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Rating: 
Summary: B+ -- Smart, fairly reliable
Review: Christgau writes that he hopes his book will be great bathroom reading, and it is. His reviews are fun to read even when I'm not interested in buying any "rock albums." Sometimes his condensed prose is indecipherable; presumably such instances represent critical in-jokes or obsolete rock-critic jive-talk. If you think The Clash were repellent, avoid this book. If you think Randy Newman is a novelty act, avoid this book. If you think all disco albums should be melted down, avoid this book. Docked a star for its spiteful upgrading of Lou Reed's "Street Hassle" from its original B to a B+, in the wake of Reed's remarks about Christgau on the live album "Take No Prisoners."
Rating:
Summary: B+ -- Smart, fairly reliable
Review: Christgau writes that he hopes his book will be great bathroom reading, and it is. His reviews are fun to read even when I'm not interested in buying any "rock albums." Sometimes his condensed prose is indecipherable; presumably such instances represent critical in-jokes or obsolete rock-critic jive-talk. If you think The Clash were repellent, avoid this book. If you think Randy Newman is a novelty act, avoid this book. If you think all disco albums should be melted down, avoid this book. Docked a star for its spiteful upgrading of Lou Reed's "Street Hassle" from its original B to a B+, in the wake of Reed's remarks about Christgau on the live album "Take No Prisoners."
Rating:
Summary: Interesting book for the record collector
Review: Little need explaining Robert Christgau, one of the big name rock critics. Here he has a list of albums from various artists, from 1970 to 1979 (although he did sneak in a couple of 1969 albums by wrongly giving them the 1970 tag, like Fairport Convention's Unhalfbricking and Liege & Lief). Each album he gives a grade, from A+ (an album he thinks is a total masterpiece) to E (an album he thinks is a total dud). I have found some of his opinions a bit undecipherable, so I don't always get a reason why he liked or dislike a certain album. Also I don't expect everyone to agree on his views on music, even I don't, especially when the world of prog rock is concerned (which I happen to be big on). He's often known for being critical of prog rock, but I actually noticed several titles he took to, he gave a B to Yes' Fragile, for example, he even took to King Crimson's Lizard, as well as the three they did with Bill Bruford and John Wetton (Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless & Bible Black, Red). He even mentions some of the lesser known acts, even giving Gong's Shamal a favorable rating (but I'm rather baffled why he didn't review Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg, and You). He's not particularly fond of ELP, but I can't see how he feels Works Vol. 2 would be better than Brain Salad Surgery (BSS got a C- while Work Vol. 2 got a C+), when most ELP fans regard Works Vol. 2 the second worst after Love Beach. Genesis gets covered, but where's Trespass, Trick of the Tail or Wind & Wuthering? And why did he stop reviewing Jethro Tull after Thick as a Brick? And for Manfred Mann's Earth Band, if you're wondering why he reviewed an album called Get Your Rocks Off, and you never saw it on CD? Well that was simply the US version of Messin', with "Pretty Good" in place of "Black and Blue". But while he wasn't much for the prog rock scene (despite the occasional favorable reviews), he's even given the occasional Bob Dylan album a bad review, and he wasn't too keen on Harry Chapin. Many of the artists that received nearly universal critical praise by nearly every rock critic in the universe, like Van Morrison, gets the same high praise from Christgau (Moondance getting an A+, if I remember right). He reviewed all kinds of music from the '70s, mainstream rock, singer/songwriter, folk rock, prog rock, jazz/fusion, the occasional country and disco act, punk, new wave, etc. He wasn't big on AOR acts like Journey, Styx, Foreigner, Boston, etc., but then none of these bands were well liked by any rock critic, so of course expect unfavorable reviews from albums like Foreigner's Double Vision. But like any other book publication on record reviews, you're not expected to agree on everything he says. Especially when the album in question is from a band you're not too keen on where he gave favorable reviews to. But I realize that the book wasn't meant as a comprehensive discography, so if that's what you're looking for, you're probably better off using the All Music Guide online. Still, a worthy book for '70s record collectors.
Rating: 
Summary: Tedius man enamoured of what he perceives to be humour
Review: More than 3000 albums are reviewed in this useful guide where A Plus means excellent and E Minus means awful. It remains a highly readable retrospective of a period that started with glitter on the one hand and the singer/songwriter on the other, saw the birth of electronic, punk and industrial music and ended in new wave. The introduction consists of:
(1) The Guide, in which the author recounts his history as a music critic and explains why the book is complete for the period in question only in so far as rock and R&B are concerned, meaning that some country, blues, country-rock, heavy metal, fusion and boogie albums may have been omitted and that apart from a few exceptions, jazz as a genre is not covered; (2) The Decade, in which he discusses the flavour of the 1970s and some of the great works released by his favourite artists; (3) The Criteria, in which he explains his ratings of the individual albums and the presence of original grades, based on an attempt to outline his personal tastes; (4) The Grades from A+ to E- and full explanations for all 14 of these. The Consumer Guide proper contains the reviews of these individual albums. I feel that the author has sometimes sacrificed completeness on the altar of wit, and would have preferred more detail e.g. song titles and stuff, rather than his admittedly pithy comments. After the reviews follows the chapter Subjects For Further Research which includes short discussions of artists like Kevin Ayers, Bruce Cockburn, Nick Drake, Waylon Jennings, Leo Kottke, John Martyn, Yoko Ono, Candi Staton, Steeleye Span, Townes Van Zandt, Bobby Womack and others. The next chapter is tiled Distinctions Not Cost-Effective (Or: Who Cares?) and provides a list of artists with one-sentence commentaries; artists include AC/C, Rick dDerringer, Gentle Giant, Peter Hammill, The Manhattans, The Moody Blues, Giogio Moroder, The Partridge Family, Renaissance, REO Speedwagon, Cliff Richard, Third World and Jim Webb. This section is followed by Meltdown, a list that includes Barclay James Harvest, Blackmore's Rainbow, Cactus, Camel, Jan Hammer, Judas Priest, Klaatu, Van McCoy, Shawn Phillips, Sha Na Na, Toto, Uriah Heep and Rick Wakeman. The book concludes with the chapter Rock And Roll: A Basic Record Library which is divided into two: The Fifties and Sixties where both singles and albums are given and The Seventies, starting with 56 albums for 1970 through 59 albums for 1979 and concluding with a Postscript: 1980 and 1981. This last list includes inter alia Elvis Costello's Trust, Tom Verlaine's Dreamtime Meredith Monk's Dolmen Music, Rolling Stones' Tattoo You, Prince's Controversy, Blondie's Best Of and Warren Zevon's Stand In The Fire. Christgau's Guide To the 70s is very useful, especially as comparison to the opinions of the Rolling Stone Record Guide for the same era. Although I do not always agree with his ratings, I respect his opinion. In addition, the introductory chapters and the lists at the end of the book make for fascinating reading and reference.
Rating: 
Summary: Reviewing the 70's
Review: Robert Christgau is a rock critic for New York's Village Voice which is a hip New York newspaper. This book culls together his reviews of albums that were released in the 1970's. Mr. Christgau is bluntly honest in his reviews and isn't beyond ridicule in some of his reviews. His reviews are short and concise and very usual on the mark. What makes this book better than most review books is that he applies a letter grade to each album. This avoids the confusion of the star system that most review books employ. If you are a big fan of 70's music, then this book is essential for your collection. Even if you aren't a fan of this era, Mr. Christgau's writing style makes for entertaining reading.
Rating:
Summary: Reviewing the 70's
Review: Robert Christgau is a rock critic for New York's Village Voice which is a hip New York newspaper. This book culls together his reviews of albums that were released in the 1970's. Mr. Christgau is bluntly honest in his reviews and isn't beyond ridicule in some of his reviews. His reviews are short and concise and very usual on the mark. What makes this book better than most review books is that he applies a letter grade to each album. This avoids the confusion of the star system that most review books employ. If you are a big fan of 70's music, then this book is essential for your collection. Even if you aren't a fan of this era, Mr. Christgau's writing style makes for entertaining reading.
Rating:
Summary: Who needs consumer guidance anyway?
Review: These reviews are so super-pithy that they make very entertaining reading, even when you have no interest in the record under discussion. (The entire review of Foreigner's first record reads, "You've heard of Beatlemania? I propose Xenophobia." Really, what else needs be said?) And his coverage is broad enough that you can easily calibrate the differences between your taste and his. It's great to see this still in print.
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