Forum Overview :: No Stairway to Heaven :: The Dark Stuff versus Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung (also Milk It!)

[quote name="mark"]<i>The Dark Stuff</i>, Nick Kent <i>Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung</i>, Lester Bangs The main thing that makes Nick Kent's book just a little more interesting is that his long pieces do his subject and his writing justice while Lester Bang's 300-700 words on why he hates The Guess Who is just get's going when he hits his word limit. Both are great, if not too similar writers and subject matter is too, although Kent focusses on the decline of artists and their self-destuction while Bangs' work doesn't have such a theme. Kent, of course, is still alive and got to sum up his thoughts and edit his articles together into a larger work, which makes each profile that much more cohesive. Bangs' book contains a number of record reviews, something Kent avoids all together (at least as an explicit "Here's the album, here's what's good" review."). Even as I am dissapointed when they end, these short articles are great, although they are a bit dissapointing -- Okay, great, Bangs loves "Metal Machine Music," I think it's okay, but what I really want know is what he thought of "Street Hassle." But this is really a gripe because the material is so good. Also, I suppose that I am spoiled by Jim Derogatis' book <i>Milk It</i>, as he includes every thought he ever had about, say, The Smashing Pumkins regardless of how interesting they might be. Still, I sort want a collection of Bang's work with that kind of sprawl -- Greil Marcus might have done a great job in creating a 300 page collection, but if the man himself isn't around to form his old articles into something greater, as Kent was, I want to have all of them so I can do it myself. Perhaps the newish collection, <i>Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste</i> does this job better? The Amazon reviews seem to indicate that it messy and unfocussed and wildly ranging quality...but that it does have reviews and articles on Dylan and Davis and Nico and Beefheart, etc. etc...which sounds interesting to me. So to wrap this all up: if you buy only one book of late-60s/70s music criticism, get Kent's <i>The Dark Stuff</i>, otherwise you should really get both.[/quote]