Otherwise, when the music is good, it stays that way! And it’s also a time to remember those who will never return to our plains. We are of course thinking of Queen of Freddie Mercurywith the same concept as ” Springsteen – The Total “, here necessarily called ” Queen – La Totale ” (Hachette). On the program: 188 songs dissected and analyzed from top to bottom, i.e. all the pieces of Queen explained. All with testimonials from the group’s main collaborators. It’s gripping and fascinating from start to finish. And even fans who thought they knew it all may well learn things!
Same phenomenon with the Lolabacedaire ” (Lamiroy) dedicated to Kinks. The principle is the same as for Kiss: this book is also an alphabet that takes advantage of each letter of the alphabet to dive into the history of the group. It’s nicely written by two former music journalists, one of whom you certainly know since it’s “our” Pierre Guyaut. In short, we are in good hands, and it shows on every page of this book, which is never scholarly, even if it is full of information.
Finally, to end, we go through the excellent ” Rock in France from 1976 to the present day ” (The Word and the Rest) which talks about 100 essential records, which make French rock so special. We therefore come across Rita Mitsouko, Dominique A and other Marquis de Sade… so many names through which the book takes stock of the emergence of a genre that has become a trademark in its own right. Not content to talk about essential musicians, this very nice book also addresses the no less essential labels and festivals that have allowed rock to be recognized made in France. The result is a very complete panorama of the genre allowing you to know where it comes from, while trying to know where it is going…
In the more exhaustive genre, we will also point out the reissue of the ” French Chanson Lover Dictionary ” (Plon), which updates a whole series of entries like Polnareff, Johnny or Bashung, among others. But which, above all, makes new entries like Clara Luciani, Gaëtan Roussel, and others. And we even find there the term “streaming”. In summary, this dictionary also allows an immersion in French song. And it is frankly welcome!