Fargo Rock City
Chuck Klosterman
This is a light-hearted attempt to explain why hair metal was so damned popular in the 1980’s.
Part memoir, part critical essay, the author doesn’t really succeed in giving a non-believer (say, like me) an idea of why we should all love Motley Crue, Skid Row and Poison. He managed to make me laugh, though.
I’m not completely certain that he’s come to terms with the fact that he grew up loving the most critically reviled music of the period. He comes up with some highly specious reasons why bands like Black Flag, Fugazi and The Replacements don’t matter as much as Gun’s ‘n’ Roses and Motley Crue. A little bit of inverted snobbery going on there I think.
Anyway, an enjoyable read for anyone who knows enough about 1980’s music to understand what the hell he’s going on about. Not the greatest book of musical criticism ever written, but worth your time.