Daisy Jones & the Six review: glossy Amazon drama about a 1970s rock band
The series has ‘the style and glamour’ of the book, but it feels a bit flat

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s 2019 bestseller Daisy Jones & the Six was about the “exuberant rise and chaotic fall“ of a 1970s band that seemed to be based on Fleetwood Mac, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. The novel felt “made for television”; the rights were “duly snapped up” and it has now been turned into a glossy ten-part series for Amazon Prime.
Riley Keough plays Daisy Jones, a “charismatic singer-songwriter” who joins a band from Pittsburgh made up of childhood friends. They begin playing in “dingy clubs”, and learn to navigate the treacherous waters of the music industry. The series has “the style and glamour” of the book – “everyone and everything in it looks ceaselessly gorgeous”, and it’s fun to watch. But it feels a bit flat, because you don’t really care about the characters.
The series’s big problem, said Hugo Rifkind in The Times, is that it is “not cool. Not nearly.” It offers up “those eternal rock’n’roll handmaidens of drugs and nasty sex”, but it just feels like “cosplay”. Somewhere along the way, the story has lost its “dirty soul”, and the result is a “pastiche that doesn’t understand the thing it is pastiching”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It didn’t work for me either, said Lili Loofbourow in The Washington Post. “The music really is fun”, but “the politics of the period are surgically stripped out, the dialogue feels quite contemporary”, and the actors fail to capture what young stardom is like. It tries hard to portray a vibe, but it doesn’t feel it.
Watch on Amazon Prime Video
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Laura Lippman's 6 favorite books for those who crave a high-stakes adventure
Feature The Grand Master recommends works by E.L. Konigsburg, Charles Portis, and more
-
Book reviews: 'Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream' and 'Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television'
Feature Private equity and the man who created 'I Love Lucy' get their close-ups
-
Can Texas redistricting save the US House for the GOP?
Today's Big Question Trump pushes a 'ruthless' new plan, but it could backfire
-
Laura Lippman's 6 favorite books for those who crave a high-stakes adventure
Feature The Grand Master recommends works by E.L. Konigsburg, Charles Portis, and more
-
Book reviews: 'Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream' and 'Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television'
Feature Private equity and the man who created 'I Love Lucy' get their close-ups
-
Lemon and courgette carbonara recipe
The Week Recommends Zingy and fresh, this pasta is a summer treat
-
Oasis reunited: definitely maybe a triumph
Talking Point The reunion of a band with 'the power of Led Zeppelin' and 'the swagger of the Rolling Stones'
-
Kiefer / Van Gogh: a 'remarkable double act'
The Week Recommends Visit this 'heroic' and 'absurd' exhibition at the Royal Academy until 26 October
-
Mark Billingham shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The novelist and actor shares works by Mark Lewisohn, John Connolly and Gillian Flynn
-
Properties of the week: grand rural residences
The Week Recommends Featuring homes in Wiltshire, Devon, and East Sussex
-
Heads of State: 'a perfect summer movie'
The Week Recommends John Cena and Idris Elba have odd-couple chemistry as the US president and British prime minister