60 Songs That Explain the '90s
Ratings8
Average rating3.4
This is for sure one of those books that on paper should be a knock out of the park for me: one music nerd gushing his love of music and how it has directly effected his life, all the music specifically originating from the 90's. Based on his podcast of the same name, Rob Harvilla quickly goes through the 60 songs that defined not just the 90's, but his 90's. There's much to appreciate about this book, especially Harvilla's detailed and personal feelings about each song along with its cultural and personal impacts. My largest complaint is that he simply covers each song way too quickly, leaving a page or two (sometimes a couple paragraphs) for each song and ends up glossing over a lot of content that I'd like him to delve more into. I get it, you can only do so much when you have to cover 60 songs in one book, but I was left wanting a lot more. His writing was pretty goofy and self indulgent rather than documentational, but it was entertaining for the most part. It's far better and more enjoyable than Steven Hyden's writing, which I found insufferable when I read his book about Radiohead's Kid A. It's not as insightful and charismatic as Chuck Klosterman's or Tom Breihan's writings about music (both I highly, highly recommend), but it's a light and fun read that does make me want to listen to Harvilla's podcast instead, hoping that he dives much deeper into these songs.
This is for sure one of those books that on paper should be a knock out of the park for me: one music nerd gushing his love of music and how it has directly effected his life, all the music specifically originating from the 90's. Based on his podcast of the same name, Rob Harvilla quickly goes through the 60 songs that defined not just the 90's, but his 90's. There's much to appreciate about this book, especially Harvilla's detailed and personal feelings about each song along with its cultural and personal impacts. My largest complaint is that he simply covers each song way too quickly, leaving a page or two (sometimes a couple paragraphs) for each song and ends up glossing over a lot of content that I'd like him to delve more into. I get it, you can only do so much when you have to cover 60 songs in one book, but I was left wanting a lot more. His writing was pretty goofy and self indulgent rather than documentational, but it was entertaining for the most part. It's far better and more enjoyable than Steven Hyden's writing, which I found insufferable when I read his book about Radiohead's Kid A. It's not as insightful and charismatic as Chuck Klosterman's or Tom Breihan's writings about music (both I highly, highly recommend), but it's a light and fun read that does make me want to listen to Harvilla's podcast instead, hoping that he dives much deeper into these songs.
