Rating: 
Summary: Prejudiced and uniformly second-rate!
Review: This book is total rubbish. Michael Azerrad has worked for Rolling Stone and MTV News, what would he know about indie rock? He's one of those guys who, many years after the fact, realizes that "Daydream Nation" is a masterpiece and thinks a recording of Thurston Moore taking a dump is a work of art. This book should have been written by someone who actually knows something about independent music. I will grant that Azerrad has a firm grasp of the English language, but his idea on what constitutes an underground musical subculture is unbelievably off-base. He writes with such cold emotion, I would guess he probably only comprehends what a handful of these bands were trying to do. The others are all obviously phoned in. At least when Robert Christgau or Ira Robbins says something I don't agree with, it's so razor-sharp and well-written I can understand and appreciate their point. With Azerrad, he's nothing but fawning or disrespectful. I'd bet that the majority of these bands were chosen just to make his work a big selling point. Perhaps that's why many of the artists associated with this book chose not to interview with him. I hate music critics who are revisionalist pseudo-historians. Y'know who they are, they give Big Black one-and-a-half stars out of five when their albums first come out, because to them, it's just a bunch of noise. But now they'd probably give it four stars because it was very "influential" to Nirvana and Trent Reznor. But then when the new Shellac record comes out, guess what? It's not up to Big Black standards. Two stars. If you want to hear oft-repeated stereotypes without having new, challenging questions posed, this book is for you. Heck, Janeane Garofalo and Matt Pinfield (remember him?) have blurbs on the back of the original hardcover edition saying so, they ought to know a thing or two about independent music. The fact that Azerrad needs to put quotes from those people on his book jacket indicates how clueless he is. He's not the first to capitalize off the work of others, but that doesn't make this excrement worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative, but somewhat disjointed
Review: After reading Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life, a series of essays on indie/hardcore/punk bands of the 1980s, I emerged suitably edified but not entirely impressed. Azerrad has been exceptionally thorough (he's a gifted journalist who wrote the Cobain biography Heavier Than Heaven and the Seattle-scene memoir Screaming Life) but the thing doesn't entirely hold together. It's funny, because all these bands were pretty tightly intertwined, but he writes the book as a series of discrete pieces about a variety of bands I loved (Hüsker Dü), found interesting but not necessarily relevant on a personal level (Fugazi, Beat Happening), or loathed and feared (Big Black, Butthole Surfers). Since the bands all toured together, played for the same labels, and are quoted in anecdotes about each other, the format seems a bit forced - and periodically episodes are repeated in discussing two different bands. Although I doubt the book would have sold this way, this could have been profitably revised as a book about the independent labels and the economics of the industry, and not the bands themselves. The DC scene is really about Dischord Records as much as it is about the Minutemen or Fugazi. Olympia, Washington is really about K Records and its founder Calvin Johnson, not
Beat Happening itself. The Replacements and the Hüskers are really the story of the rise and fall of Twin/Tone. And I wonder if Mudhoney is included solely because of the Sub Pop launch. Of course, there are some great stories here, and a lot of trenchant observations about the bands, the labels and the personalities involved. (Steve Albini, even as a youngster, must have been one hell of a piece of work.) But Azerrad can get a bit repetitive. He tends to follow the arc of a rising young band, a classic album or single, newfound fame and then bitterness and decline, a bit too closely (even when that narrative arc doesn't apply, like Fugazi, for example). It's hard to read all the essays, however, and not emerge a little depressed. The most gifted bads of the crowd tended to self-destruct, and the most cynical ones (Albini, Butthole Surfers) did quite well. It's really a story of economics, though, and the
inspirational stories of Dischord and K Records are really masterpieces of small-scale entrepreneurial capitalism, even if their dramatis personae themselves might disagree.
Rating: 
Summary: A promising book that's considerably disappointing
Review: Michael Azerrad's one of the best contemporary rock authors, and the work he did on the Nirvana book "Come as You Are" speaks for itself. He was able to tell a story that was devoid of opinions and let the facts speak for themselves, even if proof came out after the book's publishing that suggested that some of the pieces were exaggerated. Still, when it was announced that he was writing a book about the American indie underground of the 1980s, I was ecstatic. Finally, someone qualified was going to talk about an era of music that's sadly overlooked by most people. But upon reading this book, I was pretty dismayed to discover how half-baked "Our Band Could be Your Life" was. Azerrad only interviewed about half of the people involved in these selected bands. For people he obviously didn't talk to, like Steve Albini, he instead pastes together quotes taken from 1980s fanzine interviews and places them in the book like they were actual recollections. He does cite these sources in the back of the book, but it's still a little bit dishonest. He doesn't even interview Calvin Johnson for the Beat Happening section. Why even bother include them then? Calvin was the Beat Happening as far as I'm concerned. With the Butthole Surfers, there's only accounts from King Coffey and some scant Paul Leary quotes that I suspect were also lifted. Both are integral members, but not interviewing Gibby Haynes is inexcusable. No Gibby, no Surfers. And there are other important people you'd like to hear from who aren't here like Black Flag's Chuck Dukowski and the Minutemen's George Hurley, among others. I'm shocked with how Azerrad fills the book up with his opinions and half-truths. Unlike in "Come as You Are," Azerrad paints stories in his own light and adds ridiculous lines that will leave you frustrated with his lack of professionalism. Who can take him seriously after reading this description on Big Black: "While it may not have been a direct swipe at a nation obsessed with a show like 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,' it sure was a [fecal product] in its silver punchbowl." (Ouch.) He uses hearsay in describing people in the bands who he didn't interview, which gives him absolutely no grounds to talk about such unfounded information. Azerrad takes Henry Rollins, who was kind enough to talk to him, and paints him as the destroyer of Black Flag, which is highly subject to debate but something I'd strongly disagree with. Azerrad also tends to think of all post-"Damaged" Black Flag albums as being mediocre, ignoring the fact that they were bold underground rock records that tried to do something more interesting than common hardcore. Azerrad's facts are sometimes inaccurate, such as when he says Rollins started recording just a few weeks later after Black Flag's breakup in a band that "just happened to include" the rhythm section of Greg Ginn's side project Gone. Henry didn't recruit them until two years after Black Flag's breakup for his second solo album, long after Ginn dissolved the original Gone. Each band has some kind of bizarre opinion attached that will leave fans of each band angered. Azerrad accuses the Butthole Surfers of betraying their roots by leaving Touch and Go for Rough Trade but doesn't similarly condemn Sonic Youth for suing SST and taking back their catalogue (where they later reissued it on DGC and left two of the LPs out of print... how indie!) or for Husker Du signing onto a major. He approaches each band differently, like he obviously has favorites. Worst of all is how he cuts off the story of each band around 1991, like all of them stopped being essential because they signed onto a major label. That's a very narrow-minded way to look at the overall scope of the scene, and if that's how he really felt ethically, then why did he stop with Fugazi after "Steady Diet of Nothing"? They've always been on Dischord, and they never signed to a major. There's some truly incredible bands missing in here. Azerrad did say that there didn't wasn't enough room to include everyone and that it wasn't an encyclopedia, but there's just no rational excuse as to how you could leave out bands and people as significant as the Meat Puppets, Half Japanese, Jello Biafra, Scratch Acid, Daniel Johnston, the Melvins, the Flaming Lips, the Wipers, and the Pixies. Frankly, I'm more disappointed that Azerrad filled up the space with Minor Threat AND Fugazi. They're both legendary bands, but I'd think that Fugazi fits the scope of the book's topic a lot more than Minor Threat. Big Black's accounts are heavily relayed from Michael Gerald of Killdozer (who should've had his own chapter, really) and Mudhoney's chapter is more of an excuse to describe the beginnings of Sub Pop, Green River, and Soundgarden. Good information, but not the way to go about it. The best advice I can give is that you should preview the book from a friend or at a store before you buy it. There is a lot of great information to be found in here, and few people have tried to cover the post-hardcore scene/proto-alternative rock scene like Azerrad. But it seems like he didn't do his homework. He suggests that those who don't like his book should go write their own, and I'm almost tempted to do so just out of spite. "Come as You Are" is still required reading, but I'm definitely not going to be seeking out any future Azerrad-penned works. If you want to read a comprehensive and brilliant book about indie/alternative rock, the best out there by far is Joe Carducci's "Rock and the Pop Narcotic." Carducci general managed SST Records exclusively during their peak years (1981-1986) and his knowledge on music of all types is staggering. Pick up his book instead. Much to my disappointment, this is a flawed account of underground music.
Rating: 
Summary: An OK read, but missing vital components
Review: I just finished reading most of this book. I skipped two of the bands, as I just wasn't interested in finding out about them. Although the scenes certainly were interesting, and as a fan of many of these bands growing up, I just didn't find the excitement in Azerrad's writing, which tends toward the dry side. I also recall in a few places, where Azerrad uses a combination of words, which he then repeats in the next chapter. This was just an annoying quirk of the book. The big crime here is the omission on a chapter on the Melvins, who have influenced many of the bands participating in the indie scene of the 1990's. Given the author's Nirvana obsession, coupled with the obvious influence the Melvins had on Cobain, and with the Melvins' way in which they have run their career, it seems like there should have been more than just a passing mention.
Rating:
Summary: Proper Due for some great bands!
Review: I found this book to be one the best pieces written on a period of American music that has spawnwed what we hear on the radio today. At the risk of sounding old, I find a lot of the music today very stale, and this book will help you remember a time when bands seemed to break new ground everyday. Not a lot has been written on most of these bands, and being fans of almost all of them, I was able to leaarn things about each that I had not known. I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of these bands, and I would especially recommend it to young music fans who would like a background on the influences of today's bands.
Rating: 
Summary: You Need This Book!
Review: This book is outstanding in every way! There's nothing that I can write about in this review that hasn't been said already. So I won't even go into details here. If you're remotely interested in any of these bands read this book!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: The main reason that I decided to read the book is that I got into hardcore/punk pretty late in life, and I often feel like I missed out on a lot of great music simply because I'm too young to have known any of the bands that started the genre. Sure I've heard of bands like Black Flag and Minor Threat, but I haven't actually listened to very much of their music, and I definatly wasn't a part of the scene in the beginning (if only I had been younger!!). . "Our Band Could Be Your Life" tells the story of thirteen bands that the author felt were vital to the underground music scene of the eighties. I don't know where he gets his information but he manages to find enough sources to tell each and every bands story in complete detail. He even keeps the book completely indie as possible. If one of the bands eventually went on to a major label, he stops telling their story at that point. Of course, there are other bands from that era that I would have loved to have heard about, but that would be too long of a book and the author does a good enough job of covering the era. The bands that he covers are as follows: Black Flag, The Minutemen, Mission Of Burma, Minor Threat, Husker Du, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Dinosaur Jr, Fugazi, Mudhoney, and Beat Happening. If you ask me thats a pretty good sampling of the underground music scene. You've got your hardcore, your punk, your grunge, and your just plain weird! As you read each band's story, you'll begin to notice a lot of reoccuring themes: playing shows to 3 people, touring in crappy vans, drug use, and plenty of fighting. Now I'm not saying that they were all like that, because there are the exceptions (Ian McKaye obviously wasn't big into drugs at the time!). But for the most part you can tell that each band's struggles are much like that of their peers. Many of the band's stories are even intertwined. They either toured together, released each other's albums, of just knew each other through the underground network that existed at the time. How weird would it have been to see Husker Du on tour with Black Flag? That's an odd pairing, but back then these kinds of shows actually happenened. It seems that lately punk bands tour with punk bands, indie bands with indie bands, etc. etc. After reading this book to me it seemed that there was a comraderie back then where bands respected any other bands who were doing things in the indie way regardless of there sound. Besides the fact that bands could barely make any money doing what they do, it seemed to be a good time for all! I'm not going to go into descriptions of all the band's tales because you should go out and buy this book, but I will tell you a few of my favorites. Surprisingly enough, the Butthole Surfers where one of my favorites. I wish I could have been at one of their shows in the early days. The band focused less on music and more on their showmanship than any of the other bands. Many of their shows featured psychadelic special effects and enough noise that the entire crowd would leave. At times it was a goal for them to see how many people they could tick off during one set. It doesn't seem like the right thing to do to me, but it just shows that the band did it there way. Another one of my favs were Beat Happening. From what I understand no one in the band could really play their instruments and during all of their sets the band rotated around on instruments so everyone would get to play a little of everything. That definatly sounds like a fun way to be in a band to me! All of the bands in this book have pretty interesting stories, so I could go on and on with all the highlights of this book. Not only was this book a good read it opened the doors to some great new music for me. Right after finishing this book I rushed to my local punk store and picked up a Minor Threat 7", a Black Flag 7", a Husker Du 7" and a Beat Happening 7". I also plan to pick up stuff by many more of the bands in this book. I know that most of you are like me and haven't been into hardcore/punk/indie long enough to really know the stories of all the bands in this book, so I'd recommend you pick this book up and get schooled. Think of it as History of Hardcore 101, because without these bands hardcore and punk would not be like you know it today. These bands laid the groundwork for touring, self-releasing CDs, and many of the other ideals/ethics of today's scene. Buy this, read it, and get smarter!
Rating:
Summary: Rather narrow in focus and picture.
Review: "Our Band Could Be Your Life" was an attempt to document the American indie scene of the 1980s, which has been seen by critics and modern music lovers as an alternative to the soft rock and synth-pop that dominated commercial radio during the 1980s and is seen to have aged very badly now due to the heavy big-budget production. The book gives a detailed account of the lives of the bands contained within it. All of them played either stripped-down rock and roll or aggressive hardcore with the volume and speed turned right up. One band - Big Black - are seen as a precursor to industrial music's emergence into the mainstream with NIN. However, these bands did differ in some important ways, and some of the hardcore bands did attempt to incorporate other styles into their music - not easy to notice for my ears. However, because of their simplicity and spontaneity and the fact that they were seen as the carriers of rock's populist roots, these bands earned vast critical slaving. They dominated critics' "best of" lists throughout the 1980s and continue to be the only artists from that era featuring in "all time best albums lists" of writers like Joe S. Harrington. Nonetheless, bands such as the Minutemen, Minor Threat, Mission of Burma and Black Flag never dented the Top 200, and the now-famous Hüsker Dü did so only after signing with Warners. The descriptions of each band and its history are generally quite detailed, even dense in the way in which the bands' personnel grew up and how they decided to form a band in order to express their own visions. For instance, one sees the detail given of Ian MacKaye's father's history as a prgressive religious figure. The descriptions of events in the bands's histories are similarly detailed, especially with regard to the ideals of the members involved (probably in order to contrast with the mainstream in the 1980s) and the relationships between them - such as the struggle between Mould and Hart over the writing of "Warehouse - Songs and Stories". One also sees this dense study in the split between Macis and Barlow in Dinosaur Jr, or in the very unusual manner in which Sonic Youth bought (and later were given) cheap guitars so that they could experiment with new tunings. Yet, one notices no attempt to assess or explain actions of these bands - it is taken by the author as something inevitable with very little justification for why this should be so. The descriptions of the recordings and music of the bands discussed is generally good and worthwhile, if not very clear about what each band was aiming for. This part, though it is buried somewhat, will be found useful by music historians even though there are no descriptions of individual songs and their lyrics or music. There is also very little clarity in explaining who influenced these bands and how they developed their sounds. Moerver, the book is narrow in focus not only in the way in which it writes about the bands it covers, but also in terms of its apparent fear of history. The tendency for punk and related genres to dominate critics' polls, in fact, goes back at least to the New York Dolls in the middle 1970s, and became ingrained, NOT in 1981, but with the first punk bands in the late 1970s. In order to understand what had happened in the American underground during the 1980s, one would have to look at such bands as the Germs, the Angry Samoans, Pere Ubu, X or the Circle Jerks. This would show where the 1980s underground movement really originated from and who actually pioneered the modern "underground" sound. Unlike in Britain, in America there is no doubt that the "punk revolution" had little effect apart from making commercial radio still more conservative. Yet, there is no discussion of how early US punk bands worked in an environment of stiflingly restrictive commercial radio and exceedingly weak noncommercial radio. There is no discussion of what aspect of the music of these bands was seen as important by critics. Without universal or near-universal critical praise, these bands would be unknown legends at best, utterly forgotten otherwise. There is certainly some focus on how the bands gained exposure from the emergence of college radio in the middle 1980s, but little study or assessment concerning how much of a success college radio actually was. There is no doubt that some 1980s bands like R.E.M. and the Violent Femmes sold large numbers of records because of college radio support. However, bands seen by critics like Joe S. Harrington as "uncompromising" gained no extra sales at all from college radio. On the whole, this book stands as too narrow in focus to be an essential read, but it is not bad.
Rating:
Summary: interesting
Review: a probing, entertaining look at the stories of music. Not bad.
Rating:
Summary: THE ALMOST PERFECT PENCIL?
Review: Along with Motely Crue's THE DIRT, Michael Azzerad's essay on The Butthole Surfers in this book may stand as the ultimate example of not being sure if what you're reading is another awe-inspiring tale of rock'n'roll excess or a tragic, comedic cautionary tale. Unlike Motley Crue - who you have no doubt have had the finest Bolivian cocaine flown to them on private jets, with Gibby Haynes and company you're left wondering, "Where did these guys find the money for all this debauchery? Hell, when did they find time to practice?" Unlike Motley Crue's book, which glamorizes their careers and you get the feeling that they came out laughing in the end (because, let's face it, the music was always secondary to the money for them), Azzerrad's writing really allows you to feel what it was like to be trapped in a van for years on end, wondering what the hell you're doing with your life, but being so passionate about it that, to hell with the rent being due tomorrow, turn that guitar up NOW. From the passionate professionalism and artistry of Gregg Ginn's Black Flag and Ian MacKaye's Minor Threat and Fugazi, to the excess of the Surfers and the Replacements, the could've and should've beens of the doomed Minutemen and Mission of Burma (where in both cases fate plays sad, cruel twists), these are some great stories of the undersung heroes of 80's indie rock. But really this is Azzerrad paying tribute to some of the music that mattered to him as he was growing up and as a jouirnalist finding out the stories behind the authors of albums like Sonic Youth's Sister and Husker Du's Zen Arcade. Are there disappointments? Sure. A section on The Meat Puppets would've been nice, Mudhoney's chapter seems more like an essay on the history of their label Sub Pop than the band, and The Replacements deserve an entire book to call their own. (And, a super-minor quibble, is the paperback's jacket design - BORING, especially in contrast to the very cool deisgn of the hardcover.) But those Butthole Surfers..., were they crazy...
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