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JLocke 
Prog Reviewer
Joined: November 18 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 4900
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 Topic: Book reviews?
Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:03 |
If this has already been suggested before, there is no need to jump down my throat. All I'm doing is making a suggestion, here, and if it's not a good idea, then we'll drop it.
Well, the site has already branched out a bit by including things such as documentary DVDs and other unauthorized works in the video reviews section. Such products are not all directly produced by the bands in question, but since the bands are the subject of said productions, they are included here and reviewed.
So my question is . . . why not books? I think it's a very strong argument to be made that an informative book written about a particular band is always going to be more worthwhile than a documentary DVD, simply because books have more content. If somebody new to the Progressive Rock world wants to devour literature as well as the audio/visual medium in order to get a music education, don't we owe it to them to include reviews of the countless books as well? I mean, wouldn't it be beneficial to help people choose which Pink Floyd book is the best bet for their money? Wouldn't it be convenient for a Yes newcomer to be steered in the right direction for which written biography to avoid and which to purchase?
This came to mind simply because I'm in the middle of reviewing a documentary DVD about Yes, and I thought about how cool it would be to have proper book reviews on this site as well. I mean, reviewing them on the forums is fine and all, but many visitors to this place don't even come on the forums. I just think if prog-related books were able to be reviewed in the same manner music-related DVDs are, it would greatly increase the mount of resources we could provide to people looking for Prog information in any form, written or otherwise.
Anyway, it's probably not practical, or even that good of an idea, but I just thought I would pitch it. It's probably been suggested and rejected before, and for very good reasons, but oh well. Never hurts to try.
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rushfan4
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Joined: May 22 2007
Location: Michigan, U.S.
Status: Offline
Points: 66607
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:16 |
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That is actually probably a pretty good idea. I don't know that there are many bands within our ranks that have books written about them, but I suspect that at least the bigger bands do. I know that I have books on Yes and Rush, and have seen books on Pink Floyd.
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Raff
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Joined: July 29 2005
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Points: 24429
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:22 |
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Other sites I know include a section on books - I'm thinking in particular of an Italian prog site called MovimentiProg, which has some excellent reviews of books (in Italian and other languages) dedicated to progressive rock and other related musical genres. However, I believe such a section should feature books published in other languages than English - we are an international website after all, and in some countries (such as Italy or France) there are some interesting publications to be found.
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JLocke
Prog Reviewer
Joined: November 18 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 4900
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:32 |
^ Glad to see at least two SC agreeing with the idea. I really think it would help inform people about some of the lesser-known literature written about Prog.
And don't forget, there have been books written about the genre in general. Perhaps those could finally find a proper place on the site, as well? Maybe placing those particular books in 'Various Artists' would fit?
I dunno, I'm just throwing out ideas, here.
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micky
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:36 |
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that is a hell of an idea. Surprised that hasn't been thought of before???
drop a PM to M@X.. unless he has changed in the last year, he is usually receptive to new ideas like that.
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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SaltyJon
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:38 |
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I know there are books on other bands too, such as Magma, but I wouldn't be able to read/review it as it's in French. Still, good idea.
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Moogtron III
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 26 2005
Location: Belgium
Status: Offline
Points: 10616
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:40 |
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I think it's a very good idea. I like it a lot to read about my favorite artists. About prog artists there are a lot of interesting books written.
There are quite some book reviews on this site, but it sounds like a good idea if they got their own section.
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SaltyJon
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:40 |
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There are even books on various artists, like the Krautrock books.
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JLocke
Prog Reviewer
Joined: November 18 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 4900
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:43 |
 Moogtron III wrote:
I think it's a very good idea. I like it a lot to read about my favorite artists. About prog artists there are a lot of interesting books written.
There are quite some book reviews on this site, but it sounds like a good idea if they got their own section.
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Well see, that's my main point. Searching the forums for unorganized book reviews isn't nearly as practical or use-friendly as including book reviews on the site itself. And like I said earlier, not all fans of this site go to the forums, so they miss out on the book mentions completely.
This would be a good way to properly present the book reviews for all to see.
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JLocke
Prog Reviewer
Joined: November 18 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 4900
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:44 |
SaltyJon wrote:
There are even books on various artists, like the Krautrock books.
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Maybe we could include those type books in the 'Various Artists' section, and then specific genre-related books that are particularly useful could be put on the particular genre's main page? Sort of like how 'key albums' are shown?
Stop me anytime my ideas/suggestions get too crazy. 
Edited by JLocke - February 27 2010 at 15:47
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Raff
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:45 |
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In Italy there is quite a surprising amount of literature dedicated to prog and rock in general. I have a book about the Canterbury movement which is quite good and nicely detailed, with an excellent discography at the end. In recent years, books have also been released about individual RPI albums, as well as about the movement as a whole.
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JLocke
Prog Reviewer
Joined: November 18 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 4900
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:51 |
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^ See, I would LOVE to find out people's opinions of books like that, but would rather not have to scour the internet in order to learn about them. If it would all be in the same place, I could discover so much more prog writings so much faster.
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progkidjoel
Prog Reviewer
Joined: March 02 2009
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 19643
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 16:04 |
I agree, it would be a great step towards making PA an even better database. Sounds like a a great idea to me, especially since its relatively hard to find reviews for some books about prog other than on Amazon. 
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Finnforest
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Joined: February 03 2007
Location: The Heartland
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Points: 17332
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 16:14 |
My only concern is page loading. With the biggies, like Beatles, Sabb, etc....the pages are already getting slow due to all of the singles and dubious DVDs people add to their artist pages. I hate the clutter. Think how many books there would be for the Beatles!! It all goes back to the question I asked long ago, if Max could set up these other sections (like singles, books, dvds, etc), so that they don't appear until you click the leaf/link to open that section, then it would be AWESOME as the official studio albums and live albums would quickly open. But if they are set up just like another section on the main page the speed thing is a concern for people with slow internet. Aside from that issue, I love the idea. So the question is, can books truly have a separate section that won't auto-load on the artist page unless you click on it? 
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...that moment you realize you like "Mob Rules" better than "Heaven and Hell"
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halabalushindigus
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 05 2009
Location: San Diego
Status: Offline
Points: 1438
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 16:22 |
I am sooo ready to write a review of "Planet Of The Apes" by Pierre Boulle.
Is this what we are talking about or books specifically on The prog movement, bands, bios in general?
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assume the power 1586/14.3
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JLocke
Prog Reviewer
Joined: November 18 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 4900
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 16:25 |
Finnforest wrote:
My only concern is page loading. With the biggies, like Beatles, Sabb, etc....the pages are already getting slow due to all of the singles and dubious DVDs people add to their artist pages. I hate the clutter. Think how many books there would be for the Beatles!!
It all goes back to the question I asked long ago, if Max could set up these other sections (like singles, books, dvds, etc), so that they don't appear until you click the leaf/link to open that section, then it would be AWESOME as the official studio albums and live albums would quickly open. But if they are set up just like another section on the main page the speed thing is a concern for people with slow internet.
Aside from that issue, I love the idea. So the question is, can books truly have a separate section that won't auto-load on the artist page unless you click on it?
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I'm not sure how much more work that would take. Also, super-interactive web pages tend to not always work depending on a person's browser or net connection.
The Beatles page loads just fine for me, and I use Wi-Fi. So I'm not sure if enough people are having the same page-loading issue as you are currently, but I know for a fact that even more people would start having issues if we put the subsequent sections in leaf/drop-down form. As for separate pages altogether, that just makes it even more disjointed, which is what we need to avoid.
But I'm glad you like the idea in any case, haha.
Edited by JLocke - February 27 2010 at 16:27
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seventhsojourn
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Joined: December 11 2009
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Points: 4006
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 16:28 |
JLocke wrote:
Moogtron III wrote:
I think it's a very good idea. I like it a lot to read about my favorite artists. About prog artists there are a lot of interesting books written.
There are quite some book reviews on this site, but it sounds like a good idea if they got their own section.
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Well see, that's my main point. Searching the forums for unorganized book reviews isn't nearly as practical or use-friendly as including book reviews on the site itself. And like I said earlier, not all fans of this site go to the forums, so they miss out on the book mentions completely.
This would be a good way to properly present the book reviews for all to see. |
Yes, great idea.
I think you make an important point about visitors to the site. Before i joined in December 2009, I never looked at the forums.
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JLocke
Prog Reviewer
Joined: November 18 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 4900
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 17:36 |
seventhsojourn wrote:
JLocke wrote:
Moogtron III wrote:
I think it's a very good idea. I like it a lot to read about my favorite artists. About prog artists there are a lot of interesting books written.
There are quite some book reviews on this site, but it sounds like a good idea if they got their own section.
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Well see, that's my main point. Searching the forums for unorganized book reviews isn't nearly as practical or use-friendly as including book reviews on the site itself. And like I said earlier, not all fans of this site go to the forums, so they miss out on the book mentions completely.
This would be a good way to properly present the book reviews for all to see. |
Yes, great idea.
I think you make an important point about visitors to the site. Before i joined in December 2009, I never looked at the forums. |
Cool. I'm glad you see where I'm coming from.
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halabalushindigus
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 05 2009
Location: San Diego
Status: Offline
Points: 1438
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 18:05 |
^
so...any ol books or music books? like for example the Shapiro book on Harrison,George is complete and total rubbish. Saying things like "when Paul met with George in the hospital they talked about.... How des he know what they talked about? Or Shapiro said that Paul was getting jealous of George's success. Or they went to score some more...How does this guy know that?
The Rolling Stones Altamont situation was done good
excerpt.."What did you say? Come over here" "I said I don't no orders from no ..WHAM!!!
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assume the power 1586/14.3
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JLocke
Prog Reviewer
Joined: November 18 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 4900
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Posted: February 27 2010 at 18:09 |
^ Obviously it would only be music-specific books. I don't think a book about John Lennon treating his first wife and child like crap is worthy of adding to the Beatles page, for instance, but the books written about the studio sessions and the band's musical career would.
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Book reviews?
