BOOK REVIEWS

Rock and Roll Cage Match: Music's Greatest Rivalries, Decided

Edited by Sean Manning

Call it the book that launched a hundred blog posts… or soon will. 

Edited by music writer Sean Manning, Rock and Roll Cage Match is a collectionof the best dorm room music arguments spanning just about every subgenre of rock, from rap to metal. Who’s better, Oasis or Blur? Jay Z or Nas? Who’s rock ‘n’ roll’s biggest freak, Marilyn Manson or Trent Reznor?  Are you a Whitney girl or Mariah supporter? 

“…Whitney Houston is the greatest diva of all: because whether she is singing or fucking up, the woman just does it better. Chicks like Mariah or Britney or Lindsay Lohan or, God, I dunno, Fergie and her stupid crystal meth – they may try, but they can never match the carnage of her train wreck…”

Highly entertaining, the essays– from some of the best music writers working today, including chapters from Marc Spitz, Toure’ and Richard Hell– range from the straight-ahead serious to very tongue-in-cheek. One of the best entries is from comedian Michael Showalter (The State, Wet Hot American Summer), who tackles the weighty debate of Hall & Oates vs. Simon and Garfunkel (not to give too much away, but the John Oates ‘stache carries a lot of weight in this particular case).

There are a couple of head-scratchers in the book– I pray to God comedian Russ Meneve was trying to be ironic in siding with Bon Jovi over Bruce Springsteen– but it’s worth the purchase price just for the conversation starters alone. After reading it, it seems remarkable that this book wasn’t put together ages ago…  (A)  –John B. Moore

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