Slayer's Reign in Blood (33 1/3) by D. X. Ferris
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Book Reviews of Slayer's Reign in Blood (33 1/3)
Book Review: great album, really bad book
Summary: 2 Stars
the 33 1/3 series is, imho, unbelievably spotty: some of the books from the series are among the best examples of music criticism/journalism to be published in the last few years, while others are just completely useless wastes of bookshelf space.
i picked this one up based on the back cover's claim that there was in-depth discussion with not only the band but with producer rick rubin, engineer andy wallace and album cover designer larry carroll. while the book does technically contain interview clips with all of these principles, they are contained within an unbelievably unscholarly work that makes great pains to express how awesome the album in question is, without really explained why, or why it was made, or how it was made.
the book begins with a pretty rambling introduction that just never really takes off-- for a record that, musically, is so devoid of any fat or wasted space, this book amounts to little more than the endless prattling of a diehard fan. the surprising thing is that i find myself thinking this, as i am myself a pretty diehard slayer fan-- however, i think i was hoping for more of a critical assessment of the band, the album, and the album's place in history and society.
the book is front-loaded with, imho, rather obvious sentiments about how awesome the album is, as well as a bombardment of pretty stereotypical assessments of the culture of heavy metal at the time. considering how shocking and bizarre the album was upon its release, and how the band itself have managed to grow into respected elder statesmen as well as stable family men, all on a foundation built upon this record and its bold statement of chaos, disrespect for authority and relatively careless appropriation of what can best be termed "dangerous ideas", you would think that the stage would be set for a really meaningful and in-depth investigation into a fascinating time and place. instead, you get the author's pretty sophomoric rantings and comparisons, all executed with absolutely no wit or grace. for example, here is the final paragraph of the book, where the author is for some reason comparing slayer's discography to the "terminator" series of sci-fi films:
"'Reign In Blood''s rough predecessor, 'Hell Awaits', is the equivalent of the first 'Terminator'. Unlike that violent film franchise, Slayer has never rebooted with an all-new lineup. And the band has never made an album comparable to 'Terminator 3'--a wholly ignorable outing that fails to improve on a single facet of its forerunners. Therein lies Slayer's greatness."
these sort of mangled empty comparisons are par for the course in this book-- the writer just seems out of his league turning his ruminations on why slayer rules into a book-length thesis; you get the impression that the 33 1/3 people okay'd this one based on the lack of metal coverage in their to-date list of titles; a great book could indeed be written on this album, and why it is special; unfortunately, this ain't it.