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The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic
The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic Author:Jessica Hopper Jessica Hopper's music criticism has earned her a reputation as one of the firebrands of the form, a keen observer and fearless critic not just of music, but the culture around it, revealing new truths that often challenge us to consider what it is to be a fan. With this premiere volume, spanning from her punk fanzine roots to her landmark piece... more » on R. Kelly's past, The First Collection leaves no doubt why the New York Times has called her Hopper's work "influential". Not merely a selection of two decades of Hopper's most engaging, thoughtful and humorous writing, this book serves as a document the last 20 years of American music making and the shifting landscape of music consumption. The book journeys through the truths of Riot Grrrl's empowering insurgence, the perpetual rebirth and re-issues of bands milking nineties nostalgia, Springsteen's long-gone America, decamps to Gary, Indiana on the eve of Michael Jackson's death, explodes the grunge-era mythologies of Nirvana and Courtney Love, examines emo's rise and goes behind the scenes to investigate how bands get into commercials--and what it all means. Through this vast range of album reviews, essays, columns, interviews and oral histories Hopper chronicles what it is to be truly obsessed by music, by the ideas in songs and on albums, how fantasies of artists become complicated by real life and just what happens when you follow that obsession into muddy festival fields, dank basements, corporate offices or court records. The pieces in The First Collection send us digging deep into their record collections, searching to re-hear what we loved and hated, to reconsider the art, trash and politics Hopper illuminates in these album sides, helping us to make sense of what matters to us most.« less