Very detailed and descriptive book about 90s music. Chock full of references and humour. A must read for a 90s music enthusiast.

I really feel torn on my thoughts with this book. I oscillate between joy of how Rob can go back to how he felt as a teen at the exact moment he experienced this music, how it made me smile hearing places that I too, grew up with in Ohio being mentioned, and also cringing with how it often feels like the local record store patrons telling everyone what's what about music.
I went into this book blind, having never listened to the podcast before. Im not sure if it plays out better verbally as it feels so stream of consciousness in the way its told. This is what didn't work for me. I think I expected a more journalistic approach, with a title of songs that "explain" the 90s. There wasn't any explanation of anything, as to why certain artists or songs maybe stood out against the backdrop of what was happening at the time. Instead it was just a long opinion piece of what Rob enjoyed. Which is very sweet and entertaining, just not what I expected going into the book. Fun trip down memory lane though

I fully expected to love this since I love music and the 90s was my decade in college and young adulthood. Instead I found this impossible to get through and I decided to move on to other books about 15% of the way in. I do not usually rate books that I do not finish because I think someone's opinion of a book can change as you go along. I am making an exception in this case because I did scan further into the book and did not see anything to change my stance.

Part of my issue here may be the songs that were chosen. I am a very eclectic music consumer but most of the songs are not even close to what I would choose to define the 90s. The other issue I have is in the organization. There is a "theme" (I use that word loosely) and then a stream of consciousness following said theme. This honestly make work as a podcast - escpecially if he played the songs. But as a book it was annoying and for me, frankly, boring.

Thanks to Netgalley and the published for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was just really put off by the style of the writing in the intro and skimmed a bit more of it and I think this book isn't for me. Love me some 90od 90s nostalgia but the way this is written with the constant asides and notes and extra lists and and stuff is just very off-putting for me personally. Maybe it comes across better as a podcast.

I have never heard of this podcast before. I feel like I've heard the author's name before, but I'm completely unfamiliar otherwise.

What I am, though, is a 90s child. Born in 82, all of the music featured in this book raised me. From Celine Dion and her heart to TLC and their waterfalls all the way to Pantera and their disgust with Metallica.

Not only did this book flood my brain with lyric-related memories, good and bad, big and small, it made me laugh. Oh, MAN, did it make me laugh. There is so much humor, so many pieces of trivia and behind the scenes tales I'd never heard before.

Anecdotes about songs I hated and probably always will (Looking at you, Firestarter), and songs that remain in heavy rotation and will so for the rest of my life.

This book makes me want to marathon the podcast and keep listening. And it makes me never want to lose my childhood music.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll be honest, I went into this book thinking it was written by Rob Sheffield. I would have enjoyed it more if it was. This guy just felt like he was writing in a diary or something. Some funny stuff and the nostalgia factor was great, but I didn’t care much for how the book was organized or written.

Full disclosure here: I am obsessed with popular music. I essentially memorized Joel Whitman’s Billboard Top 40 books, and I mean quite literally. If you name a song from the 60s to the early 90s, the chances are pretty good that I know the artist, the year and what number it went to on the Billboard charts. So yeah, I’m obsessed, and I snapped up this book when I saw it.

The author, Rob Harvilla, obviously knows a lot about music and has the expertise to write a book like this. And there’s some great stuff in here. I laughed out loud a bunch of times and highlighted a lot of text. However, I wish the format had been a chapter for every song. As is, the segues don’t work (at all), and the book largely reads as a chaotic, jumbled mess. It’s a shame, because this really had potential. Also, if you don’t like profanity, I’d skip this—I don’t know the amount of F-words throughout, but it’s a LOT.

One more more weird thing I noticed: He kept saying his age when a certain song came out, and it’d be different for multiple songs. Sometimes, he’d have been born in 1979 then ‘78, then ‘80 and the last one I saw was 1977. I finally deduced that Harvilla must be trolling the reader. How old are you, Rob???

3.5 stars, rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Twelve Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Delightful, poignant, touching, and drop-dead hilarious I laughed several times (out loud!) reading this. I teared up. I do wish it had been written in a more standard format (title of song in bold: several paragraphs about song follow, next title of song, etc). This is written in a way where one song description flows into the next, and I settled into it after the first chapter.

This is a perfect book for any music lover that ever made someone a mix tape or CD. 5 stars.

I was unaware that there was a podcast by the same name of this book, but after reading this book, I might start to listen.

As a 90s baby, it’s fun to revisit the songs you grew up on and learn the backstory of their creation/meaning and better understand the moment they were born out of.

Harvilla is a great writer. His writing is really something to behold. It’s got a lyrical, musical nature of its own: his inflection, his sarcastic pauses, etc all add to the depth of the material here.

Thanks to Twelve Books and NetGalley!

This book was a fun trip down memory lane. It will take twice as long to read if you crack open Youtube w/ each song Harvilla introduces to reacquaint yourself with what you loved, hated or forgot about the track. I was not fond of the author's speaking voice so found reading the book funnier and more appealing than the audio version or the podcast that spawned the book. My heart was sealed in the introduction with a take down of a band I loathe and their history of God awful song titles. Would recommend to anyone who listened to music in the 90's and think that Gen Xers (myself) and the elder Millennials will find alot to chuckle about even when they disagree.

Music has ALWAYS been my jam (pun intended). It was the most genuine way for me to express my joyfulness, sadness or frustrations. By far, the 90’s creates the best nostalgia of my youth. This book was a hilarious way to take that trip down memory lane. Definitely some of my favorite songs but with deeper, and sometimes freaking hilarious, details. This is more than just a list of the most popular songs or musicians, it’s the genuine FEELING of reminiscing those awesome days. :)

What a fun read! I'm not a big podcast listener, but I might have to check this one out. I would definitely recommend this book be put into circulation at my library.

This book isn't your typical dive, and not what I was expecting for learning about 60 songs that shaped the 90s. I struggled to read this book and felt like it was closer to sitting next to a good friend while they ramble about their special interest. That might sound rough but I did also find charming moments and quotes from it because of that. Did I have fun? no, but I think it's because I wish it was more organized and less like sitting with Rob for 2 hours nonstop. Did I laugh? Yes! Do I recommend, yes but with open eyes and more breaks.

More than just a book about explaining songs from the 90s it is about one man’s love affair with the music of that decade and the funny stories that go along with it. From his love-hate admiration and distain for Metallica to things he could say back then about women that he can’t say today to much much more it was a funny irreverent honest look my favorite thing about this book is if the author brought up a song more than likely he brought up the album it was on and other songs from that album I enjoyed this book immensely as with any music lover especially one who grew up and have fond memories of the 90’s is. I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This book was difficult to follow for me. The author pops around from one fragment of thought to another too often for me to coherently follow. I can see how it could work on a podcast, but when taking the time to sit and focus on just this, it didn’t work for me. When I thought of 60 songs to define the 90’s, many of his picks were not on it. This was my time of high school and college, so it’s still fresh on my mind and Spotify account.

Thanks to NetGalley and Twelve for an ARC of this book.

A great review of the decade using music and pop culture. Will appeal to Gen X and elder millennials who will find many of the songs are part of the soundtrack of their youth.

Harvilla does a great job of expanding his podcast and bringing his humor to the page.

OK - I have to admit - when I glanced at the title, I thought it said 60's Songs - - not 60 songs. I thought it would be interesting to see how (my) 60's songs would influence and explain the songs of the 90's. Alas - I soon discovered my mistake but as I read, I was struck by how totally different songs of the 90's are than songs of the 60's.

I liked the author's comments about how each generation thinks their music is the best (of course we all know 60's music is really the best. ha) and I think that's true. Music is the soundtrack of our lives and whatever music is popular in our high school and college years - our formative years - will always bring back memories of those times. This book will be especially enjoyable for those who were in that 90's era - - but I found it enjoyable too.

As a fan of Rob Harvilla's podcast, I was curious how this book would either serve as an addendum or possible summary of all his research on the 90s. This book is an affecting amalgamation of varying themes and takeaways on that important decade in music (I say "important" here, as I am also a child and crazy fan of the 90s). There are chapters focusing on sell-outs, band rivalries, and how we remember icons. Rob's storytelling shows how the music of our youth affects and imprints on us in unique ways. I enjoyed Rob's personal anecdotes about singing in his friends' homes, or sharing DMB for the first time in a car with his friends (a rite of passage for all high schoolers!)...but mostly, I enjoyed the additional details about a musical act's formation, or its dysfunction, or its haunting demise. There's a great deal of alluring musical history in this book, and Rob makes it an easy and fluid read. Highly recommend for the millennials and Gen X'ers.

An absolute joy to read and a terrific companion to author Rob Harvilla’s podcast covering the same topic.

Part nostalgia trip, part music theory, and part paean to the zeitgeist, this is a fun adventure down memory lane if you were alive in the ‘90s and a wonderful thinkpiece on the decade whether you actually witnessed it or not.

I really appreciated the eclecticism of music discussed, with Harvilla ranging around to just about every genre of popular music, and making some surprising connections between songs and artists that don’t necessarily appear to have much in common at first blush.

Harvilla is also just objectively hilarious, and he has a wonderful way of poking fun at singers and songs while still appreciating their contributions.

You certainly don’t need to have listened to the podcast to appreciate the book, though I recommend that you do because it’s fantastic. And fear not, fans of the pod: There’s plenty of new material in the book that hasn’t already been covered on the podcast.

An unabashedly nostalgic, immensely fun run through the music of 1990s. A must-read for anyone who had their life changed by '90s music, and I loved learning that I'm not the only one who makes "Evenflo" dad jokes.