Straight out of his beloved Twitter feed @RockCriticLaw, acclaimed rock journalist and author of the classic books Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana and Our Band Could Be Your Life, Michael Azerrad turns his trenchant eye to the art of rock writing itself, hilariously skewering 101 of the genre’s seemingly endless litany of hackneyed phrases and tropes.
One of the finest music writers today, Michael Azerrad has catalogued the shortcuts, lazy metaphors and uninspired prose that so many of his beloved colleagues all too regularly rely on to fill column inches. In 2014, he began his wickedly droll Twitter feed @RockCriticLaw to expose and make fun of this word-hash. Now, he consolidates these "Laws" into one witty, comprehensive and fully illustrated volume.
Rock Critic Law includes timeless gems such as:
<ul>
<li>If a band pioneered something, you must say they are "seminal." That is the Seminal Law of Rock Criticism.</li>
<li>If a recording features densely layered guitars, then you MUST use the phrase "sonic cathedrals."</li>
<li>Even when it’s easy to find out with research, by all means ask a band how they got their name.</li>
<li>Please feel free to deny an artist’s individuality and say they are "the new [x]."</li>
<li>If two guitars play a melodic line in harmony, you MUST say they are "twin lead guitars."</li>
</ul>
All 101 Rock Critic Laws are accompanied by original illustrations from Ed Fotheringham, beloved Seattle scenester and highly regarded artist who has created album covers for everyone from, well, seminal grunge band Mudhoney to iconic jazz label Verve Records, as well as illustrations for The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and more, making this book a must-have for music lovers everywhere. A unique appreciation of music writing from one of its own, Rock Critic Law irreverently captures all the passion and furor of fandom.

Rock Critic Law: 101 Unbreakable Rules for Writing Badly About Music

Arts & Photography

Azerrad, Michael

History & Criticism

Dey Street Books

A downright revolutionary 30th-anniversary deluxe edition of the iconic bestselling biography of Nirvana, updated with exclusive new content exploring the personal and cultural forces that inspired the music, the author's friendship with Kurt Cobain and why multiple generations remain fascinated by the 1990s. "Just tell the truth. That'll be better than anything else that's been written about me."--Kurt Cobain to author Michael Azerrad It has been three decades since Nirvana upended the pop cultural landscape with Nevermind, the landmark album that became the soundtrack of Generation X, capturing its confusion, frustration, and passion. In 1993, Michael Azerrad published what stands as the definitive biography of this revolutionary band and its star-crossed leader Kurt Cobain. Written with the band's complete cooperation, Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana became a massive bestseller and was, in the words of Cobain, "the best rock book I've ever read." Seven months after the book's original publication, Cobain was dead by suicide, making Come as You Are the only book about Nirvana that features original interviews with Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Dave Grohl. Now, Azerrad has revisited and reconsidered his original text. The result is this "amplified" version--a truly unique book-within-a-book featuring hundreds of extensive new essay-like annotations that deepen our understanding of this legendary band and the time in which it existed. Azerrad reconsiders the key players and their cultural context; ruminates on topics such as punk rock, selling out, and Generation X; and offers insights into the inner life and creative mind of one of the most significant songwriters and musicians in rock history--a haunting and haunted artist whose influence continues powerfully to the present day. It all comes down to a search for the answer to the question: Why was this music so extraordinarily powerful? Vivid, evocative, and thought-provoking, this gorgeous hardcover book--featuring 100 photos and ephemera--is an essential document not just for Nirvana fans but for anyone interested in the cultural legacy of the 1990s.

The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana

Humor & Entertainment

HarperOne

This text for scholars of pop culture and the general reader describes the post-punk indie rock scene in America from 1981-1991. Freelance music writer Azzerad profiles 13 innovative bands, focusing on those on the SST, Dischord, Touch &amp; Go, and Sub Pop record labels. Each chapter is devoted to a particular band, such as Black Flag, Hnsker Dn, the Butthole Surfers, Fugazi, and the Minutemen. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991

Music

Little,Brown

The definitive chronicle of underground music in the 1980s tells the stories of Black Flag, Sonic Youth, The Replacements, and other seminal bands whose DIY revolution changed American music forever. Our Band Could Be Your Life is the never-before-told story of the musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties -- when a small but sprawling network of bands, labels, fanzines, radio stations, and other subversives re-energized American rock with punk's do-it-yourself credo and created music that was deeply personal, often brilliant, always challenging, and immensely influential. This sweeping chronicle of music, politics, drugs, fear, loathing, and faith is an indie rock classic in its own right. The bands profiled include: <ul>
<li>Sonic Youth</li>
<li>Black Flag</li>
<li>The Replacements</li>
<li>Minutemen</li>
<li>Husker Du</li>
<li>Minor Threat</li>
<li>Mission of Burma</li>
<li>Butthole Surfers</li>
<li>Big Black </li>
<li>Fugazi</li>
<li>Mudhoney</li>
<li>Beat Happening</li>
<li>Dinosaur Jr.</li>
</ul>

Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Back Bay Books

Nirvana came out of nowhere in 1991 to sell nearly five million copies of their landmark album Nevermind, whose thunderous sound and indelible melodies embodied all the confusion, frustration, and passion of the emerging Generation X. Come As You Are is the close-up, intimate story of Nirvana -- the only book with exclusive in-depth interviews with bandmembers Kurt Cobain, Krist Noveselic, and Dave Grohl, as well as friends, relatives, former bandmembers, and associates -- now updated to include a new final chapter detailing the last year of Kurt Cobain's life, before his tragic suicide in April 1994.

Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana

Crown

Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love were notorious for representing the opposite of "Family Values." To reframe their notoriety, they consented to a rare photoshoot for Spin magazine with their newborn, Frances Bean. Only 5 images were originally published; the rest of the photoshoot is seen here for the first time. "Now the entire family was in bed together, and Hansen remembers how beautiful it was to see everyone in sync. "They just were loving Frances. It was really so apparent," she said. "It was really about her. They were oblivious to us in a lot of cases, anytime they had the baby."' -- Guzman Interview in CNN "Three decades later, Hansen and Peacock are revisiting this fabled shoot for the first time in their new book, Family Values (powerHouse Books), an intimate chronicle of a young couple driven by passion and love that eschewed the trappings of fame and celebrity for truth and art. Through Guzman's portraits, we see the last of a fading breed: the true rock star who spoke for outsiders, misfits and radicals who wanted nothing more than to live by their own rules." -- AnOther With an ineffable ability to connect with people through his music, Kurt Cobain was charismatic and full of pathos, something of a lost boy poet struggling against his personal demons while holding the world in thrall. And yet in the midst of his struggles with success, fame, fortune, drugs, and the wounds of a traumatic childhood, he managed in his brief adulthood to get married to Courtney Love--who of course had her own accomplishments as an electrifying and unrestrained lead singer and lyricist. The couple had already emerged as a cultural touchstone when their baby, Frances Bean, was born in 1992. Photographers Guzman captured, amidst toys and pajamas, the sweetness, humor, irony and the simple happiness of a new mom and dad at home with their baby girl. Family Values is a photography book presenting approximately 90 images featuring Kurt, Courtney, and their baby Frances, one morning in their modest Hollywood home selected from a photoshoot that Guzman did for Spin magazine in 1992. Only five photographs from the shoot were published in the magazine at the time, including the cover. Another appeared in Rolling Stone at the time of Kurt Cobain's death. In Spin, the photos originally accompanied an interview by Jonathan Poneman, which Guzman plans to license to reprint in the book. The book will also include a memoir of the photo shoot written by Guzman and an introduction by curator and music journalist Michael Azerrad. Family Values is a photographic assignment that revealed two famous rock stars who during one brief moment transcended the magnifying glass of fame and were revealed, amidst all the chaos, as being just a mom and dad

Family Values: Kurt, Courtney & Frances Bean

Guzmán

Photography & Video

powerHouse Books

Nirvana. Come As You Are.

Hannibal Verlag GmbH

Nuestro grupo podría ser tu vida: Escenas del indie underground norteamericano 1981-1991

Contra

Come as You Are: La historia de Nirvana

Considered one of the best books about rock music ever written, Our Band Could Be Your Life follows the career path of 13 prominent 1980s American hard rock bands. The decade was a tumultuous time, with President Reagan and his conservative nationalist politics clashing with aggressive, do-it-yourself British punk. In-depth interviews with the musicians and main players of the American indie music scene during that time form the basis of Michael Azerrad’s book, which shows how the new sound of the underground opened up not just a new music movement, but also the blossoming of a new network of record labels, independent distributors, fanzines, college and underground radio stations, record stores, and clubs and concert venues. Championed by Black Flag, the seed of the hardcore movement started to spread, making way for more groups and a new community of fans who followed and supported them on their never-ending tours. The 13 stories documented in this account tell an unforgettable tale of young people with little formal music training or experience who lose themselves in the energy and urgency of punk music. Their journey wasn’t free from obstacles, however; they lived and traveled under extreme conditions. Some threw themselves into the abyss of drugs and alcohol while others, like Minor Threat, opted for a clean, straight-edge lifestyle in order to be able to undertake the intense shows they put on. Multiple albums recorded during this period continue to appear on best-in-history rock lists, and their influence clearly persists today. Some of the groups disappeared; others saw international success. Though their members did not necessarily survive, their music lives on. This book chronicles Black Flag, The Minutemen, Mission of Burma, Minor Threat, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Dinosaur Jr, Fugazi, Mudhoney, and Beat Happening.

Nuestro grupo podría ser tu vida: Escenas del Indie Underground norteamericano 1981–1991 (Spanish Edition)

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