The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
I’ve been a Rick
Rubin fan for some time. What other person can lay claim to shaping the sounds
of music from the 80s and 90s that is so disparate yet essential? LL Cool J,
early Beastie Boys, Slayer’s classic 80s albums, Danzig, and Johnny Cash? I
know that some people didn’t like this book, but I really enjoyed it. I didn’t
expect Rick Rubin to solve all my problems or present the great answers to
life. Rather, he explored some ways that he works to improve creativity for
others as well as himself. I really enjoyed the format of the book as well. The
sections varied from short vignettes or examples of what he did in the studio
during recording sessions, to brief lessons or aphorisms to encourage readers
or share his philosophies. In some ways, it reminded me of Eno’s Oblique
Strategies. However, I loved reading the stories of his work as well. When else
might we hear from such a presence in music from the last 40 years or so? And
not just that Rubin was producing music, but really shaping the sounds of some
of these bands and in turn, helping to redefine the sound of some of these
genres.
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