Rebel Rebel: All the Songs of David Bowie from '64 to '76

Rebel Rebel is an enchanting book, far beyond what you might expect from a sequential evaluation of pop songs. O'Leary is judicious, psychologically acute, and imaginative; he takes Bowie's work seriously, but doesn't engage in celebrity worship or make excuses when the quality of the songs dips. The song analyses create a portrait of an artist and of the various worlds he inhabited, visited, and created. While a certain amount of the material appears in O'Leary's excellent blog, Pushing Ahead of the Dame, I think here he has gone deeper. For example, in one instance the blog discussion of a song (The Bewlay Brothers) seemed less perceptive than usual; the book version is perfect. And the book is beautifully written.

A song by song analysis of David Bowie's entire body of recorded works, from 1964 to 1976 (future volumes to come). This is a truly ambitious undertaking, and thankfully author Chris O'Leary is more than up to the task. His book is thoroughly researched and incredibly well written. I learned a good deal about the biographical context of Bowie's songs. But more importantly, the book made me consider the larger cultural world that Bowie was working in, and this made me think about and appreciate the artistic impact of the songs all the greater. Bowie fans will gain deep insight into the creative mind of their idol, and newcomers will get a tight narrative--via individual song entries--that establishes what Bowie gave the world and why it's special. While I do wish that some of the entries in the mid 60s were longer and offered more extensive critiques, I realize that the book is already over 500 pages, and it's only the first 12 years of his career---so this is a minor complaint. There are lengthier entries, perhaps the longest being for the song Station to Station, that are brilliant works of musical criticism. The fact that I wish that all the entries were of this type mainly speaks to the excellent quality of the writing. I highly recommend this to all music fans, particularly for Bowie fans, and eagerly await the next volume.

Chris O'Leary is the best rock writer working today, the spiritual heir to Ian MacDonald ("Revolution in the Head", etc.) Finally, the kind of lyrical, musical, and cultural analysis that Bowie's canon deserves. The original blog was a joy to read and Rebel Rebel just ups the ante. Can't wait for volume 2.

The author has such a great style, is clearly knowledgeable and has a great structure for presenting the info. This had me checkout the entire Bowie discography and there are some gems!! Perhaps it is an issue with Zero Books, but about 10-20 pages in the book were not bound and are loose. Very frustrating! I ordered and read the second book "Ashes To Ashes" here as well and that had no binding issues. 2 phenomenal books with great insights and interpretations from Chris O'Leary. Just a bummer the manufacturing of this book seems poor

One night while searching for information about a Bowie song ("Panic in Detroit"), I stumbled on the author's blog. A child in the 70s, I was too young to appreciate early Bowie, but in later years I've come to regard this music with deep fondness as well as interest in its origins. Bowie's art is a link to something I saw fleetingly, moved on the periphery of during its last days; something evanescent in the culture that sits just at the edge of memory today but which, in a time when pop culture generally offers less, I want to pull closer. It doesn't take long to realize that Mr. O'Leary knows his Bowie -- or that he writes surpassingly well, with an eye cast far beyond the music to take in the period that produced and shaped this art. I was led to the book: positively a treasure of its kind. Should there be a follow-up, I'll be back for it, too.

The blog is brilliant, but the book is better. O'Leary takes the time-tested approach of "Revolution in the Head" and applies it to the early albums of David Bowie. It's a book to curl up with and spend an afternoon (and evening) poring over. Perhaps the best recommendation is this: You'll be driven to listen to the music over and over again.

I've read the blog, thoroughly, and reading the book is like finally meeting the guy you shared laughs with on Facebook for a long time. It is an splendid book, delightful read as a narrative or as reference to specific songs. Any Bowie fan will enjoy it for years.

Indispensable. A must have. Been a longtime fan of the blog that created the basis of this book, and the deep, deep and exhaustive background given each song is a true pleasure to read. A true Bowie Bible. Can't wait for the following volumes.

'Rebel Rebel' by Chris O'Leary. This is a superb David Bowie book, analysing in great depth all of the songs DB ever recorded. Adopting a song by song approach, O'Leary's attention to detail is amazing, examining the meaning of, and background to the writing of, each song. He scrutinises the music and in doing so covers keys; key changes; time signatures; chord sequences; and structures. Exactly where and when each song was recorded is part of each analysis, as is who played what on the officially released (and some bootleg) recordings. Add to that the first broadcast dates and initial UK and USA release dates and you have a more than complete, comprehensive account of Bowie's work. It's forensic in its depth and a great companion to have with you to read, whilst listening to the great man's work. The most obvious comparison would be to Ian MacDonald's similar approach to the work of The Beatles, in 'Revolution In the Head'. This is up there, but not quite on MacDonald's level. It's difficult to be critical about the content, but I think the design, layout and typography leaves much to be desired. Although the songs are listed chronologically in order of recording, this is not an easy book to find one's way around. Maybe dividing the works into clearer, album by album chapters would be better, and while I understand that space restrictions may have prevented it, an index would have helped a lot. Also, with the wealth of extraordinary photographic material available, the cover is disappointingly poor. All of that is just me and my petty nit picking. Pay no heed. This is an essential reference work for any self respecting Bowie geek and I highly recommend it. Get it while you can!

Best book there is about Bowie's music. With each song that is covered you are able to gradually build up a view of how Bowie the artist develops. Amazing level of research and detail which you cannot find anywhere else. The writing is entertaining and as each song has it's own entry you can easily revisit specific songs of interest. Really excellent.

Libro reference su ogni singola canzone Bowie abbia messo le mani e a maggior ragione abbia composto. Inesauribile.

all you need to know about David's songs

厚い本ですが１９７６年まで終わってます。これだけ回りくどい文章ならそうなるでしょう。もっと平易に書いて。