When I was at school,a teacher I talked music with a lot gave me this book. It's premise is that the emergence of highly emotional, personal rock music in the last 30 years can be linked back to the Romantic movement of the 19th century, with figures like Wordsworth, Keats, Byron and Nietzsche apparently each influencing bands like Weezer, The Cure and um...My Chemical Romance, namely The Black Parade. I was a bit skeptical of the book because of that last one- I don't think MCR are bad, I quite like some of The Black Parade, but they're just another pop punk band really-, with MCR taking up a large portion of the book. But actually I found the author made a strong case for his premise, and the book is written in an amusing, light-hearted style that makes it rather enjoyable. I learnt some interesting things about the Romantic movement too, which was relevant since I was studying it in Extension English. Ultimately, the book had more effect on my literature interests than my music interests. It hasn't made me more interested in hearing the discography of Weezer, except Pinkerton, but it did make me want to read The Sorrows of Young Werther and learn more about Napoleon. An enjoyable, light read, overall. ( )

Not bad, although in the end it somewhat ends up being a love letter to My Chemical Romance. It seems a little bit all over the place in parts though, but interesting enough. ( )

This is a great new book outlining the links between some aspects of popular music, notable emo or goth music and the romantic sensibilities of 19th century European culture as espoused by writers and poets such as Wordsworth and Byron and Philosophers such as Rousseau and, of course Nietzche. It is written in an easy and accessible style and is well researched and entertainingly wears its heart on its sleeve. ( )