Paperback, 1990, Pantheon Books, ISBN 0-679-73015-X, 514 pages

From back cover (original edition):
Robert Christgau has earned his place as America's foremost rock critic by distilling enthusiastic nonstop listening into incisive, knowledgeable, sometimes hilarious judgments.

Christgau's guide to the records of the 1980s, the first and only book to survey the decade's popular music, reviews and letter-grades some 3,000 albums. His search for exciting music is wide-ranging, not just what is narrowly defined as "rock,", but also pop, country, rap, blues, rock-related jazz, and the panoply of world musics, especially reggae and African genres.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction Decade Music Processing Postpunk-Postdisco Fusion The Meaning of Rock Music Gap Canons and Listening Lists How to Use This Book Consumer Guide--Albums of the '80s    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Appendices How to Use These Appendices Subjects for Further Research Distinctions Not Cost-Effective Meltdown New Wave Compilations Rock Library: Before 1980 The A Lists    1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Glossary Credits

Corrigenda
The Parts They Left Out

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