Book Review: Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman

Fargo Rock City is a book worth reading, whether you like heavy metal or not. His premise is basically that even though everyone likes to discount all those 80s hair bands as stupid - and maybe they are - they mattered to a whole generation of kids. That alone makes them culturally significant. Motley Crue, GNR, Van Halen, and all the rest are discussed in depth and much more intelligently than I had thought possible. And much more entertainingly, too. Reading Chuck Klosterman is more like having an enthusiastic conversation with the witty drunk at the bar where you never get a word in edge-wise than actually reading. It is laugh-out-loud funny, yet strangely thought-provoking at the same time. It is part memoir, part history, and part thesis, but it all rocks. ;)

Chuck Klosterman is about 10 years older than I am. His take on what was happening in music during the 80s is slightly different from mine. I remember hearing Van Halen on the radio and jumping on the bed to the song "Jump." I also remember dancing around Angela's garage singing along to "Pour Some Sugar On Me." Of course, I was 7 or 8 at the time and thought it would be great to be covered in sugar. By the time I got old enough to really care, 80s music was, well, 80s music. It wasn't that popular and it didn't speak to me. And its not that I couldn't then or can't now appreciate a well-placed "Welcome To The Jungle" or "Livin' On A Prayer," but it wasn't exactly my scene. Those songs, however, were Chuck Klosterman's life. For him and countless other kids, heavy metal music defined the era in which they grew up. This book helped me develop a little more appreciation for the genre and taught me a little something along the way. And it was fun! I don't think I can really ask for anything more. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different to read. (And if you're more interested in what Chuck has to say about Saved By The Bell, MTV's The Real World, and other non-music related pop culture themes, I also highly recommend Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs.)