1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (1,000 Before You Die)

Tom Moon

Edition	Paperback
List Price	$19.95
	$13.57 (Save 31%)

Published by	Workman Publishing Company
Release date	2008-08-04
ISBN	076113963X
Availability	Usually ships in 24 hours

The musical adventure of a lifetime. The most exciting book on music in years. A book of treasure, a book of discovery, a book to open your ears to new worlds of pleasure. Doing for music what Patricia Schultz?author of the phenomenal 1,000 Places to See Before You Die?does for travel, Tom Moon recommends 1,000 recordings guaranteed to give listeners the joy, the mystery, the revelation, the sheer fun of great music.

This is a book both broad and deep, drawing from the diverse worlds of classical, jazz, rock, pop, blues, country, folk, musicals, hip-hop, world, opera, soundtracks, and more. It's arranged alphabetically by artist to create the kind of unexpected juxtapositions that break down genre bias and broaden listeners? horizons? it makes every listener a seeker, actively pursuing new artists and new sounds, and reconfirming the greatness of the classics. Flanking J. S. Bach and his six entries, for example, are the little-known R&B singer Baby Huey and the '80s Rastafarian hard-core punk band Bad Brains. Farther down the list: The Band, Samuel Barber, Cecelia Bartoli, Count Basie, and Afropop star Waldemer Bastos.

Each entry is passionately written, with expert listening notes, fascinating anecdotes, and the occasional perfect quote?"Your collection could be filled with nothing but music from Ray Charles," said Tom Waits, "and you'd have a completely balanced diet." Every entry identifies key tracks, additional works by the artist, and where to go next. And in the back, indexes and playlists for different moods and occasions.

Customer Reviews - courtesy of Amazon.com ( Marked4Sale.com is not responsible for review content )

Overwhelming

To really enjoy this book you must love all kinds of music. This book runs the gamut of musical genres. If you're looking to broaden your musical horizons this book will point you in the right direction. I found that I did not care for the suggestions outside the genres I already like. However, I did discover some new albums and artists to check out in those few genres I like.

1000 recording gives a brief overview of every album it recommends as well as a few other albums that are similar in some way. I didn't like that it listed multiple albums from a single artist - which get ridiculous in the cases of Beethoven, Mozart, the Beatles etc. Everyone is bound to have favorite artists who did not make the cut; mine was Sublime.

Overall, a good book for music lovers but if you like only 1-2 musical genres this book may not be for you since it ambitiously covers all types of music, some far from mainstream.

Great resource for "new" music

Very insightful book. While some obvious choices are included, this book points the way to many unexpected or unfamiliar music. A great resource for any music lover.

Only 1000?

The author makes some good recommendations, but it seems even he was at odds with himself in picking just 1000 recordings. (it's more like 5000 with all the "what to listen to next" rubbish, which clutters the book with too much; complete overload. It really takes away from the integrity of the real classics & it makes it seems as though he was not that sure of his main choices.)

And I'm sorry, I like pop music but I do not think Brittany Spears is essential to listen to; even after I die. Really, whose going to be pulling out a Brittany Spears CD 20 years from now calling it a classic and listing it as essential music like a Beatles album? Hear anyone singing the praises of Tiffany, the late 80s pop sensation? Didn't think so.

Mr. Moon you can't appeal to everyone, your book tries too hard to do so.

How did we do without it?

Now that this book is here, I can't imagine not having it. My copy will be worn out before long. It's a fascinating, quirky, compelling reference piece for lovers of all kinds of music.

weak multi-cultural mish-mash

It would not be possible to please everyone with this kind of list, no matter how hard one tried, but the compiler of this list has tried so hard to include "everything" that he has left out too many of the really "good things."

For example, the problems in the rock-music area alone are enough to sink the book. Here Mr. Moon leaves out The Association, the Doobie Brothers, the Electric Light Orchestra, Peter Frampton, and many, many others--and includes such "Hall-of-Fame luminaries" (?) as Alejandro Escovedo, the Fugees, and the 13th-Floor Elevators.

Houston, we have a problem.

Any list-compiler who can't do any better than this doesn't deserve your money. Compile your own list.