Early life and Blissed Out (1990) Reynolds was born in
London in 1963 and grew up in
Berkhamsted. Inspired by his younger brother Tim, he became interested in rock and specifically punk in 1978. In the early 1980s, he attended
Brasenose College at the
University of Oxford. After graduating, in 1984 he co-founded the Oxford-based pop culture journal
Monitor with his friends and future
Melody Maker colleagues Paul Oldfield and
David Stubbs along with Hilary Little and Chris Scott. Pieces from this late Eighties era would form the remixed collection
Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock, published in 1990.
Freelance and Energy Flash (1998) In 1990, Reynolds left the staff of
Melody Maker (although he would continue to contribute to the magazine until 1996) and became a
freelance writer, splitting his time between London and New York. In the early 1990s, he became involved in
rave culture and the
electronic dance music scene, particularly that of the UK, and became a
writer on the development of what he would later conceptualise as the "
hardcore continuum" along with its surrounding culture such as pirate radio. In late 1994, Reynolds moved to the
East Village in
Manhattan. In 1995, with his wife,
Joy Press, Reynolds co-authored ''The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock 'n' Roll
, a critical analysis of gender in rock. In 1998 Reynolds became a senior editor at Spin'' magazine in the US. In 1999, he returned to freelance work. In 2013, a second expanded update of
Energy Flash was published, with new material on the rise of
dubstep to worldwide popularity and the EDM or
Electronic Dance Music explosion in America.
Rip It Up and Start Again (2005) and Retromania (2011) In 2005, Reynolds released
Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984, a history of the
post-punk era. In 2007, Reynolds published
Bring the Noise: 20 Years of Writing about Hip Rock and Hip Hop in the UK, a collection of his writing themed around the relationship between white bohemian rock and black street music. In 2008, an updated edition of
Energy Flash was published, with new chapters on the decade of dance music following the appearance of the first edition. In 2009, a companion volume to
Rip It Up and Start Again was published,
Totally Wired: Postpunk Interviews and Overviews, containing interview transcripts and new essays. In 2011, Reynolds published ''Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past'', a critical investigation into what he perceives as the current situation of chronic retrogression in pop music, with a focus on the effects of the internet and digital culture on music consumption and musical creativity.
Shock and Awe (2016) to present Reynolds's eighth book, a history of the
glam rock era,
Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, was published in October 2016. In 2026 announced the publication of
Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention Of Rock, 1984–1994, a new book covering "the rise of
shoegaze,
slacker rock,
grunge and
dream pop", according to The Quietus. In addition to writing books, Reynolds has continued freelancing for magazines, giving lectures, writing liner notes, and appearing in music documentaries. He resides in
Los Angeles. ==Critical style==