Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock - Paperback

by Steven Hyden (Author)

National Bestseller * Named one of Rolling Stone's Best Music Books of 2018 * One of Newsweek's 50 Best Books of 2018 * A Billboard Best of 2018 * A New York Times Book Review "New and Noteworthy" selection

The author of the critically acclaimed Your Favorite Band is Killing Me offers an eye-opening exploration of the state of classic rock, 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, its 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, Steven Hyden asks.

In this mix of personal memoir, criticism, and journalism, 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?

Front Jacket

How can classic rock live on when its idols are dying all around us?

Twilight of the Gods is a bold, often humorous, and provocative book about our rock gods and the undeniable messages they leave behind. Since the 1960s, artists like the Rolling Stones, the Who, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Black Sabbath, and Bruce Springsteen have ushered the classic rock canon forward. Even groups that are no longer active--the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin--continue to wield an outsized amount of cultural capital. But no matter how entrenched these classic rockers have been, you can already see signs of their decline.

Mixing personal memoir, criticism, and journalism, Steven Hyden, author of the critically acclaimed Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me, explores the ways that classic rock changed the culture--how it established the album as music's answer to the novel and rock concerts as the secular equivalent to church--and asks whether any of these signposts can endure. He investigates the rise and fall of classic rock radio and asks whether the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is telling the right version of rock history. Twilight of the Gods explains what we can learn from rock gods and their music, and tries to answer the most important question: Is classic rock ephemeral or forever?

Back Jacket

How can classic rock live on when its idols are dying all around us?

Twilight of the Gods is a bold, often humorous, and provocative book about our rock gods and the undeniable messages they leave behind. Since the 1960s, artists like the Rolling Stones, the Who, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Black Sabbath, and Bruce Springsteen have ushered the classic rock canon forward. Even groups that are no longer active--the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin--continue to wield an outsized amount of cultural capital. But no matter how entrenched these classic rockers have been, you can already see signs of their decline.

Mixing personal memoir, criticism, and journalism, Steven Hyden, author of the critically acclaimed Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me, explores the ways that classic rock changed the culture--how it established the album as music's answer to the novel and rock concerts as the secular equivalent to church--and asks whether any of these signposts can endure. He investigates the rise and fall of classic rock radio and asks whether the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is telling the right version of rock history. Twilight of the Gods explains what we can learn from rock gods and their music, and tries to answer the most important question: Is classic rock ephemeral or forever?