Customer Reviews
Klosterman rocks. 
2008-08-15
Klosterman understands the universe, and why heavy metal had to exist to make it balanced and just.
Chuck is the man 2008-05-22
Personally, Chuck is my top 3 favorite writer. I think he hit me hard with his styles and topics in all of his books. So if you're like me:
- Love Rock and/or Heavy Metal music*****this is very important for this book
- Enjoy reading about popular culture topics
- Love sarcastic and funny books
- is in the age range of 18-30 (I'm 24)
- Like to explore all kinds od writings and books
- is not one who tend to OVERTHINK AND OVERCRITISIZE books and writing styles
- is open minded
Then, this is probably your kind of writer too. Good luck and enjoy!
Entertaining Read for Any Hard Rock/Metal Fan 2008-04-22
If you grew up enjoying hard rock and/or heavy metal of the 80's and early 90's, or are just a fan of that music, then you simply must read this book. It will bring back fond memories of your developing musical tastes and make you laugh out loud.
Rattleheads, be warned. 
2008-04-21
I bought this on the recommendation of Martin Popoff, and was terribly disappointed. If you want to read an insightful, entertaining, and fair review of heavy metal, this is most definitely NOT your book. Klosterman's "appreciation" of the form starts and ends with glam. He spends most of the book in postmodern smirky hipster mode, which means he continually trashes the music from a musical point of view, and chooses to battle for its "validity" in the more easily defended realm of "what it meant to me as a kid." As cultural studies, this is crap, and as a book about heavy metal it is an utter waste of time. He elevates glam (Poison, GNR, Cinderella, etc) and simultaneously slags Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica and the host of other metal bands which were the meat and potatoes of any real metalhead of the time. He has no appreciation for what most metal fans would actually grace with the term "heavy metal". As you will quickly be able to tell, this is masterfully well done, in that he affirms what most of the snobs have been saying all along about metal--all the 5 star reviews are from people who are...gasp...not metal fans--whilst and at the same time pretending to be a true fan. Hipster dreck at its worst. You are better off reading Ian Christe's "Sound of the Beast", or even Walser or Weinstein's books. Better yet, check out Sam Dunn's documentary "Metal-A Headbanger's Journey." Dunn and Christe are real fans of the music, and they don't spend all their time perpetuating all the stereotypes of the form.
From a grown-up, then anti-metal, punker 
2008-04-21
While I think that this book is deservedly the black sheep of the Klosterman books, its still enjoyable. What this book lacks is any sense of flow... I never caught a real story or any purpose. It just seemed like a series of rants on liking metal (pop/ hair metal in particular) that were taped and then transcribed. Klosterman still has that really approachable style that's fun and thoguhtful.
While I'd like to laugh at him for liking crappy bands, Klosterman's experiences are similar to most any youth who feels a strong connection to music. I know that they're not unlike my feelings as a young teen becoming obsessed with hardcore records back then... though I had one up on Chuck 'cos I was living in Philly, and not rural North Dakota, back in the day.
Typical Klosterman; funny, absurd, and thoughtful... I suppose a lot of other readers are turned away by what they see as a lack of direction or movement in the book.
Fargo Rock City 2008-04-01
Empirically proving that -- no matter where you are -- kids wanna rock, this is Chuck Klosterman's hilrious memoir of growing up as a shameless metalhead in Wyndmere, North Dakotoa (population: 498). With a voice like Ace Frehley's guitar, Klosterman hacks his way through hair-band history, beginning with that fateful day in 1983 when his older brother brought home Mötley Crüe's
Shout at the Devil. The fifth-grade Chuck wasn't quite ready to rock -- his hair was too short and his farm was too quiet -- but he still found a way to bang his nappy little head. Before the journey was over, he would slow-dance to Poison, sleep innocently beneath satanic pentagrams, lust for Lita Ford, and get ridiculously intellectual about Guns N' Roses. C'mon and feel his noize.
Took me back to the 80s 2008-03-03
For the rest of my days, when someone browses my CD collection and asks how on earth I ended up with a huge number of hair metal albums from the 80s, I'm passing this book on. Chuck has really nailed for me what it was like to grow up in a a blue collar area during that time period and why so many of us kids gravitated towards the fun time rock.
Usually, I'm slightly ashamed of my hair metal roots. It doesn't resemble my taste in music now, and on top of that, it's down right misogynistic. But this book sure made me nostalgic. That's a credit to Chuck's gifts as a writer.
Now, why didn't I give 5 stars to this book? I actually struggled a long time about giving this 3 or 4 stars. This is really more of a 3.5 star book. I gave the round up to Chuck because this book did make me feel good about my childhood as I read it. So here is what's wrong with this book.
First, my eyes glazed over several times as Chuck tends to get pedantic. What is metal? Is it stupid? Is it sexist? Is it bad if it is? He talks himself around in circles and as a reader, I quickly got bored. I realize that Chuck is a music critic, so he feels the need to explain exactly WHY he likes something, but go and ask me (just a year or two younger than Chuck) and any of our other peers who grew up in that time, and we'd just say that the song made us feel good. We didn't need to know if it was tounge in cheek, anti-satanic, or whatever message Chuck seems intent on digging up for each example. It's a lot like explaining why steak tastes good - it just does, and very few people have the words (or the passion) to delve into it. But it doesn't mean that we don't grow up enjoying the same things. For this reason, I pray that I never meet Chuck in a bar. He seems like a chatty drunk, and it won't be good enough to say that the song on the jukebox is merely "OK".
Some of Chuck's analysis just borders on pontification. He's very impressed with himself. I'm sorry, Chuck, but no matter how many big words you use, you will never be able to convince me that breaking down some Guns 'n' Roses videos constitutes as an intellectual activity.
And finally, what was really wrong with this book, was Chuck himself. You get the impression that Chuck honestly believes that he is the smartest person in the room. Rather than discussing or story telling, he comes across as teaching and talking down to you. Those who don't agree with him are instantly branded as an "idiot" and he's done with that person and his/her opinion. You'd think that someone who is writing a book celebrating a genre of music as maligned as hair metal would be a little bit more open minded to varying opinions.
In summary, this book is great if you were born sometime before 1977 and grew up in a more rural, blue collar setting. Even though you may not have been crazy about Motley Crue, you knew someone else who was, and it's a great trip down memory lane.
It's like Chuck is reading my mind 2008-01-22
I am one year younger than Chuck Klosterman, and my family is from rural Minnesota (not too far from where he grew up). Perhaps that's enough to explain why I simply can't get enough of Chuck. There's more, though... Reading his prose helps me flash back to college nights filled with beer and "deep" conversations about whether or not The Smiths sucked more than The Cure and why Stephanie Seymour would allow herself to be abused by an obviously disturbed individual like Axl Rose. It's heartening to know that a man of my generation can make a living writing about his love of Motley Crue.
This is a book about Chuck, a rural kid just trying to make sense of life in North Dakota. The dates that mark each new chapter represent a "big day" in either his life or the world of heavy metal (or both). They also represent a jumping-off point for pages-long digressions about what constituted "heavy metal", what the aforementioned Axl Rose was trying to do with his "Use Your Illusion" video trilogy, and what not to do when the bank makes an error and loads tens of thousands of dollars into your bank account. It's Chuck's argument for why metal mattered, despite the protests of thousands of whining rock "critics". It made me laugh out loud and recall those days (now pretty long ago) when Warrant ruled the airwaves.
Chuck (I can't imagine you don't read these reviews from time-to-time): I will wait patiently for Chinese Democracy until the day Axl dies. It can't possibly live up to 14 years of expectations, and yet I will buy it and love it the moment it finally appears.
He's an acquired taste 2008-01-21
This is the third book I've read by Klosterman and I would say I like this best so far. It's not as smarmy as his other books so I would recommend this to someone interested in reading some of his work. At least it has a topic, heavy metal music (most of his other books aren't as cohesive; more just random musings from someone who loves the smell of his own farts). When it comes to Klosterman you're either going to love him or hate him (much like Dave Eggers-- Who I hate, or Rob Sheffield-- I'd rather read Klosterman over him any day). Reading Klosterman is like hanging out with that guy who has to be contrary about everything. He's that stupid debate clown that irritates the hell out of you because he's contrary for shock value. While witty and making valid points, he's really insincere. This can be really irritating, especially if the (writing) style makes this insincerity obvious. While I know he's not sincere, he doesn't come off as "know it all-ish" to me. He's just got an opinion, and you can read it if you want.
I love music. While this book covers '80's and '90's metal (which is kinda out of my listening league-- I recall more mid '90's and later music) you do not have to be a metal fan to appreciate (or hate) it. As long as you have at least heard of the most popular metal bands, you can follow it quite well. I like this book because one thing I know from reading more than one of his books is, the guy knows his music. Now you may not agree with his feelings about music, but he's met many musicians and been around the scene. You can't take that away from him. So if anything, you may get to learn a few facts about some metal groups you've heard of.
So, all in all, I liked this book. In fact, I could not put this book down. It's more humble than his other books, and I found the content interesting (not necessarily his opinions). Hopefully, you'll find this book interesting, too.
Hair Metal Fogey 
2007-11-15
Chuck Klosterman can be an amusing writer, but he's such a fogey here, it's not much fun. Published in 2001, Chuck gives grudging props to "new" bands like Korn and Rage Against the Machine, but he's shaking his head uncomprehendingly as he does so. Along with older acts like Metallica, these bands commit the cardinal sin of being serious. This doesn't gibe with what Chuck thinks '80's metal was all about: The mindless good times embodied by Poison and Mötley Crüe.
Yes, Klosterman is casting himself as a polemicist, and that's not a bad thing. But in addition to not comprehending recent metal developments, he's poorly informed about pre-`80s metal (e.g., Motörhead is always "Motorhead"). Worse, his opinions are often embarrassing, even for a writer who likes to cite Entertainment Weekly as a source. Some of his more cringe-worthy statements:
"Intelligent metal fans always felt a grudging sense of respect for Whitesnake." (It's difficult to imagine a single reader agreeing.)
"Jon Bon Jovi is kind of the Robert Frost of heavy metal." (Nope, Jon is the Rod McKuen of heavy metal.)
"KISS is the second-most influential rock band of all time." (I'm speechless.)
"No one born after 1970 can possibly appreciate any creative element in rock 'n' roll." (After a hundred pages herein, this rings pretty true.)
Other groaners include:
--How Alice in Chains is NOT heavy metal (!).
--Chuck's shout-out to coolio music pioneer Lenny Kravitiz (!!).
--The ONLY good song Black Sabbath ever released post-Ozzy is "The Mob Rules." (This is asinine; "Children of the Sea, anyone?)
On the plus side, Klosterman can be very funny, and he is capable of deep analysis. Of course, that means that you're treated to entire chapters on Guns `n' Roses videos, but I guess that's preferable to picking up a copy of Entertainment Weekly.
