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Van Der Graaf Generator
Every Album, Every Song
by Dan Coffey
Part of the On Track series
No progressive rock band could ever be said to be a household name, but Van der Graaf Generator, who celebrated their fiftieth anniversary in 2018, rarely enjoyed that distinction even in the households of many prog fans. VdGG, and the band's main creative force, Peter Hammill, only really had one foot in prog, the other pivoted between more straight-ahead rock, wild experimentation, and at times, brutal noise. While VdGG's initial run ended prematurely, the band eventually came full-circle, reforming in 2005 and still going strong. Both Hammill and VdGG have been lauded as musicians' musicians by such luminaries as Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Julian Cope, Mark E. Smith, and Johnny Rotten. This book will explore what these musicians, and legions of dedicated fans, found so inspiring over the years: all of the VdGG albums, including Pawn Hearts and Godbluff as well as several solo Hammill albums crucial to the VdGG story, are discussed in these pages, including a handful of essential live recordings, experiments, and collaborations. Nothing like this analysis of the band has been published before, and this book will prove an invaluable guide for navigating the Van der Graaf Generator sonic labyrinth. Dan Coffey is a librarian, critic, and poet. He has written extensively on experimental and avant-garde music for Avant Music News, Stereo Embers and Perfect Sound Forever, as well as publishing numerous book reviews for Foreword Magazine. He once interviewed VdGG in an electrical storm! Coffey lives in Iowa with his wife and son, and his ever-growing record collection.
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Iron Maiden On Track
Every Album, Every Song
by Steve Pilkington
Part of the On Track series
Mention the words' heavy metal' and chances are one of the first names you'll get back is Iron Maiden. From their early days as front-runners of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in 1980, through to their epic and progressive works of more recent times, the band have been 'all things to all men' in the metal world. Such is their profile that even the non-metal fan would probably cite them as a key example of the genre. This book lifts the lid on every single track recorded by the band, album by album, from the punk-ish debut with original vocalist Paul DiAnno, via the glory years fronted by Bruce Dickinson, through to the sprawling double-disc epic Book Of Souls.
By way of facts, anecdotes, analysis and a dollop of opinion, Steve Pilkington provides both an informative companion for the die-hard fan and a perfect roadmap for the more casual listener to follow. From 'Prowler' to 'Empire Of The Clouds', through each and every line-up change, this is every Number recorded by The Beast, the ultimate recording history of Iron Maiden.
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Crosby, Stills and Nash
Every Album, Every Song
by Andrew Wild
Part of the On Track series
The music of Crosby, Stills and Nash and especially their 1969 self-titled debut album, exemplified the Woodstock generation — three men, three voices, one common view of freedom and justice. However, their decision to recruit Neil Young before their first public performance fundamentally altered the CSN band dynamic. Worldwide acclaim and success followed: their first three albums, released 1969-1971, have sold almost 30 million copies. In 1974 they embarked on the biggest stadium tour then attempted, playing baseball and football stadiums and racetracks across the US to thousands of fans. They were also pop stars, securing nine top 40 singles in the USA between 1969 and 1982. And yet today, with Neil Young regarded as a musical legend, via a classic back catalogue, his colleagues Crosby, Stills and Nash, remain far less acclaimed.
They comprised Crosby: the drug-addled hippy with weird songs and golden voice, Stills: the bluesman and guitar genius and Nash: the hard-as-nails balladeer with a strong social conscience. Together, at their best, they were unbeatable. This book tells you why, aiming to set things straight, with an album by album analysis of CSN's five studio albums, as well as the three they made with Neil Young.
Andrew Wild is a music collector and experienced writer with nine books to his name. His books include The Solo Beatles (Sonicbond 2020) and Queen On Track (Sonicbond 2018). He lives in Rainow, Cheshire, UK.
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Thin Lizzy On Track
Every Album, Every Song
by Graeme Stroud
Part of the On Track series
Thin Lizzy emerged as a four-piece in Dublin as the 1960s drew to a close, when guitarist Eric Bell and keyboard player Eric Wrixon, both from Belfast, encountered a band named Orphanage, which included Dubliners Brian Downey on drums and charismatic frontman Philip Lynott. The band evolved through a number of incarnations, through psychedelic power trio of the early years via classic four-piece guitar-toting rockers of the Live And Dangerous era, and ending with their incarnation as heavy metal heroes. With the ever-present Lynott and Downey at its core, Thin Lizzy rose to become one of the most powerful and iconic rock bands in Europe, before the erosive effects of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle took their toll.
This book presents a history of the band through its music. It covers every song released through official channels, presented in context. From the difficult early years of the early 1970s, which did produce the surprise hit single 'Whisky In The Jar', via their breakthrough album Jailbreak and the heavy rock excesses of the early 1980s, this book follows the evolution of Thin Lizzy and its stellar cast of guitarists, from start to finish, through their music, track by glorious track.
Graeme Stroud is a musician and writer, having played lead guitar in bands and also solo projects since the 1970s. He has written on websites and blogs on many subjects, both musical and non-musical, for several years. He was a reviewer, interviewer and feature writer for Rock Society magazine for five years, specialising in the blues and rock genres. Since 2019, he has performed interviews and written feature articles, gig and album reviews for the rock website VelvetThunder.com. His first book, Status Quo — Song By Song was published in 2017. He lives in Kent, UK.
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Toto on track
Every album, every song
by Jacob Holm Lupo
Part of the On Track series
Turn on the radio anytime, anywhere in the world, and sooner or later you will hear 'Africa'. Along with just a handful of songs by other artists, Toto's worldwide hit is one of the most ubiquitous musical works of our time, written by a group of musicians who grew up together in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. Together they helped define the sound of the late 70s and 80s, appearing on numerous hit records by Michael Jackson, Boz Scaggs and Steely Dan.
But it was together, as Toto, that they found their true form, fashioning a fine blend of funk, hard rock, pop and progressive rock. 'Hold the Line', 'Rosanna' and 'Pamela' are just a few of their other iconic hits. However, from the early days, Toto were a target for the music press, who disdained their slick chops and polished sound — all at odds with the post-punk and new wave aesthetics prevalent at the time. Yet Toto have always persevered, driven by their love for the music, and their fans' love for them. Lately, Toto has been riding a renewed wave of popularity — fuelled by hard touring — not to mention a belated restitution from the rock media.
This book discusses each of their albums in detail, track by track, from their smash-hit debut to 2015's magnificent Toto XIV.
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Inxs
by Manny Grillo
Part of the On Track series
Between their formation in 1977 and retirement as a band in 2012, INXS went from pub band to world fame with their unique hybrid of rock, pop and funk. Despite soaking up a vast number of influences along the way, INXS transcended all specific music genres to become unique and, along the way, sold tens of millions of albums worldwide.
The hit singles, including 'Need You Tonight', 'Never Tear US Apart' and 'Suicide Blonde' amongst many others, have seeped into popular culture. At the same time, the life and loves of their electric frontman, Michael Hutchence, kept the band in the public consciousness. Biographies, documentaries and even a TV biopic have all been written and produced about the band and Michael's life. However, this is the first book that takes a deep dive into their entire catalogue, taking in every INXS track, including song commentaries, opinion, facts and stories.
From their early demos to breakthrough album Shabooh Shoobah and The Swing via the global success of Kick to the creative rebirth of Welcome To Wherever You Are, all the way through to the post-Hutchence celebration Original Sin, every album track and B-side is covered here in glorious detail.
Ever since he wore out the first Now That's What I Call Music album at the age of 4, Manny Grillo has had a deep love for music. It was Christmas 1988 when he received a copy of the 'Need You Tonight' single that his love for INXS began. That record kicked off a four-decade journey, which has seen him become a contributor to the wonderful INXS: Access All Areas podcast and has culminated in the release of his first book – a lifelong ambition.. The other loves of his life are his wife, Kim, and children Alicia, Luca, Jude and Heidi. He lives in Yorkshire, UK.
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The Jam
Every Album, Every Song
by Stan Jeffries
Part of the On Track series
From the band's first single, 'In The City' in April 1977, to their last, 'Beat Surrender' in November 1982, The Jam went from new wave wannabees to arguably the biggest band in the UK. The Jam on track covers every song released by the group during their five-and-a-half-year career on the Polydor label that saw them have thirteen top twenty singles and five top ten albums in the UK. The book also includes the pick of demos and little-known recordings from various compilation albums after the band's demise. Each song is looked at from a musical and lyrical point of view and includes contemporary comments from Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler, plus music critics and those working closely with the band.
Album and single sleeves, as well as TV and video appearances, are part of the mix as Stan Jeffries looks at what made The Jam one of Britain's most respected acts, while demonstrating how their legacy continues to this day. For both the dedicated and the curious, this book guides you through the career of one of Britain's musical giants.
Stan Jeffries, Sheffield born and fled. North, to Newcastle, where he lived and worked for seven years and wrote The Encyclopaedia of World Pop Music 1980-2001 in his spare time. He spent a dozen or so years touring the globe with any band who'd have him. Laughably, he called this a job. His first Jam album was All Mod Cons and his first Jam show was in Leicester during the 1979 Setting Sons tour. Currently, he lives in Andalusia, Spain, where he struggles to make himself understood by the natives.
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The Allman Brothers Band
Every Album, Every Song
by Andrew Wild
Part of the On Track series
In 1973, the Allman Brothers Band were one of the most popular in America. They headlined the Watkins Glen Summer Jam – attended by 600,000 people – and their album Brothers and Sisters was number one for five weeks. The group made the cover of Newsweek and Rolling Stone named them 'band of the year'.
Always a strong live draw, in the two years prior to Watkins Glen, they released one of the greatest live albums of all time and lost two founding members in motorcycle accidents, including guitar genius Duane Allman. Drug use and a ruinous 1976 court case forced the band apart, but a three-album reunion between 1978 and 1982 rekindled some of the old fire. It was with their twentieth anniversary and second reformation in 1989 that provided a degree of stability.
Their legacy of eleven studio albums and six contemporaneous live albums include classics such as their self-titled debut, the sophomore Idlewild South, the definitive live document At Fillmore East and the astounding final album Hittin' The Note from 2003.
The music of the Allman Brothers is the pure distillation of the four main ingredients of American music: blues, rock, jazz and country. At their best, they transcended genre: they just were.
Andrew Wild is an experienced writer, music collector and film buff with many books to his name, including recent publications about Queen, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and Crosby, Stills and Nash. His comprehensive study of every song recorded and performed by The Beatles between 1957 and 1970 was published by Sonicbond in 2019. He lives in Rainow, Cheshire, UK.
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Crowded House
by Jon Magidsohn
Part of the On Track series
When Crowded House arrived with their debut album and hit single Dont Dream Its Over in 1986, the seed of a unique musical journey was planted into our collective musical consciousness. The Aussie/Kiwi trio created a sound as playful as Split Enz out of which two of its members graduated with an adventurous spirit inspired by The Beatles and crafted genuinely enduring melodies. Earworm-worthy songs like Weather With You, Distant Sun, Better Be Home Soon and so many others have become genre-bending and timeless creations. What began with three buddies, led by songwriter Neil Finn, playfully frolicking and mugging to the camera in music videos, developed into a band of mature artists reflecting on life, love and mortality after the death of their beloved drummer. This blossomed once again into a true family band as the younger Finns joined their father as permanent members. Along the way, Crowded House consistently churned out unforgettable melodies over eight studio albums. Bolstered by an exclusive interview with Neil Finn and including the bands most recent album Gravity Stairs, this track-by-track exploration of their poetic lyrics and musical legacy recognises the quality that has brought them the love and admiration of music fans and fellow musicians from around the world.
The author Jon Magidsohn is a writer and musician living in south London. Originally from Toronto, he is the author of the memoir Immortal Highway, the poetry collection Conversations on a Raft, and the album of original songs, A World Without Corners. A consultant and teacher of creative non-fiction, he has also been an actor, bartender, upholsterer, sales representative, handyman and dad. His writing has been featured in The Guardian, National Geographic Traveller and Hippocampus Magazine among other journals. This is his first book about music. www.jonmagidsohn.com
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Rolling Stones 1963 to 1980
Every Album, Every Song
by Steve Pilkington
Part of the On Track series
The Rolling Stones. Still going strong and defying the doubters, over 55 years since their formation, they possess a longevity almost unheard of in popular music – especially with three of the five original members still present.
The majority of people, however, would surely consider their work during the 1960s and 1970s to be their most creative, influential and original, from the early R&B material through the psychedelic experimentation of Their Satanic Majesties Request, the country/blues flavourings of Beggars Banquet , the louche swagger of Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street through to the mature and sophisticated feel of the more complex Goats Head Soup. With 'new boy' Ron Wood replacing Mick Taylor in 1975, the band returned to basics a little more with the album Black And Blue and a resultant world tour which saw over a million people apply for tickets to a run of six Earl's Court shows in 1976.
The band have continued as a major force since the turn of the '80s, but it is that period up to 1980 which this book looks at, studying in depth every single song released during the band in that time, via factual, anecdotal and critical analysis. It's only rock and roll, but this is the ultimate study.
Steve Pilkington is a music journalist, proof-reader and broadcaster. He is Editor in Chief for the Classic Rock Society magazine Rock Society, and contributes to other publications such as Prog. Before taking on this work full-time, he spent years writing for fanzines and an Internet music review site on a part-time basis. He has recently published Black Sabbath – Song By Song (Fonthill, 2018), Deep Purple and Rainbow - On Track (Sonicbond, 2018) and has written the official biography of legendary guitarist Gordon Giltrap. He lives in Wigan, Merseyside.
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The Cure
Every Album, Every Song
by Matthew R. Davis
Part of the On Track series
Few bands can claim anything like the longevity, sincerity, and sheer creative breadth of The Cure. From their beginnings as literate punks through their early bleak masterpieces that ended with Pornography (1982), to the pop years that followed and their worldwide success with the mercurial Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987) and the monolithic Disintegration (1989), they have built a reputation as idealistic iconoclasts and sustained a dearly devoted audience that hangs on Robert Smith's every impassioned word.
Their epic live sets regularly include deep cuts from every era and run the gamut from unabashed romanticism to harrowing sorrow, from dance to dirge and back again. As prolific in the studio as they are on stage, their history is littered with remarkable B-sides, rare tracks, live records, remixes, and more. This book examines the entirety of The Cure's quixotic catalogue, from the surly departures of Three Imaginary Boys (1979) to the triumphant return of Songs Of A Lost World (2024) and all points in between. For every mood, there's a Cure song to match, and you'll find it here.
Matthew R. Davis is a Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author and musician from Adelaide, South Australia. He has published one hundred short stories and eight books to date, including the horror collections If Only Tonight We Could Sleep and Songs of Shadow, Words of Woe. He was the vocalist/bassist and lead songwriter in Blood Red Renaissance, has supported Anathema and Queensrÿche with icecocoon, and has written even more songs than appear in this book. A diehard Cure fan since the age of nineteen, he shares his life (and love for the band) with the award-winning artist Meg Wright, aka Red Wallflower.
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Creedence Clearwater Revival
Every Album, Every Song
by Tony Thompson
Part of the On Track series
Creedence Clearwater Revival were a San Francisco band of the 1960s that had nothing to do with Human Be Ins, Timothy Leary, or the Summer of Love. They were, for a time, the most popular band in the US but never scored a number one hit. They were headliners at Woodstock but didn't appear in the film or on the soundtrack LP. They shared a radical 'back to basics' sensibility with The Band but were not embraced by the emerging rock press with anywhere near the same enthusiasm. While the punks were hunting dinosaur bands to extinction in 1977, Richard Hell covered one of their songs on his debut album. In the 1980s, as their songs became staples of 'classic rock' radio, they were revered by underground bands like The Gun Club, The Minutemen and The Scientists. As Butch said to Sundance, 'Who are those guys?'
In this book, a track-by-track analysis of all the band's recorded output, Tony Thompson rolls up the sleeves on his plaid shirt and prepares to answer the big questions. Who's Jody? What is chooglin'? Where is Green River? Why can't the singer leave Lodi? Who was the fortunate son? Is the bathroom on the right?
Tony Thompson is a Canadian writer based in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of The Doors on track (Sonicbond 2021), Summer of Monsters (Walker Books 2014), and Shakespeare: The Most Famous Man in London (Black Dog Books 2009). His articles on books, music and education have appeared in The Age, The Australian, The Daily Review Australia, toppermost.co.uk and Eureka Street. He is a well-regarded speaker and has been a regular guest at the Melbourne Writers Festival and other literary events throughout Australia. He plays blues harmonica with great enthusiasm.
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Bob Dylan: 1962 – 1970
Every Album, Every Song
by Opher Goodwin
Part of the On Track series
Bob Dylan is the magician who sprinkled poetic fairy dust onto the popular music of the early sixties. His songwriting sparked a revolution and changed rock music forever.
The diminutive poet/singer claimed he was merely a 'song and dance man', but Dylan altered popular music from intellectually bereft teenage rebellion into a serious adult art form worthy of academic study.
Dylan headed for the sixties as a Little Richard rock 'n' roller but soon turned acoustic folkie. After absorbing the music and words of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson and Brecht, he became a vagabond social troubadour. Basking in Rimbaud, he transformed into a poetic symbolist before later immersing himself in lysergic beat surrealism. The chameleon of Dylan in the sixties was bewildering to his followers. His first album was a raw debut folk/blues. He followed this with three acoustic poetic gems, three ground-breaking surreal, electric wonders and four that were more mundane and country tinged.
But by the mid-sixties, he was a strung-out polka-dotted rock star. He crashed (physically and mentally) before leaving the sixties as a clean-cut country crooner. Dylan had mutated more times than a trilobite. Dylan's ground-breaking music changed the world and his amazing story is revealed by exploring the eleven albums that he released between 1962 and 1970.
Opher Goodwin is the author of many books on rock music and science fiction and taught the first 'History of Rock Music' classes in the UK. He was fortunate to spend the sixties in London, the epicentre for the underground explosion of rock music and culture, where he was able to see everyone from Pink Floyd, Hendrix and Cream to The Doors, Captain Beefheart and Roy Harper. He now lives happily in East Yorkshire, UK.
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Stackridge
Every Album, Every Song
by Alan Draper
Part of the On Track series
In the early 1970s, a strange apparition began to appear on the stages of a vibrant UK gig circuit in the shape of a band of West Country troubadours, rejoicing under the odd name of Stackridge. Their music presented an extraordinary mix of styles, containing genres as diverse as folk, classical, progressive rock, jazz, pop and music hall.
Alan Draper traces the ever-diverging and remerging paths of the core four Stackridge songwriters: Andy Davis, James Warren, Mutter Slater and Crun Walter, both within and without Stackridge. It's a trip that spans half a century of recording. Commencing with their eclectic debut album Stackridge in 1971, it proceeds via many fascinating musical paths and occasional cul-de-sacs.
The band's 1970s heyday was marked by many personnel reshuffles and after their dissolution in 1976, James Warren and Andy Davis combined to form The Korgis, who scored worldwide hits with 'If I Had You' and the much-covered standard 'Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime'. Also taking in The Korgis, Mutter Slater Band and Davis and Warren solo projects, our trip finally arrives in the 21st century as Stackridge returned for a second career and a heroes' welcome from their dedicated fan base.
Alan Draper is a writer and musician living in Fareham, Hampshire, UK with his wife Radiance. Starting his musical career as the guitarist with The Alsatians in 1978, he wrote both sides of their 1980 single. His song 'Complications' featured on the album Rocking With The Renees by The Gymslips, a top twenty hit on the independent chart in 1983. His first solo album Earth Magic appeared in 1989, followed by Ascension Day in 1999, both displaying folk, classical and progressive rock influences. Prescription, an album featuring his covers of Stackridge rarities was released in 2007, raising money for the Macmillan Nurses Fund.
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Iron Maiden
Every Album, Every Song
by Steve Pilkington
Part of the On Track series
Mention the words' heavy metal' and chances are one of the first names you'll get back is Iron Maiden. From their early days as front-runners of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in 1980, through to their epic and progressive works of more recent times, the band have been all things to all men in the metal world. Such is their profile that even the non-metal fan would probably cite them as a key example of the genre. This book lifts the lid on every single track recorded by the band, album by album, from the punk-ish debut with original vocalist Paul DiAnno, via the glory years fronted by Bruce Dickinson, through to the band's most recent albums Book Of Souls and Senjutsu.
By way of facts, anecdotes, analysis and a dollop of opinion, Steve Pilkington provides both an informative companion for the die-hard fan and a perfect road-map for the more casual listener to follow. From 'Prowler' to 'Hell On Earth', through each and every line-up change, this is every Number recorded by The Beast – the ultimate recording history of Iron Maiden.
Steve Pilkington is a music journalist, editor and broadcaster. He was Editor in Chief for the Classic Rock Society Magazine Rock Society and is now co-administrator of the rock website Velvet Thunder as well as presenting a weekly internet radio show called A Saucerful Of Prog. Before taking on this work full-time, he spent years writing for fanzines and an Internet music review site on a part-time basis. He has recently published Deep Purple and Rainbow On Track, The Rolling Stones On Track and Supertramp – Crime Of The Century, all for Sonicbond, and has also written the official biography of legendary guitarist Gordon Giltrap. He lives in Wigan, Lancashire, UK.
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Horslips
Every Album, Every Song
by Richard James
Part of the On Track series
Foreword by Barry Devlin
Five-piece Horslips are arguably the greatest band in Irish rock music history, producing truly special, unique music in the 1970s. By joining literary craft and their cultural heritage with a fusion of traditionally inspired music with rock instrumentation, they created a genre of music which became known as 'Celtic Rock'.
Horslips also pioneered an 'in-house' approach to the rock music business, controlling their stage presentation, graphic design, record pressing and concert promotion. Their finest albums – The Tain, and The Book Of Invasions – adapted legendary and historic texts with compelling music. Elsewhere the life and times of Turlough O'Carolan, The Famine and emigration provided a conceptual backdrop to Dancehall Sweethearts, Aliens, and The Man Who Built America.
But the band broke up in 1980. Reconvening in the next century, after the 'longest tea break in history', they produced a new 'acoustic covers' album, played stadium-filling gigs and television performances, and recorded two live albums. With a foreword by bassist/vocalist Barry Devlin, this book celebrates (and sometimes criticises) the creative waves that Eamon Carr, Barry Devlin, Johnny Fean, Jim Lockhart, and Charles O'Connor gave us.
Richard James immersed himself in music as soon as he got his first real six-string at the age of ten. Previously chained to a desk for a living, he broke free, armed with a music degree from the Open University and a Licentiate Diploma in Classical Guitar from the Royal School of Music, and proceeded to roam the East Midlands as a freelance guitarist and music teacher. He lives with his wife in Leicestershire, UK, and when not involved with music, he enjoys foreign travel and playing chess badly.
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Sparks 1969 to 1979
by Chris Sutton
Part of the On Track series
This long-overdue book charts the career of Sparks from 1969 to 1979. Every album and every song is examined, including some which are still officially unreleased, beginning with their early recordings as Halfnelson/Sparks and when they were a band of fiv
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Nirvana
by William E. Spevack
Part of the On Track series
Despite being active for less than a decade and releasing just three studio albums during their short tenure, Nirvana's overwhelming musical and cultural impact on the world cannot be understated. Within such a narrow timespan, the famous trio made themselves synonymous with what came to be known as grunge; a potent mix of melodic punk and heavy metal that evolved in America in the mid-1980s. Combined with the band's anti-glam, battered image and Kurt Cobain's lyrical themes of social alienation and world apathy, Nirvana rallied the youth with anthemic, head-banging singalongs and introspective dirges, providing a haven for those feeling lost and abject. Thirty years after the shocking death of Kurt Cobain, Nirvana still dominate the musical conversation and their influence continues to be far-reaching.
This book aims to justify such a strong legacy with a detailed analysis of every song from Nirvana's three studio albums, as well as non-album singles, B-sides and any other outliers. In addition, tracks from live and compilation albums will be considered in this appraisal of a band that managed to showcase so much in such little time. They only reveal more as the years go by – as this assessment will prove.
William E. Spevack has been published in the magazines Laptop, CPU, and PC Upgrade as well as the music website AlternativeNation.net. His first book, Keep On Shining: A Guide Through the Music of Love & Arthur Lee, was published in December 2021, and the wrote Green Day On Track for Sonicbond Publishing in 2023. He is a Bard graduate and a passionate music fan, who enjoys writing about music, playing sports, playing keyboards and reading music history books that focus on the music specifically. He lives in New York City.
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Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Every Album, Every Song
by Georg Purvis
Part of the On Track series
Whether you know him as Howard Coward, Napoleon Dynamite, or the Emotional Toothpaste, and are familiar with his work with The Attractions, The Confederates, or The Imposters, Elvis Costello's career has always been about reinvention and his vast catalogue of over 30 studio albums since 1977 is a testament to his prolificacy.
However, this book focuses on his most acclaimed and accessible work, recorded mostly with The Attractions (Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas, and Bruce Thomas) between 1977 and 1986, although some other high-profile friends – Nick Lowe, Billy Sherrill, and T-Bone Burnett, among others – show up along the way. From his modest solo beginnings as a pub rocker with attitude on My Aim Is True to his cacophonous epitaph to The Attractions on Blood & Chocolate, this book follows a hectic and, at times, baffling career trajectory that often ignored commercial fame and fortune in favour of artistic freedom and expression.
Elvis Costello and The Attractions – On Track explores every album, every song, and every non-album B-side or contemporary cast-off from the band's all-too-brief whirlwind decade of existence.
Georg Purvis is the author of Queen: The Complete Works and Pink Floyd In the 1970s. His first Elvis Costello albums were This Year's Model and When I Was Cruel, both purchased at the same time in 2002. He has seen Elvis live about a dozen times since 2007 and is always thrilled to report that each concert had been spectacularly different from the previous one. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Meredith, and their two cats, Spencer and William.
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The The
Every Album, Every Song
by Brian J. Robb
Part of the On Track series
The The was always a personal project for songwriter Matt Johnson. Started in 1979, when Johnson was a teenager, the post-punk outfit became central to the political and personal pop of the 1980s. Never a singles band, despite a few minor hits, their albums were successful: Infected in 1986 reached 14, followed by 1989's Mind Bomb at number four and 1993's Dusk at number two. Band members included Johnny Marr and DC Collard, with other collaborators including JG Thirlwell, Jools Holland, Neneh Cherry, Zeke Manyika, and Sinead O'Connor - a Who's Who of 1980s independent pop.
A reluctant live musician, Johnson created Infected: The Movie instead of a world tour in 1986. The Mind Bomb band, including Marr and Eller, launched the 1989-90 The The vs The World tour. Johnson appeared to retire following 2000's Naked Self, although he kept busy, with a sideways move into scoring movies. It wasn't until 2018 that The The returned to playing live and this was followed in 2024 with the new album, Ensoulment and its accompanying tour, almost a quarter of a century after the band's last recorded music. In recent years, Johnson has been busier than ever with podcasts, an Official Bootleg series,and other idiosyncratic projects.
The Author
Brian J. Robb is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling biographer of Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt. He has also written books on silent cinema, the films of Philip K. Dick, Wes Craven, Laurel and Hardy, the Star Wars movies, Superheroes, Gangsters, and Walt Disney, as well as science fiction television series Doctor Who and Star Trek, and Depeche Mode for Sonicbond Publishing. His illustrated books include an Illustrated History of Steampunk and Middle-Earth Envisioned, a guide to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (Winner, Best Book, Tolkien Society Awards). He is a Founding Editor of the Sci-Fi Bulletin website and lives near Edinburgh, UK.
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Nektar
Every Album, Every Song
by Scott Meze
Part of the On Track series
Of all the British bands that rose to fame in rock's golden age, Nektar remain the most mysterious and least documented. Because they chose to base themselves in West Germany, commentators in their native land tended to overlook them. They're all but excluded from prog's official narrative even though Remember The Future is a classic and one of very few European art rock albums to succeed in the USA.
This book reveals Nektar as much more than just a hit LP, celebrating works of equal stature which seemed to pour effortlessly from the players. Whether you know only the 1970s albums that show the band at the pinnacle, or you've followed their progress under leaders Roye Albrighton and now Derek Moore, here is everything you need to complete your understanding of an intriguing band as distinctive as their artwork and as dazzling as their light show.
It documents how Germany was both boon and bane for the band, how America tore them apart and pulled them back together, and how from Journey To The Centre Of The Eye to The Other Side, Nektar have a vision and a connection that brings them much closer to our lives than any other band of their stature.
Scott Meze's many guises include music critic, science fiction author, and folk horror poet. For him, Nektar are the perfect nexus between the space rock that shifts the animal part of his brain out into the wonder of the universe and the prog that keeps his humanity grounded in the sheer inventive brilliance of our species. Scott abandoned the drippy dells of Somerset, UK, for the steamy swamp of Tokyo decades ago, and neither he nor his wife have a clue what he's doing here.
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The Chic Organisation
Every Album, Every Song
by Chris Sutton
Part of the On Track series
This book charts all of the albums which feature The Chic Organisation, helmed by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. As well as records under the Chic name, the duo also wrote, produced and played on albums by Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, Johnny Mathis, Sheila B., Madonna, Odyssey, Carly Simon and David Bowie, amongst many. Appearing on these records was a regular pool of talented singers and musicians. So, sharing their thoughts are Eddie Daniels, Sammy Figueroa, Jean Fineberg, Stan Harrison, Bill Holloman, Kenny Lehman, Ellen Seeling, Roger Squitero and Jessica Wagner. Alva Chinn, who appeared on the front of the debut Chic album, also contributes, as does Tony Wright, who designed the Take It Off cover.
Every album and song is reviewed all together for the first time. There is also a section on further listening, which features records with a slightly lesser Chic presence for those who want to dig a little deeper. The book also features the more recent work of the rebranded Nile Rodgers & Chic. While many will know of the extent of Chic's influence and work, it will likely come as a surprise to even more. Whether you are a hardcore fan or are keen to delve below the surface, this book is for you. Le freak c'est Chic!
Chris Sutton has been a fan of the Chic Organisation since they first emerged in 1977. He feels their peak remains the two C'est Chic and Risque albums. He is the manager of Smethwick Heritage Centre, for whom he has written several publications. This is his sixth book for Sonicbond, following on from books on Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Sparks and two on Alice Cooper. He is also a regular contributor to PowerPlay Magazine and has contributed to a TV documentary on Alice Cooper.
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Green Day
Every Album, Every Song
by William E. Spevack
Part of the On Track series
Green Day are one of rock history's greatest and most successful bands. Singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool have been together creating rock music with a punk heart for over three decades. The trio has reigned supreme, shattering previously conceived notions of how commercially successful a punk rock band can be, by helping extend the boundaries of the genre by adding excellent pop/rock songwriting. Green Day harnessed alternative music's creativity with a passion and fire that ignited two of rock's best albums, the influential Dookie, which sold 20 million copies, and the culturally important rock opera American Idiot, which sold 16 million and went on to become a Broadway show.
In their 30-plus years, Green Day revolutionized rock musically and lyrically, inspiring countless bands. During the 1990s, they lead the pop-punk charge, and in the 2000s, they inspired a second generation of fans and bands through a lyrically intelligent and musically complex style of hard rock. Green Day: On Track takes a journey through the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame band's career, analyzing every album and song in their remarkable catalogue.
William E. Spevack has been published in the magazines Laptop, CPU, and PC Upgrade as well as the music website AlternativeNation.net. His first book, Keep On Shining: A Guide Through the Music of Love & Arthur Lee, was published in December 2021. He is a Bard graduate and a passionate music fan, who enjoys writing about music, playing sports, playing keyboards and reading music history books that focus on the music specifically. He lives in New York City.
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The Hollies
Every Album, Every Song
by Andrew Darlington
Part of the On Track series
'The road is long, with many a winding turn, that leads us to who knows where? Who knows where?'
Everyone loved The Hollies. They were the 'group's group'. Never confrontational or rebellious, always smartly suited, always smiling. The band had an unbroken run of immaculate pop singles which, while they seldom had that must-buy factor of the latest Rolling Stones or Beatles record, were hallmarked by tight harmonies and an almost unfailing chart sensibility. Throughout the sixties and well into the seventies, everyone had at least one or two Hollies singles in their collection and nobody begrudged The Hollies their hits.
When 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' and 'Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress' became global million-sellers, The Hollies were inducted into The Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame. Graham Nash – by then deep into his second career as part of Crosby, Stills and Nash - was reunited with other members of the outfit on stage together in the March 2010 ceremony.
This book tells the full story of the band's music, from the band's origins in Manchester, through the full arc of hits, and the albums – track-by-track, into the twenty-first century, then… now… always.
Andrew Darlington watched the very first episode of 'Dr Who', he also watched the most recent episode. Whatever academic potential he may once have possessed was wrecked by an addiction to loud rock 'n' roll and cheap science fiction, which remain the twin poles of what he laughingly refers to as his writing career. He is most proud of his parallel universe collection A Saucerful Of Secrets. His latest book is a biography of the Beatles spin-doctor Derek Taylor: For Your Radioactive Children (Sonicbond, 2020). His writing can be found at 'Eight Miles Higher': andrewdarlington.blogspot.co.uk/
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Steeleye Span: 1970 – 1989
Every Album, Every Song
by Darren Johnson
Part of the On Track series
When Ashley Hutchings broke away from Fairport Convention in 1969, he recruited two musical duos to form Steeleye Span. They didn't seem to agree about very much at all. This fractious group imploded before their debut album was even released. Undeterred, two new musicians were enlisted, and the band continued. Then, Hutchings himself resigned. Rather than this being a disaster, however, it set in train what would become the band's most commercially successful period in the early 1970s. This was an extraordinary time for folk rock, but it was not to last. The second half of the decade saw another change in line-up, disappointing album sales and a two-year hiatus. All was not lost, though, and the classic line-up reconvened at the start of the 1980s.
Covering a two-decade period, this book examines every album from Hark! The Village Wait in 1970 to Tempted And Tried in 1989. The fascinating history behind the traditional songs on these albums is examined in detail, together with insights into how the band went about truly making them their own. This is a meticulously researched celebration of the music of one of the UK's most important bands in the folk rock genre at the most crucial period in its history.
The author
A former politician, Darren spent many years writing about current affairs, but after stepping away from politics, he was able to devote time to his first love: music. His previous books for Sonicbond were The Sweet In The 1970s, Suzi Quatro In The 1970s and Slade In The 1970s. Following this glam rock trilogy, he now turns his attention to folk rock. A keen follower of both rock and folk, he maintains a popular music blog Darren's Music Blog and has reviewed many albums and gigs over the past decade. He lives in Hastings, East Sussex.
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Steve Hackett
Every Album, Every Song
by Geoffrey Feakes
Part of the On Track series
Guitarist Steve Hackett first came to many fan's attention when he joined Genesis in 1971. Following seven excellent albums with the band, he went his own way in 1977. He had already kick-started his solo career with the critically acclaimed Voyage of the Acolyte in 1975, but 25 studio albums have followed, making him the most prolific member of the classic Genesis line-up. In the 1980s, he also formed the successful GTR band with Yes guitarist Steve Howe. Steve Hackett's solo work has embraced rock, prog, classical, blues, pop, jazz and world music, while his most recent electric album At The Edge of Light released in 2019, is perhaps his best since the classic Spectral Mornings in 1979. On stage, he has kept the Genesis flame burning brightly, performing the band's classic material from the 1970s, alongside his solo work.
This book examines, in detail, each one of Steve's studio albums, including Under A Mediterranean Sky, released in 2021 and traces his long and varied musical history. Collaborations, live albums and compilations are also discussed, making this the most comprehensive guide to the music of Steve Hackett yet published. Whether the reader is a diehard fan or someone wishing to catch-up on his post-Genesis work, this book is essential reading.
Geoffrey Feakes is an author and music journalist. He has published two previous books, The Moody Blues On Track in 2019 and The Who On Track in 2020. He has been a writer for the Dutch Progressive Rock Page since 2005 with hundreds of reviews and interviews to his credit. He first saw Steve Hackett on stage with Genesis in 1972 and has followed his career ever since. He lives in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, UK.
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Procol Harum
Every Album, Every Song
by Scott Meze
Part of the On Track series
Few artists have had as great an impact with their debut single as Procol Harum. Mesmerising and perplexing in equal measure, 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale' remains the perfect distillation of the possibilities of psychedelia in that brief period when British pop seemed to promise a summer of love that would last forever. But as this book reveals, from the start, Procol Harum envisioned a post-psychedelic landscape of the heartsick and bewildered. Through Gary Brooker's classically inspired melodies and soaring, soulful vocals, lyricist Keith Reid told harrowing stories of voyages into the darkness of the soul, through graveyards of the damned, and to the depths of madness, via classic albums like A Salty Dog and Grand Hotel.
Aided by musicians of the calibre of organist Matthew Fisher and guitarist Robin Trower, Procol Harum invented and mapped out the interplay of those two instruments, soon to explode into prog rock's epic structures, and pioneered the integration of band and orchestra that helped break the boundaries separating young musicians and the establishment. It's all here in Scott Meze's guide, from the first note to the last of a legacy that cries out to be heard.
Scott Meze is a psychedelic music obsessive born in Britain but based in Tokyo, the music connoisseur's capital of the world. Scott Meze has never knowingly tripped the light fandango. However, he did once successfully chat up a girl by reciting 'The Miller's Tale' to her. He is the author of books on Soft Machine and Nektar in the On Track series.
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Status Quo: The Frantic Four Years
Every Album, Every Song
by Richard James
Part of the On Track series
'Status Quo? All their songs sound the same and they only know three chords' Really?
This retrospective of one of Britain's most successful bands takes this lazy criticism and puts it to the sword. Spanning the period 1970 to 1984, the creative peaks and troughs of all the songs recorded by 'The Frantic Four' are examined in detail by a fan who can play guitar a bit, and also knows his Bach from his byte.
Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster, and John Coghlan withstood the slings and arrows of unending criticism to become a national institution, even playing to royalty along the way. After their early, psychedelic-influenced and fleeting pop success, Quo underwent a dramatic and natural re-invention, unleashing a series of innovative albums and hit singles, such as 'Down Down' and 'Rockin' All Over The World' that established their unique sound and style.
Relentless touring, changes in musical direction, unwise choices of producer, substantial substance abuse, and personality clashes all played their part in the collapse of the classic line-up before a brand re-launch in 1986 that enjoys continued success to the present day.
Status Quo – The Frantic Four Years on track examines the band's groundbreaking first era with critical detail and honest opinions.
Richard James immersed himself in music as soon as he got his first real six-string at the age of ten. Previously chained to a desk for a living, he managed to escape and armed with a music degree from the Open University and a Licentiate Diploma in Classical Guitar from the Royal School of Music, now roams the East Midlands as a freelance guitarist and music teacher. He lives with his wife in Leicestershire, UK, and when not involved with music he enjoys travel, playing chess badly, and inventing new ways to tease his cats. This is his third book, following UFO On Track and Tom Petty On Track, both published in 2021.
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Anthony Phillips 1977–1990
Every Album, Every Song
by Alan Draper
Part of the On Track series
In the mid-1960s, two notable bands emerged from the rarified cloisters of Charterhouse Public School in rural Surrey: The Anon, with guitarists Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford and The Garden Wall, a unit driven by the duo of Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks. Following the 1966 end-of-term school concert, these two bands merged, leading to the first lineup of Genesis. Phillips remained with Genesis until July 1970, when stage fright and ill health forced him to quit. He embarked on a long course of musical self-improvement that would produce an impressive technique on both guitar and keyboards, leading to a flourishing solo career, commencing with his first solo album, The Geese & The Ghost, in 1977.
In this book, Alan Draper looks at Anthony Phillips' solo output, from his 1977 debut album through to his most successful long-form work, Slow Dance, in 1990 and the various Private Parts And Pieces collections. Also included are the two Archive Collection albums, released after this date, as they contain previously unheard material from the pre-1990 period. In the 21st century, Phillips' albums have become widely available via beautifully packaged box sets, providing the perfect opportunity to explore his impressive body of work once again.
Alan Draper is a writer and musician living in Fareham, Hampshire, with his wife, Radiance. Starting his musical career as guitarist with The Alsatians in 1978, he wrote both sides of their 1980 single: 'Teen Romance'/'Our Man In Marrakesh'. His song 'Complications' featured on the album Rocking With The Renees by The Gymslips, a top twenty hit on the independent chart in 1983. His first solo album Earth Magic appeared in 1989, followed by Ascension Day in 1999, both displaying folk, classical and progressive rock influences. He is also the author of Stackridge: On Track and The Divine Comedy: On Track.
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10cc & Godley & Creme
by Peter Kearns
Part of the On Track series
Hailing from Manchester, England, sophisticated pop purveyors 10cc hit the ground running with their 1972 debut single, 'Donna'. Their pedigree reached back to bassist Graham Gouldman's songwriting successes in the 1960s, while guitarist and recording engineer Eric Stewart, was already a bonafide pop star having sung the global hit, 'Groovy Kind of Love,' with The Mindbenders. When the pair teamed up with drummer/singer Kevin Godley and multi-instrumentalist/singer, Lol Creme, the combination produced four hit albums including Sheet Music and The Original Soundtrack. The group also enjoyed ten successful singles including the classic I'm Not In Love. Their music was defined by eclectic, boundary-pushing pop that earned them comparisons to The Beatles while still occupying a unique position in music.
Departing in 1976, Godley and Creme moved on to create genre-defying experimental records, including the groundbreaking Consequences, while Gouldman and Stewart continued their run of hit singles and albums with a new 10cc lineup. Their final album was 1995's Mirror Mirror, a highly respectable full stop on this influential band's colourful and innovative discography. This book examines every released recording by both Godley & Creme and 10cc, including the band's debut album under their early name, Hotlegs.
Peter Kearns is an independent recording artist and writer. Since the 1980s he has performed live as keyboardist or recorded with acts including New Zealand's Shona Laing, the UK's Judie Tzuke, and New Yorker John Tabacco, being half of the duo Tabacco & Kearns. He has released two solo albums. As a writer, he's contributed to Witchdoctor.co.nz - New Zealand's technology and music website for grownups and New Zealand Musician magazine. His first book was Elton John 1969-1979 On Track for Sonicbond Publishing. 10cc & Godley and Creme On Track is his second book. He lives in Amberley, New Zealand.
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David Bowie 1983-2016
by Don Klees
Part of the On Track series
In a career full of twists and turns, none was as sharp as the one David Bowie experienced after his 1983 album Let's Dance. The record gave Bowie the hit that he wanted but completely altered his artistic standing in the process. Instead of an innovator who pushed rock music forward, the singer found himself a global superstar with a mass audience whose tastes he didn't understand and who reciprocated this feeling as the 1980s unfolded.
After immersing himself in the band project Tin Machine, Bowie spent the 1990s embracing reinvention and experimentation with mixed but often fascinating results, leading to a full-fledged renaissance early in the 21st century. From there, his story only got stranger; 2013's The Next Day was a triumphant comeback after years of self-imposed silence, while 2016's Blackstar stood among his most challenging albums and became the final release of his lifetime.
One constant is that the records David Bowie released during this time were ultimately the result of his own artistic vision, wherever it took him. This book considers all those releases on their own merits, away from the shadow of his 1970s landmarks. Even if Bowie himself didn't always appreciate the results, every album featured songs worthy of his reputation.
The author
Don Klees literally watches TV for a living. When not basking in television's glow, he enjoys debating the merits of theatre versus film with his wife, telling his kids about music from before they were born (including several David Bowie concerts) and writing about pop culture in general. In addition to two previous books for SonicBond, Don's writing has appeared in Chromakey, CultureSonar and We Are Cult as well as various anthologies, including the David Bowie-themed Me And The Starman.
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The Incredible String Band
Every Album, Every Song
by Tim Moon
Part of the On Track series
The Incredible String Band evoke love and devotion to all those who fall under their spell. Their world is not ours, but a land of mythical creatures and fey beings.
This book looks at all their recorded output from the first album which saw the turning point from the mix of old time American music and Scottish dance tunes to the first steps in songwriting, through albums which still maintain a legendary reputation, 5000 Spirits and Hangman's Beautiful Daughter. Looking at their increasingly eclectic instrumentation and fantastical songwriting, there is also fresh look at the slightly lesser-known albums that followed and the later version of the band that moved steadily towards the rock mainstream before imploding in 1974. There is also a look at the albums that appeared when the band briefly reformed in the 21st century and a run through the best of the posthumous live albums and compilations of unreleased material.
The band went from major success to cult status. They suffered mockery in the punk period to finally becoming a highly respected band, whose albums still sell steadily to this day. This book will follow that journey and examine every stop along the way.
Tim Moon was born in 1953 in the village of Shelf in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Music was around the house in the form of LPs of musicals and Frank Sinatra, and then one day his father brought home an acoustic guitar, spurred on by the British skiffle boom. Tim was mesmerised and his interest was aroused again by the emergence of The Beatles which prompted him to acquire his own guitar. Tim has written for various music publications and presents a couple of folk based radio programmes. He gigs, acts and is otherwise happily retired in his seaside home in Filey, North Yorkshire, UK.
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UFO
Every Album, Every Song
by Richard James
Part of the On Track series
UFO, the legendary band which have been gracing the world's stages for the last 50 years, have given us more than their fair share of superb quality hard rock songs including 'Doctor, Doctor', 'Rock Bottom', 'Shoot Shoot', 'Too Hot To Handle', and 'Only You Can Rock Me'. And that was just during the Seventies!
Albums such as Force It, Obsession, The Wild, The Willing, And The Innocent, Walk On Water and You Are Here are acknowledged as classics of the melodic hard rock genre, and their live masterpiece Strangers In The Night regularly features at or near the top of rock music polls. UFO's history can be delineated by the guitarists who have passed through their ranks. Phases in the band's career include: the early 'Space Rock' stumblings; their astonishing development with the brilliant, mercurial Michael Schenker; the consolidation and first downfall during Paul Chapman's tenure; subsequent re-launches and crash-landings; a troubled reformation of the Schenker line-up and the final, mostly settled, version with Vinnie Moore.
This book explores each of the band's 23 studio albums, and, of course, Strangers. Every song is analysed in detail and opinions are numerous in this passionate critique of one of Britain's best loved and most influential rock institutions.
Richard immersed himself in music as soon as he got his first real six string at the age of 10. Previously chained to a desk for a living, he broke free, armed with a music degree from the Open University and a Licentiate Diploma in Classical Guitar from the Royal School of Music, and proceeded to roam the East Midlands as a freelance guitarist and music teacher. He lives with his wife in Leicestershire, UK, and when not involved with music he enjoys foreign travel and playing chess badly.
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Roy Harper
Every Album, Every Song
by Opher Goodwin
Part of the On Track series
Roy Harper must be one of Britain's most undervalued rock musicians and songwriters. For over fifty years, he has produced a series of innovative albums of consistently outstanding quality, putting poetry and social commentary to music in a way that extends the boundaries of rock music. His 22 studio albums and 16 live albums, made up of 250 songs, have created a unique body of work.
Roy is a musician's musician. He is lauded by the likes of Dave Gilmour, Ian Anderson, Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend, Joanna Newsom, Fleet Foxes and Kate Bush. Who else could boast that he has had Keith Moon, Jimmy Page, Dave Gilmour, John Paul Jones, Ronnie Lane, Chris Spedding, Bill Bruford and Steve Broughton in his backing band? Notable albums include Stormcock, HQ and Bullinamingvase.
Opher Goodwin, Roy's friend and a fan, guides the reader through every album and song, providing insight into the recording of the songs as well the times in which they were recorded. As his loyal and often fanatical fans will attest, Roy has produced a series of epic songs and he remains a raging, uncompromising individual.
Opher Goodwin is the author of many books on rock music and science fiction. He taught the first 'History of Rock Music' classes in the UK. Opher was fortunate to spend the sixties in London, the epicenter for the underground explosion of rock music and culture, where he was able to see everyone from Pink Floyd, Hendrix and Cream to the Doors, Captain Beefheart and, of course, Roy Harper. He befriended Roy in 1967 and has not only attended hundreds of gigs but was a privileged guest In Abbey Road studios for the recording of some of Roy's seminal albums. He lives in East Yorkshire, UK.
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Roy Wood
by James R. Turner
Part of the On Track series
From the vibrant musical scene in Britains second largest city Birmingham, came a plethora of creative rock groups in the middle of the 1960s. Roy Wood, together with several well-known Birmingham faces, left their respective bands to form The Move and armed with Roys distinctive song writing style alongside the bands unique harmonies, they became regulars on British TVs flagship show Top of the Pops. Meanwhile, Jeff Lynne was starting to make his mark in fellow Birmingham group The Idle Race. These two brilliant songwriters were also close friends and Wood persuaded Lynne to join the Move and later a new project, The Electric Light Orchestra, before a parting of the ways led to Wood forming Wizzard. Roy Wood On Track looks at all of the music recorded by Roy during his time in The Move, ELO, Wizzard and during his sporadic solo career. An appendix also looks at the music of The Wood-linked Idle Race. Woods music touches on many genres including rhythm and blues, psych, pop, progressive rock and glam, but throughout his career he has been a true, and largely unsung, innovator. This book shows why his work is much, much greater than one famous yuletide single.
James R. Turner is a graduate from Sheffield Hallam University in Media Studies and is now a music and media journalist. Over the last 25 years he has contributed to Rock Society Magazine, BBC Online, Albion Online, The Digital Fix, Dutch Progressive Rock Pages, Progarchy, Progradar and We Are Cult. James has also published poetry and short stories in two anthologies, personal reflections in two TV history books and one music book. He also works for Bad Elephant Music. He lives in North Somerset, UK, with his fiance Charlotte, their West Highland Terrier Dilys, Rhodesian Ridgeback Freja, three cats and too many CDs and records.
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Camel
by Hamish Kuzminski
Part of the On Track series
Formed in Guildford, Surrey, England in 1971, Camel were strongly influenced by the bands emerging from Canterbury in Kent at the same time. However, and theres a clue in the name, and their music seamlessly integrated Middle Eastern and North African themes, forms and rhythms as well as Jazz, folk and classical elements - to create an exciting and exotic new strand to the ballooning world of progressive rock in the early 1970s. The band came to transatlantic attention in 1975 with the release of the instrumental Music Inspired By The Snow Goose, inspired by Paul Gallicos novella and the chart success of that album cemented the bands place in the ongoing story of progressive rock. Camel has had its fair share of tragedy, including the death of founder Peter Bardens and serious illness to guitarist and flame-carrier Andy Latimer. Nonetheless, with Latimer still at the helm and after almost 50 years and fourteen studio albums, Camel continue to perform to rapturous receptions across the world. Featuring a foreword by Steve Rothery of Marillion, this track by track analysis takes the reader along on the bands half-century journey, as Camel carved out an inimitable niche in British rock music.
Born in Birmingham, UK and now living near Frankfurt, Germany, Hamish Kuzminski is the European Correspondent of the US-based 'journal of progressive music', Progression Magazine. Hamish first sneaked out of the house to watch gigs at twelve years old and saw Camel live for the first time in 1977. Through his writing and social media presence, he continues to be an active promoter of the current generation of British and European progressive bands. He brings a very personal perspective to this book, based on a life-long love and deep knowledge of Camel and their music.
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J. Geils Band
by James Romag
Part of the On Track series
The J. Geils Band were the original Bad Boys from Boston, blowing audiences away night after night. With classic albums like Full House, Bloodshot, Love Stinks, and the massively successful Freeze-Frame, Geils have been nominated for the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame no fewer than five times since 2005. From their early days as r&b and blues purists, through defining tracks like 'Looking for a Love,' the instrumental 'Whammer Jammer,' and the US Top 40 'Give It to Me,' to global fame with radio staples' Love Stinks,' 'Centerfold,' and 'Freeze-Frame,' The J. Geils Band created a unique sound and turned every show into a house party. Though it took time for record sales to catch up to their live reputation, by the early 1980s, there were few hotter acts than J. Geils.
The definitive companion to the music of this hard-drivin' outfit, this is a comprehensive overview of every track on Geils' 11 studio albums, with a look at their official live releases and a rundown of the musicians' projects beyond the band. The book makes clear why Geils, often referred to as America's answer to The Rolling Stones, were the funkiest band in the land.
The author
James Romag is a lifelong music fan and enjoys hot, sweaty live concerts where music is blasting and everybody's having a ball. He worked in several record shops while attending the college of musical knowledge and holds degrees in journalism, finance and marketing, and publishing. He has edited several books and published a handful of short stories. James is a US Air Force veteran who lives in Colorado at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. This is his second book for Sonicbond's On Track series, the first being about REO Speedwagon.
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The Temptations: 1960 - 1978
Every Album, Every Song
by George Haffenden
Part of the On Track series
As one of the greatest acts to come out of the Motown Record Corporation, the influence of the Temptations cannot be overstated. The 'Classic Five' line-up of Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin created a catalogue of hits that endures to this day. Aided by William 'Smokey' Robinson and, later, Norman Whitfield, the group produced classics such as 'Get Ready', 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg', and, of course, 'My Girl'. This line-up only lasted four years, but they created a hugely impressive legacy.
The introduction of Dennis Edwards to the group in 1968 coincided with a new style of music for them, produced by Whitfield, dubbed 'psychedelic soul'. Inspired by Sly & The Family Stone, this new sound gave the group a second act of new hits. However, by 1972, only Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin would remain from the 'Classic Five' line-up, and the hits were becoming more elusive.
This book explores their releases from their founding to 1978, when the group had endured further personnel challenges and a change in record label. It examines the group's triumphs and struggles during this period and tells a remarkable story of persistence and longevity.
The author
Born and raised in Sussex, George Haffenden grew up listening to his parents' record collection and developed a deep admiration of soul, funk, and disco. He spent his formative years shunning current trends in music, instead collecting obscure records, largely by the Temptations. He is now a content designer and the curator of the blog The Funk & Soul Revue, writing reviews and in-depth pieces on the history of soul. He's also interviewed several of the great soul icons, including George Clinton, Patti LaBelle and members of the Whispers, The Stylistics, and The Temptations.
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Laura Nyro
Every Album, Every Song
by Philip Ward
Part of the On Track series
Laura Nyro (1947-1997) was one of the most significant figures to emerge from the singer-songwriter boom of the 1960s. She first came to attention when her songs were hits for Barbra Streisand, The Fifth Dimension, Peter, Paul and Mary, and others. But it was on her own recordings that she imprinted her vibrant personality. With albums like Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry she mixed the sounds of soul, pop, jazz and Broadway to fashion autobiographical songs that earned her a fanatical following and influenced a generation of music-makers. In later life her preoccupations shifted from the self to embrace public causes such as feminism, animal rights and ecology – the music grew mellower, but her genius was undimmed.
This book examines her entire studio career from 1967's More than a New Discovery to the posthumous Angel in the Dark release of 2001. Also surveyed are the many live albums that preserve her charismatic stage presence. With analysis of her teasing, poetic lyrics and unique vocal and harmonic style, this is the first-ever study to concentrate on Laura Nyro's music and how she created it. Elton John idolised her; Joni Mitchell declared her 'a complete original'. Here's why.
Philip Ward is a writer, translator and former parliamentary researcher. Now freelance, he has published widely on literature and music, both popular and classical, and is a regular contributor to RnR magazine (where he recalls his proudest moment was interviewing Marianne Faithfull.) His previous books include Sandy Denny: Reflections on Her Music (2011), Becoming Helen Mirren (2019) and a translation of Frank Wedekind's novella Mine-Haha (2010). When not dabbling in musical composition, he is currently at work on a biography of the novelist Michael Arlen. Home is Cambridge, England, where he is a Senior Member of Wolfson College.
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Dream Theater
Every Album, Every Song
by Jordan Blum
Part of the On Track series
No other band has affected modern progressive metal as deeply or widely as American quintet Dream Theater. Formed at Berklee College of Music as Majesty in 1985 by guitarist John Petrucci, drummer Mike Portnoy, and bassist John Myung, the group have spent thirty years repeatedly pushing new boundaries and reinventing their identity. Although other acts – such as Queensrÿche and Fates Warning – paved the way for the prog-metal subgenre, Dream Theater were, without doubt, the first to meld influences from both metal and progressive rock into a groundbreaking blend of quirky instrumentation, extensively complex arrangements, and exceptional songwriting. Whether with subtly or overtly, they've since left their mark on just about every progressive metal band that has followed.
In this book, Jordan Blum examines every Dream Theater studio album, and their behind-the-scenes circumstances, to explore how the group impacted the genre with each release. Whether classics of the 1990s like Images and Words and Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, benchmarks of the 2000s like Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Octavarium, or even thrilling modern efforts like A Dramatic Turn of Events and Distance Over Time, every sequence of albums contributes something crucial to making Dream Theater's legacy nothing short of astonishing.
Jordan Blum is an Associate Editor at PopMatters, holds an MFA in Creative Writing, and is the founder/Editor-in-Chief of The Bookends Review, an independent creative arts journal. He focuses mostly on progressive rock/metal and has contributed to many other publications, including Sonic Perspectives, Paste, Progression, Metal Injection, Rebel Noise, PROG and Sea of Tranquility. He is the author of Jethro Tull On Track, published by Sonicbond in 2019. Finally, he records his own crazy ideas under the pseudonym Neglected Spoon. When he's not focused on any of that, he teaches English courses at various colleges. He lives in Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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Spirit
Every Album, Every Song
by Rev. Keith A. Gordon
Part of the On Track series
Even in an age of unparalleled innovation and artistic freedom, Spirit stood head and shoulders above their 1960s-era rock 'n' roll contemporaries. Perhaps only Love shared the same sort of expansive and adventurous artistic vision as the five guys in Spirit, whose disparate and diverse musical backgrounds led them to explore the outer regions of rock 'n' roll as the band incorporated elements of the blues, folk, R&B, and jazz into their heady brew of psychedelia-tinted hard rock. Although they never experienced the level of commercial success that their talents and innovative music deserved, few bands since have matched Spirit in eccentricity, originality, intensity, and instrumental virtuosity.
For all their creative accomplishments, Spirit's legacy is that of a half-forgotten band whose name is seldom brought up in 'classic rock' discussions. Spirit on track corrects this oversight, revisiting the band album by album, song by song, from their ground-breaking self-titled 1968 debut and their masterpiece, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus , through the break-ups and reunions and solo efforts of the lean years until their resurgence in the 1990s with albums like Tent of Miracles. More than a mere album guide, this book recounts 30 years of the trailblazing artistry of Spirit.
The 'Reverend of Rock 'n' Roll,' Rev. Keith A. Gordon has been writing about classic rock and blues music for 50 years, his words appearing in over 100 publications worldwide including Creem, Blues Music Magazine, Live! Music Review, and the Rock and Roll Globe. A former All Music Guide contributor, Gordon has written 25 previous music-related books including Anarchy In The Music City!, The Other Side of Nashville, and Scorched Earth: A Jason & the Scorchers Scrapbook. The Reverend lives in Buffalo, NY, with his wife of 33 years and their two 'boogaloo' beagles. You'll find him online at www.thatdevilmusic.com.
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Captain Beefheart
Every Album, Every Song
by Opher Goodwin
Part of the On Track series
Captain Beefheart (Don Vliet) was undoubtedly the creator of the most bizarre and wonderful music. A child prodigy sculptor, he applied his artistic approach to music, creating 'aural sculptures'. After befriending Frank Zappa in high school, they collaborated on a teenage rock opera and science fiction/fantasy film entitled Captain Beefheart vs The Grunt People. It was from this film that Don took his name. His Magic Band started out as a blues group in the mid-sixties, but soon, with lysergic propulsion, surreal poetry, free-form jazz, polyrhythms and African beats, they established themselves at the forefront of West Coast acid rock.
A series of hugely inventive albums, including the infamous Trout Mask Replica, and some legendary live performances, established them as the foremost avant-garde rock band. Few bands were as influential, with The Beatles, The Fall, PJ Harvey and Tom Waits all paying homage, and as a result, The Magic Band have inspired a myriad of tribute bands and created a mythology like no other. This book sets the history of the band in context, analysing every track and attempting to interpret both the music and Don Vliet's poetry. It is essential reading for diehard fans and the Beefheart-curious alike.
Opher Goodwin is the author of many books on rock music and science fiction and taught the first 'History of Rock Music' classes in the UK. He was fortunate to spend the sixties in London, the epicentre for the underground explosion of rock music and culture, where he was able to see everyone from Pink Floyd, Hendrix and Cream to The Doors, Captain Beefheart and Roy Harper. He was introduced to Captain Beefheart in 1967 and attended that first amazing gig at Middle Earth. He never fully recovered but now lives happily in East Yorkshire, UK.
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Little Feat
Every Album, Every Song
by Georg Purvis
Part of the On Track series
Little Feat may not be a household name, but the band are loved by a good number of musicians who are: Keith Richards rounded up the Rolling Stones to see them perform in Amsterdam in 1975, Robert Plant publicly lamented their lack of success (as Led Zeppelin's soared into the stratosphere), and Bob Dylan and Elton John saw them in concert whenever possible. Legends like Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, and Bob Seger helped out on their many albums, and they backed up Robert Palmer, John Cale, and Chico Hamilton.
Yet they never had a hit single, and the closest they came to success was with their 1978 live album, Waiting for Columbus, later performed live in its entirety by jam band Phish. But not even the death of their leader Lowell George could stop the Feats' shoes from sailin'. The band reformed in 1988 and has continued ever since, with Craig Fuller and Shaun Murphy helping out along the way. Little Feat on track dives into the ups and downs of their 50-year career and discusses every album and song, from their idiosyncratic 1971 debut to the post-pandemic optimism of 2021's When All Boats Rise.
Georg Purvis is the author of Queen: The Complete Works, Pink Floyd In the 1970s and Elvis Costello and The Attractions on track. He's been a Little Feat fan his entire life, thanks to his parents, Lynn and Georg. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Meredith, and their two cats, Spencer and William.
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Barclay James Harvest
by Keith Domone
Part of the On Track series
Barclay James Harvest are surely overdue for greater recognition. They have Long been feted in Germany and in other parts of Continental Europe, but remain largely unknown at home in the U.K. except to a fiercely loyal cognoscenti. Formed in the Saddleworth area of north-west England in 1967, the band released a series of outstanding albums showcasing their pastoral, classically-influenced brand of rock, before hitting the heights of their success, culminating in a massive open-air concert in Berlin in front of an estimated quarter of a million people. With only one line-up change, the departure of keyboard maestro and founder member Woolly Wolstenholme in 1979, they continued to record until 1998, when the band finally split into two separate groups, led by original members John Lees and Les Holroyd respectively. The core of this book covers Barclay James Harvest's output from 1968 to 1997, with analysis and background information for every studio album and every song released from that period, but there is also room for an overview of their live albums and of the member's activities after the break up of the original group. It is required reading for anyone with more than a passing interest in one of the rock world's most underrated bands.
Keith and Monika Domone have both been Barclay James Harvest aficionados from an early age, even meeting through their shared love of the band's music. They graduated from running the band's official fan club to writing and curating the Barclay James Harvest and John Lees' Barclay James Harvest web sites, in between work and parenting. They were also responsible for penning two editions of The Barclay James Harvest Story, the only biography of the band to have appeared in print to date, and now out of print. They have two grown-up children, living in Hampshire, UK.
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Renaissance
by David Detmer
Part of the On Track series
Renaissance, a much beloved but highly underrated English progressive rock band, began life in 1969 as an offshoot of The Yardbirds. Keith Relf and Jim McCarty, who had recently left that iconic blues-rock group, decided to put together a new band that would differ from its predecessor by being more influenced by classical and folk music. After releasing two albums in 1969 and 1971, The band then quickly underwent a 100 percent turnover in personnel, resulting in an entirely new Renaissance The new band was distinguished by the astonishingly beautiful five-octave-range vocals of their lead singer, Annie Haslam; their lengthy, multi-movement, classically inspired compositions, and their unusual instrumentation. Renaissance released six classic studio albums, and one live double album, between 1972 and 1978, even scoring a UK hit with Northern Lights. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the band commercialise with limited success, before folding. In the 21st century, with Haslam continuing as the bands distinctive voice, Renaissance has returned to its orchestral/symphonic rock roots with two studio albums of new material and multiple live releases featuring contemporary treatments of its 1970s classics. This book, the first ever published on Renaissance, assesses their entire career, covering every song on every album. It is the essential guide to the recorded works of a group that deserves to be ranked among the greatest in the progressive rock genre.
David Detmer is a Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University Northwest. He is the author of six previous books, the most recent of which are Zinnophobia (about the radical American historian, Howard Zinn) and Simply Sartre (on the French existentialist philosopher and playwright, Jean-Paul Sartre). An amateur guitarist, his published essays on The Beatles and Pink Floyd have been translated into German, Portuguese, and Korean. He lives in Munster, Indiana, USA.
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Kansas
by Kevin Cummings
Part of the On Track series
Progressive rock is generally considered an English affair, focusing on the likes of Yes and King Crimson. However, in America, its best-known exponents are Kansas. Although the band are best known for their US radio staples 'Carry On Wayward Son' and 'Dust In The Wind,' their musical range runs much deeper. A unique blend of European prog and American blues, Kansas are capable of an extended symphonic epic followed by a shorter, gritty blues song. Yet even those tracks are never simple three-chord tunes and virtually everything the band has recorded has a progressive touch. Such is the beauty of Kansas music. Despite personnel changes, including the departure of three lead singers, they continue to flourish. Recent years have brought a new line up, new albums and a rejuvenated outlook, resulting in acclaimed live shows. Their legacy will no doubt continue as they approach their half-century mark. Kansas: On Track follows the band from their first album 2020s The Absence of Presence. Each song is carefully considered in context, along with comments from the author and key figures in the bands history. Hardcore fans and casual listeners alike will gain a renewed appreciation of Americas premier progressive rock band.
The author: Kevin Cummings is a musician and writer. He holds a masters degree in music theory and a bachelors degree in music education. His varied career includes positions as a college music instructor, a technical writer and over two decades as a church musician. An active composer, Kevin maintains a website offering original music, recordings and arrangements, as well as transcriptions of Kerry Livgrens music. Through it all, he has been a progressive rock nerd, especially concerning the music of Kansas. He lives in Elmira, New York.
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The Pretenders 1978–1990
Every Album, Every Song
by Richard Butterworth
Part of the On Track series
Dinner with David Bowie, a kiss from Jackie Wilson, close encounters with Iggy Pop, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood. She was not even 20, still less a rock goddess, but Chrissie Hynde wasn't hanging around. The talented, charismatic writer-singer escaped Ohio for Britain in 1973, hoping to form a rock'n'roll band. She befriended journalist Nick Kent, designer Vivienne Westwood, hustler Malcolm McLaren and famous musicians from Nick Lowe to Lemmy. She wrote for The NME and narrowly avoided becoming Mrs. Sid Vicious. Meeting Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scott and Martin Chambers, Chrissie finally realised her dream: The Pretenders, one of the world's most exciting, enduring and best-loved rock groups.
The Pretenders proved revelatory, lashing hard rock to the sexy, sassy swagger of streetwise punk and catchy, chart-busting pop. 'Brass In Pocket' was a worldwide hit. America took to its heart the ex-pat from the Heartlands, as Chrissie became an international star and a reluctant flagbearer for rock's sisterhood.
Weathering tragic loss, The Pretenders have continued to make great music. Combining dry wit with diligent research and a deep knowledge of rock music, Richard Butterworth appraises The Pretenders' turbulent, vital early years: from Chrissie's arrival in Britain, through the band's 1978 birth to 1990 and their fifth album. Enjoy the ride.
The Author:
Richard Butterworth's grown-up career began in advertising, first as a paste-up artist, later as a graphic designer. Settling on copywriting, for years he reaped the pleasures, pains and penury of freelancing. As a lifelong believer in the healing and redemptive power of music, however, he knew that humankind's highest art-form would eventually saddle up and ride him into the sunset. Today Richard lives in Cornwall with his partner Sue, a golden retriever and CD shelf-space in managed but perpetual decline. He still reads and writes about the music he loved before he was a grown-up.
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Magnum
Every Album, Every Song
by Matthew Taylor
Part of the On Track series
Having celebrated 50 years as a band in 2022, Magnum remain a musical enigma, much loved by legions of fans despite never fitting easily into the sub-genres favoured by rock music critics. Formed in the West Midlands of England around a nucleus of guitarist and songwriter Tony Clarkin and vocalist Bob Catley, the band dabbled with pomp rock and progressive sounds in the late 1970s before achieving success in the 1980s with records like Chase the Dragon, On a Storyteller's Night and their commercial highpoint, Wings of Heaven. They even had two top thirty singles in the UK, with 'Start Talking Love' and 'Rockin' Chair'. The changing musical landscape of the 1990s led to a split, but the band returned in 2001 and continued to release records of remarkable consistency until the sad passing of guitarist Tony Clarkin in early 2024.
This is the first book on the history and music of Magnum. It covers each of the band's twenty-three studio albums, as well as live recordings, compilations and the late 1990s Hard Rain project. Charting the ups and downs in commercial and artistic achievement, it is an essential guide to one of Britain's most underappreciated rock bands.
Matthew Taylor is a writer, historian and avid music fan. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on sport, leisure and popular culture, his work featuring in publications as varied as BBC History Magazine, Prospect and When Saturday Comes. He teaches at De Montfort University, UK, where he is Director of the Institute of History. His musical tastes range from classic and prog rock to alternative/ indie rock and electronica. He first heard Magnum's music during the mid-1980s and has followed the band ever since. He lives in Leicestershire, UK.