33 1/3 Greatest Hits, Volume One (33 1/3)
Adult/High School—This volume includes selections from the ongoing series that pays tribute to pop-music albums. Some contributors discuss the production values and personnel on specific albums, such as Neil Young'sHarvest. Others examine individual song structure and songwriting. Michaelangelo Matos's chapter on Prince'sSign 'O' The Timespicks the album apart song by song. Still others describe personal experiences during which an album seemed to serve as the soundtrack. The authors are unabashed music geeks who take their obsessions seriously, and most chapters display journalistic rigor and flair. Musicians, journalists, professors, and others contribute their varied perspectives to the enrichment of the collection. Pop music is worthy of serious consideration, a welcomed revelation to many teens. There are plenty of books on rock music, but this anthology's focus on individual albums is unique. The music expands beyond the personality cults of rock superstars, and readers see all of the other people who contributed to the final masterpiece and the greater cultural and historical context from which it emerged. This is a collection of excerpts from longer works, and many pieces needed some rewriting to make them stand alone. The book includes this year's winning essay from the "Under 21" contest, a nice way of encouraging young writers to join the conversation.—Emma Coleman, Berkeley Public Library, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.