Michael Azerrad – författare

The definitive chronicle of underground music in the 1980s tells the stories of Black Flag, Sonic Youth, The Replacements, and other seminal bands whose DIY revolution changed American music forever. Our Band Could Be Your Life is the never-before-told story of the musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties -- when a small but sprawling network of bands, labels, fanzines, radio stations, and other subversives re-energized American rock with punk's do-it-yourself credo and created music that was deeply personal, often brilliant, always challenging, and immensely influential. This sweeping chronicle of music, politics, drugs, fear, loathing, and faith is an indie rock classic in its own right.The bands profiled include:- Sonic Youth- Black Flag- The Replacements- Minutemen- Husker Du- Minor Threat- Mission of Burma- Butthole Surfers- Big Black- Fugazi- Mudhoney- Beat Happening- Dinosaur Jr.

A downright revolutionary 30th-anniversary deluxe edition of the iconic bestselling biography of Nirvana, updated with exclusive new content exploring the personal and cultural forces that inspired the music, the author’s friendship with Kurt Cobain and why multiple generations remain fascinated by the 1990s. “Just tell the truth. That’ll be better than anything else that's been written about me.”—Kurt Cobain to author Michael AzerradIt has been three decades since Nirvana upended the pop cultural landscape with Nevermind, the landmark album that became the soundtrack of Generation X, capturing its confusion, frustration, and passion. In 1993, Michael Azerrad published what stands as the definitive biography of this revolutionary band and its star-crossed leader Kurt Cobain. Written with the band’s complete cooperation, Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana became a massive bestseller and was, in the words of Cobain, "the best rock book I’ve ever read.”Seven months after the book’s original publication, Cobain was dead by suicide, making Come as You Are the only book about Nirvana that features original interviews with Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Dave Grohl.Now, Azerrad has revisited and reconsidered his original text. The result is this “amplified” version—a truly unique book-within-a-book featuring hundreds of extensive new essay-like annotations that deepen our understanding of this legendary band and the time in which it existed. Azerrad reconsiders the key players and their cultural context; ruminates on topics such as punk rock, selling out, and Generation X; and offers insights into the inner life and creative mind of one of the most significant songwriters and musicians in rock history—a haunting and haunted artist whose influence continues powerfully to the present day.It all comes down to a search for the answer to the question: Why was this music so extraordinarily powerful?Vivid, evocative, and thought-provoking, this gorgeous hardcover book—featuring 100 photos and ephemera—is an essential document not just for Nirvana fans but for anyone interested in the cultural legacy of the 1990s.

Straight out of his beloved Twitter feed @RockCriticLaw, acclaimed rock journalist and author of the classic books Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana and Our Band Could Be Your Life, Michael Azerrad turns his trenchant eye to the art of rock writing itself, hilariously skewering 101 of the genre''s seemingly endless litany of hackneyed phrases and tropes.One of the finest music writers today, Michael Azerrad has catalogued the shortcuts, lazy metaphors and uninspired prose that so many of his beloved colleagues all too regularly rely on to fill column inches. In 2014, he began his wickedly droll Twitter feed @RockCriticLaw to expose and make fun of this word-hash. Now, he consolidates these "Laws" into one witty, comprehensive and fully illustrated volume.Rock Critic Law includes timeless gems such as:- If a band pioneered something, you must say they are "seminal." That is the Seminal Law of Rock Criticism.- If a recording features densely layered guitars, then you MUST use the phrase "sonic cathedrals."- Even when it''s easy to find out with research, by all means ask a band how they got their name.- Please feel free to deny an artist''s individuality and say they are "the new [x]."- If two guitars play a melodic line in harmony, you MUST say they are "twin lead guitars."All 101 Rock Critic Laws are accompanied by original illustrations from Ed Fotheringham, beloved Seattle scenester and highly regarded artist who has created album covers for everyone from, well, seminal grunge band Mudhoney to iconic jazz label Verve Records, as well as illustrations for TheAtlantic, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and more, making this book a must-have for music lovers everywhere. A unique appreciation of music writing from one of its own, Rock Critic Law irreverently captures all the passion and furor of fandom.

A downright revolutionary 30th-anniversary deluxe edition of the iconic bestselling biography of Nirvana, updated with exclusive new content exploring the personal and cultural forces that inspired the music, the authors friendship with Kurt Cobain and why multiple generations remain fascinated by the 1990s. Just tell the truth. Thatll be better than anything else that's been written about me.Kurt Cobain to author Michael AzerradIt has been three decades since Nirvana upended the pop cultural landscape with Nevermind, the landmark album that became the soundtrack of Generation X, capturing its confusion, frustration, and passion. In 1993, Michael Azerrad published what stands as the definitive biography of this revolutionary band and its star-crossed frontman Kurt Cobain. Written with the bands complete cooperationthe only book to feature interviews with Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohlit became a massive bestseller, and in the words of Cobain, "e;the best rock book Ive ever read.Seven months after the books original publication, Cobain was dead by suicide, making Come as You Are the only book-length record of the inner life and creative mind of one the most significant songwriters and musicians in rock historya haunting and haunted artist whose influence continues powerfully to the present day.Azerrad has revisited and reconsidered his original text. The result is this amplified versiona truly unique book within a book featuring extensive new essay-like annotations that deepen our understanding of this legendary band. Azerrad solves former mysteries, reinterprets the key players and the time, investigates depression and other psychic traumas, debunks myths and legends, and offers celebrations of that pivotal moment in the mid-1990s as he searches for the answer to the question: Why was this music so extraordinarily powerful?Vivid, evocative, and thought-provoking, this gorgeous hardcover bookfeaturing more than 99 photos and ephemerais an essential document not just for Nirvana fans but for anyone interested in the cultural legacy of the 1990s.

Nirvana came out of nowhere in 1991 to sell  nearly five million copies of their landmark album  Nevermind, whose thunderous sound  and indelible melodies embodied all the confusion,  frustration, and passion of the emerging  Generation X. Come As You Are is the  close-up, intimate story of Nirvana -- the  only book with exclusive in-depth  interviews with bandmembers Kurt Cobain, Krist Noveselic,  and Dave Grohl, as well as friends, relatives,  former bandmembers, and associates -- now updated to  include a new final chapter detailing the last  year of Kurt Cobain''s life, before his tragic suicide  in April 1994.

Kurt Cobain, der "Kronprinz der Generation X" (Newsweek), erschoss sich am 8. April 1994 in seinem Haus in Seattle - wenige Monate zuvor hatte er dort gemeinsam mit Michael Azerrad die Arbeit an dieser einzigen autorisierten Nirvana-Biographie beendet. In schonungsloser Offenheit erzählt Cobain in den 18 Kapiteln aus seinem Leben, von seiner freudlosen Jugend in einer Kleinstadt, seinen emotionalen Verletzungen und physischen Leiden bis hin zu der Betäubung mit Drogen und dem zornigen Weltschmerz in seiner Musik, der ihn innerhalb von wenigen Jahren in die ungewollte Rolle eines Kulthelden katapultierte.

"Nuestro grupo podría ser tu vida" ("Our Band Could Be Your Life"), que toma el título de un verso de un tema de The Minutemen y está considerado unánimemente como uno de los mejores libros sobre la música rock jamás escritos, relata la trayectoria musical de trece grupos norteamericanos capitales que dieron lo mejor de sí mismos en la década de los 80. Fueron años convulsos que coincidieron con el mandato del presidente Reagan y su política conservadora y nacionalista, y que, en lo musical, dieron lugar a la particular lectura del punk británico y su consigna del "hazlo tú mismo" por parte de algunos grupos del Nuevo Continente que produjeron un sonido agresivo y a un volumen y velocidad de vértigo.Profusamente documentado a partir de entrevistas con los músicos y los principales actores de la escena musical, Azerrad narra con pulso y pasión los avatares de trece grupos cuyo sonido inauguró no solo una nueva tendencia musical que se consolidaría mundialmente con el encumbramiento de Nirvana y su álbum "Nevermind", sino también la eclosión de toda una red de sellos discográficos, distribuidoras independientes, fanzines, radios universitarias y underground, clubs, locales de conciertos y tiendas de discos, que nacieron para vehicular la urgencia generada por la nueva música. Pronto, abanderado por Black Flag, el germen del hardcore se extendió y permitió la aparición de nuevos grupos y una nueva comunidad de fans que los seguían y apoyaban en sus interminables giras. Las trece historias incluidas en este monumental libro son el relato inolvidable de cómo unos jóvenes sin apenas conocimientos musicales pero embebidos de la energía y urgencia del punk hicieron posible su sueño comunal de tocar en un grupo. Su periplo no estuvo exento de incomodidades y obstáculos vivían y viajaban en condiciones muy precarias y extremas, y algunos se arrojaron al abismo del consumo desaforado de alcohol y drogas (otros, como Minor Threat, optaron por una conducta diametralmente opuesta, el llamado "straight edge", que reivindicaba un estilo de vida "limpio" que les permitía acometer los intensos conciertos que daban).Algunos de los discos que grabaron se encuentran entre los mejores de la historia del rock, y su influencia llega hasta nuestros días. Muchos grupos desaparecieron, otros se vendieron a multinacionales, algunos de sus miembros murieron, pero su música ha pervivido. Los trece grupos, en orden de aparición, son: BLACK FLAG, THE MINUTEMEN, MISSION OF BURMA, MINOR THREAT, HÜSKER DÜ, THE REPLACEMENTS, SONIC YOUTH, BUTTHOLE SURFERS, BIG BLACK, DINOSAUR JR, FUGAZI, MUDHONEY y BEAT HAPPENING.