[.ca] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised ... (ISBN 0743201698)

George Who?:
I own 3 editions of this work, the first dating back to pre-CD days when, it seems, there was a lot less stuff out there to review. The 1983 edition was generous enough in its pagination to include cover photos of all top (five star) reviewed albums. Succeeding editions have, necessarily to save space, cut back on the pictures (there aren't any now) and on the artists reviewed. I enjoyed this latest edition, as the reviews are new and fresh. BUT, the omissions are glaring...consider the Beatles, for example. Paul McCartney is there...John Lennon too, of course...and also Ringo in all his recorded historical glory. To my amazement, the deletion of the one who gave us Taxman, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Here Comes the Sun, and All Things Must Pass shows that the editors of this latest Guide decided George must pass too. My point being, this version of the Guide is not for completists in the loosest form of the term. For that, you need to own at least the 1st or 2nd editions as well. This one gets 3 1/2 stars which, according to the book's own rating system, means "Like a B+ movie \oit's\c often pleasurable but not necessarily memorable."