"Jessica Hopper's music criticism has earned her a reputation as a firebrand, a keen observer and fearless critic not just of music but the culture around it. With this volume spanning from her punk fanzine roots to her landmark piece on R. Kelly's past, The First Collection leaves no doubt why The New York Times has called Hopper's work "influential." Not merely a selection of two decades of Hopper's most engaging, thoughtful, and humorous writing, this book documents the last 20 years of American music making and the shifting landscape of music consumption. The book journeys through the truths of Riot Grrrl's empowering insurgence, decamps to Gary, IN, on the eve of Michael Jackson's death, explodes the grunge-era mythologies of Nirvana and Courtney Love, and examines emo's rise. Through this vast range of album reviews, essays, columns, interviews, and oral histories, Hopper chronicles what it is to be truly obsessed with music. The pieces in The First Collection send us digging deep into our record collections, searching to re-hear what we loved and hated, makes us reconsider the art, trash, and politics Hopper illuminates, helping us to make sense of what matters to us."-- Amazon.com viewed on May 19, 2015.

On spine: "fp14."

I have a strange relationship with music -- Chicago. Emo : where the girls aren't (July 2003) ; Chance the Rapper (June 2013) ; Viva la filthy noise! : Coughs' Secret passage (October 2006) ; Sweet things (January 2006) ; And we remain, ever so faithfully, yours (January 2006) ; Conversation with Jim Derogatis regarding R. Kelly (December 2013) -- Real/Fake. Gaga takes a trip (April 2011) ; Deconstructing Lana Del Rey (January 2012) ; Taylor Swift, Grimes and Lana Del Rey : the year in blond ambition (January 2012) ; We can't stop : our year with Miley (January 2014) ; Louder than love : my teen grunge poserdom (Spring 2005) -- Nostalgia. When The Boss went moral : Bruce Springsteen's lost album (November 2010) ; Vedderan : notes on Pearl Jam's 20th anniversary concert (September 2011) ; You're reliving all over me : Dinosaur Jr. reunites (April 2005) ; You will ache like I ache : the oral history of Hole's Live through this (April 2014) ; You know what? (April 2010) -- California. Kendrick Lamar : not your average, everyday rap savior (October 2012) ; California demise : Tyler, the Creator and EMA feel the bad vibes (2011) ; Will the stink of success ruin The Smell? (February 2009) ; Dispatches from the desert : Coachella (May 2005) -- Faith. The passion of David Razan (July 2009) ; Flirting with religion : Rickie Lee Jones (March 2007) ; Why Michael Jackson's past might be Gary, Indiana's only future (July 2009) ; Superchunk : I hate music (August 2013) ; Between the viaduct of your dreams : On Van Morrison (July 2008) -- Bad reviews. Miley Cyrus : Bangerz (October 2013) ; Nu age : Animal Collective and Bell Orchestre (November 2005) ; Tyler, the Creator : Wolf (April 2005) ; Old year's end (December 2007) ; Nevermind already : Nirvana's 20th anniversary boxset (September 2011) -- Strictly business. Punk is dead! Long live punk! : a report on the state of teen spirit from the mobile shopping mall that is the Vans Warped Tour (August 2004) ; Chief Keef (August 2013) ; Nude awakening : Suicide Girls (February 2006) ; How selling out saved indie rock (November 2013) ; Not Lollapalooza : Rollin Hunt, Screaming Females & Abe Vigoda (August 2007) -- Females. St. Vincent : Strange mercy (November 2011) ; Cat Power : Sun (September 2012) ; SWF, 45 : Mecca Normal's The observer (April 2006) ; Shouting out loud : The Raincoats (October 2009) ; Making pop for capitalist pigs : M.I.A.'s Maya (July 2010) ; There is no Guyville in Sweden : Frida Hyvonen's Until death comes (November 2006).