Body of Work is an engaging and informed exploration of how the album has resisted the threat of streaming and digital ubiquity. It author has long experience of working in the music business, but more importantly draws on his experience of presenting the podcast, The Art of Longevity, where he has interviewed an impressive range of musicians. Many quotes from the podcast appear in the book, along with stats and key moments such as Adele's defiance of Spotify's default shuffle feature. It is full of interesting observations like "Individual songs, untethered from albums, just weren't that interesting" and it is undeniable that there is something about the vinyl-length album which is remarkably enduring. I would have liked more focus on individual albums and what makes them appeal to the author personally, which is saved for the brief discussion of 25 albums that helped the album survive and new albums by older bands at the end of the book, which are a little bland in places. But this is a really enjoyable overview of what remains to me an important topic.

This was an interesting read that I devoured pretty quickly. It examines the album and the way it is consumed as well as well as its place in the future. I liked reading about music history and how the format of music ( vinyl, tapes, cds and streaming) progressed. I appreciated learning about how these different formats led to new challenges.. I wish there was more info on how listeners consume music but it highlighted how listeners have changed and what that means moving forward. Also liked the list at the end of albums. Although it really should have started in the 90’s. (No Lauryn Hill or Alanis?) Come on. This was a solid book on a fascinating topic that I wish was discussed more.