Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota [Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

Author Chuck Klosterman loves the big hair bands of the 80's, so much in fact that he wrote this book partly as biography and partially to defend the genre that is referred to as "Heavy Metal". In the 1980's Rock'N'Roll was renamed/evolved into Heavy Metal, at least that's what a lot of people have been calling it since. It's often ridiculed; especially the Glam/Hair bands and those are the bands that the author loves. More than anything it's not if or not you like 1980's Metal, Klosterman is a genuine and passionate writer. Whether or not you agree with his opinions you want to keep reading and he also manages to make a few points. Fargo Rock City is also autobiographical in that he shares with us some of personal experiences and puts emphasis on his teenage years and what it was like to grow up during this era. I find it interesting how Klosterman grew up in what would not even be called a small town by most, yet still managed to find and develop an interest into this kind of music. I'm from a small town as well although bigger than Chuck's and I managed to find Metal as well during my teenage years and I could definitely relate to him and some of the experiences he had. It's fun to read about Chuck's teenage years and discoveries of bands like Motley Crue, KISS, Cinderella and Poison and later what it was like for a Heavy Metalist in the 1990's when the genre was ridiculed and become uncool with the rise of Grunge music (he wrote a positive review of Warrant's Cherry Pie album when it came out and was criticized for it).

Klosterman offers an analytical point of view on this music. He makes some strong points and some of them are very valid. Particularly when he says "I have both so and so in my collection, it doesn't matter which one is better they're both part of the soundtrack to my life" and proves most opinions are just that, opinions and can be irrelevant. His view is that if a song means something to you then it automatically becomes important somehow because that song is now part of your life. He makes further interesting assertions such as when he says Rush is a Christian band (and attempts to explain why that is) or that Ozzy is bothered by people calling him a Satanist. Chuck is somewhat of a music critic and has worked for magazines and published reviews which may explain why he feels the need to explain and analyze everything. His arguments on Guns N'Roses and Axl Rose more specifically are very well thought out and he does make some valid points when interpreting what Axl felt and why Chinese Democracy took such a long time to release. He suggests that Axl's pain was real but as time went on he couldn't replicate or fake it, keep in mind at the time of writing the album wasn't yet released.

Reading about Chuck's hometown and what it was like for him actually reminded me of my teenage years. I found Rock/Heavy Metal music in a place that no one would have expected me to. His story about the ATM machine that made him rich and allowed him to buy practically anything he wanted and the way he tells it is captivating. The personal bits on his life did not downgrade the book by any means, it added a biographical factor and those parts of Chuck's life were well integrated. I particularly enjoyed the author's list of albums you'd have to pay him not to listen to anymore. I found his picks interesting and liked how he defended his picks and the matter in which he chose to validate and explain his decisions. I liked the artists he picked but wondered about some of the selections he made (seriously of the studio albums KISS released Animalize is their best?).

It seems that Klosterman mostly like the 1980's Glam bands, as he pays little attention to what people who liked metal called "metal" like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Slayer and so on. He doesn't go deep into genres and stays within the stereotyped idea of "Heavy Metal" and besides KISS, Bowie and a few others gives little importance to bands that preceded the bands largely discussed in Fargo Rock City. If you're looking for a read that talks about the popular Glam bands of the day this will be in your alley but if your definition of Metal and Rock music is broader then you honestly cannot expect a book that is in any way reflective of the entire genre and that Klosterman covers all. Not that there is anything wrong with what he does here, I'm just giving you a heads up.

I think the original title of Appetite for Deconstruction would have been more proper and suitable for this book and it seems the author thinks so as well according to the. Fargo is a fun ride and definitely made me want to read the author's other books. One of the most remarkable things about Fargo Rock City is that Mr. Klosterman wrote this book before it become cool again like Heavy Metal in the advent of the 2000's with biographies such as Motley Crue's The Dirt, he really was a fan all along. If anything it probably won't make you rush to buy those albums he talks about whenever he mentions his favorite bands but. I'm not sure that Klosterman answers his initial thesis or that he really proves anything here and doesn't entirely succeeds at validating why the "Hair" bands were important and why they are important to him. Chances are even if you're not a fan of Glam Metal, don't have the slightest idea where Fargo is located you will find Chuck Klosterman's Fargo Rock City to be a least entertaining because through his writing he manages to be interesting and knows how to tell a story but it really helps if you're familiar with or like the music. Overall excellent and highly entertaining read.

As an '80's kid growing up in rural Indiana, there weren't a lot of ways to imagine the world outside. T.v. was stupid, the movie theater was forty minutes away, and even the local library wasn't all it was cracked up to be. My conduit for fantasies of a faster, more glamorous life was the radio.

It was the same for Mr. Klosterman, as told in Fargo Rock City. The glam-metal bands of his time set out a full plate of crashing chords, easy women, and free-flowing booze. He (nor I,)never tasted any of those things personally, but the bands painted a vivid enough picture to focus on a better life in the wide world - after high school, when your mom could no longer dictate your hairstyle.

This is a light read, certainly. Mr. Klosterman's book is meant as no more than a remembrance of things past. Even his dissection of what separates "poseur" bands from the "real rockers" is a throwback - what is easily recognized as rock marketing today could get you in fistfights with your Slayer-loving brethren back in '88.

So scratch your itch for "serious" lit elsewhere - Fargo Rock City is meant for fun, and Mr. Klosterman does an admirable job of providing it.

This is one of the best metal-related books I've ever read. It focuses on the 80's hair metal scene and it's affect on pop culture, as well as seeing how that music reflected the society of that time. It's interesting material, and it also happens to be one of the funniest books around. This book made me laugh out loud several times, earning me some interesting looks from my fellow metro passengers. Imagine all of the times you and your buddies have joked about Kiss's shameless self-promotion, Axl Rose's antics, or Kip Winger's teeth, and factor in some witty social commentary, and you have the spirit of this book. If you grew up with 80's metal, Fargo Rock City is required reading.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 43 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

1.0 out of 5 stars How kitsch is our sincerity.
My roommate lent me this book, which I believe he bought on a lark in Union Station (DC), to distract himself during the nine-hour train ride to Boston. Read more

Published on July 5 2004 by justinchend

2.0 out of 5 stars Big Hair, Little Substance
With a title like "Fargo Rock City," and especially with a subtitle promising "A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota," I was excited about this book. Read more

Published on April 2 2004 by Timothy A. Rundquist

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best I've ever read
Never having had the slightest interest in metal when I was growing up, I had no reason to pick up this book until someone I trusted actually sent me his copy. Read more

Published on Mar 15 2004 by Paul Pearson

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time or money...
I have a different background and upbringing than Chuck Klosterman, but we are the exact same age. Much of what he wrote about in "Fargo Rock City" I can relate to: replace... Read more

Published on Mar 11 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Remember the '80s?
At the very end of his Midwestern memoir/history of hair metal Klosterman writes: "Very often, I inexplicably embrace the same ideas I just finished railing against: Part of... Read more

Published on Feb 1 2004 by A. Ross

5.0 out of 5 stars And I didn't even listen to heavy metal (in public)
Chuck Klosterman's book of heavy metal criticism is really a book about himself. He reveals, by writing about the music he loved growing up, all the attachments teenagers make to... Read more

Published on Nov 18 2003 by Clinton Williamson

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny autobiography/rock criticism book
"Fargo Rock City" is an autobiographical look at how the heavy metal bands of the 80's affected the author, Chuck Klosterman, during his youth in North Dakota. Read more

Published on Sep 10 2003 by E A Glaser

5.0 out of 5 stars We need more books like this one
This book is great because it's so personal. If you don't like 1980s heavy metal, you should read this the same way you'd read about tribal customs in central Africa or Irish pub... Read more

Published on Aug 23 2003 by SPM

2.0 out of 5 stars Many errors keep this at about a two star book
I learned early on in the book there would be several errors and I was not disappointed. On top of that everything I read I knew inside and out and feel most fellow lovers of... Read more

Published on Aug 7 2003 by Vince Perri

4.0 out of 5 stars Chuck is a Rock God -- Honestly
At first, I was a bit disappointed by the book and then I read the epilogue. Why wasn't it more of a memoir? Why was it filled with so much analysis? Read more

Published on Jun 18 2003 by Robert Wellen

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 43 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!