Robert Keith

Great Second of Two Books

Revisado: 10-26-19

I read Sue Roe's first book about the rise of modern art, which was excellent, but this one is even better. The narration is stellar. Fascinating and highly recommended!

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This Needs A British Narrator / Voice Actor

Revisado: 06-12-19

The information in this book seems to draw a lot of information from Tune In and studio chatter from Beatles bootlegs, but there are enough additional nuggets here to make this read pretty good.

Paul Woodson was not the right actor for this job. He has a nice American voice, but he sounds like a weird version of Obi Wan Kenobi when he is trying to voice George Martin and can't do any other British accents with any kind of believability... in fact, they all sound like Obi Wan.. and the Beatles are almost laughably bad. From a direction standpoint, this was a terrible call.

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1st SW Movie Also Great As A Book

Revisado: 03-12-18

I am NOT fond of SW trolls for this movie. The film was extremely well written, full of surprises - the best film since The Empire Strikes Back. I love the book as well. Lots of great details that expand an already great story. 5 stars! Marc Thompson is brilliant as always.

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An Academic Thesis On Beatles Media With A Re-Tell

Revisado: 12-10-17

This book is less interesting for the Beatles story, which has been re-told countless times and better served in Tune In by Mark Lewisohn, which was published after this book. What is more interesting are the tidbits of information that we get about how the media culture at the time reacted to the Beatles. Unfortunately, the book is mostly padded with the Beatles story with not enough media reaction. The narration was good, but nothing in the book really grabbed me.

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I prefer the Barry Miles / Tune In bios

Revisado: 11-05-17

This bio is fine and covers some oft-missed career points. If "Tune In" is the new gospel in Beatles lore, a good amount of the early history in this book is inaccurate. The Jane Asher period is better covered in Barry Miles' McCartney bio. The Band on the Run period is better told in Geoff Emerick's book. The best part of this book covers post-Band on the Run Wings through Paul's drug bust in Japan. The drug bust story is very interesting and compelling, and well worth the price of this bio. On the downside, there is a lot of celebrity name dropping throughout the book, especially post-1980, which I find boring. The biggest drag with this Paul bio is the Heather Mills divorce, which seems to gobble up the last 1/3 of the bio. Having been through a divorce myself, I found this part thoroughly depressing, sad and even catty. I felt like I was invading Paul McCartney's private misery for 100+ pages. Poor man. The narration is excellent throughout the audiobook.

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A Nicely Written History of a 20th Century Giant

Revisado: 10-16-17

This book is a fascinating study of the eccentric life of John Hammond. Prial is fair about Hammond, noting his strengths and flaws. Overall, the audio narration is excellent, although there are quite a few edits that are jarringly spliced. Towards the end of the book, Prial pontificates about Flock of Seagulls or Duran Duran being artistically invalid compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan. This was Prial's "naughty" Hammond moment that probably should have been cut. Tsk Tsk! This comment aside, the book is well researched and presented. I learned a lot and recommend this one!

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Tangential

Revisado: 07-18-17

What did you like best about Love's Forever Changes (33 1/3 Series)? What did you like least?

There were a few nuggets in this short book that I was unaware of. It is interesting that Arthur Lee had seen Marat/Sade multiple times and drew inspiration from it. Hulkrans rolls the dice on other possible points of inspiration, including existentialism (heavily), Buddhism (briefly) and the gnostics (a curious tangent). While it's possible that Lee had this depth of academic knowledge when he was composing the lyrics for Forever Changes, the author is indulging in a LOT of guesswork. Granted, Arthur Lee was a mysterious figure who did not yield his secrets easily, so it may have been difficult to find more clues about Lee's direct inspiration. Hulkrans also focuses HEAVILY on the dark side of LA, including mysticism and the Mansons. I understand why Hulkrans would want to allude to Manson and Altamont, demonstrating that Lee was prophetic about human nature and the fall of the hippie, but too much time is spent discussing events that happened years after this album. Also, I hear conflict and, at times, cynicism, in Arthur Lee's lyrics, but Forever Changes is also about hope as well. The optimistic side of Forever Changes does not get an equal airing. The analysis in this book focuses more on the assertion by Alban “Snoopy” Pfisterer that the group should have been called "Hate." Cited information about the actual crafting of the album and the music can probably fill less than 5 pages.

Has Love's Forever Changes (33 1/3 Series) turned you off from other books in this genre?

I like Geeta Dayal's book on Brian Eno's Another Green World. You can't really pass judgment on the entire series, because the quality of each book depends on the bias of the author.

What about Jeremy Beck’s performance did you like?

I thought Beck's performance was good.

Any additional comments?

I will never listen to this book again. Hulkran's take is interesting, but a lot of the information is tangential and probably would have been better suited to an op-ed piece. The book would have benefitted from more straight journalism.

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I wish there was more about the songwriter & songs

Revisado: 06-23-17

Would you try another book from Carole King and/or Carole King?

It took me several tries to mine through this one. The book seems like it was written as a memoir for Carole's future great great grandchildren. For example, she spends pages explaining what a 45 rpm record is compared to other formats and how things have changed thanks to iTunes. Frankly, I found passages like this utterly bewildering. I was hoping that she would spend more time talking about the fantastic songs that she wrote. If you want to get to know Carole the songwriter, look elsewhere. If you want a very basic outline of what she has been doing, who she has worked with and where she has been, this book may appeal.

Would you ever listen to anything by Carole King again?

If she wrote a book about songwriting? Yes. Another memoir? No.

What does Carole King bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Carole's narration is very good and has a sweetness that no one else could match.

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Great Asajj Ventress, OK Quinlan Vos

Revisado: 09-29-16

Would you consider the audio edition of Dark Disciple: Star Wars to be better than the print version?

I did not read the print version. The audio version was well recorded and wonderfully acted by Marc Thompson, as usual. Why he isn't doing voice characters on any of the animated series is beyond me!

Would you be willing to try another book from Christie Golden and Katie Lucas (Foreword) ? Why or why not?

I liked the story, although the Ventress story was far better than the Vos one. Christie Golden nailed the characterization of Asajj Ventress. Ventress, one of the best and most complex characters in the SW canon is satisfying, both in detail and emotional resonance. The story of Quinlan Vos was distracting. Vos, a Jedi Master, was too willing to embrace the dark side to complete this mission. I didn't feel that his motivations were adequately explained. If the Jedi are known for one thing, it is understanding and resisting the dark side. No Jedi, and especially a Jedi Master, should be so willing to sell out his principles without serious backstory and justification. Ventress was given pride of place and Vos simply helped drive the story.

What does Marc Thompson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Marc Thompson is awesome. He elevates any material that he reads.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The Ventress story made the book with reading, regardless of my scruples over Vos. I am glad that I read this book.

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Mind Expansion

Revisado: 04-04-15

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This was a thrilling trip through the 20th Century of conceptual art and music. The book is primarily about Cage and his ideas, but also touches on those who influenced him, like the Dadaists, Duchamp and Suzuki, the major artists that he influenced ( primarily those he met before he became famous in the late 1950s).

What was one of the most memorable moments of Where the Heart Beats?

For artists and people interested in art, and especially ideas that challenge convention, this book is ideal.

Which character – as performed by Jason Wineinger – was your favorite?

The narrator did a nice job, with a few odd pronounciations here and there. His impression of Cage was spot on.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It is a book that I would want to listen to again. It is packed with ideas.

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