The hardest working writer in heavy metal returns with the final volume in his Collector's Guide To Heavy Metal series. Martin Popoff's The Collector's Guide To Heavy Metal Volume 3: The Nineties wraps up the trilogy that also includes Volume 2: The Eighties and Volume 1: The Seventies.
Like the two preceeding books, this one is jam packed with reviews, this time Popoff managed to do over 3,000. They encompass everything from hair metal to death metal to black metal and everything in between. The reviews are brief and concise, which makes for much easier reading and the ability to fit in many more reviews. I prefer Popoff's review style to the lengthy, song-by-song missives loaded with meaningless adjectives and convoluted prose favored by many sites and publications.
The only quibble I have with this edition is the inclusion of a few obviously non-metal artists like Bad Company, Queen and the Sex Pistols. Overall, though, this is another fine effort. Obviously there isn't space to publish reviews of every single metal CD released in the decade, and Popoff does cover a wide spectrum of genres and artists.
Included with the book is another compilation CD of rarities from Metal Blade Records. It includes songs by artists such as Mercyful Fate, Gwar, King Diamond, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse.
