T. Maddison

An compelling life story, sadly ill-written., Mar 10 2004

Much good research work went into this book, but it is badly let down by the often juvenile character of the writing and opinions (on subjects musical and otherwise). A shame as Dennis was an extraordinary personality and a creative, original musician. His songwriting in the period when Brian Wilson slowly abdicated creative direction for the band after the collapse of 'Smile' was undoubtedly the creative highpoint (along with Brian's occaisional work). Nonetheless it is also reasonable to argue that Adam Webb overwhelms Dennis with more of a weight of genius than is strictly fair. Some elementary factual errors also jarr - Smile's 'I Love To Say Da Da' is NOT the same song as Sunflower's… Read more

Excellent remastering., Jan 12 2004

Others below expound eloquently on the music, so this is just a quick thumbs-up for Michael Dempsey's excellent remastering of the original material which I remember well first time round sounding so muddy that it did take some of the gloss off. Finally the band's brilliance comes through clear as crystal. '18 Carat Love Affair' now shines and sparkles like a diamond, which is very welcome as it's one of the all-time great (if still unsung) pop masterpieces - unlike so much 80's music, Rankine & MacKenzie are beginning to sound distinctly timeless.

Despite superbly sinister premise, this is a clunker., Sep 9 2003

A big disappointment, and no horror classic despite what the blurb (and it's narrator Johnny Truant) would have you believe. As a stylist, Danielewski is painfully limited and awkward. Which is a shame, as the central premise of the house's nightmarish 'underworld' is highly original and unnerving, but the author is never able to really put fire in the belly of his creation.
Equally Danielewski's inability to make enough of the book's myriad diversions and off-shoots engaging or interesting undermines the whole undertaking at a structural level, and the reader is likely to start skipping increasingly large sections. The pseudo-academic analyses that pepper the narrative are tedious and… Read more