The Great Rock Discography

Rating:
Summary: indispensible for any one who loves music
Review: Absolutely brilliant. There is so much amazing trivia here. Did you know that Dick Dale's Misirilou was based on a greek pop tune? Did you know that the B-52's were one of John Lennon's favorite bands and inspired him to pick up writing music again? Did you know that the 13th Floor Elevators almost had Janis Joplin as a lead singer? Damn. I felt that learning that was worth the price of admission alone.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Despite some of the criticism of this book including the exclusion of artists, release information and inaccurate biographical information, this is as good as any musical reference book you'll find. The origins of bands, top 50 chart positions for all singles and album on both the US & UK charts and track listing for all albums are included. There are always omissions and errors in books this size and breath, but they are miniscule and greatly overshadowed by everything else the book has to offer. You will find yourself referring to this book time and time again.

Rating:
Summary: well, he did his homework.
Review: i suppose he didnt have a grad student going over his shoulder telling himm that certain people were in a different band or that a member of a band played an instrument other that they were supposed to play....RESEARCH MAN, RESEARCH! I'M A HEAVY METAL DJ and i think i know more that this...if you have as question just ask Garry Sharpe-Young....

Rating:
Summary: WORTHY OF YOUR BOOKSHELF
Review: OK, maybe my earlier review was a little over-critical, but I was trying to convey the point that this book is simply not as good as it SHOULD have been. The omissions are too plentiful and the author's preferences ARE too easily recognised. It is, however, the best attempt at a complete rock discography in recent years. BUT, if you want to see how it SHOULD be done, read Terry Hounsome's "New Rock Record", or "Single File"

Rating:
Summary: Very flawed.
Review: This book is very good for what it does have, with very complete discographies. However, there is way too much emphasis on artist/groups of the 80's onward; most of those of the 50's and 60's (except for some of the heavyweights) are not even mentioned. May I respectfully request the authors to do another volume of rock and rollers, well known and otherwise, from 1945 to 1970?

Rating:
Summary: Very useful, but not always clear and consistent.
Review: This book, which is readily found in almost all bookstores locally, is an interesting read for those interested in music. It is very useful reference in that it contains a great deal of information about major rock bands - including long out of print albums and all the tracks on them, chart placings in the UK and US, and infornation on singles released.

Basically, each artist's releases are listed in chronological order with tracks and UK and US peak chart placings (if any - note that a line in the box indicates that the album never got a domestic release in the relevant country). Each artist discussed is summarised through each album and the way in which it fared both critically and commercially. In the list of albums, band line-up changes are mentioned as they occur, though full line-ups are not given for each album to make the book still easier to understand.

The albums are rated on a scale from (*0) - only one case in the whole book - to (*10) for the best albums, but, like so much rock criticism, the ratings are inconsistent and never explained with any clarity whatsoever. This is especially true of later releases by established artists, almost all of which are panned whether there is a good reason or not for doing so.

The guide is very good in that it is very easy to read because of its layout, but, with the exception of a small number of extremely popular artists it neglects the less "rock" styles of popular music such as r and b almost entirely - and because it is British, artists receiving no interest outside the US are left undiscussed. This makes it a bit problematic for a serious study of pop music.

On the whole, a very useful reference work for the student if little more than that.

Rating:
Summary: Somebody Had To Do It - Somebody Had To Buy It
Review: This is an amazing work - a telephone book of people you might actually want to call, a lost gnostic text to a doomed civilization's pizza delivery places, a total compendium of where all the effort spent in conquering the world went after the fall of the British Empire. God love them, these British folks are serious about that Rock and Roll music!

As for the work itself, it's thorough, fair, and fun to browse through in any time or place. I can become lost for hours, and find myself jonesing for some of the groups Strong knows but about which I've never heard. Some things are a trifle annoying, like which bands are labelled Psychedelic and which are not, but to hell with it; stand back and let the man do his work. I slaver for the second edition of the Pschedelic Discography. When Stong says Great, he means it. The Great Pyramids, the Great War, Great Coats, and Alexander the Great come to mind.

Everyone should have one of these in his or her homes. Or a bottle of Xanax. I'll take the great maroon book with a glass of water before meals and bedtimes.

Rating:
Summary: great book, but errors
Review: this is probably the best discography/history book of rock/popular music that i've found. not all of the entries are rock, which is good. there are plenty of blues, pop, and other associated genres. unfortunately, the author does point out that there are INTENTIONAL errors, for copywrite reasons. this is the greatest downfall. just in the nine inch nails entry, errors include where the band was founded, a single error (the single for the song 'sin' was not included), and songs that were listed as cover versions ('get down make love', from what i remember, was not listed as being written by queen). all in all, however, this is one solid book, and should be in the library of any major music fan.