For my book report I read Generation Ecstasy. There was so much information in the book about the rave scene and "ecstasy", I didn"t know where to begin. It"s been ten years since the English seized on Detroit techno, Chicago house, and New York garage as the seeds of what"s generally agreed-over there, at least-to be the most significant music since punk, and they"re celebrating with a slew of historical studies. Simon Reynolds attempts to bridge the gap with "Generation Ecstasy," an exhaustive compendium of almost every rave-associated sound and idea, both half-baked and momentous, that traces the digital Diaspora...
with a little more time for editing, a streamlined master cut could be found lying within the pages somewhere. But these are minor quibbles: whether you"re curious about this music or you"ve been following it for years, this is the book to read. Ten years on, the liberatory effects of rave have been absorbed, in time-honored fashion, by corporate megaclubs, modernized pubs, and all-but institutionalized ecstasy use; whether it will have the strength to launch a back-to-basics revival, as rock and hip hop have already done, and confirm its significance alongside them, we"ll just have to wait and see.