Future Days [Paperback] Stubbs, David

Un libro que permite comprender el origen, evolución e influencia del rock alemán en la música de los años 70 y su influencia el las generciones posteriores.

If you, like me, discovered Krautrock in 1974-75, when this music appeared on the scene of European and American Rock'n'roll as a fresh blow of experimentalism with exotic leanings, then stay away from this book, written by a fan of the crappiest new wave for people whose reference bands are Simple Minds, Gary Numan, Human League etc.. Mr Stubbs never mention, except for the Beatles and Pink Floyd, any other band which existed before 1976. When he talks about Liberty/UA in his article on the Can, he says that this label was important because it signed pre-punk and post punk bands: I have the impression that the unnamed pre-punk bands are High Tide, Hawkwind, Capt Lockheed & the Starfighters, Michael Moorcock's Deep Fix, etc., so please draw by yourself your conclusions about Mr Stubbs' idea of rock music. The article on Amon Duul is so bad that anyone who reads it will stay away from this great band forever. Naturally, Mr Stubbs never mentions the Jefferson Airplane, who were the Amon Duul's first inspiration, even in the kind of line-up the band adopted, probably because he never heard of this band: Coldplay seems to be a much more suitable term of comparison to him. Finally, the Prologue, in which the author tries to interpret Krautrock from a socio-political-historical point of view, is so silly that it sounds more as a joke than true journalism: in a word, Stubbs hypothesises that Krautrock is a consequence of the rebellion of German youths against their professors at school who were all ex-Nazi, and this tension not only produced Krautrock but German terrorism as well: believe it or not. A very poor piece of musical journalism to be avoided by all those who started listening to rock music before 1977-78!

While its a bit rambling and goes wide on postwar German culture, its a great read if you are interested in the area of this music and its greater context in an evolving European social and political landscape

Probably the best analysis of German rock and experimental music of the 70s and beyond that I have read. It places the music, musicians and music scene in a broad social, economic and political context that gives a satisfying understanding of why things developed how they did. Seems to pick out the main players well. Strong focus on Amon Duul II, Faust, Can and Kraftwerk. I highly recommend this book.

ouvrage très bien écrit et complet le livre donne envie d'écouter et de découvrir les groupes dont il est question