Book Reviews

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Astral Horizon Press [Publication date 21.05.20] Steve Rothery’s photo book was first published in 2016 when it was sold via a pre-order campaign and then at gigs and the band website.  Now it gets a full release. Rothery was a … Continue reading →

Sonicbond Pubishing [Publication date January/February 2020] Liked and loathed in equal measures by the music press in the 1970s and 1980s, ultimately the band may have had the last laugh.  As author Jacob Holm-Lupp reiterates, their latest offering – XIV … Continue reading →

Trapeze [Publication date 31.10.19] Based on the bestselling series of NOW compilation albums this is a good all-round music quiz book. Split into sections that include decades, the themed NOW compilations (e.g. Disney, football anthems) and genres (rock, classic rock … Continue reading →

4th Estate [Publication date 28.11.19] Previously self-published by Bernie as a limited release via a Pledge campaign in early 2017 under the title ‘Where’s My Guitar?: On the Tour Bus with the Snakeman’, the book now gets a full publication … Continue reading →

Sonicbond Publishing [Publication date 29.09.19] Where Ben Watson’s exhaustive mid 90′s ‘Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play’ provided a left wing cultural and critical examination of Frank Zappa and his conceptual continuity, Eric Benac’s ‘On Track’ take a different approach. … Continue reading →

Sonicbond Publishing [Publication date 22.08.19] The format follows the tried and tested Every Album, Every Song formula by tackling each album in chronological order. In this book though Feakes adds in piece about the album cover – the Moody Blues … Continue reading →

SonicBond Publishing [Publication date 16.08.19] This book is nicely timed what with ‘Rocket Man’ recently being shown in cinemas and the DVD release in August, plus of course Elton John is currently on his worldwide farewell tour. The book covers … Continue reading →

Sonicbond Publishing [Publication date 5.07.19] For those wishing to find out more about the prog rockers who went pop, this is a useful summary following the band’s progress from shaky beginnings in 1969 to their final studio album ‘Calling All … Continue reading →

Sonicbond Publishing [Publication date 27.06.19] Over the years I have read a number of these types of books, each telling the story behind well-known artists albums and songs, and the trouble is that a song can easily be interpreted differently … Continue reading →

Create Space Independent Publishing Platform [Published 18.09.18] Vicente Abbate’s 143 page paperback ‘Doug MacLeod: The Authorized Compact Biography’, takes a unique approach in his appreciation of his blues hero. Abbate dives straight into the first time he came across the … Continue reading →

Sonicbond Publishing [Publication date 26.04.19] The On Track… series continues with some momentum, nearly 20 titles currently scheduled, spearheaded by prog aficionado Stephen Lambe. The idea is to discuss in some detail individual songs but that invariably means talking about … Continue reading →

As we approach another Record Store Day, it is timely to revisit one of the more recent tomes extolling the virtues or otherwise of the record shop.  And also to compare and contrast with its antecedent which celebrates a 10th … Continue reading →

Sonicbound Publishing [Published 22.02.19] These Every Album, Every Song books are coming thick and fast with this one on Blue Oyster Cult coming after ones on Queen, ELP and Deep Purple. Norway’s number one Blue Oyster fan Jacob Holm-Lupo penned … Continue reading →

On Track … Emerson Lake & Palmer by Mike Goode [Publication date 18.12.18] Sonic Bond Publishing Two books in a series, that are subtitled “Every Album, Every Song”. These track by track intros to bands are not a new idea, … Continue reading →

Sonicbond Publishing [Publication date 08.11.18] Nicely timed by this new publisher Sonicbound (future titles in the series include ones on Blue Oyster Cult, Yes and Roy Wood & The Move), a book on Queen and their music as the film … Continue reading →

Blink Publishing [Publication date 31.05.18] Drummer Kenney Jones has penned an entertaining memoir, that covers his time in the Small Faces right up to the present with the Jones Gang, a collection of seasoned musicians who do the occasional gig, … Continue reading →

St Martin’s Press [Published 14.08.18] Although this book, co-authored with Rolling Stone writer Chris Hodenfield, was first published in 2015, it now gets a paperback version and if you missed out on it first time around make sure you get this one. … Continue reading →

http://www.jamesmccarty.com/ 305 pages paperback ISBN 978-0-244-96650-8 [Publication date: May 2018] ‘Nobody Told Me’ is a suitably titled autobiography that documents the life and times of Jim McCarty, The Yardbirds founder member, drummer and rock and roll hall of fame inductee. … Continue reading →

Splendid Books Limited – 251 pages paperback [Publication date: December 2012] ‘Postcards From A Rock & Roll Tour’ is: “a series of personal daily journals,” or as the Moody Blues co-drummer and author Gordy Marshall further elucidates: “more like extended … Continue reading →

www.jackiemcauley.com – 253 pages paperback [Publication date: December 2017] Jackie McAuley’s ‘I Sideman: The Story Of Me In The 60′s and 70′s’ is an eloquently written, partial biography by a multi instrumentalist and vocalist who takes three quarters of the … Continue reading →