{"product_id":"heavy-metal-islam-rock-resistance-and-the-struggle-for-the-soul-of-islam-paperback","title":"Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMark Levine\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis updated reissue of Mark LeVine's acclaimed, revolutionary book on sub- and countercultural music in the Middle East brings this groundbreaking portrait of the region's youth cultures to a new generation. Featuring a new preface by the author in conversation with the band The Kominas about the problematic connections between extreme music and Islam.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e An eighteen-year-old Moroccan who loves Black Sabbath. A twenty-two-year-old rapper from the Gaza Strip. A young Lebanese singer who quotes Bob Marley's \"Redemption Song.\" Heavy metal, punk, hip-hop, and reggae are each the music of protest, and are considered immoral by many in the Muslim world. As the young people and subcultures featured in Mark LeVine's \u003ci\u003eHeavy Metal Islam\u003c\/i\u003e so presciently predicted, this music turned out to be the soundtrack of countercultures, uprisings, and even revolutions from Morocco to Pakistan. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eHeavy Metal Islam\u003c\/i\u003e, originally published in 2008, Mark LeVine explores the influence of Western music on the Middle East and North Africa through interviews with musicians and fans, introducing us to young people struggling to reconcile their religion with a passion for music and a thirst for change. The result is a revealing tour de force of contemporary cultures across the Muslim majority world through the region's evolving music scenes that only a musician, scholar, and activist with LeVine's unique breadth of experience could narrate. A \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Editor's Pick when it was first published, \u003ci\u003eHeavy Metal Islam\u003c\/i\u003e is a surprising, wildly entertaining foray into a historically authoritarian region where music reveals itself to be a true democratizing force--and a groundbreaking work of scholarship that pioneered new forms of research in the region. \u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Quicker than you can whistle 'Rock the Casbah, ' [Mark LeVine is] on the trail of Western-influenced underground music movements that have blossomed under authoritarian regimes across the Middle East and North Africa. \u003ci\u003eHeavy Metal Islam\u003c\/i\u003e offers the hit-and-run pleasures of a lively road trip. Practicing a first-person brand of shuttle diplomacy as he moves between countries and cultures, musicians and Islamic activists, LeVine manages to unpack enough cross-cultural incongruities to mount his own mosh pit follow-up to 'You Don't Mess with the Zohan.'\"--\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"A fascinating social phenomenon. . . . [LeVine's] material is rich, as he mingles scenes of conflict with surprising moments of understanding.\"--\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"There's something irresistible about the idea that LeVine . . . not only interviewed rock and rap artists from all over the Middle East and North Africa, but also put down the notepad and got up on stage to jam with them.\"--\u003ci\u003eSlate.com \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"A deeply felt, informed volume that's both hopeful and emotionally honest. . . . LeVine does a remarkable job, sketching not only the surprising realities of the musicians, but also providing excellent historical background and terrific detail. . . . Anyone--regardless of musical preference--who wants an eye-level glimpse into the Middle East should pick up \u003ci\u003eHeavy Metal Islam\u003c\/i\u003e.\"--\u003ci\u003ePaste\u003c\/i\u003e magazine\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Using music as a prism to observe social relations, [LeVine] expertly describes the political upheaval and social confusion in the Middle East that Westerners ignore or seldom understand. This examination of the changing and evolving cultures in a key global region is highly recommended.\"--\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Alternatively inspiring and disheartening--a solid work of cross-cultural analysis.\"--\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eHeavy Metal Islam \u003c\/i\u003eis a powerful account of Muslim youth culture in the twenty-first century, tracing how young Muslims from Morocco to Pakistan forge music in the fires of empire and dictatorship. Mark LeVine is a witty, pissed-off audiohead who crisscrosses the Muslim-majority world, leaving no musical stone unturned.\"--Hisham Aidi, author of \u003ci\u003eRebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of the 2015 American Book Award \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"When LeVine wrote \u003ci\u003eHeavy Metal Islam\u003c\/i\u003e, he imagined a day when the youth of the Middle East would rise up with one voice--channeling the ethos of rock and roll and hip hop music that gives pulse to the region--and transform their world for better or worse. Now that we have seen that day come and go, LeVine's deeply personal examination of how music has given voice to both the despair and the hope of this youth generation is even more relevant than it was a decade ago.\"--Reza Aslan, author of \u003ci\u003eGod: A Human History\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"With a jolting arrangement of images and voices, LeVine powerfully upends received notions about the Middle East by exploring one of the area's least-known subcultures. Interviewing and jamming with musicians from Morocco to Pakistan--including rappers and trip-hop artists as well as metalheads--LeVine (\u003ci\u003eWhy They Don't Hate Us\u003c\/i\u003e) presents Muslims, Christians and Jews who, in the face of corruption, repression and violence, use their music to speak truth to power and carve out a space for individual expression and a new form of community. The degree of independence the musicians enjoy varies widely--from Israeli band \u003ci\u003eOrphaned Land\u003c\/i\u003e who are free of restrictions (and widely admired in the Arab metal world) to Egyptian metalheads who fear arrest and possible torture for sporting long hair. Each artist in this book struggles, on some level, for cultural and political reform, and LeVine argues that if these musicians could find a way to cooperate with progressive religious activists and the working class, they could trigger a revolution. This is a tall order, but the author's warm and intelligent examination of a reality few in the West have experienced suggests it may yet be possible.\"--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eHeavy Metal Islam\u003c\/i\u003e is a fun read, and an important one. As an American, Islam has been portrayed as the boogie man. I don't know much about the culture or musical influences. As a musician I can relate to the struggles [of] trying to write and record songs and the difficulty of finding hard rock records where they don't exist. So this was a pleasant surprise that these young artists and fans from such a different culture can enjoy the same soundtrack of my youth. I guess Lemmy is God in all languages.\" --Gilby Clarke, former guitarist for Guns N' Roses\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMark LeVine\u003c\/b\u003e is a Guggenheim-winning musician who has recorded and toured with acclaimed performers, including Mick Jagger, Chuck D, Dr. John, Ozomatli, Hassan Hakmoun, Seun and Femi Kuti, and other leading Middle Eastern and African artists. His recording on Ozomatli's album \u003ci\u003eStreet Signs\u003c\/i\u003e won a Grammy in 2005. He is also Professor of Middle Eastern and African Histories at the University of California, Irvine. His many books include \u003ci\u003eTwilight of Empire\u003c\/i\u003e, coedited with Viggo Mortensen. He is also author of \u003ci\u003eOverthrowing Geography\u003c\/i\u003e and coeditor of \u003ci\u003eOne Land, Two States\u003c\/i\u003e. His newest book, \u003ci\u003eWe'll Play till We Die\u003c\/i\u003e, is an expansive sequel to \u003ci\u003eHeavy Metal Islam, \u003c\/i\u003e covering the revolutionary era that began soon after this book was first published\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 228\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.7 x 9 x 5.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 13, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51758771011872,"sku":"9780520389380","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/483e08a8899976511defc2af5ff99789.webp?v=1780134966","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/heavy-metal-islam-rock-resistance-and-the-struggle-for-the-soul-of-islam-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}