Spin: 20 Years of Alternative Music: Original Writing on Rock, Hip-Hop, Techno, and Beyond

by Will Hermes (Editor), Sia Michel (Editor)

Twenty years ago, SPIN magazine began with the promise to feature uncompromising writing about the music that was turning on/freaking out the Reagan generation. Through the introduction of MTV and the alternative rock revolution, it's been many things. Rude. Brilliant. Soulful. Snotty. Angry. Delirious.

In the past two decades, genres have spawned like mad, from goth, indie rock, and gangsta rap to emo and the garage rock revival. This twentieth-anniversary tribute celebrates the passion and fury of the music, with original essays, quotes, and photographs by contributors who are as hopelessly obsessed with it as you are.

SPIN: 20 Years of Alternative Music features: Alan Light on Beastie Boys, Ann Powers on U2, Charles Aaron on R.E.M., Dave Eggers on The Smiths + Morrissey, Marc Spitz on Goth, Simon Reynolds on Depeche Mode + Synth-pop, Dave Itzkoff on ’80s Teen Movies, Chuck Klosterman on Weezer, Will Hermes on Radiohead, Neil Strauss on Nine Inch Nails + Industrial, Sacha Jenkins on Public Enemy, Andy Greenwald on Emo, RJ Smith on Gangsta Rap, Jon Dolan on The White Stripes, Chris Norris on Nirvana, Doug Brod on Oasis + Britpop, Jim DeRogatis on Smashing Pumpkins, Laura Sinagra on Courtney Love, Ta-Nehisi Coates on Tupac

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2005

About the author

Hi there. I write about music and popular culture for Rolling Stone, The New York Times and other outlets, and am a regular contributor to National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." I co-edited "SPIN: 20 Years of Alternative Music" with my pal Sia Michel.

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a quick and detailed read for anybody interested in modern music. The problem is not with the music this book covers, but the arrogant, snobbish tone that is employed throughout (just like an issue of Spin magazine!) If you can get past the feeling that the authors of this book are looking down their noses at you, then this is a pretty good read.

[Phillip Gipson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this is interesting and quite enjoyable, like the sections on Alt-Country, ecstasy anthems, The Smiths, and proper emo like Rites of Spring and SDRE. Some sections were very cringey, like the brief section on goth, although I'm pleased they included minor nods to Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, Love and Rockets, and This Mortal Coil.

[Jon Arnold · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up nearly a decade ago; it looked perfect for me – a glossy American version of the NME for the NME reader I was then. I’ve long since fallen out of love with the NME and perhaps I would have liked this better had I read it then.

Or maybe I wouldn’t. Spin clearly has some smart, knowledgeable writers but on this evidence they’re rarely allowed to express themselves at length. Most of the essays that lead these sections off cover no more than a couple of pages; if they’re any good they’re over before they’ve really warmed up. This wouldn’t be a problem but for the material which constitutes the body of these chapters; largely brief quotes culled from interviews and listicles to serve as a guide to the genre. Call me a fool but I suspect that anyone invested enough to buy this wouldn’t need headline guides to genre (and on top of this there are certain cultural blindspots – whatever Coldplay’s merits or otherwise they aren’t, never were and never will be Britpop by chronology alone). If there’s a best of to be compiled from a magazine that they resort to ‘top tens’ doesn’t say much for the quality of articles they might have published down the years.

There’s also a tendency to snigger in retrospect which isn’t entirely endearing – the covers gallery, for instance, is curated with a very particular notion of cool which tediously conforms to commercial and critical success. Maybe that’s the problem; a certain snobbery which feels necessary when you’re establishing an identity but which age and wisdom (or otherwise) tell you is just funny and denying of pleasures to yourself as you age. Or maybe I’m just done with the notion of cool, which seems deliberately exclusionary. Whatever; the older I get the more convinced I am that confining yourself to a narrow field for anything other than reasons of pleasure (or problems with the artist and their conduct) is making you a less rounded human being. Screw cool, let’s party.

[Super Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Madonna? Alternative? This book is NOT about alternative rock or even alternative music if her putrid sounds are mentioned.Since when does an unoriginal who has simply trend hopped and who has spawned more talentless airheads in her own image than one can role call and who has countless top ten hits, qualify as "alternative?" Someone at SPIN was obviously trying to kiss madonna's masculine behind because there is absolutely no reason for her to be mentioned in this rambling, misguided attempt at covering the alternative music scene of the late 80's to 90's. Ani diFranco, Courney Love, L7, Bikini Kill and PJ Harvey yes. madonna, a resounding no. This just proves that SPIN was a "madonna magazine" largely. No thanks!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up about 10 years ago when Borders was going out of business and forgot about it until recently. Reading it primarily made for an entertaining walk down memory lane. The title is inaccurate, of course: this book isn't about "alternative" music (which was never a clear genre, anyway). It's about 20 years of Spin magazine, minus the interesting political/cultural articles. Spin has always had a tendency to be a bit too snarky, but getting angry at their writers is part of the fun.

[Neil Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only I had heard half the stuff described herein...or felt like I could spring for the cost of buying it all to hear for myself. Oh well, I'll settle for slowly increasing my music collection at SPIN's behest.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite magazines...turned into a book!