I giovani hanno il diritto biologico di godere dei tempi in cui vivono. Se sei davvero fortunato, la tua smania ormonale è simultanea all'affermarsi della nuova era : il bisogno tipicamente adolescenziale di meraviglia e fede, in altre parole, coincide con il periodo di oggettiva abbondanza. I primi anni del post punk (fra il 1978 e il 1983) furono prorpio questo : una fortuna. Mi ci sono avvicinato altre volte, ma non ho più trovato l'euforia di quel momento. Di sicuro, non sono più stato altrettanto concentrato sul presente. ( )

Non l'ultima stagione punk, quanto un suo ribaltamento. Il punk come premessa che azzerando i rapporti di forza tra industria ed artisti, ha consentito a questi ultimi di riconnettersi alle avanguardie storiche, della prima e della seconda ondata. Il post punk non come rifiuto della storia del rock dagli anni cinquanta al progressive, bensì al contrario come una stagione che si riconnette senza debito, del punk conserva solo l'energia, riporta il rock a quella condizione miracolosa e spiazzante dei suoi momenti storici più magici. Il post punk (1978 - 1984) ne è per ora l'ultimo, speriamo non per sempre.

N.B. La prima edizione in Italia è del 2006 per i tipi della casa editrice ISBN. Questa nuova edizione non presenta alcuna differenza per testi e traduzione. ( )

This highly entertaining survey of the period in question basically breaks down into two parts. One, starting with the implosion of the Sex Pistols, there's coverage of such classic post-punk outfits such as Gang of Four, Talking Heads, Joy Division and other groups that expanded the musical possibilities that were opened to bands. What Reynolds does particularly well is to give the flavor of the cities and communities that these acts came out of.

The second half of the book is mostly devoted to New Pop, which covers a multitude of high-concept bands that sought to lighten the tone of rock in the early Eighties. Many of these bands were the so-called "New Romantics," which I certainly had little use for as a twenty-something at the time (my heroes were most notably Elvis Costello, David Byrne and Robyn Hitchcock). For Reynolds, the climax and implosion of this period was ZTT Records (mostly the brainchild of Trevor Horne (of Buggles fame)) and their effort to make Frankie Goes to Hollywood the next big thing; another failure due to the artists gagging on being turned into the lab rats for the benefit of schemes they wanted no part of.

For Reynolds, apart from representing the period when he became acutely aware of music, he regards this as a unique expression of future-oriented efforts to reinvent pop music and also a certain golden age of music journalism. One certainly gets the impression that the author has little use for the "grumpy rockists" of the time (it's been years since I've heard the term "Rockist") and certainly evinces some disappointment over the Roots Rock revival that came in the mid-Eighties. Reynolds' most astute observation is that the person who really ran with the notion of pop as high concept was a certain Ms. Ciccone. Certainly a book that I should have read years ago. ( )

Highly readable account of the (mostly British) post-punk music scene from 78-84. He does a great job of putting the music in context of the social/political climate of the time (the backlash of punk, Thatcher and Reagan's rise to power, the return of the right wing) and exploring the different sub-sects of post-punk. From arty (Talking Heads, Gang of Four) to No Wave (Suicide, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks) to industrial (Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire) to new wave (Devo, etc) to gothic (Bauhaus, Siouxsie) to synth pop (Human League, Gary Numan). Best of all, this book proves that it's possible to write an engaging account of an entire movement of music that is entertaining as well as informative. Now, if only someone would write an account of death metal like this! ( )

This is a great read, but definitely meant only for those with previous knowledge of or respect for this era of music history. Newcomers to this genre will most likely be put off by the sheer amount of obscure information that Reynolds includes, while post-punk nerds such as myself will revel in it.

However, it should be noted that the US version is highly censored and cut by almost 200 pages, and does not include the original photos of the UK release. Take some time to seek out the original UK publication and, of course, actually listen to the music that it's describing! It makes the whole experience of reading this book so much more enjoyable, you won't regret it! ( )