Buy used: $15.31
FREE delivery Monday, May 6. Details
Or fastest delivery Tuesday, April 30. Details
Used: Very Good | Details
Sold by Figaro Importers
Condition: Used: Very Good
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Simon Reynolds
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Rip It Up and Start Again Paperback – January 1, 2005

by Simon Reynolds (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 273 ratings
See all formats and editions
Punk's raw power rejuvenated rock, but by the summer of 1977 the movement had become a parody of itself. RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN is a celebration of what happened next: post-punk bands like PiL, Joy Division, Talking Heads, The Fall and The Human League who dedicated themselves to fulfilling punk's unfinished musical revolution. The post-punk groups were fervent modernists. Experimenting with electronics and machine rhythm or adapting ideas from dub reggae and disco, they were totally confident they could invent a whole new future for music.
Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Faber Greatest Hits
  2. Print length
    752 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Faber & Faber
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 2005
  6. Dimensions
    6.02 x 1.38 x 9.17 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0571215696
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0571215690
  9. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Faber & Faber (January 1, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 752 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571215696
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0571215690
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.02 x 1.38 x 9.17 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 273 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Simon Reynolds

Simon Reynolds

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
273 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Erik 808
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2024
Verified Purchase
Loaded with facts and information about the post punk and new wave era. If you’re interested in these genres, I have to recommend you check it out. Well worth the read.
Helpful
 Report
Russell Craig Richardson
5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Post-Punk Encyclopaedia!
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
Simply put: it's all here. Scrupulously accurate; wide ranging and brimming with a genuine enthusiasm for the time and the music. Ever wondered why such great bands came out of Cleveland and Akron... and Manchester and Sheffield? The subject is dealt with here. Want to see how pre-punk phased into post-punk in NYC and London? It's here. Never listened to 1978 Scritti Politti? or This Heat? Or Pere Ubu or Ike Yard??? You'll want to after you read this book. Make sure you get this original edition - it's got 150 extra pages from later versions.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
M Roy Clark
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, shoddy condition
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2020
Verified Purchase
I love this book and this is the fourth copy I have owned. This is the original UK edition, so it has a couple of chapters not included in the US editions. I believe there are more photos, as well. Simon Reynolds is a great Pop Culture writer with a great ear for music and a keen ability to wrangle disparate narratives and ideas into a cohesive read. Retromania, Energy Flash, Shock & Awe, and Totally Wired are some of the best-written books of music and culture that are out there.

Sadly, despite the description of the book by its seller, it was raggedy when I got it. The cover was faded, warped, dog-eared, and pretty much "beat up from the feet up". The laminate is bubbled-up and the book is separating from the spine. I was planning on giving this as a gift, but I ended up giving away my own copy, instead.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Hans Arp
5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is an excellent and comprehensive work and simply one of my all time favorite books. Sadly, there in an American version that has many more reviews and is being savaged because the American publisher removed 200 pages worth of material from this text and made other inappropriate changes. Those reviewers should expressed their appropriate disdain for that publisher, should really include a write-up here. The prose is gripping and compelling with a sense of urgency and the information is thoroughly researched. This is a great great book.
10 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Marc Arsenault
5.0 out of 5 stars The full length version
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2019
Verified Purchase
The US edition is OK but MUCH shorter and omits a lot. Get the whole story here.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
lfoley
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good coverage of a neglected subgenre
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2013
Verified Purchase
While it doesn't cover every notable post-punk band equally or quite as inexhaustibly as other books I've read on music genres, it does a very good job and covers a wide ground. An excellent resource on this neglected subgenre of rock music that I would recommend to any fan.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
gavin
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2016
Verified Purchase
awesome
Helpful
 Report
S. Shukaitis
4.0 out of 5 stars Creative Destruction and Renewal
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2008
This is a marvelous book. I had never thought about or realized the connections and relations between all the different tendrils of post-punk, avant-garde experimentation, and new pop (although with the latter the connections are a bit disconcerting to find out). Reynolds does a great job tracing out the evolution of the different bands emerging in the wake of the 'implosion' of the first wave of punk. For me one of the most interesting aspects is finding a way to keep open and maintain the kind of creative space that punk briefly opened but could not maintain as it became reduced to cliche and formula. Of course post-punk (or for that matter any other musical genre or expression) could be subjected to the same process, all the more requiring, as the title says, ripping it up and starting again. A sort of grammar of creative destructive and renewal. I could quibble about performers that it would have been nice to hear more about (Nina Hagen, Au Pairs, the Cravats, the more experimental bands coming out of the Crass Records milieux), but Reynolds has covered so many artists so well that might be a bit rude. Although apparently I just did it all the same. Nevertheless, an excellent book, particularly for those of us like myself who spent years trawling around used record stores trying to find records by artists who is the US remained fairly obscure, and thus didn't know much of anything about the relations between them.
13 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

M Shepherd
5.0 out of 5 stars A good one
Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2021
Verified Purchase
Nice edition. Well written and some great insight.
Report
Tracey lake
5.0 out of 5 stars Lush
Reviewed in Germany on April 12, 2021
Verified Purchase
Super
Report
St. Francis of Assisi
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading for Muso's
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2020
Verified Purchase
Punk Rock tried to change music and succeeded to some degree but then fell into it's own void. They wanted to be DIY musicians, but really wanted to be noticed and become rock stars themselves. What punk did do was open up a genre that took up the mantle of DIY and ran with it.....Post Punk.

This book is engrossing and essential reading for those who were either 'there' or have interest of that particular period. I can't recommend it highly enough!
4 people found this helpful
 Report
Armand Jarri
2.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a deadpan list. Fails to tell a story
Reviewed in Spain on July 12, 2020
Verified Purchase
the author is an expert on music from that time and place. However he fails to tell an interesting story. The book reads like long (and boring) list of notes, but without a sense of narrative.
Report
Geoffrey Hunter
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on October 14, 2014
Verified Purchase
Great Thank you
Report