Another Kind of Horror: ‘When Paris Went Dark’
When Paris Went Dark is a penetrating history of the anxiety, confusion, claustrophobia, and uncertainty experienced by a city in the grip of an unpredictable menace.
Barry Lenser
‘SMiLE’ Left Me Terribly Unhappy
Labored and unfocused, the study that Luis Sanchez attempts with SMiLE is a poor fit for the 33 1/3 format.
The Kinks – “The Way Love Used to Be”
In a better world, "The Way Love Used to Be" would rank alongside "You Really Got Me", "Waterloo Sunset", and "Lola" as one of the Kinks' crowning achievements.
Selina O’Grady’s ‘And Man Created God’ Edifies and Entertains
And Man Created God is an impressively detailed and panoramic survey of how power and piety interacted with one another in the increasingly globalized classical world.
The Beach Boys – “Time to Get Alone”
While there are obvious downsides to the kind of discography that the Beach Boys have assembled -- it's dense, lengthy, and larded with inconsistent results -- one of the payoffs deserves special mention: those moments of discovery.
Alas, Surface-Skimming Is the Dominant Mode in ‘The Beatles Solo’
Books about the Fab Four need to justify themselves. The Beatles Solo, a handsome but information-light and overpriced doorstop, doesn't get there.