Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth

by David Browne

Book Overview

Sonic Youth's distinctive, uncompromising sounds have provided a map for innumerable musicians who followed, from '90s groundbreakers like Nirvana and Pavement to current faves like the Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. More than perhaps any other act, Sonic Youth has brought "fringe" art to the mainstream, helping spawn an alternative arts scene that prospers to this day: a world of punk rock, underground films and comics, experimental music, conceptual...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 030681515X
• ISBN13: 9780306815157
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 422 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

More entertaining than the reviews imply

I am really enjoying this book. It's very interesting, and being thorough does NOT make it a boring read. It's nice to read a biography about such a talented band. It's nice that their story is about musical creativity, and not about drug and alcohol abuse. That's the stuff that gets boring after a while.

Uma leitura "pop", "mainstream" da banda

Sonic Youth teve o mérito de popularizar o barulho no rock n' roll. O autor, declaradamente fã da banda, demonstra seu completo desconhecimento em relação ao underground, a música de vanguarda e chega a quase irritar com suas comparações idiotas, chegando a mencionar semelhanças com U2 (????) mais de uma vez no livro. Tudo isso não o impediu de escrever um livro honesto, que mostra um pouco da personalidade dos membros do grupo, a ética hardcore de estar sempre tocando ao vivo, os perrengues passados a até pouco tempo e como são todos "nerds" estudantes da música de vanguarda. Se vc fã da banda como eu, vale muito a pena ler.

Yr Idols

There is one specific review so far that is very, very wrong. It could be that this person did not read the whole book; I'm not a mind reader. This review claims something along the lines of "there is no new material in this book than there was in Confusion is Next: The Sonic Youth Story by Alec Foege." Confusion was released in 1994. There were six Sonic Youth studio albums released after 1994, not including side projects and production credit. There was another member of Sonic Youth who was added and left after 1994. I could go further, but the main point is, this review is utterly ridiculous. This book was fantastic. It really gives you a clear window to the indie scene over a 25 year period. The best thing about this book, however, is all of the fine examples of the bands and artists and people who started their career and friendships with Sonic Youth, and with their help, broke into mainstream.

Kool Thing

A great biography about one of the greatest American bands. I consider myself quit an expert when it come to Sonic Youth, nevertheless this book surprised me with all the rich information the author has gathered (Very impressive research including interviews and pictures from all the people who were involved in the Sonic Youth story). The book is well written and leaves you with wet eyes in the end. It tells the story of ordinary people who had dream, some of those dreams were achieved some of the were not. It is a must read to any sonic youth fan and to anyone who consider himself an alternative/rock/punk/indie music fan.

At Last: Sonic Pleasure Transfers Well To Print ! !

I've been waiting a long time for a big, in-depth bio of one of music's most interesting,enduring and influential bands, and Browne's book certainly delivered the goods. He covers all aspects of the band--childhoods, early days and apartments in New York, recording sessions, the dynamics within the band, their ups and downs and conflicts with their record companies and managers, the whole Lollapalooza experience, and personal lives. I had no idea Kim's high school boyfriend was Danny Elfman or that there was a showdown within the band during the "Dirty" sessions. It's extremely well researched and the writing is accessible and lively. If you're a fan, you have to read this.