Rating: 
Summary: Treasure trove
Review: The only problem is they like TOO much and seem to have a hard time being negative. Besides that, this thing is the musical reference bible that provides endless browing, fact-checking, and (most inportantly) points you in the direction of great music. If you love music, do yourself the favor of picking this up and you will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable Guide to Rock Bands
Review: This book is without a doubt the best overall guide to rock bands and musicians I have encountered. The coverage is very full - each artist has a career summary at the beginning which usually indicates highlight albums. THEN there is a discussion album by album. This is fantastic for being able to decide (if a given band is one you want to check out but are not familiar with their total output) which albums to buy to get their very best. The reviews are in general very well balanced. On some bands, a few albums are only listed rather than reviewed, reflecting the Guide's view that these albums are minor by comaprions - and one may diagree with this on given albums - but all up, this book is a must-have!
Rating:
Summary: If they ever cut a record, they're here
Review: This is the most complete history of rock I've ever seen--and I saw quite a few when I was researching for my book "Forever Retro Blues." This book has become indespensible as a tool for promoting my book also. I can get a call to be a guest on radio as few as three hours before. It's great to be able to look up an artist or record that a host mentions before or during commercial breaks. This book is organized in a way that allows me to do that.
Rating:
Summary: If they ever cut a record, they're here
Review: This is the most complete history of rock I've ever seen--and I saw quite a few when I was researching for my book "Forever Retro Blues." This book has become indespensible as a tool for promoting my book also. I can get a call to be a guest on radio as few as three hours before. It's great to be able to look up an artist or record that a host mentions before or during commercial breaks. This book is organized in a way that allows me to do that.
Rating:
Summary: Great but not quite the book its father was
Review: This is without a doubt the best rock reference book around today. However, it does not quite live up to the standard of of the original 1995 edition which was simply the best rock reference book ever. The good news is that there is little overlap between this and the previous volumes. Nearly all of the reviews (maybe 90 percent) have been assigned to new writers and re-written. Besides the new and often fascinating reviews, the advantage this book has over its predecessor is more reviews per artist. And as in the previous edition nearly all of the albums featured receive an in-depth critical appraisal not the one or two tossed off lines you'll find in other music guides. Of course the book is also up to date featuring dozens of albums released since 1995 by both new and veteran artists. That all being said, the original book was much better. The artists biographies are cut to the bare minimums this time around. And while this new edition contains individual essays on rock's various sub-genres, there are less of them in the new book. Further the first volume contained a number of book and bootleg reviews. In this edition there's none of the former and precious few of the latter. There are also less of the one-hit wonders and obscure bands that were present in the first book. As usual, the criteria for inclusion is erratic and subjective. Like the first volume the editors draw the line at performers associated with a Country and Western audience excluding even performers with large pop and rock followings like Johnny Cash and Brenda Lee. There are similar oversights with current performers like the hugely popular Sugar Ray. The questionable selection criteria is also present in the albums that are reviewed. For example, the Temptations are represented only by greatest hits collections all essentially featuring the same songs. While a casual fan needs to know which of these to select, they also want to know where to go for more. Finally, though they are few and far between, there are a few factual errors. (The CD reissue of "Ray Charles and Betty Carter" does not contain "But on the Other Hand Baby". That's one example that jumps out at me.) Still, the majority of these flaws are only noticeable in comparison with the stunning standards set by the previous book. Nowhere else are you going to find this much rock history in one volume. When you're done with this you'll know more about the music as music than you'd ever thought you would know. Just don't throw out the first volume.
Rating: 
Summary: The truth about the song, Wipe Out
Review: This review is in response to Mr. Bogdanov's book, with the featured Amazon link to p. 557 concerning the song, Wipe Out:
• Excerpt from page 557 "... and arrangement stolen by the Surfaris, who had a huge hit ..." Unfortunately, this is suggestive, and thus misleading information concerning the song, written and recorded by the Surfaris in 1962. The four members in the studio that December night were Ron Wilson, Pat Connolly, Jim Fuller and Bob Berryhill. This is a well-known fact, legally proven beyond any doubt. Anyone claiming that the Surfaris stole Wipe Out from them is sadly disillusioned. Check out this article written for the Wall Street Journal by staff writer, Phil Kuntz to read the story behind Wipe Out and the Surfaris at: http://www.polarity1.com/pcrr2.html. The article is also in a book titled, Floating Off the Page: The Best Stories From the Wall Street Journal's "Middle Column" by Ken Wells, also available on Amazon.
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