Twilight of the Gods
A Journey to the End of Classic Rock
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Narrated by:
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Patrick Lawlor
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By:
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Steven Hyden
About this listen
The author of the critically acclaimed Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me offers an eye-opening and frank assessment of the state of classic rock, assessing its past and future, the impact it has had, and what its loss would mean to an industry, a culture, and a way of life.
Since the late 1960s, a legendary cadre of artists - including the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Black Sabbath, and The Who - has revolutionized popular culture and the sounds of our lives. While their songs still get airtime and some of these bands continue to tour, idols are leaving the stage permanently. Can classic rock remain relevant as these legends die off, or will this major musical subculture fade away as many have before?
In this mix of personal memoir, criticism, and journalism, Steven Hyden stands witness as classic rock reaches the precipice. Traveling to the eclectic places where geriatric rockers are still making music, he talks to the artists and fans who have aged with them, explores the ways that classic rock has changed the culture, investigates the rise and fall of classic rock radio, and turns to live bootlegs, tell-all rock biographies, and even the liner notes of rock’s greatest masterpieces to tell the story of what this music meant, and how it will be remembered, for fans like himself.
Twilight of the Gods is also Hyden’s story. Celebrating his love of this incredible music that has taken him from adolescence to fatherhood, he ponders two essential questions: Is it time to give up on his childhood heroes, or can this music teach him about growing old with his hopes and dreams intact? And what can we all learn from rock gods and their music - are they ephemeral or eternal?
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Yngwie Malmsteen's revolutionary guitar style - combining elements of classical music with the speed and volume of heavy metal - made him a staple of the 80s rock scene. Decades later, he's still a legend among guitarists, having sold 11 million albums and influenced generations of rockers since. In Relentless, Malmsteen shares his personal story, from the moment he burst onto the scene seemingly out of nowhere in the early 80s to become a household name in the annals of heavy metal.
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Bloviations
- By David A. Kaplowitz on 12-29-19
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All These Things That I've Done
- My Insane, Improbable Rock Life
- By: Matt Pinfield, Mitchell Cohen
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Matt Pinfield is the ultimate music fan. He's the guy who knows every song, artist, and musical riff ever recorded, down to the most obscure band's B-side single on its vinyl-only EP import. As a child, music helped Pinfield make sense of the world. Later he would approach his music idols after concerts and explain why he loved their music. As an adult, rock music inspired his career, fueled relationships, and, at times, became a life raft.
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great listen
- By nilda v. on 08-28-20
By: Matt Pinfield, and others
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Never a Dull Moment
- 1971 - the Year That Rock Exploded
- By: David Hepworth
- Narrated by: David Hepworth
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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On New Year's Eve, 1970, Paul McCartney told his lawyers to issue the writ at the High Court in London, effectively ending The Beatles. You might say this was the last day of the pop era. The following day, which was a Friday, was 1971. You might say this was the first day of the rock era. And within the remaining 364 days of this monumental year, the world would hear Don McLean's "American Pie", The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar", The Who's "Baba O'Riley", Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", and more.
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A blast from the past
- By Amazon Customer on 07-30-16
By: David Hepworth
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Unchained
- The Eddie Van Halen Story
- By: Paul Brannigan
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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From the moment their hugely influential 1978 debut landed, Van Halen set a high bar for the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, creating an entirely new style of post-'60s hard rock and becoming the quintessential rock band of the 1980s. But the high-flying success was fraught with difficulty, as Eddie struggled with alcohol and drug addiction while simultaneously battling David Lee Roth over the musical direction of the band, eventually taking the band in an entirely new direction with Sammy Hagar and scaling new heights, before that iteration of Van Halen disintegrated.
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Please don't read other audible books
- By Mike on 02-01-22
By: Paul Brannigan
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Keith Richards
- The Unauthorised Biography
- By: Victor Bockris
- Narrated by: Adrian Mulraney
- Length: 20 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1992, Victor Bockris' celebrated biography was the first to recognize Richards' pivotal role in the legend of the Rolling Stones. Now that book on rock's most incredible survivor has been expanded. Here are the true facts behind Richards' battles with his demons: the women, the drugs and the love-hate relationship with Jagger. His struggle with heroin and his status as the rock star most likely to die in the 1970s. His scarcely believable rebirth as a family man in the 1980s. Illuminated with revealing quotes and thoughtful insights into the man behind the band that goes on forever.
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doesn't comapre to LIFE
- By A. Garofalo on 02-20-14
By: Victor Bockris
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Uncommon People
- The Rise and Fall of The Rock Stars
- By: David Hepworth
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The age of the rock star, like the age of the cowboy, has passed. Like the cowboy, the idea of the rock star lives on in our imaginations. What did we see in them? Swagger. Recklessness. Sexual charisma. Damn-the-torpedoes self-belief. A certain way of carrying themselves. Good hair. Interesting shoes. Talent we wished we had. What did we want of them? To be larger than life but also like us. To live out their songs. To stay young forever. No wonder many didn't stay the course.
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INSIGHTFULL!
- By CLAUDIA R KENNEDY on 02-18-18
By: David Hepworth
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Small Town Talk
- Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock
- By: Barney Hoskyns
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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When musicians in the New York folk scene of the 1960s grew tired of city life, they decided to "get it together in the country". They headed for Woodstock - not to the site of the infamous music festival of 1969 but to the Catskills, to Bearsville, to Woodstock proper. Counterculture revolutionaries like Janis Joplin, Richie Havens, and Paul Butterfield got "back to the land", turning the once sleepy hollow into a funky Shangri-La.
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Captured the era - too many mistakes
- By Frank Canino on 04-17-16
By: Barney Hoskyns
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Everybody Wants Some
- The Van Halen Saga
- By: Ian Christe
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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How did a pair of little Dutch boys trained in classical music grow up to become the nucleus of the most popular heavy metal band of all time? What's the secret behind Eddie Van Halen's incredible fast and furious guitar solos? What makes David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar so wacky? And, are all those stories about groupies, booze bashes, and contract riders true? The naked truth is laid bare in Everybody Wants Some - the real-life story of a rock 'n' roll fantasy come true.
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Good details of albums and post-1984 career
- By IndyMATT on 12-30-18
By: Ian Christe
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When Giants Walked the Earth
- A Biography of Led Zeppelin
- By: Mick Wall
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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They were the last great band of the '60s and the first great band of the '70s. They rose, somewhat unpromisingly, from the ashes of the Yardbirds to become one of the biggest-selling rock bands of all time - and eventually paid the price for it, with disaster, drug addiction, and death.
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Very annoying but tolerable for serious fans.
- By M. Allen on 08-14-19
By: Mick Wall
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Catch a Wave
- The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson
- By: Peter Ames Carlin
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In Catch a Wave, Peter Ames Carlin pulls back the curtain on Brian Wilson, one of popular music's most revered luminaries, as well as its biggest mystery. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and never-before heard studio recordings, Carlin follows the Beach Boys from their earliest days through Brian's deepening emotional problems to his triumphant re-emergence with the release of Smile, the legendarily unreleased album he had originally shelved.
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Not great
- By J. Barker on 08-08-16
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Torment Saint
- The Life of Elliott Smith
- By: William Todd Schultz
- Narrated by: Travis Young
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Elliott Smith was one of the most gifted songwriters of the 90s, adored by fans for his subtly melancholic words and melodies. The sadness had its sources in life. There was trauma from an early age, years of drug abuse, and a chronic sense of disconnection that sometimes seemed self-engineered. Smith died violently in LA in 2003, under what some believe to be questionable circumstances, of stab wounds to the chest. By this time fame had found him, and record-buyers who shared the listening experience felt he spoke directly to them from beyond: astute, damaged, lovelorn, fighting, until he could fight no more.
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Almost interesting, often overwrought, poorly read
- By PerpetualGeorge on 01-27-14
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Let’s Go Crazy
- Prince and the Making of Purple Rain
- By: Alan Light
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Purple Rain is a song, an album, and a film - each one a commercial success and cultural milestone. How did this semiautobiographical musical masterpiece that blurred R&B, pop, dance, and rock sounds come to alter the recording landscape and become an enduring touchstone for successive generations of fans?
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A Must-Read For Any PRINCE Fan
- By Bryan K. Chavez on 05-06-16
By: Alan Light
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What listeners say about Twilight of the Gods
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- PK
- 01-21-22
a nice perspective
wonderful book about a section of rock history and how it has changed and is changing still. This book explains the philosophy and challenges of what clasic rock is and where it came from. Fun for any music fan who wants to think a little deeper about the evolution and decline of rock music.
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- Andrew Hitz
- 08-13-19
Fantastic book!
Whether you are a fan of rock or just a music fan, this is a must-read.
I learned new things about even the artists and albums I've been obsessed with for decades. Hyden is a master storyteller. I will be listening to this again soon.
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- Erwin
- 05-12-23
Entertaining book about classic rock, except for the gratuitous woke BS at the end
Good stories and insights on classic rock, but spoiled by tagging on a gratuitous, unnecessary, and sour woke chapter
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- Brad
- 12-23-18
The Longest "Rolling Stone" article that "Rolling Stone" never published
I suppose “Classic Rock”, so called, will be forever haunted by its Ur Nemesis, “Rolling Stone”; a pitiful magazine that assumed early on the role of “Star Maker”. Rolling Stone magazine knew better than you did of what you should pay attention to. Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced” was panned in the very first issue.
The author, Steven Hyden, seems to have read one too many issues of Rolling Stone. Listening to this is like listening to 8 hours of that magazine. He does have a flair for the vibe of that rag. The vibe? It goes like this: Take whatever artist is raking in the most money at the moment from the sales of their records and concerts, then assign someone to follow them around for — oh, about a week, and then write an article about why the fact that you, and everybody like you, are a fool for digging this artist, band, etc. “Rolling Stone” will tell you what is cool.
And in that way Steven Hyden, too, will try to do the same. The author gets credit for… for trying? I must give him some slack simply for being too damn young for the job - if not in Earth years, than certainly in years of some other kind. Steven. You weren’t there man!
The author gets everything right. He gets everything right because he parrots perfectly everything he was brainwashed to say and think about this music. But, ultimately, he gets everything completely wrong. Or rather, he simply doesn’t get it… period. In a word, he likes all the right stuff for all the wrong reasons.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Erik A. Ritland
- 12-01-20
Good stuff...for the most part
Great book. Funny, informative, interesting, and thought-provoking.
Except for the forced political pandering in one chapter and at the end. Skip that chapter and the last ten minutes and you’ll be gold.
And I’m a fan of things being wrapped up and seeing how a whole comes together. Oh well. Courtney Barnett sucks and music is good or bad because it’s good or bad, not because of the sex or sexual preference or race of the person singing. Propping up terrible writers like Courtney Barnett only cheapens the rock brand, makes it less interesting to converts, and makes it impossible for the next Janis Joplin or Patti Smith to get noticed - or to get judged based on their merits, not their plumbing fixtures.
Sad!
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- Michael Simmelink
- 11-29-21
Loved the introspection
I thought Hyden was awesome here. Validating without placating. Recommending to two friends tonight
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- Luke Brown
- 01-19-23
Excellent book
While I found the performers voice a bit annoying, Hyden proved once again to be a genuinely insightful critic no matter which topic he chooses to focus on.
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- IndyMATT
- 12-03-23
Enjoyably mediocre
If you think you might like this book, go ahead and get it. The author does a great job of covering the cultural context, history, and impact of classic rock. It will remind you of what it was like to hear and see all these bands for the first time. Predictably, the author offers up a number of assertions and opinions that you won’t agree with or see the same way. I came to appreciate it, because even that aspect kept me engaged. Lastly, terrible narration — what trying too hard sounds like.
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- Scott Rose
- 07-23-19
If you love Classic Rock, you have to read this book
The author covers the entire spectrum of classic rock from the Beatles and the stones through the Dead and Dylan and all the way up to current day. His anecdotes about Springsteen and prince are priceless and I’ve learned more things about classic rock from this book than anything I’ve ever read in Rolling Stones. A true must read for any fan of classic rock.
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- Dave
- 05-17-18
An important book that is a must read for any real music lover
What an accomplishment. A book I’ll definitely revisit a few more times throughout the years just to be reminded of why music matters so much.
Thank you
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4 people found this helpful