Rock Stars on the Record: The Albums That Changed Their Lives

One line in this book says, "If you really wanna know a person, know more about the album they listened to in the dark." That sort of sums up the premise of this book. Author Eric Spitznagel meets with quite a few rockstars to get to know what they rock to. His interesting range of questions makes his respondents open up their hearts to the music of their earlier years. The musicians come from varied social levels, varied educational backgrounds, and varied genres of music. Honestly, I haven't even heard of many of those interviewed for this book. But that doesn't take away from the experience. What binds them all is the name they have made for themselves in the rock world and the passion they have for music. Both of these come out vividly in this book and hence the lack of familiarity isn't a constraint. I really enjoyed getting to know the artists better.The book reaffirms the idea that all of us stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. It was so interesting to get an insight into what motivated those who motivated us towards music. The resultant list reads like the who's who of the music world. This book is a treat for all rhythm afficionados.In fact, the entire book creates a great deal of nostalgia. As the musicians mention A tracks and LPs and cassettes and record shops, you can't help but go down memory lane. As one of the musicians says,"Most of what's there today is just show." And I completely agree. Autotune can never substitute true talent, and Spotify can't replace the experience of browsing through record stores.In an interview, the questions are as important as the responses. The author, who is also the interviewer, is very knowledgeable about his topic, and it shows. He knows exactly what to ask to make the interviews interesting and keep the conversation following. He also interjects humorous retorts in between the responses. The result is that the book doesn't become repetitive and boring in its content, though it could easily have because of its essential structure. The entire credit for this goes to Eric Spitznagel.I would recommend the book to every music lover, especially to those into rock and punk. I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to.

A very entertaining read for people who grew up obsessed with their favorite records (and cds, cassettes, 8-tracks...). It's reassuring to know that famous musicians were also once nerds dancing in their bedrooms, or hiding scandalous records from their parents. The author clearly shares their enthusiasms, and seems to have an encyclopedic memory of records released in the second half of the 20th century. Reading this book prompted me to rebuy some forgotten gems, and turned me on to some overlooked classics. Left Banke? Who knew?