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poppachubby
09-13-2009, 08:57 AM
I bought this for a dollar today. It's the second edition 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide. After thumbing quickly through I'd have to say that it's still quite relevant. Anyone use a guide for musical direction? If so, which or what...

recoveryone
09-13-2009, 12:26 PM
you should tie this to the top 10 album thread. and see if what we pick is compared to what the so-call experts say.

hifitommy
09-13-2009, 01:36 PM
http://www.allmusic.com

check it out, put in an artist, click on discography, and youre on your way. its about the most comprehensive resource for music put there.

hifitommy
09-13-2009, 01:39 PM
http://www.allmusic.com

check it out, put in an artist, click on discography, and youre on your way. its about the most comprehensive resource for music put there.

heres an entry you may not have known about:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kxfoxqtgldde~T1

poppachubby
09-13-2009, 02:53 PM
you should tie this to the top 10 album thread. and see if what we pick is compared to what the so-call experts say.

Sure...how do we go about that? I put my 2 cents on that list but I got the distinct feeling that the top 10 tally has been abandoned. If you want to post the top 10 here rec1, I will hook it up...could be fun...


check it out, put in an artist, click on discography, and youre on your way. its about the most comprehensive resource for music put there.

Ya I'm all about AMG tommy. I chose the moniker poppachubby for its more humourous side, my email addy is poppachubby1...everywhere I go online people have schooled me on popa chubby but I've still never heard him..

Anyhow, AMG is fine but I have a couple of points. First, if I go to a record swap or just out crate diving, I sometimes take a book as a reference. I was born in 77, meaning obscure 60's and 70's are sometimes unknown to me. Rather than buy an endless pile of crappy vinyl, I will sometimes reference an album or group.

Secondly, the prob I have with AMG and books like the one in this thread isn't their fault. The scope of what they're trying to do forces them to incorporate a boatload of critics. This means I end up reading opinions from people I have never heard of, or even know what their preferences are. Bias exists in every critic and I won't listen if I don't know what it is.

Lastly I hate the format of putting an album against every other album ever made. It's pointless and kind of grandiose to think that you could wade through everything out there to say whats the best or not. I prefer to have an artists albums pitted against each other. I want to know which album is their best and which is their worst. If I like them, I don't need to be told their not as good as Band "B" or Band "C", or that they're no good at all. Just let me know how their catalogue stacks up aginst itself.

Man that was a rant wasn't it?

Rantingly Yours, Chubbs

BTW, here is a book a little more my speed, edited by 4 reviewers...
http://www.amazon.com/All-Music-Guide-Experts-Albums/dp/0879304235/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252882272&sr=1-9

atomicAdam
09-13-2009, 08:05 PM
all music is pretty good for popular and semi-popular artist or bands. but if you are searching for some more rear and unknown artist it falls a little flat. Still, about 90% of the time, a great service.

One thing I emailed them about, and I really really really really (if you are reading this please make this so) i want an allmusic android app or a super slimmed down phone browser version of the site like amazon has.

I hate being a a record store waiting for allmusic.com to load because there is a lot going on and it can take forever if the 3G service is not so hot.

poppachubby
09-14-2009, 02:43 AM
all music is pretty good for popular and semi-popular artist or bands. but if you are searching for some more rear and unknown artist it falls a little flat. Still, about 90% of the time, a great service.

One thing I emailed them about, and I really really really really (if you are reading this please make this so) i want an allmusic android app or a super slimmed down phone browser version of the site like amazon has.

I hate being a a record store waiting for allmusic.com to load because there is a lot going on and it can take forever if the 3G service is not so hot.

....actually good point AA, internet via phone would be a good way to go but as you have stated, sometimes unreliable...I attend an annual record swap thats held in a church basement, no good.

Still no one has commented on any actual books that they might have...

hifitommy
09-14-2009, 09:47 AM
i dont use amg so much for reviews as the resource of finding the data about the artist, album, or playlist on a given disc.

even their admittedly 'great' reviewers like scott yanow who reviews jazz, and mostly core jazz, can be too opinionated. case in point:

vanessa rubin sings-yanow there compliments only a bit but complains loudly about the cut 'black coffee' and its reference to coffee and cigarettes:

"self-pitying attitude and dated references to cigarettes"

yet not a word about june christy's accepting a cigarette in 'something cool'. hmmm, the double standard, vanessa is young and new, not an old established star.

i highly recommend the vanessa rubin sings album, there are some real gems there as well as some pedestrian tunes. the personnel list is exemplary.

that blues guy popa chubby won a blues contest on the jazz/blues station here in LA (actually long beach) and got to appear at their blues festival. and yes, the humor in the name was recognized if not made obvious in public.

another feature on amg is the thumbnail pic of most of the albums, which helps one recognize the product. one prob is that some albums are released with different covers at different times.

i also have found some titles that arent in there. but for free, i think amg is a godsend.

dean_martin
09-14-2009, 02:32 PM
ahhhhhh...before the days of internet I used books as guides for music, but moreso for film. For music, my most notables are RE/Search Incredibly Strange Music Vols. 1 and 2. These are still fun to thumb through and are proudly displayed on my bookcase.

For just data such as discographies, release dates, etc. I always used a friend's extensive library of guide books and catalogs. (I'm partial to pictures in my books so I didn't put down much cash for data books that looked like dictionaries.)

Anyhow, I have a few more film-related guide books than music books. I still go through them from time to time for articles, pics, movie posters, etc., especially RE/Search Incredibly Strange Films and Immoral Tales.

RE/Search is still around. Check them out at http://www.researchpubs.com/Blog/?page_id=13&category=8