Previous ed.: c1998.

Includes index.

Acknowledgements -- Author's note -- Preface to the updated edition -- Intro -- Everything starts with an E : ecstasy and rave music -- A tale of three cities : Detroit techno, Chicago house and New York garage -- Living a dream : acid house and UK rave, 1988-1989 -- Twenty-four hour party people: Manchester, positivity and the rave 'n' roll crossover -- 'Ardkore, you know the score : the second wave of rave, 1990-92 -- Fight for your right to party : spiral tribe and the crusty-raver movement -- Feed your head : intelligent techno, ambient and trance -- Slipping into darkness : the UK rave dream turns to nightmare, 1992-93 -- The future sound of Detroit : underground resistance, +8, and Carl Craig -- This sound is for the underground : pirate radio -- Roots 'n future : jungle takes over London -- Marching into madness : gabba and happy hardcore -- America the rave : US rave culture, 1990-1997 -- Sounds of paranoia : trip hop, tricky and pre-millennium tension -- War in the jungle : intelligent drum and bass versus techstep -- Digital psychedelia : sampling and the soundscape -- Fuck dance, let's art : the post-rave experimental fringe -- In our angelhood : rave culture as spiritual revolution -- Outro : nineties house, speed garage and big beat -- Trance mission : the late-nineties resurgence of trance -- Two steps beyond : UK garage and 2step -- In the mix : DJ culture and remixology -- Back to the future : retro-electo, nu-wave and the eighties revival -- Crisis and consolidation : an overview of rave culture's second decade -- Flashbacks : a dialogue with the author.

Describes the house music and drug use that created the rave culture of the 1990s, chronicling the musical and social history of the time through interviews with musicians, scene-makers, and participants.