Introduction 1. Dusty in Memphis 2. Forever Changes 3. Harvest 4. Kinks Village Green 5. Meat is Murder 6. Piper at the Gates of Dawn 7. Abba Gold 8. Electric Ladyland 9. Unknown Pleasures 10. Sign O the Times 11. Velvet Underground and Nico 12. Let It Be 13. Live at the Apollo 14. Aqualung 15. OK Computer 16. Let It Be 17. Led Zeppelin IV 18. Exile on Main St. 19. Pet Sounds 20. Ramones 21. Student Essay Prize Winner
This is a great-looking, impact-sized paperback, compiling extracts from the first 20 books in our 33 1/3 series.
The series standouts capture the tone and energy of the discs
they're exploring. Devoid of photos, averaging 120 pages and
printed as pocket sized, 6 ½-inch-by-4-inch paperbacks—handy for
filing next to your favorite CD's—the books tend to be exceedingly
brief in recapping the subjects' life and work before and after the
album references in the title, keeping the focus squarely on the
masterpiece. One of the best aspects of the 33 1/3 books may be
that they don't intend to be the final work on these albums, only
the ultimate conversation starters.
*Chicago Sun-Times*
Continuum Publishing's quirky 33 1/3 series is a modest success
with more than 30 books already published. All of these books are
packed with details ranging from the personal to the technical and
sociological, covering everything from the author's reaction to the
music to the kind of equipment used in the studio. What each one
has in common is a loving look at an album that made a difference
in someone's life and they're all written with a passion that is a
reminder of 30 years ago when music magazines like Creem, Circus
and Rolling Stone featured long essays and think-pieces that were
more about music than personality profiles. Most of the books work
as behind-the-scenes glimpse at artistic creations that often are
shrouded in mystery. The charm of the books is that their lack of
immediacy—it's hard to find any of them about an album that's not
at least 5 years old—creates a sort of nostalgic vibe that goes
beyond the music.
*Toledoblade.com*
Essentially religious tracts for the rock n' roll faithful.
*Boldtype Magazine*
Passionate and astutely written, and, in several instances, lend
real insight.
*Amplifier Magazine*
[The series] is the sort of great idea you can't believe hasn't
been done before: enlist critics and musicians to write
chapbook-length meditations on their favorite albums.
*The Boston Phoenix*
Brilliantly researched and written... [these books] are compact
enough to carry in a pocket (or guitar case) while you wait for
friends or troll for tickets.
*LA City Beat*
The nobility-and fun-of the project has never been questioned... a
winning mix of tastes and writing styles.
*Philadelphia Weekly*
Reading about rock isn't quite the same as listening to it, but
this series comes pretty damn close.
*Neon NYC*
A brilliant series... each one a work of real love.
*NME*
Passionate, obsessive, and smart.
*Nylon*
[A] consistently excellent series.
*Uncut (UK)*
Informed, fun and personal.
*Paste Magazine*
The series treats its subjects with the kind of intelligence and
carefully considered respect they deserve.
*Pop Culture Press*
Idiosyncratic, pocket-sized monographs done with passion and
insight. The analysis is both personal and articulate.
*Harp Magazine*
Love it or hate it, Nick Hornby's High Fidelity at least snatched
pop music away from pasty snob reviewers (cough) and made it
accessible for anyone who's ever had a favorite song. This ongoing
series of novellas and essays takes that idea and runs with it, as
musicians, writers, and scholars give us their thoughts on a single
album. But this isn't wheezy music criticism-every author's take is
autobiographical and anecdotal. And the range of albums (everything
from the Beatles' Let It Be to the Replacements', um, Let It Be) is
eclectic enough that there should be something for everyone. (four
stars)
*Maxim*
Ideal for the rock geek who thinks liner notes just aren't nearly
enough.
*Rolling Stone*
For those of you who really like to know everything there is to
know about an album, you'd do well to check out Continuum's "33
1/3" series of books. Each volume dedicates over 100 pages of
thorough, in-depth analysis, history, and other observations to one
album. The books are usually written by a renowned journalist,
artist, or someone else otherwise qualified to write about such
matters.
*Pitchfork*
At certain times in your life, a great record is more important
than a good friend....You could write a book about the intense
bonds that form between a listener and an album that comes along at
just the right time. And now someone has-in fact, a half dozen
people have (so far)....[E]ach has a distinct, almost militantly
personal take on a beloved longplayer.
*Tracks Magazine*
Allowing the writers to express their passion in their own way has
helped 33 1/3 establish a firm position in the music-writing canon.
Reading about music almost always depends on interest and
appreciation for not just one artistic undertaking, but two:
writing and music. Continuum has, in most cases, combined these
masterfully.
*Boldtype*
The 33 1/3 of pocket books ... are superb little volumes devoted to
classic albums. What unites them is not so much their subject as
the standard of the writing and imagination that the authors have
brought to their task ... every one I've read has been well worth
the attention.
*The Herald*
Like most best-of compilations, 33 1/3 Greatest Hits, Volume 1 is
only a partial portrait of a larger subject, in this case
Continuum's popular series that features writers from different
backgrounds extolling the virtues of their favorite albums. The
series' greatest virtues is its breadth: Contributors include
academics, critics and musicians, who expound on rock, pop, funk,
hip hop, soul, folk, dance, alternative, and Prince. Admirably,
editor David Barker dictates no approach to the albums, allowing
the writers to consider the music academically, historically, or
autobiographically...Excerpting chapters from the first 20
installments, 33 1/3 Greatest Hits ably showcases this essential
variety... The result is a diverse and multifaceted series that
covers not just the range of popular music but the gamut of
pop-music criticism useful introduction to contemporary rock
writing, revealing a discipline as diverse as its subject.
*Memphis Flyer*
The idea was simple: to ask a group of authors to each write a book
about a classic album. What emerged became Continuum's 33 1/3
series. Without guidelines or rules, each author embraced their own
favourite album and chose exactly how they wanted to write about
it.As a result, each book is by turn anecdotal, obsessive,
technical and personal, but always passionate.
*Swell Music*
...Continuum's 33 1/3 book series is among the best music-themed
literature going. Personal, obsessive and clever, the paperbacks
celebrate older, sales-proven classics as well as equally
influential albeit less commercially successful works...Every 33
1/3 series is devoted to a single album and written by a different
author, whose approaches are as varied as the artists they
explore...Uniform Consistency is via layouts and logistics. All of
the pocket size books (100 to 170 pages) and inexpensive ($9.95-
$10.95). And because the topics have yet to hit a sour note, they
beg to be collected...Continuum has released approximately 40
titles since 2003. Additional books are scheduled before the year's
end, including takes on Steely Dan's ‘Aja' and Sonic Youth's
‘Daydream Nation,' both due this spring. While not every volume in
the series rates a five star review, the majorities are impossible
to put down and inspire extensive listening." - Bob Gendron,
Chicago Tribune, March 2007 Gendron lists his ‘top 10' exemplary
entries of the series: 1. " Harvest," by Sam Inglis (2003) 2. "The
Velvet Underground and Nico," by Joe Harvard (2004) 3. "Live at the
Apollo," by Douglas Wolk (2004) 4. "Led Zeppelin IV," by Erik Davis
(2005) 5. " Ramones," by Nicholas Rombes (2005) 6. "In the
Aeroplane Over the Sea," by Kim Cooper (2006) 7. "Dolittle," by Ben
Sisario (2006) 8. "Paul's Boutique," by Dan LeRoy (2006) 9. "Bee
Thousand," by Marc Wo (2006) 10. "69 Love Songs," by LD Beghtol
(2006)
*Chicago Tribune*
People may say the album is dead, but the nostalgia for it is
certainly not. If you plug the term ‘favorite album' into Google,
you'll get back nearly 800,000 hits - a testament to how much
people love discussing, listing and dissecting the form. David
Barker, editorial director at Continuum Books, knows this
firsthand, and his book series, 33 1/3, is reaping the benefits.
The name, which refers to the speed at which vinyl albums play,
encapsulates what the series is: an ode to the rock album as a work
of art and an occasionally life-altering force. Barker, who said he
thought he could fill a niche with short books about single albums
-an alternative to the glut of ‘straightforward band histories',
started the line in 2003; it currently has titles signed through
2009. Highlighted in PW's October 2006 story about successful
series, 33 1/3 has far exceeded expectations. The books, at a 4¾ "x
6½ " trim and an average of 145 pages, are done in an economy of
scale model. Print runs are usually 5,000 copies, and writers were
initially music journalists and friends of Barker. That, however,
has changed...the most successful book in the line, Meet is Murder
(a slightly obscure Smiths album), is a novella about a Boston teen
in the 80's. "People love the unpredictability of the series,'
Barker explained.
*Publishers Weekly*
The "33 1/3" book series from Continuum, quite possibly, the
coolest thing to happen to music writing...
*Metro NY*
As a reaction against narrow notions of music writing, Continuum
Books has established its extensive 33 1/3 series: little books
about great albums. Series editor David Barker started the 33 1/3
to ‘create an outlet for different ways of writing about music, in
book form.' Fait accompli- the series is equally eclectic in
subject, authorship and approach... formal approaches run the gamut
from extended essays and serious critical analyses to interviews,
encyclopedias, and novellas.
*Ukula Magazine*
On the face of it, the 33 1/3 series of books about albums doesn't
smack of publishing's cutting edge, but it is as much a product of
its time as blogging and music downloads. The idea behind the
series was to ‘get people to attempt new approaches tow writing
about music, and not just the classic albums. Some pick apart the
album; others take a different tack. Live at the Apollo by Douglas
Wolk puts James Brown's seminal live album in the context of its
Cold War-era setting. John Nevin's Music from Big Pink is about a
drug dealer hanging around the band during the making of that
record. The small format makes the books ideal one-sitting
reads
*GQ (UK)*
It was only a matter of time before a clever publisher
realized that there is an audience for whom "Exile on Main Street"
or "Electric Ladyland" are as significant and worthy of study as
"The Catcher in the Rye" or "Middlemarch." And so we have
Continuum's "33 1/3" books, a series of little paperbacks each
dedicated to a seminal rock album, from James Brown's "Live at the
Apollo" to the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds." The series, which now
comprises 29 titles with more in the works, is freewheeling and
eclectic, ranging from minute rock-geek analysis to idiosyncratic
personal celebration. John Niven's "Music From Big Pink," based on
the classic 1968 LP by the Band, takes things a step further: it's
fiction.
*The New York Times*
These are for the insane collectors out there who appreciate
fantastic design, well-executed thinking, and things that make your
house look cool.... We love these.
*Vice*
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