Before his untimely death in 1982, Lester Bangs was inarguably the most
influential critic of rock and roll. Writing in hyper-intelligent
Benzedrine prose that calls to mind Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson,
he eschewed all conventional thinking as he discussed everything from
Black Sabbath being the first truly Catholic band to Anne Murray's
smoldering sexuality. In Mainlines, Blood Feasts, Bad Taste fellow
rock critic John Morthland has compiled a companion volume to
Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, the first, now classic
collection of Bangs's work. Here are excerpts from an autobiographical
piece Bangs wrote as a teenager, travel essays, and, of course, the
music pieces, essays, and criticism covering everything from titans like
Miles Davis, Lou Reed, and the Rolling Stones to esoteric musicians like
Brian Eno and Captain Beefheart. Singularly entertaining, this book is
an absolute must for anyone interested in the history of rock.