Book reviews?
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Site News, Newbies, Help and Improvements
Forum Name: Help us improve the site
Forum Description: Help us improve the forums, and the site as a whole
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=65391
Printed Date: March 03 2025 at 22:06
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Topic: Book reviews?
Posted By: JLocke
Subject: Book reviews?
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:03
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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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Replies:
Posted By: rushfan4
Date 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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Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:22
| 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. |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:32
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^ 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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Posted By: micky
Date 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. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: SaltyJon
Date 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.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Salty_Jon" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Moogtron III
Date 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. |
Posted By: SaltyJon
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:40
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There are even books on various artists, like the Krautrock books. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Salty_Jon" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:43
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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Moogtron III wrote:Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:44
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.
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Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:45
| 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. |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 15:51
| ^ 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. |
Posted By: progkidjoel
Date 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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Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 16:14
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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?  ------------- ...that moment you realize you like "Mob Rules" better than "Heaven and Hell" |
Posted By: halabalushindigus
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 16:22
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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? ------------- assume the power 1586/14.3 |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 16:25
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.
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Posted By: seventhsojourn
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 16:28
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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Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 17:36
Cool.
I'm glad you see where I'm coming from. |
Posted By: halabalushindigus
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 18:05
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^
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!!! ------------- assume the power 1586/14.3 |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 18:09
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^ 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. |
Posted By: halabalushindigus
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 18:13
 Comprendo------------- assume the power 1586/14.3 |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: February 27 2010 at 18:13
| On a side note, I believe the site should start listing stuff like interviews and book reviews away from the forums. As much as I like hanging around here, we need to be a bit more systematic with reference material, and make it available to people who are not necessarily interested in visiting the forums. |
Posted By: M@X
Date Posted: March 15 2010 at 12:40
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Thanks for the suggestions guys, will take them into consideration when updating the site features. ------------- Prog On ! |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: March 15 2010 at 13:27
^ Cool news, M@X!  We'll see if any of our ideas will take shape in a future incarnation of PA.
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Posted By: toroddfuglesteg
Date Posted: March 15 2010 at 16:04
| I buy and read a lot of books about prog rock because it is a part of the whole prog rock package. There is also some real turkeys out there among the books. So I am all for it. |