Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book but not perfect.
Review: This guide is great but not perfect because no review book is perfect because you always end up disagreeing with certain things someone says. Here its a bigger case than any other review book I read but it is brilliantly written. This guy is possibly a genius and he is very articulate and even artistic with how he writes.
I agree with most of the positive things he says but disagree with some of the other things he says I mean why arent Antichrist Superstar,Appetite For Destruction,And Justice For All, Peace Sells, Led Zeppelin 2 and 4,The Black Album and Pretty Hate Machine 10s. Well it must be because he has different opinions than I do and remember just because you dont agree with someone doesnt make him or her a bad critic.
Someone said they think hes a bad reviewer because he gave Def Leppard 0s and Pearl Jam, Nirvana,Soundgarden and The Smashing Pumpkins 10s. I say get over it because most of the people who like grunge do not like Def Leppard and that is understandable.
I think its a great book by a very interesting author whos not afraid to put away those headphones for a minute to speak his mind.So buy it if you like reading reviews.Thats it.
Rating: 
Summary: My two cents
Review: This is simply the greatest book I have ever read about any genre of music... period. Imagine a book on classical music where every single composer ever to create a piece of music was listed. Popoff's attention to detail is incredible, and his knowledge of Heavy Metal - extraordinary.I feel though, that maybe this book has gotten a bad wrap from many reviewers from several reasons. Here's a breakdown: 1. His reviews are inconsistent and unfair. Personally, I just think it makes the book interesting. Now understandably, he has biases that are sometimes hard to reconcile. First of all, I think his many pleasantries towards Queen, even with the ...(music) they made in the 1980's, are hard to balance with his vicious attacks on bands that took similar paths like Rush. Yet, this in itself, is an opinion. I think many sensitive people simply misunderstand the purpose of reviews. A review is not meant to sway your opinion. It is simply meant to inform those who have no knowledge of the said subject. Popoff is not a professional writer, he is simply another metal dude making recommendations to people who want or need that information. Yet, if you have heard the album that he's reviewed, I think it is even more interesting to read what he has to say. You almost enter into a dialogue with the dude. "Hey man, Iron Maiden's 'Somewhere in Time' is not a 6!" or "Come on, was Triumph that bad?" Also, I don't think that Popoff has been inconsistent in is reviews of prog. I personally think, like I feel he does, that many of these bands were alientating themselves from the listener to such an extent that musical quality was difficult to assess. I especially agree with his early reviews of Dream Theater. They did seem to be full of themselves. Now, they've settled down and realized that melody is very important (I'm thinking this could be because of the influence of other newer prog bands like Spock's Beard and The Flower Kings).. His reviews of the newly revitalized Dream Theater has reflected this transformation. Also, Popoff takes effort to recommend many bands that have at least a glimpse of prog in their sound. These include: It Bites, King's X (!), Styx (see his website), etc. In fact, I think he really likes prog, I think he just feels the alchemy of prog with metal has been very questionable at times. But the proof, is in the pudding. These are the bands that I've listened to and loved since looking through his book (many, many times!) Thin Lizzy, UFO, Trouble, It Bites, Scorpions (the old stuff), MSG, Extreme, Saigon Kick, and many more. Many of these bands I made assumptions about without ever giving them a shot. I realized when you do this, you're just a stupid snob. Popoff may be a snob, but he's a smart snob, and he knows what he's talking about...
| 
