If you've ever wondered how or why anyone becomes a critic, some of the answers are in Music in a Word Volume 1, an anthology-cum-memoir by veteran music journalist and Trouser Press magazine co-founder Ira Robbins. The first of three volumes collects articles, essays, album and concert reviews, previously unpublished interviews and other writing mingled with colorful recollections of 50 years spent on a musical soapbox. Profusely illustrated with images from the author's archive.