Reversing Into The Future: New Wave Graphics 1977–1990

I gave copies of Reversing Into the Future to friends and family who came of age during the era of Andrew Krivine's amazing and comprehensive collection of music posters that express the times in art, music, and lyrics. The books are coffee-table worthy for their graphics, but should be read and savored for the complete history of the eighties and nineties as expressed by those who created the vibe of times and its art. I highly recommend Reversing Into The Future for sheer enjoyment, reflection on recent history, and simply to page through and enjoy the art. Kudos to Mr Krivine for a magnificent contribution to current history.-EH

Wonderful and well thought out graphic snapshot of new wave graphics. I remember seeing many of these flyers and artwork at record stores and clothing stores in NYC. Glad I got it! I enjoyed reading it as well - not just the imagery.

This catalog of Andrew Krivine's collection is great for the casual fan and the specialized academic. Krivine's collection is among the best and most comprehensive in the world, and his passion comes through in the detailed photographs, essays, and stories. Can't recommend it enough!

A totally enjoyable and fascinating nostalgic read. Visually stunning! I had purchased the author’s “Too Fast to Live” a year ago and found this as a great companion book. Both are connected to an interesting backstory of an obsessed collector. I bought it for myself, but it would have made a great Father’s Day gift. My kids bought me socks again!

This is a follow-up to the same author's "Too Fast To Live: Punk and Post-Punk Graphics", offering a dauntingly large but irresistible overview of New Wave graphics. As such, it's a lot of fun and punches many of the same nostalgic (for an age yet to come?) button, but it's not quite as satisfying. That's probably because of the lack of clarity about what "New Wave" actually means. Many Americans think Noowave, as they always called it, was a Thing, and a Thing that lasted well past the mid-point of the eighties. On this side of the Atlantic, we snort at that idea, and think of New Wave as either a loose term to point at all the music that wasn't punk but which punk opened up space for, or, more cynically, a marketing term made up by record companies to sell punk to softies, and especially to American softies. We, of course, are correct with either or both of our definitions. As we are in thinking that if it was anything at all, it was all over by the time the Specials broke up in mid-1981 and the horrors of New Pop fell upon us.The book recognises this dichotomy by splitting it into American and UK sections. The opening text in the American section is hilarious as it ties itself into knots trying to define something indefinable. The opening text in the British section is much more sensible, because it uses "new wave" loosely and descriptively rather than tightly and prescriptively as the Yanks do.Still, hands across the ocean and all that. The text is secondary anyway. We're all here for the pictures, aren't we? As with the earlier book, they're mostly drawn from the personal archives of Andrew Kerivine (American himself, but culturally he straddles the Atlantic) which, for folks of a certain age, can only be considered one of the wonders of the modern world. His vast archives contain record sleeves, gig posters, flyers, press ads, record company promotional materials, fanzines and doubtless many other things I haven't thought of. The range of artists covered is enormous and eclectic. Consequently, the book is a wonder for the eyes. Although some of the pleasure given to the reader is due to a nostalgia which we'd have scorned at the time (partly for vague ideological reasons, and partly because we were too young to feel nostalgic about anything other than kids' TV and Aztec bars), it's also because many of the materials shown are triumphs of design and what was strikingly modern at the time still feels so in a surprising number of cases. They're delightfully diverse and imaginative, and while some of them are just a bit "off", even those have a kitsch charm in the way they don't quite work. As with the previous book, cries of "Oh look, I remember that!" and "Yeessss!!!" are common. Especially in the UK section. Meanwhile, the US section allows us to feel superior to them for not quite getting it. Well, to be fair, that applies to both sections, but UK readers will definitely feel they messed up more often than we did.Each of the two big chunks of the book (US, UK) is structured in a similar way. After an introductory essay (as discussed, the US one is a bit desperate, while the UK one is more shrewd), the bands are discussed in alphabetical order, interspersed by themed essays on specific sub-trends in both music and design. It's an effective approach that provides a good framework without being too restrictive.The whole thing is diverting to say the least - you can lose yourself in it for hours - and admirably comprehensive. In terms of achieving its objectives, it does so with considerable elan, and the only reason I'm giving it four rather than five stars is because I'm measuring it against the almost impossibly high standards of the previous book.

Absolute fantastic well produced & informative book, With a well placed price point, If you are a fan of punk post/punk artwork this is the book for you !!!!

El libro llegó en la fecha indicada y con el envoltorio exterior en perfecto estado. Pero al abrir el cartón de Amazon, he visto que la tapa dura del libro tiene bastantes arañazos, algunos de los cuales bastante profundos. Entiendo que al tratarse de un material que está en un almacén, está sujeto a este tipo de golpes y rascadas, pero hubiera preferido que el libro viniera en percecto estado.El libro es una pasada.