Sunday, September 5, 2010

Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life: A Book by and for the Fanatics Among Us



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I picked up "Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life" after hearing author Steve Almond on some NPR show giving a hilarious interview about the lifespan of, in his words, a rock and rolling "drooling fanatic," and how one becomes one, lives as one, and eventually writes about being one. The salient points of the interview readily established him as a man roughly my age (likely younger) and his on-air self profile rang eerily close to my own musical maniac ism. Indeed, he was a fellow traveller! I had to have this book.

Which makes it hard to recommend it to anyone but a middle aged fellow traveller. On a personal scale, I give it 5 stars, but for those for whom musical hero worship is utterly alien, "Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life" is more a 3 star book, so I rate it 4 to split the difference. Almond's musical journey is intensely personal and oft-times extremely snarky (and even for a lefty like me, the constant Bush-slaps got in the way when they should have been edited away).

His snark occasionally turns back on himself, and that gives the book a few of its best moments. His exegesis on why Toto's "Africa" is genius is a riot, and the secret confession of being a Styx addict and loving "Paradise Theater" in spite of his older brother is almost worth the price of the book. On the other hand, Almond falls into the trap most rock writers fall into, and that is believing your favorite obscurity is Godhead.

In this case, the object of his desires is one Bob Schneider, a Texas singer songwriter. Almond takes this to an extreme, tracking the man down at his home and engaging him in a sadly painful dialogue, revealing another pitfall of artist worship, when your idols break your heart. Sadder still, they break your heart because you've jammed them into a corner that they can never work out of. I actually felt sorry for both Schneider and Almond by the end of the chapter. (And just as geekifically, I promptly went out and bought Schneider's "Lonely Creatures" after. Very Sneaky, Mr Almond.)

Which underlies the attraction and distraction of "Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life." Unless you're the kind of "DF" who would be naturally stoked to find out what Bob Schneider (or Joe Henry, Aimee Mann, Nil Lara and a series of other artists Almond is hot for) does to merit such magnificent praise in this book, you might wonder what the commotion is all about. Not me. Because as Almond himself accurately predicted, as soon as I saw the words "free CD" in the introduction, I put the book down and hit his website as fast as I could. Because I am that kind of person.

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"Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life: A Book by and for the Fanatics Among Us" Overview


Drooling fanatic, n. 1. One who drools in the presence of beloved rock stars. 2. Any of a genus of rock-and-roll wannabes/geeks who walk around with songs constantly ringing in their ears, own more than 3,000 albums, and fall in love with at least one record per week.
 
With a life that’s spanned the phonographic era and the digital age, Steve Almond lives to Rawk. Like you, he’s secretly longed to live the life of a rock star, complete with insane talent, famous friends, and hotel rooms to be trashed. Also like you, he’s content (sort of) to live the life of a rabid fan, one who has converted his unrequited desires into a (sort of) noble obsession.

    Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life traces Almond’s passion from his earliest (and most wretched) rock criticism to his eventual discovery of a music-crazed soul mate and their subsequent production of two little superfans. Along the way, Almond reflects on the delusional power of songs, the awkward mating habits of drooling fanatics, and why Depression Songs actually make us feel so much better. The book also includes:
 
• sometimes drunken interviews with America’s finest songwriters
• a recap of the author’s terrifying visit to Graceland while stoned
• a vigorous and credibility-shattering endorsement of Styx’s Paradise Theater
• recommendations you will often choose to ignore
• a reluctant exegesis of the Toto song “Africa”
• obnoxious lists sure to piss off rock critics
 
But wait, there’s more. Readers will also be able to listen to a special free mix designed by the author, available online at www.stevenalmond.com, for the express purpose of eliciting your drool. For those about to rock—we salute you!


From the Hardcover edition.




Customer Reviews


Decent start, then he lost me - Anon -
My sister recommended this book to me. I'm a musician and listen to music all the time, ever since I was a kid. When I'm listening to an album I have to know what the lyrics are, who wrote the somgs, who the guitar player is, what kind of guitar/amp/pedals/strins do they use, where was it recorded? Who was the producer?

Ok, I'm a nut.

So my sister, being a librarian, thought this book would be a good read for me (after all, she liked it!) It started off just fine, I mean, I can relate to the connection with music Steve described having when he was a kid. I even laughed a couple of times becuase some scenarios seemed so familiar.
Then, he started to lose me. It all started with a great topic: Lyrics don't matter sometimes, the music does. Then he brought up "Sweet Home Alabama" being racist...wrong! Anybody who knows anything knows it is quite the opposite (they also know what Muscle Shoals and Swampers are too).
After that the book and I started to drift apart. I gave it a fair chance because I trust my sister's opinion, but soon the book became more autobiographical and less about how I feel about music.
That being said, Steve is a good writer. I might check out some of his other work once the sting wears off this one.





His Majesty Steve Almond - DJ MichaelAngelo - Grand Rapids, MI
I have mixed feelings on this book. While it was hilarious, entertaining, and extremely well-written, I couldn't get past the author's snobby elitist mentality of being SO anti-pop and SO anti-mainstream with his musical choices, it just really distracted from everything else. It's great reading about all his escapades, too bad the average person out on the street will have no idea who any of these musical bands or artists actually are, they're very obscure and unknown. God forbid he should mention musical artists people have actually HEARD of like Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Michael Jackson, or Celine Dion. And yes I do realize that's mainly his whole point - he's a highbrow superior music critic so of course he's going to be viciously anti-pop and of a stereotypical "head in the clouds" elite mentality. Steve Almond's attitude towards popular music kinda reminds me of another music critic that writes for my hometown newspaper The Grand Rapids Press, who by his pompous language in reviewing concerts and albums, makes it clear that he thinks he's "too cool for school" and anyone who listens to Britney Spears or Lady Gaga is a mindless sheep. That's why I only gave this book 3 stars, because other than that major flaw it is a funny FUNNY rollicking good time. Reminds me of Tom Reynolds' writing style - very sarcastic, very clever, very cutting - all in all I guess it's a pretty good book, I'd definitely read it again despite Steve Almond's musical elitism.




Rock and Roll Did Save My Life - C. J. Anderson -
Don't listen to the haters--(NYTimes, I'm looking at you and Mr. One Star at the bottom of this section)--this book is a blast, full of laughter and tears, insight and wisdom. Almond's life mirrors my own in many ways (same age, same first single, same dating habits), so it was inevitable this would resonate with me. But really this book reminds me why I fell in love in the first place--it doesn't matter the song or artist, music has the power to move us all in surprising ways. And that's what's important.

One more note if you're feeling like Mr. One Star: Turn off your computer. I get the feeling that the skimming through the book has something to do with this. Too much internet? Too much TV? I only note this because he suggests watching High Fidelity instead of reading Mr. Almond's book. Or reading High Fidelity, a much better novel than film.



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