Main Lines, Blood Feasts and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader
July 21, 2006
"Main Lines, Blood Feasts and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader" by Lester Bangs
Anchor, 2003
Lester Bangs is one of those writers anyone who writes about rock 'n' roll will eventually get around to. Though an acerbic, irreverent blowhard, he never let himself be trapped by the persona he created, often crafting literate, well-thought pieces about some of the best popular music of his time. Until this collection was released, the only available source of Bangs' work for most people was the Greil Marcus-edited "Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung," an excellent collection hampered by Marcus's pompous introduction and his editorial cherry picking. Avoiding pieces on more popular bands, he chose articles and reviews that allowed him to fit Bangs into his own preconceived notion of him. In "Main Lines," editor John Morthland acts with a little more humility, letting Bangs hang out in all his glory. Articles on Dylan, the Stones and Black Sabbath sit along with the more obscure works, showing a side of Bangs "PSCD" avoided (his ferocious slam of Dylan's "Desire" album should be required reading for rock critics and his article on Sabbath shows an intelligent, thoughtful Ozzy Osbourne that has been forgotten in the haze of drugs and television camp over the past few decades). A great collection, and necessary reading for those interested in rock writing.
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