The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings on Rock Music 1972-1995

Rating:
Summary: The sad, glorious people behind the great music
Review: A great book about the people populating planet rock music, with every chapter worth reading. The chapters I found most interesting were the ones about Neil Young, Roy Orbison and Sid Vicious, and about the author's non-interview with the very strange Roky Erickson. There is also a longish chapter about Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, written when Wilson was a very disturbed man, which makes one realise what a miracle it is that he is now performing again. Kent's prose is worthy of his subjects and he portrays them in all their twisted, but fascinating, glory.

The book also features a brief, but very good, introduction by the legendary Iggy Pop, which seems to indicate that Iggy could have been some author, had he not decided to pursue a music career.

The book made we ponder, anew, a question about artists which has bothered me for many years: are artists destroyed by their art, or do they have to be tortured people from the start to produce work which is different and interesting?

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Summary: Sorid tales of treachery and despair!
Review: Apt title.'Dark' being the operative word here .At times candid, funny, disturbing, fawning. Kent bypasses the usual media glitz and glamour and takes the reader on a nighmare journey deep into rock musics sorid underbelly. For Rolling Stones fans especially this book will shed some light on exactly why "Mick Jagger feel(s) this insatiable need to inhabit all these different, often unappealing personalities as often as (he) can" Read it and glee!

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Nick didn't suck up to the stars nor did he polish them. Instead we get a look at the stars from a real person perspective, not an adoring fan or pandering critic. And Nick's style keeps the reader interested, whereas a lot of rock'n'roll books the writers are a bore, Nick has a great command of the English language which made it easy for me to breeze through this book. The portraits of these rockers, most burnt out or abusing drugs, really showed me a side I never knew of many of my favorite artists.

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Summary: SILVER LININGS AROUND THE DARKNESS
Review: It is indeed the music that counts here, of the text as well as of the artists. It kicks off with Iggy Pop's fascinating foreword, followed by the equally absorbing preface dealing with Nick Kent's history as a music journalist. The value of each chapter is directly proportional to the communication skills of the interviewee: that is why the Guns 'N'Roses piece is a complete waste of time and paper and shouldn't even have been included in the book, whilst I loved the Roy Orbison interview although I've never really been into his music. I found the Brian Wilson piece too long and do not agree with the author's assessment of the Rolling Stones after the 60s. His view of Kurt Cobain is a bit harsh and the non-interview with Roky Erickson a bit pointless, but I loved Jerry Lee Lewis, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, Miles Davis and I think the book's crowning glory is the chapter titled "Neil Young and the haphazard highway that leads to Unconditional Love." I feel compelled to investigate Neil Young's music now because I feel I understand and appreciate him as a human being, whereas previously I considered him to have been just another good rock 'n roller, but one who didn't especially appeal to me. What amazes me is how some of these artists managed to so consistently produce such sublime music while they were abusing themselves physically and mentally to such a gruesome degree. I suppose that is one of the intertextual messages of this book: no matter how low down you are, you can always pull yourself together again. It once again demonstrates the ability of the soul and the body to restore themselves. This is great rock writing!

Rating:
Summary: Good stuff!
Review: Kent takes the reader through a nightmare journey of rock musics sorid underbelly in this wonderful book. A large array of influential musicians are documented here from the eccentric ramblings of Syd Barrett to the wild excess of Guns and Roses and evey kind of perversion of humanity inbetween. Kent writes with a fans enthusiasm for the music, though this does'nt blur his journalistic objectivity. Read and glee.

Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: Nick Kent does not fall for the pretentious...spewed by many rock stars. His writing is intelligent passionate and best of all funny. Does anyone know where I can most easily read Kent's work now? I've been dying to read what he's done since 1995. Thanks in advance.

Rating:
Summary: must-read for fans wanting a raw glimpse inside rock
Review: The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings on Rock Music 1972-1995 is a most insightful collection of essays and articles on modern rock music. Author Nick Kent has been a staff writer for New Musical Express for many years, as well as a musician in his own right (the Subterraneans).

In The Dark Stuff, he presents a collection of finely tuned profiles of Brian Wilson, Roky Erickson, Elvis Costello, Morrissey, The Pogues, Lou Reed, Kurt Cobain and other significant figures in recent rock music history. With a writing style recalling profile pieces in the cultish ICON Thoughtstyle magazine, Kent demonstrates an objectivity sometimes difficult to find in 1990s music journalism. Fans of Brian Wilson should take note, as the writer delves deep into the rumors and facts surrounding Wilson's roller coaster career with and without the Beach Boys, posing a genius songwriter's intrinsic desire for creative expression against constant battles with record label executives and other band members often misrepresented in the press.

David Bowie's estranged protege, Iggy Pop, contributes a somewhat skeptical one-page foreword to the volume. Though unclear whether this inclusion demonstrates an effort to sell books or simply present an insider's honest opinion of the music journalist's work, Iggy Pop eloquently summarizes his emotional response to each chapter, claiming to experience "an exhausted, depressed feeling, coupled with a desire to relisten to the music of the subject/artist."

Most interesting is Kent's autobiographical account of his career as a music journalist in the preface, which takes him from rookie stints in various underground publications to one of the foremost music critics in both British and international publications like New Musical Express, The Sunday Times, Details and Spin, among others, making the volume a must-read for aspiring journalists and music fans wanting a raw, honest glimpse inside the darker side of rock.

Rating:
Summary: must-read for fans wanting a raw glimpse inside rock
Review: The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings on Rock Music 1972-1995 is a most insightful collection of essays and articles on modern rock music. Author Nick Kent has been a staff writer for New Musical Express for many years, as well as a musician in his own right (the Subterraneans).

In The Dark Stuff, he presents a collection of finely tuned profiles of Brian Wilson, Roky Erickson, Elvis Costello, Morrissey, The Pogues, Lou Reed, Kurt Cobain and other significant figures in recent rock music history. With a writing style recalling profile pieces in the cultish ICON Thoughtstyle magazine, Kent demonstrates an objectivity sometimes difficult to find in 1990s music journalism. Fans of Brian Wilson should take note, as the writer delves deep into the rumors and facts surrounding Wilson's roller coaster career with and without the Beach Boys, posing a genius songwriter's intrinsic desire for creative expression against constant battles with record label executives and other band members often misrepresented in the press.

David Bowie's estranged protege, Iggy Pop, contributes a somewhat skeptical one-page foreword to the volume. Though unclear whether this inclusion demonstrates an effort to sell books or simply present an insider's honest opinion of the music journalist's work, Iggy Pop eloquently summarizes his emotional response to each chapter, claiming to experience "an exhausted, depressed feeling, coupled with a desire to relisten to the music of the subject/artist."

Most interesting is Kent's autobiographical account of his career as a music journalist in the preface, which takes him from rookie stints in various underground publications to one of the foremost music critics in both British and international publications like New Musical Express, The Sunday Times, Details and Spin, among others, making the volume a must-read for aspiring journalists and music fans wanting a raw, honest glimpse inside the darker side of rock.

Rating:
Summary: like being there
Review: very good,obviously some stories are more interesting than others.all around great reading for fans or non-fans.the sid+nancy story was my favorite,but this shows just how pathetic they really were.author comes across as likeable,which is unusual in the rock biz.also,the tale of iggy pop ranks as one of the finest gems ever put to words.