1 0

    Altered State

    The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House
    • Author
      • Matthew Collin
    £12.99
    £12.99

    'The definitive story' Q MAGAZINE
    'I can't recommend this marvellous piece of work enough' IRVINE WELSH

    UPDATED WITH BRAND-NEW MATERIAL FOR 2025

    Long revered as the definitive work on Ecstasy and dance culture in the late 1980s and 1990s, Altered State follows the UK scene from its euphoric beginnings through to the worst of its commercial excesses as MDMA became a mass-market drug. Acclaimed music journalist Matthew Collin brings together a cast of memorable characters - among them DJs, gang members, promoters and policemen - to examine the myths and ideologies of this revolutionary scene, exploring the criminal underside to the blissed-out image and shedding new light one one of the most spectacular youth movements of the twentieth century.

    • Published: May 28 2026
    • Pages: 368
    • ISBN: 9781399638517
    View full details

    Press Reviews

    • IRVINE WELSH

      At last somebody has written the real history of the last ten years, and written it with such wit, verve, empathy and profound intelligence. I can't recommend this marvellous piece of work enough
    • INDEPENDENT
      Not just timely; it was crying out to be written
    • Q
      Remains the definitive story of the [1990s] love affair with MDMA and mucking about in fields just off the M25

    • BILL BREWSTER and FRANK BROUGHTON

      MIXMAG
      The first book to forensically document the acid house explosion . . . It's written with the authority of the first-hander, but what makes the book so compelling is his political perspective