This book is inspired by the concept that everyone’s musical preferences are different and valid. A typical project outline led to eight years of researching and developing a book that will hopefully provoke laughter and conversation. The final product has two parts — first, a picture book with supporting text, followed by a detailed spreadsheet of recommended songs.
The author proposes a greatest artists list, using a simple formula based on the quality and quantity of songs in the collection. See who made the cut and shake your head in dismay for the great artists snubbed by the ranking exercise.
What makes a song irresistible, innovative, and memorable? In the book's second chapter, Kirk summarizes what he likes and why. From chord structure and diction to musicianship and the role of imperfection, the book explores what makes a recording memorable.
As the book project evolved, it began to mirror the author's childhood experiences with sports and science books. The first half of the book features attractive photos with extensive captions, while the big song spreadsheet is filled with data that documents a significant subset of recording history.
Based on this exercise of compiling his favorite songs, Kirk concludes that a bias exists for music from one's home town and region. In the eighth chapter of the book, he delves briefly into a futile attempt to prove this phenomenon, though the data strongly indicates the affection for the music of California, his home state.
Ever wondered why you like the music you do? Discover how your musical preferences are influenced by your personality, age, gender, location, and opinions of others.
By sharing what he likes and why, the author invites readers to draw their own conclusions about music, embrace their favorites, and pursue their own perfect music collection
Building the Perfect Music Collection is one of the few books that recommends music in terms of a large index of individual songs as opposed to a compilation of album reviews.
The crown jewel of Building the Perfect Music Collection is its playlist of over 12,400 songs, beginning with a handful of songs from the early 20th century to the present-day avalanche of choices. You'll find well-researched playlists for the all-time greats, as well as "hidden gems" that went relatively unnoticed for years when they were released. The collection continues to evolve and grow wherever interesting songs can be found.
A thought-provoking look into what goes into critiquing something and assigning subjective ratings, whether it’s golf courses, baseball players, restaurants, or music.
In a warm, conversational style, author John Kirk shares personal, loving, and quirky stories of his favorite artists and music, reminding us all of our own singular memories with favorite songs.
Follow along with John Kirk as he tells the story of assigning every song a rating, how he gradually eliminated the famous songs that he didn't love, and why he believes that being a tough grader is essential.
More than 100 photos grace the book's pages, capturing historic and intimate moments of some of the world's finest popular musicians. The process of selecting photos and matching them to the body text was a rewarding experience. In a couple of cases, acquiring the desired photo required extraordinary effort and a bit of luck.
Praise, reviews, and reflections from readers of Build the Perfect Music Collection.
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