Title: I Hate New Music: The Classic Rock Manifesto
Author: Dave Thompson
Year: 2008
From the moment I saw I Hate New Music sitting on the shelves, I knew I had to read it. Not because it’s a sentiment I agree with. Not even because I have a pervading interest in classic rock. I had to read this book because it stands as the complete and total antithesis to what I stand for as a music critic. I write because I don’t want the so-called “classic” albums to continue to ossify and sink into culture until they’re completely irremovable. I want to challenge the established musical canon of masterworks and hold up unchampioned alternatives to the same old greats. Dave Thompson has written something that preaches, in no uncertain terms, the exact opposite of my own views on music. I had to read it.
It’s funny that Thompson is the one who wrote the book, since his Alternative Rock encyclopedia has influenced my taste in music more so than probably any other single piece of music writing. Yet, here he is, explaining (with, as the book’s jacket says, “tongue firmly in cheek”) how music peaked with Led Zeppelin and the Eagles. Thompson writes with a passion and attention to detail that shows how personal this subject is to him. Yet, after reading so much of his other writing, I know he’s thrown his support behind music that flies in the face of this strongly worded manifesto. Just what is going on here?
I Hate New Music is, without a doubt, intended to entertain the reader. The book is funny, iconoclastic and more than a little confrontational-just-for-the-sake-of-it. Thompson is not afraid of bold sweeping statements and will not hesitate to explain exactly why an artist sucks so much (watch out, Phish). However, at its core, Thompson is yearning for an era of music that has long since past. It makes the book slightly depressing to read, once you’ve gotten past the sting of the fifth knock against Radiohead. I Hate New Music is an intentionally provocative assault on every young hipster (myself included) who wants to tear down to past and erect statues to our own favorite music. Yet it’s also a powerful cultural document, a well-articulated glimpse into a time none of us young whippersnappers will ever experience. A time when double albums were exciting and Clapton was still God. When people actually liked Peter Frampton. These are mysteries that people my age will never understand and, in that regard, I Hate New Music has a lot to teach us.
It’s funny that Thompson is the one who wrote the book, since his Alternative Rock encyclopedia has influenced my taste in music more so than probably any other single piece of music writing. Yet, here he is, explaining (with, as the book’s jacket says, “tongue firmly in cheek”) how music peaked with Led Zeppelin and the Eagles. Thompson writes with a passion and attention to detail that shows how personal this subject is to him. Yet, after reading so much of his other writing, I know he’s thrown his support behind music that flies in the face of this strongly worded manifesto. Just what is going on here?
I Hate New Music is, without a doubt, intended to entertain the reader. The book is funny, iconoclastic and more than a little confrontational-just-for-the-sake-of-it. Thompson is not afraid of bold sweeping statements and will not hesitate to explain exactly why an artist sucks so much (watch out, Phish). However, at its core, Thompson is yearning for an era of music that has long since past. It makes the book slightly depressing to read, once you’ve gotten past the sting of the fifth knock against Radiohead. I Hate New Music is an intentionally provocative assault on every young hipster (myself included) who wants to tear down to past and erect statues to our own favorite music. Yet it’s also a powerful cultural document, a well-articulated glimpse into a time none of us young whippersnappers will ever experience. A time when double albums were exciting and Clapton was still God. When people actually liked Peter Frampton. These are mysteries that people my age will never understand and, in that regard, I Hate New Music has a lot to teach us.
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