Credit to the author for avoiding the straightforward 'making of' template of your duller 33 1/3 entries but unfortunately she never does arrive at an interesting alternative. The better 33 1/3 entries either work as almost a jumping off into something larger (Carl Wilson's Let's Talk About Love - probably the best 33 1/3 - examines the nature of good and bad taste, Douglas Wolk's Live at the Apollo feels like a lost chapter from Delillo's Underworld) or as a trip down the rabbit hole, really loving and living within the work (thinking here esp. of Franklin Bruno's Armed Forces and Eric Davis' Led Zeppelin IV, both of which abound in flourishes appropriate to their subjects). The better entries also feel like books, short books yes but nevertheless something necessitating the length, that what the author accomplishes could not have been done within the confines of a magazine. This on the other hand feels very much like a magazine article that has been expanded but not really developed. Lots of filler and many fruitless digressions. Pared down to a magazine feature the gist of an idea developed here, concerning 'collaboration' and 'process', might not seem so threadbare but here, over one hundred some odd pages, it is a bit exposed. Don't get me wrong - if you love the album you will enjoy this book but I must admit that when I finished it it felt like an opportunity had been missed.Get more detail about Brian Eno's Another Green World (33 1/3 series).
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