Terminated for Reasons of Taste is a collection of writings on music. The music was split up by years and there were way too many before my time so I found myself just skimming those until I got to about the 50% part through the book and more artists I was familiar with were mentioned. Apparently with Kriss Kross and TLC being listed under rap, I guess I’m a rap fan. I never would have said that before reading this book! There were some boybands mentioned – mostly BSB. Dream was also mentioned… I was pleased that BSB was mentioned over NSYNC because this book was supposed to be about “losers”.. haha. (The BSB vs NSYNC rivalry is still alive in my fangirl heart)
Overall a lot of stuff about bands I didn’t know much about but if you’re more versed in musical acts than I am you may find the book to be a bit more enjoyable.
I received a free e-copy of this book from netgalley in order to write this review and I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
In Terminated for Reasons of Taste, veteran rock critic Chuck Eddy writes that “rock ‘n’ roll history is written by the winners. Which stinks, because the losers have always played a big role in keeping rock interesting.” Rock’s losers share top billing with its winners in this new collection of Eddy’s writing. In pieces culled from outlets as varied as the Village Voice, Creem magazine, the streaming site Rhapsody, music message boards, and his high school newspaper, Eddy covers everything from the Beastie Boys to 1920s country music; Taylor Swift to German new wave; Bruce Springsteen to occult metal. With an encyclopedic knowledge, unabashed irreverence, and a captivating style, Eddy rips up popular music histories and stitches them back together using his appreciation of the lost, ignored, and maligned. In so doing, he shows how pop music is bigger and more multidimensional, and compelling than most people can imagine.
Chuck Eddy is an independent music journalist living in Austin, Texas. Formerly the music editor at the Village Voice and a senior editor at Billboard, he is author of Rock and Roll Always Forgets: A Quarter Century of Music Criticism, also published by Duke University Press; The Accidental Evolution of Rock ‘n’ Roll: A Misguided Tour Through Popular Music; and Stairway to Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums in the Universe.