Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House

This is an instant classic for anyone who's interested in subculture, counter culture, youth culture, drug culture, dance music culture, queer culture, black culture... Basically, every marginalized movement of the last 4 or 5 decades takes its turn on the stage in this comprehensive (but still compact) book. Through Collins' approachable and assured narrative, they all merge to become milestones along a vast unified current of activism, drugs and music that has meandered along beneath the mainstream for over half a century.Collins' narrative style is perfect for the story he tells - it is a lot like listening to an engaging storyteller who is armed with a lot of facts, rather than reading a research paper. The revolutionary undercurrent in music, as he describes it, reflects a neverending quest for freedom from an inflexible government model that never really seems to change or suffer for its wrongheaded ways. The major players in the different strands of subculture that pop up to challenge it all seem to share a single aim, and their frustrations and hopes all merge over the course of the book. They almost become archetypes in Collins' retelling of events, but his sympathetic depiction of every subject's strengths and weaknesses leaves us in no doubt that these are real, ordinary people that he is talking about.Frankly the only thing I dislike about this book is that there's no 2nd volume from 1999 onwards!

This book is as much history as Lewis and Clark exploring America. It tells the real story of the scene.

This is the best book I have seen thusfar on the subject. Matthew Collin is detailed and objective...hitting on all the key elements of modern dance culture. Enjoy!Brad Owen Massive Magazine, Milwaukee

Another book on the rave scene which barely touches on anything outside of london and the hacienda. There's much better books on the subject out there.

A great read with juicy insights and accurate portrayls of a licentious slice of modern history. Pre-teens in the 1980's looked back at the psychedelic revolution of the 1960's with envy and longing so imagine our delight when by the end of the decade we were swept up in our own psycho-spiritual storm of dancing and debauchery.

The book title says it all. A comprehensively researched and very readable account of how Britain's acid house/ecstasy revolution impacted culture forever. Having embraced the diy freedom generated by acid house in the North West in 88/89, mine and so many other people's lives were changed forever. To read the perspective of non party people adds weight to.the.importance and longevity of the scene as well as illustrating the core conflict between the simplistic beauty of dance freedom open for all to.love , whilst law.makers create economic opportunities for criminals and corporates alike to exploit and tarnish that experience and utopian idealistic dream.

Rather perturbed that having only reached pg25 how the author can refer to shulgin as working for Dole Chemical Company. It was Dow. That's where he started his career. If the author can make such a huge error on such a simple fact makes me think is this book really worth reading or worth the paper it has been written on. Very poor indeed.

Great book for those ravers out there 😎