Rating: 
Summary: Well written but hallow
Review: In Our Band Could Be Your Life, Michael Azerrad looks at the careers of 13 bands from the 1980's that helped define what he refers to as "the American indie underground." The book begins in the late 70's with the Punk underground that thrived in the backyard parties and basement shows of the California Hardcore scene. We then go to the East Coast, where Minor Threat were laying the foundation for what would become a self-sustaining, independent rock community. Azerrad also tells the stories of Husker Du and the Replacements, two important bands that couldn't have been more different. Other bands featured in this book: Chicago's Big Black, Boston's Mission of Burma and Dinosaur Jr., Austin's Butthole Surfers, New York City's Sonic Youth, and the Pacific Northwest's Mudhoney and Beat Happening. The book attempts to explain why these bands are important and influential. Indeed, in a time when Punk has become corporatized, when it has become the very thing it once despised, the stories of Minor Threat and Black Flag, and the hard times and sacrifices they indured, provide a valuable lesson to those who think Green Day or Nirvana invented Punk. But these positives are overshadowed by the book's negatives. Why 13 bands? Where's Dead Kennedy's? Azerrad also seems to lose interest in some of his subjects and stops telling their story at half-way. And that's a problem because some of the stories here needed much more exploration. Another problem is that there are times when Azerrad writes with objectivity about things that demand subjectivty: this book doesn't throw you heard first into a Punk gig -- and it needed to. Also, the 80's Punk underground was more than bands: where's the important fanzines? Where's the important college radio? The book also insists that Nirvana was the ultimate achievement of the underground scene. Nonsense. The commercial success of Nirvana was corporate strategy -- nothing more. In the end, Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 is well written but ultimatley hallow.
Rating: 
Summary: A good band history book, but flawed in theory.
Review: The main thrust of "Our Band Could Be Your Life" is that the D.I.Y. ethic is one that a person can adapt to THEIR life, without being a musician, artist or part of any movement. One could be a D.I.Y. office worker! The ideal of forging one's destiny is given multiple musical examples in this book. While a handy item if you're interested in the early 80's hardcore (and beyond) movement and its subsequent evolution into grunge and indi music, the logic in many places is flawed. Firstly, Azerrad distains new wave as a watered down version of the original punk movement, yet in this book, the people who moved the quickest to distance themselves from hardcore weren't selling out, they were improving the model. If one is going to knock Joe Jackson (undeservedly, as his lyrics are one of new wave's or pop's most quesioning of the very things hardcore questioned a decade later), one would imagine that a band such as Husker Du would get anything but the hero status heaped upon them here. Oddly, this isn't the case. Azerrad credits them, (undeservedly) with bringing the pop song's melodic gift to hardcore, thusly helping to push the movement one step closer to commercial acceptance, which, even if you're using Husker Du as the sole example isn't a good thing in the least. It is easy (and one might say right) to argue that the further Husker Du got away from the "rules" of hardcore, the more lame their music became. Certainly, there is room for growth and development, as their high-water mark albums "Zen Arcade" and "New Day Rising" attest, but the more the band slowed it down subsequently, the weaker and less interesting they became. I wouldn't argue that speed and agression of sound were the things Husker Du needed to be good, but they did seem to lose both and focus at about the same time. As for bringing melody and pop sensibility to hardcore, Azerrad oddly looks away from the Descendents, a band that seems to fit the ideal of this book perfectly. One could easily drop the Husker Du and Replacement chapters, (both bands that eventually "moved on" to the bigger arena) and became shadows of what they once where, while the Descendents/ALL have (save one album) stayed true to the D.I.Y. ideal, still put out challenging music that isn't afraid to take risks, AND had melodic gifts firmly in the forefront as early as their first single before either of the other bands had formed. If one views mass acceptance as the ultimate goal, bands such as Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr. and the Replacements were of great merit, helping to forge their movement into the "alternative" movement of today. However, if one views alternative music as being hardcore without the edges (straigt and jagged) or focus, a safe version of the real-item, (like punk to new wave), Nirvana's "big break" (and what an awful break it is to have one's stardom kill them) and the subsequent flow of similar bands to the top of the charts isn't a good thing in the least. Otherwise the book is handy, if you were a fan of more than one of the bands covered, you are no doubt familiar in one way or another with the others, although current fans of Minor Threat/Fugazi might not have much of a need to learn about the more debauched bands such as the Butthole Surfers and the Replacements other than to further convince them that staying straight edge is a grand idea. Many of the bands in the book, if used as a life example will only lead you to rehab! If Azelrod had probed deeper into the movement he would have found that there are still many bands who's main goal isn't weakening and watering down their music to garner mass acceptance, that are still quite listenable and enjoyable dispite being unpolished by today's standards and who didn't have to maim themselves to do it. Fugazi is of course a prime example of this, as are the Descendents. Still, an interesting take on the time.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful...but get your politics elsewhere
Review: This book is a fantastic look into the minds and music of a select group of musicians whose impact is really beginning to be felt now if you ask me...However, one thing I've always found boring, hypocritical and worthless about the hardcore punk/Straight Edge scene is the politics it espoused. The whole "Reagan is the enemy" bit has never made sense to me, because every musician and writer from that era ranted about that, but I've never ever seen one thing any of them can name to prove it. You want a good, fair dissection of punk politics go see SLC Punk - that's an eye opener, and the author and bands interviewed in this movie should also see it for the reality check contained therein (yes that means you Fugazi, Anti-Flag and Zach from Rage Against the Machine)
Rating: 
Summary: very pleasant surprise
Review: I actually received this book through a contest in a magazine and as a music fan figured I would find something of interest in it but was also not overly worried about it one way or the other. I'm a few years removed from the decade described here. I know of figures like Alibini, Barlow, and MacKaye more so for their current standing in the music world (Shellac, Folk Implosion, Dischord, etc.), even though I was aware of their former bands to a certain extent. I came in knowing I would probably enjoy the chapters about bands I listened to (namely Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, Fugazi, Mudhoney, and Minor Threat), but I never realized how much I would get into the chapters concerning bands like Husker Du and the Minutemen. Azerrad has done a wonderful job of avoiding some of the pitfalls of writing about music and made this a very entertaining book to read. In fact, the only chapter I found myself skipping pages in was the Replacements chapter, namely because it's not a band I can relate to whereas even if I don't listen to Black Flag, I can relate to the background and the emotion a little bit better. I've rambled enough, so I'll end with a very simple recommendation: it's a wonderfully entertaining book for fans of music in general (and not just in the decade it describes), and it reads quickly. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Why like this?
Review: The american independent underground of the 1980s was NOT a progression towards the inevitable rise of Nirvana to the status of corporate behemoth. It was a conglomeration of people of every background, artistic vision and moral makeup imagineable. Azerrad writes his book in homage to the band that was able to sell more records than Michael Jackson while not embarassing themselves artistically. I would argue that nearly every group covered in this book has produced work that is more gripping and artistically vital/challenging than anything that Nirvana did. But than again, I didn't write the biography of the major label's poster band for the 90s (how many people is Azerrad imagining will buy his other book on the recommendation of this one?). There is some very exciting and interesting information to be found on the pages of this book, but the disdain for the music's mode of production (DIY) that the author shows time and again is not worth slogging through for the precious few morsels of quality. I also object to his positioning of the combined groups' stories as the formation of a coherent narative. As in any history, the narrative presented can only be accessed by the pruning of other, conflicting stories. Where are the chapters on The Young Fresh Fellows and Negativland? If you can ignore the author's pretentious presentation you might enjoy this. If your looking for revealing information on the 80s indie underground, steer clear.
Rating:
Summary: Shush, Mr. Azzerad...these are MY bands
Review: and I don't want anyone to know about them besides me and my omniscient acquaintances. Nevertheless, this new piece of cheese about the short lived, unfettered indie rock movement tastes mighty fine and I want some more. See, that was the best thing about the "underground" to me-it was personal, it was mine. Others couldn't possibly tolerate or understand the genius of Big Black, and I liked it that way. Not only that, but because of its limited visibilty, each new find was a new chapter in the mythology of this hidden music. Made it exciting to wonder what secret messages, what philosophy was waiting there whilst no one knew...today, older, wiser, I know it was a glorious sham, and seldom do I find myself in agreement with any of the ethics of my favorite bands of yesteryears. But that's ok-it spiced up an otherwise mundane youth. And I still yowl and thrash with it in the car when no one is looking, addicted hopelessly to the unbridled fury of modern rock at its finest. And thats why I had to have Our Band Could Be Your Life, because I still yearn for more of that mythology, more of that empowering energy, and a less than modest desire to be well informed about the avant garde. As I read, I thought about the authors' choices, and like most of you who read it already, wondered why this band or that band wasn't in it. But there was no omissions, really-simply not enough room.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book on an important topic
Review: The story of the bands profiled in this book will inspire even the most jaded music fan. Besides how important these bands were to the whole "alternative" music scene, their stories will make you believe that there are still bands that really care about their music, their fans, and real artistic integrity. I only wish there were other books that covered the era of American indie / college rock. At least this book does a great job with the topic. By the way, I heard Michael Azerrad being interviewed about this book. The interviewer asked him how he was able to get so many notoriously private people to open up and talk about their careers. His answer was that nobody ever bothered to ask.
Rating:
Summary: Great Subject, Not So Great Book
Review: The birth of the indie rock movement is a very complex and commendable undertaking for the subject of a book, and for that I thank Michael Azerrad. But I was thoroughly disappointed, chapter after chapter by Azarrad's formulaic writing style and abundance of opportunities missed for deeper exploration of narrative threads other than a simple timeline. Broken up into chapters about specific bands, i was expecting (as the title infers) to get a glimpse into each band's life at a point in time. But rather than stepping inside that "scene", we are firmly planted outside, with Azarrad, as he drolly pans his "one size fits all" lens from one band to the next. I felt guilty reading this. Like i was reading a tabloid or a bio produced for an NSYNC fan club. Save your money and buy the music he's writing about instead. This is important music history, someone will do it justice soon.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, Good selection of bands
Review: This book will give you an idea of what the independent music scene was like before Nirvana and the rest of punk broke in 1991. The funniest chapter is written about the B___hole Surfers. The book focuses mainly on each band's backgrounds and what they contributed to the underground scene, and how they influenced things you are still seeing today in the independent (and maybe even the not-so-independent) music scene. The chapter on Mudhoney is excellent, because not only does it give you a history of that band, but it also gives you a good history on the whole Seattle scene and the whole scoop on the Sub Pop record label. In fact, this book could serve as a "how-to" (or even better, "how-not-to") handle your record label. Overall worth a read. My favorite chapters were on the Huskers, the 'Mats, B___hole Surfers and Mudhoney.
Rating:
Summary: another great book by a great author
Review: Wow, Michael Azerrad is a great author. I read his book, Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, and I loved the way it was written. Actually now that I think about it, when I found out he wrote this book, I was just more eager to read it.
When I first saw the book, the cover actually drew me into looking at it, lol. I was just beginning to get into undgerground bands and such so I started to glance over to see what type of bands it talked about. The book is really interesting, actually. I barely knew who half the bands were at the time, and by reading the selected stories, I found myself heading to Media Play to pick up their cds. It was kind of influencial in a way. It's for anyone who knows the true meaning of music, just not some [one] who likes Nirvana because of Smells Like Teen Spirit...
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