthy of inclusion in a list that contains howlers by Bruce Willis and Richard Simmons. Also, the authors' satisfaction that Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney's songwriting collaboration yielded a bigger hit for Costello doesn't really help to justify Macca's inclusion as one of the worst rock and rollers ever.
I fully support iconoclasm in rock journalism, but placing a mediocre Bob Dylan album on a list with William Shatner's insane "The Transformed Man" says more about the authors' tastes than it does about Dylan's lapses in artistic judgment.
In short, the book only half-delivers on its subtitle of "the stuff you love to hate". Its occasional wittiness is cheapened by its overwhelmingly smug, bitter tone.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat schizophrenic!
Review: This book seems torn between being an entertaining list of fascinatingly awful music and mere invective against artists the authors don't like. When the book focuses on curiosities like Elvis' hilariously cringeworthy "Having Fun with Elvis on Stage" and Think's generation-gap stinker "Once You Understand", it is witty and enjoyable. On the other hand, the authors' swipes at so-called "sacred cows" is often mean-spirited and not very fun to read. While I applaud anyone who takes shots at bloated soft-rockers like Billy Joel, I really don't think that U2's "The Unforgettable Fire", whether flawed or not, is worthy of inclusion in a list that contains howlers by Bruce Willis and Richard Simmons. Also, the authors' satisfaction that Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney's songwriting collaboration yielded a bigger hit for Costello doesn't really help to justify Macca's inclusion as one of the worst rock and rollers ever.
I fully support iconoclasm in rock journalism, but placing a mediocre Bob Dylan album on a list with William Shatner's insane "The Transformed Man" says more about the authors' tastes than it does about Dylan's lapses in artistic judgment.
In short, the book only half-delivers on its subtitle of "the stuff you love to hate". Its occasional wittiness is cheapened by its overwhelmingly smug, bitter tone.
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