Review of All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide To Popular Music, 4th Edition (Paperback)

For anyone who wants to build a collection of the best popular music on CD this is a really useful guide. The Editorial Review (above) gives you a good guide to the structure of the book, so I won't repeat that.

The digital revolution, with a great deal of music now readily available in a lightweight compact format has created a new dilemma--what to buy.

An artist you like, say Diana Ross or Miles Davis, might have sixty or a hundred albums listed in a catalog or on a Web site. If you wanted to build a music collection that contained just one example of their best work, which of these would you buy?

This book will help you make that decision and, most importantly, help you avoid buying duds that you will later regret.

The question has been raised as to whether this book is necessary, as the Web site version is fuller, not to mention free. I guess that answer to that is that it depends on what you want it for. The book is a handy reference that you can read in bed, in the bathroom, take with you to the music store, read on the beach etc. So you don't have to buy it, but if do want a print version, here it is. It would also be (or is) a valuable reference work for any library, radio station, print publication, or as a starting point for anyone doing any kind of research into poular music. I imagine that it would also be indispensable for anyone who purchases music for any kind of musical library or collection.

It probably isn't so great if you want information on recently released music. After all, it takes a while for an initial critical evaluation to take root. Just consider how many Grammy winning or best selling albums start to look quite shabby once the initial acclaim wears off. Where is M.T. Hammer now? But for a survey of the whole library of recorded popular music, you can't beat it.

Product Description
From folk to avant-garde to world music, this fun-to-browse book easily guides readers to more than 20,000 great recordings by over 4,000 artists through thorough reviews and ratings. Arranged by genre (the book covers 16 styles in all), each section provides informed essays on how the music evolved and its various styles, intriguing artist biographies, and insightful reviews and ratings of the top recordings. The lives and work of major artists are described in depth. Easy-to-read "music maps" chart the development of each genre, its key players, and their influences. Now in its fourth edition, this authoritative reference highlights "essential collection" albums as well as "first purchase" recordings to help listeners buy CDs.

Nearly 1,500 info-packed pages!

"Makes you delirious with knowledge."

- Entertainment Weekly

"The most useful single volume your money can buy."

- Mojo

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