(Part 2) Top products from r/popheads

The following is a list of good reference books that all feature a compilation of some of the most important albums, songs, artists and album art in the history of popular music. All of the books offer biographical information, discographies, critical analysis, historical context and trivia on the albums, songs and artists that they cover. As no single tome can be truly comprehensive, it's a good idea to invest in at least a couple of these books so that you'll be able to get a better picture of the most influential music of the past. Thankfully, most of the books can be found very cheaply, usually for under ten bucks for a used copy - and they're fun for any Pophead to browse to learn more about pop music.

All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide To Popular Music, 4th Edition

The Mojo Collection: The Greatest Albums of All Time... and How They Happened - Irvin/McLear
Mojo Collection (newer edition) - Irvin/McLear

101 Albums that Changed Popular Music - Chris Smith

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die - Robert Dimery

1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die: And 10,001 You Must Download - Robert Dimery

The New Rolling Stone Album Guide - Brackett/Hoard

The Rough Guide Book of Playlists, 2nd edition (Rough Guide Reference)

The Trouser Press Record Guide

1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them - Toby Creswell

Time Out 1000 Songs to Change Your Life

The Art of the LP: Classic Album Covers 1955–-1995 - Morgan/Wardle

A couple of key things that can make a difference here: finding songs that fit your personal taste, and reading informative translations.

With the lyrics, you can miss out on a lot if you don’t know the full context, meanings, wordplay, etc. For annotated translations that explain these things, I recommend Muish and Doolsetbangtan. There is more intricacy and depth to many of their lyrics than people often realize.

Speaking of their lyrics, if you’re interested in lyrical analysis and/or psychology, you can check out this podcast episode of Jungian analyst Murray Stein analyzing the translated lyrics of BTS’ most recent album Map of the Soul: Persona, which was inspired by his book about the theories of psychologist Carl Jung, also called Map of the Soul.

As for song recommendations, I suggest checking out this 25-song guide co-written by Kim Youngdae, a Korean music critic who knows their discography very well and wrote an extensive book analyzing their music. The guide includes a few sentences about each song’s style and content, so you can look through the list, see if anything catches your eye, and give it a listen. BTS’ discography is pretty diverse, so even if some songs aren't for you, you might find others that are. If not, of course that's okay too.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

this book is super interesting in regards to his beginnings (esp. re: Denniz Pop) - Katy Perry era, it was a super fun & easy read too

Moonwalk by Michael Jacksonis the book for March! Almost like a diary of Michael, it talks a bit about the Jackson 5, his plastic surgeries, and more from his personal life.

Heres an Amazon link to it, its available in hardcover, paperback, and thankfully, ebook!!

All Shook Up by Glenn C. Altschuler

This has a more historical bend to it, but it is amazing. Each chapter covers a different theme and era from the late 1940s to the early 1960s, and each chapter showcases a few revolutionary, genre-changing songs and artists. The author also made playlists to go with each chapter so you can listen to the songs he's talking about as you read. Invaluable if you want to know the history of how pop music came about, how rock n roll took hold, and also if you're interested in the history of this time period. Goes very deep into generational conflict, payola scandals, how the labels and recording companies handled everything. He also takes a VERY direct look at how important black culture was to this type of music so it's a great book for understanding race in the music industry, as well.

Love For Sale - David Hadju


A condensed look at modern music starting with the origins of Jazz to how sampling changed music. (I haven't read this in months, but I loved it)

i honestly can't remember most of what this book was about but i thought it was helpful two years ago

The Encyclopedia Madonnica... everything you wanted to know about Madonna, all in one giant compedium

y'all think you are a stan? you are not a stan of anyone because you did not create, compile and publish a 600 page Encylopedia of your fave, and then also update it 20 years later

This book which was already mentioned is a good resource on the history of Pop, including Max. Not as much about melodic math and that sort of thing. I took a class through Berkely Online and that's how I know a lot of the math stuff.

I highly recommend "How Music Got Free" by Stephen Witt. It explains the switch from recorded to streaming media via piracy from the perspective of someone who grew up on mp3s.

It's the record label guys, Read this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Hit-Men-Brokers-Inside-Business/dp/0679730613

27: A History of the 27 Club