Rating: 
Summary: A review by a Springsteen fan
Review: My motivation for purchasing this book was my belief, based on other reviews, that it would present some new unbiased insights into the work of my favorite artist Bruce Springsteen and add some balance to the what I've read over the years from the Dave Marsh and Jon Landau propaganda machine. Although it did provide this, unfortunately (for me), very little of the book was actually devoted to Springsteen and the other artists mentioned in the title. The book is more a history of the record industry, chronicling its rise from its roots in the underground music scene of the mid to late sixties, to it's present form as multi-national conglomerates. It presents the story as a morality tale of a sixties paradise lost and it's consumption by the dark forces of capitalism .
The author while having researched his material very well, brings some biases into his work, typical of his generation. These biases become glaringly obvious when reading the book. One of these is his implication that someone like Springsteen, because he has maintained a consistently high level of commercial success over the years, is a sell-out, and a manufactured creation of his manager. Whereas someone like Neil Young, because he hasn't been ashamed to release some real crap, is an artist of integrity, who won't give in to crass commercialism, by always giving his fans music that they will actually enjoy.I will agree with the author to some extent, that Jon Landau as manager and producer has had a huge influence on Springsteen. However, by using this to tear down the integrity of the artist himself, he better be prepared to do the same to the Beatles, The Stones and Elvis, all of whom had managers and/or producers that influenced them and pushed their work and careers in directions they would not have gone in, on their own. If you, like the author, finds the business deals, managers and record company executives more fascinating than the artists themselves, then you'll probably enjoy this book. If however you're like me, and are more interested in the music and the musicians themselves, you'll find yourself skipping over large portions of the book in order to get to the more interesting parts on the MC5, Dylan, Young and Springsteen.
Rating:
Summary: A review by a Springsteen fan
Review: My motivation for purchasing this book was my belief, based on other reviews, that it would present some new unbiased insights into the work of my favorite artist Bruce Springsteen and add some balance to the what I've read over the years from the Dave Marsh and Jon Landau propaganda machine. Although it did provide this, unfortunately (for me), very little of the book was actually devoted to Springsteen and the other artists mentioned in the title. The book is more a history of the record industry, chronicling its rise from its roots in the underground music scene of the mid to late sixties, to it's present form as multi-national conglomerates. It presents the story as a morality tale of a sixties paradise lost and it's consumption by the dark forces of capitalism .
The author while having researched his material very well, brings some biases into his work, typical of his generation. These biases become glaringly obvious when reading the book. One of these is his implication that someone like Springsteen, because he has maintained a consistently high level of commercial success over the years, is a sell-out, and a manufactured creation of his manager. Whereas someone like Neil Young, because he hasn't been ashamed to release some real crap, is an artist of integrity, who won't give in to crass commercialism, by always giving his fans music that they will actually enjoy. I will agree with the author to some extent, that Jon Landau as manager and producer has had a huge influence on Springsteen. However, by using this to tear down the integrity of the artist himself, he better be prepared to do the same to the Beatles, The Stones and Elvis, all of whom had managers and/or producers that influenced them and pushed their work and careers in directions they would not have gone in, on their own. If you, like the author, finds the business deals, managers and record company executives more fascinating than the artists themselves, then you'll probably enjoy this book. If however you're like me, and are more interested in the music and the musicians themselves, you'll find yourself skipping over large portions of the book in order to get to the more interesting parts on the MC5, Dylan, Young and Springsteen.
Rating:
Summary: HARD..
Review: Oh, boy, this is hard reading... YOu are introduced to so many new names and characters per page, that you get overwhelmed !!! This is the only flaw of the book, the way I see it, at less... The general intenction was good and the writer clearly knows about what he's talking. The book deals about the "rock revolution" in America, picking up a few bands' careers to use as example, like Buffalo Springfield, Bob Dylan, MC5, J. Geils Band, Peter Frampton, Bruce Springsteen, etc, etc. |But I thin he could have been less evasive.
Rating: 
Summary: A Compelling but Sad Story
Review: People under 30 might not realize that rock, as an artistic creation, and money, as the all-powerful motivator, were once totally separate things. Goodman's book tells a story of how the music and the money collided and fused together. My favorite part is the story of Springsteen and how he was an artist with conviction until he gave way to releasing contrived hits like "Hungry Heart" and "Dancing in the Dark." As a fan, I could never see Bruce in the same way after that period. And the story behind how it happened is fascinating. My only criticism of the book is that it doesn't seem to be "THE" definitive history of rock and commerce, just handpicked pieces of narrative chosen because they support Goodman's thesis. But it is a worldview that I happen to agree with, so that's probably why I liked the book so much.--Evan Schwart
Rating: 
Summary: Almost a great book.
Review: The author goes a little overboard with the business aspects of the music industry by throwing around dollar figures of which many of us don't have any idea of anyway. There was no need for him to devote pages and pages to Geffen and his various business deals. You quickly get the point that Geffen is strictly a businessman anyway. I also wish that he would have expanded more on the birth of underground radio and rock journalism. He never set out to explain the contradictory fact that Dave Marsh was both a protege of John Sinclair and Jon Landau (opposing figures). He exposes several realities about the selfish and greedy attitudes of artists, managers, DJ's, promoters, ect. Welcome to the real world Fred. I also wish he would have gone deeper into the politics of the MC5 and John Sinclair instead of wasting energy making Jon Landau and Bruce Springsteen look bad (I certainly didn't need any convincing). I did like the stories regarding Ray Riepen, Frank Barbalosa, Mo Ostin, and Dee Anthony. A good book for those who still believe in all that 60's lovey-dovey stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story about business...bad story about music
Review: The book was a great summary about the history of business and popular music in the last 30 years or so. Unfortunately, I was hoping for some more information on the actual artists: Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, etc.
Rating:
Summary: The Springsteen chapters offer nothing new
Review: The Springsteen chapters are researched mostly from Springsteen's own interviews & onstage comments. Goodman seems to think the 17 year-old Springsteen's desire to avoid Vietnam is scandalous news, but anyone who purchased his "Live 1975-85" Box Set has heard Bruce tell that story onstage - right before performing "War."
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time
Review: THis books seems to be a great footage of rock articles. IT presents no definitive theory about the rock industry, nor it gives a real portrait of the rock scenario through the years. It only gives separeted pieces of histories about Springsteen, Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Peter Frampton, Grateful Dead, MC-5 and a handful of others. The writing style is dry and badly developed. DOn't recommended.
Rating:
Summary: hard to read
Review: This is a good book, but a little bit hard to read, due mainly to the small type lettering and a confusion of names, places, dates and bands that just doesn't seem to go together to make some point !!
Rating:
Summary: A compelling look at the business side of music.
Review: This is one fantastic book. The author does a very good job of tracing the history of how music and business came together. His use of Youngs', Dylans' and Springsteens' careers as examples were first-rate. Young and Dylan came out looking pretty good, I think, but Springsteen-- not so good. If you like Springsteen (and Landeau) you're not going to like reading some of the chapters that deal with them. The author pretty much shatters the myth that surrounds them and I won't look at Springsteen the same way again. The book also takes some side streets to other artists (the Eagles, MC5, etc.) that I thought were interesting. I like reading about how live music shows went from clubs to stadiums and how the artists had to deal with the promoters.
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