Grunge. Flannel. Generation X. In 1993, Seattle was the capital of the world, Nirvana was king, and slackers were everywhere. When the Red Hot organization, a group of activists dedicated to raising money and awareness of AIDS, released their third compilation CD featuring the biggest bands of the era--Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, The Breeders, Nirvana and more it quickly became the touchstone of a generation. Rolling Stone called No Alternative a "jaw-dropping compilation of musical gems." This book takes a look back at what happened to the bands involved with No Alternative. It includes new interviews with the musicians and others behind the record, and chronicles the downfall of an industry, the taming of a devastating illness, and the arrival of another global pandemic. It's about growing up, saying goodbye, and proving once more that you can't go home again (even if that's where you left all of your CDs).

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose . . . a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest purchase, an item he discovered on the Internet: I will sell my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder . . . For a thousand dollars, Jude has become the owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no metaphorical ghost, no benign conversation piece. Suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door . . . seated in Jude's restored Mustang . . . staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting—with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one hand . . .

Provides profiles of solo performers, bands, producers, and record labels from the alternative rock movement, ranging from the mid-1970s to the present, and includes discographies, album reviews, and photographs.

For the fifth anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death comes a "you are there" look at the career of Nirvana, by the world's authority on the Voice of Grunge. 100 photos, 75 in color.

"Jessica Hopper's criticism is a trenchant and necessary counterpoint not just on music, but on our culture at large." —Annie Clark, St. Vincent An acclaimed, career-spanning collection from a fiercely feminist and revered contemporary rock critic, reissued with new material Throughout her career, spanning more than two decades, Jessica Hopper, a revered and pioneering music critic, has examined women recording and producing music, in all genres, through an intersectional feminist lens. The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic features oral histories of bands like Hole and Sleater Kinney, interviews with the women editors of 1970s-era Rolling Stone, and intimate conversations with iconic musicians such as Björk, Robyn, and Lido Pimienta. Hopper journeys through the truths of Riot Grrrl's empowering insurgence; decamps to Gary, Indiana, on the eve of Michael Jackson's death; explodes the grunge-era mythologies of Nirvana and Courtney Love; and examines the rise of emo. The collection also includes profiles and reviews of some of the most-loved, and most-loathed, women artists making music today: Fiona Apple, Kacey Musgraves, M.I.A., Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey. In order for the music industry to change, Hopper writes, we need “the continual presence of radicalized women . . . being encouraged and given reasons to stay, rather than diminished by the music which glues our communities together.” The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic—published to acclaim in 2015, and reissued now with new material and an introduction by Samantha Irby—is a rallying cry for women-centered history and storytelling, and a groundbreaking, obsessive, razor-sharp panorama of music writing crafted by one of the most influential critics of her generation.

A photographic look into the world of vinyl record collectors—including Questlove—in the most intimate of environments—their record rooms. Compelling photographic essays from photographer Eilon Paz are paired with in-depth and insightful interviews to illustrate what motivates these collectors to keep digging for more records. The reader gets an up close and personal look at a variety of well-known vinyl champions, including Gilles Peterson and King Britt, as well as a glimpse into the collections of known and unknown DJs, producers, record dealers, and everyday enthusiasts. Driven by his love for vinyl records, Paz takes us on a five-year journey unearthing the very soul of the vinyl community.

Covers British and American artists and groups, including a biography or history and chronological discographical listings in each entry.

The definitive biography of the revolutionary band Nirvana and its star-crossed frontman Kurt Cobain, hailed by Rolling Stone as “the first [book] to comprehensively tell the band’s tale from Aberdeen, Wash., to world domination” “Amazingly raw and candid . . . an unsparing and extremely honest depiction of the group’s highly tumultuous history . . . Come As You Are is as good as rock bios get.”—Billboard “Just tell the truth. That’ll be better than anything else that’s been written about me.”—Kurt Cobain Nirvana came out of nowhere in 1991 to sell nearly five million copies of their landmark album Nevermind, whose thunderous sound and indelible melodies embodied all the confusion, frustration, and passion of the emerging Generation X. Come As You Are is the close-up, intimate story of Nirvana—the only book with exclusive in-depth interviews with bandmembers Kurt Cobain, Krist Noveselic, and Dave Grohl, as well as friends, relatives, former bandmembers, and associates—now updated to include a final chapter detailing the last year of Kurt Cobain's life, before his tragic suicide in April 1994. Vivid, evocative, and thought-provoking, Come As You Are is an essential document not just for Nirvana fans but for anyone interested in the cultural legacy of the 1990s.

Whether you're a lifelong collector or have only just gotten hip to the vinyl revival, navigating the vast landscape of rock albums can be a daunting prospect. Enter Mike Segretto and his mammoth 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute, a history of the rock LP era told through a very personal selection of nearly 700 albums. Beginning with the birth of rock and roll in the 1950s, Segretto moves through the explosive innovations of the 1960s, the classic rock and punk albums of the 1970s, the new wave classics of the 1980s, and the alternative revolution of the 1990s, always with an eye to both the iconic and the ephemeral, the failed experiments and the brilliant trailblazers. It's all here: everything from the classics (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Purple Rain, Nevermind, and countless other usual suspects) to such oddities as albums by Johnny "Guitar" Watson, P. P. Arnold, The Dentists, and Holly Golightly. Throughout, Segretto reveals the perpetual evolution of a modern art form, tracing the rock album's journey from a vehicle for singles and filler sold to kids, through its maturation into a legitimate, self-contained medium of expression by 1967, and onward to its dominance in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Whether you read it from cover to cover, seek out specific albums, or just dip in at random and let the needle fall where it may, 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute is a fun, informative, and unapologetically opinionated read.

Nirvana, the immortal grunge Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, is as relevant and influential as ever. Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, and Krist Novoselic comprised Nirvana, the band that unintentionally tore the music world asunder with the 1991 album Nevermind. The record that includes hits such as "Smells like Teen Spirit," "Come as You Are," and "Lithium" continues to rattle speakers with grunge that truly rocks. Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, Updated Edition tells the fully illustrated story of the band that spoke for Generation X in the '90s. Here we are, a quarter century after Nirvana irrevocably changed rock and roll, and the band continues to make headlines and influence music lovers. A documentary about the band and Cobain's solo album Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings were released last year, demanding a closer look at one of rock and roll's geniuses. Kurt Cobain and Nirvana reveals the band's history with fresh eyes, telling the story of a group that instigated a return to punk-inspired rock. This updated edition of the first-ever complete illustrated history of Nirvana features the writing of a sparkling team of grunge-rock experts and word slingers. The book also includes performance and backstage photography, as well as handbills, singles, ticket stubs, gig posters, and other memorabilia that complement the narrative. You'll also find album reviews, gear breakdowns, and mini synopses of Cobain's fifty all-time favorite albums. Nirvana's ride was a wild one - and all too brief.