History & Criticism

The first book to make sense of 21st Century pop, Retromania explores rock's nostalgia industry of revivals, reissues, reunions and remakes, and argues that there has never before been a culture so obsessed with its own immediate past. Pulling together...

In the spring of 1969, the inauspicious release of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's "Trout Mask Replica", a double-album featuring 28 stream-of-consciousness songs filled with abstract rhythms and guttural bellows, dramatically altered the pop...

Joe Jackson is a singer, songwriter, composer, and performer who has twisted and turned his career through numerous genres, and continues to release excellent albums forty years after his initial breakthrough success. For some he's the 'Angsty Young...

This is a thoroughly researched exploration of one of the most original, unexpected, and durable British albums of the 1990s. An album which distilled a genre from the musical, cultural, and social ether, Portishead's "Dummy" was such a complete artistic...

The compositions of Stephen Heller (1813-1885), a prolific composer of music for piano, were known for their musical interest and touches of charming ingenuity. His popular studies, twenty of which are gathered together in this easy to moderate...

Women are an essential part of the history of the piano-but how many women pianists can you name? Throughout most of the piano's history, women pianists lacked access to formal training and were excluded from male-dominated performance spaces. Even the...

Grunge, also known as the 'Seattle Sound', emerged from the Pacific north-west in the early part of the 1980s. With the unexpected success of Nirvana's single 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' in 1991, grunge became a household word overnight and launched an...

The Beatles landing in New York in February 1964 was the opening shot in a cultural revolution nobody predicted. Suddenly the youth of the richest, most powerful nation on earth was trying to emulate the music, manners and the modes of a rainy island...

'ABC', as perfect as anything I've ever witnessed up until that point in my tiny little life. Three minutes of divine delirium.In 1972, when Robert Elms was thirteen years old, he saw the Jackson 5 play live at the Empire Pool. At some point during the...

The British singer, songwriter and musician Peter Hammill is one of the key figures in the history of progressive rock. As the leader and main creative force of Van der Graaf Generator, he was behind some of the most powerful and compelling rock music of...

A stunning social history of British rap and grime by one of the nation's foremost cultural chroniclers.'A stunning exploration of a genre, a movement and a world. It's every bit as lyrical as the rap Ekpoudom has documented.'CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS,...

'Absolutely hilarious' - Neil Gaiman'One of the funniest musical commentators that you will ever read . . . loud and thoroughly engrossing' - Alan Moore'A man on a righteous mission to persuade people to "lay down your souls to the gods rock and roll".'...

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) has a reputation as one of the leading composers of the twentieth century. But the story of his controversial role in history is still being told, and his full measure as a musician still being taken. This collection of...

A singer in an evening dress, a grand piano. A modest-sized audience, mostly well-dressed and silver-haired, equipped with translation booklets. A program consisting entirely of songs by one or two composers. This is the way of the Lieder recital these...

'The greatest book ever written on British independent music' Guardian'One of the best British music books of the last ten years' MojoFounded by Alan McGee in 1983, Creation Records achieved notoriety as the home of Primal Scream, the Jesus and Mary...

Formed in 1964 and still going strong in 2020, the Who are one of the most popular and enduring bands in the history of rock. The legendary debut album My Generation and a string of hit singles paved the way for Live At Leeds, hailed as the best live...

A stunning musical biography of Stevie Nicks that paints a portrait of an artist, not a caricature of a superstar. Reflective and expansive, Mirror in the Sky situates Stevie Nicks as one of the finest songwriters of the twentieth century. This biography...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780449910429Author Phil G. GouldingFormat PaperbackPage Count 656Imprint Ballantine Books Inc.Publisher Random House USA IncWeight(grams) 629gDimensions(mm)...

5/5 - CLASSIC POP 4/5 - THE TELEGRAPH Everyone has their favourite era of the Bee Gees' career, but so much is still unclear about this celebrated but often misunderstood band. This book will provide the perfect route in, pulling together every...

Rob Young's Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music is a seminal book on British music and cultural heritage, that spans the visionary classical and folk tradition from the nineteenth-century to the present day. 'A thoroughly enjoyable read...

Miles: The Autobiography, like the man himself, holds nothing back. He talks about his battles against drugs and racism, and discusses the many women in his life. But above all, Miles talks about music and musicians, including the legends he has played...

The untold story of a British institution 'Brilliant.' Alan Johnson 'Compelling.' David Kynaston 'The beer drinkers' Bill Bryson.' Times Literary...

Computer World was Kraftwerk's most concise and focused conceptual statement, their most influential record and crowning achievement. Computer World transformed the way pop music was composed, played, packaged and released and, in the process, helped...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781913231347Author Shawn ReynaldoFormat PaperbackPage Count 288Imprint Velocity PressPublisher Velocity Press

A Times Book of the YearA Telegraph Book of the YearA Guardian Book of the Year A Rock 'n' Roll Book Club Book of the YearA Guardian 50 Best Holiday ReadsAn Independent Book of the YearA Mojo Music Book of the Year A Resident Book of the Year'This...

Best known for a string of 1980s pop soul classics such as 'Private Eyes', 'Maneater', and 'Out Of Touch', Daryl Hall & John Oates are far more than the much caricatured image of the tall blonde one and the short one with the moustache. Through peaks and...

Motorhead are arguably the greatest rock and roll band in history, but it took many years to win that accolade. This is the story of the band that refused to die. They started off as the Vengeful Bastard and they had a tough beginning. The band had to...

A new edition of Humphrey Burton's celebrated biography of Leonard Bernstein, published to coincide with the centenary of his birth. With a new introduction by the author.'Humphrey Burton's biography remains the essential account of American music's...

Van Halen are arguably America's greatest ever rock n' roll band. From inauspicious roots as a backyard covers outfit, they went on to revolutionise and revitalise heavy rock, creating a world-conquering blend of heavy metal power, punk energy and pop...

The Sunday Times' Music Book of the Year 2017 Allan Jones launched Uncut magazine in 1997 and for 15 years wrote a popular monthly column called Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before, based on his experiences as a music journalist in the 70s and...

In August 1994, Manic Street Preachers released The Holy Bible, a dark, fiercely intelligent album that explored such themes as mental illness, murder and war. Richey Edwards, the band's lyricist and motive force, vanished five months later; he was never...

Celebrate 40 years of Kerrang! with this year-by-year review of the greatest artists and moments in metal and alternative music.Kerrang! has an unparalleled reputation as one of the world's best-loved rock-focused publications. It continues to be at the...

Life in the Stocks: Veracious conversations with musicians & creatives is a collection of rock 'n' roll stories taken from the iTunes chart-topping podcast, Life in the Stocks-hosted by UK-based DJ, presenter, and writer, Matt Stocks (Ex-Kerrang!...

In this new collection of interviews, Steve Cushing once again invites readers into the vaults of Blues Before Sunrise, his acclaimed nationally syndicated public radio show. Icons from Memphis Minnie to the Gay Sisters stand alongside figures like...

A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Full of delightful nuggets' Guardian online 'Entertaining, informative and philosphical ... An essential read' All About History 'Extraordinary range ... All the world and more is here' Evening Standard 165...

This electrifying vinyl edition creates a new and edgy definition for "album art." Produced in collaboration with Colors magazine, it brings together more than 500 remarkable records from the collection of Alessandro Benedetti and Peter Bastine.This book...

The first major account of the history of reggae, black music journalist Lloyd Bradley describes its origins and development in Jamaica, from ska to rock-steady to dub and then to reggae itself, a local music which conquered the world. There are many...

July, 1967: It seems the entire country stopped to listen to a husky voice steeped in the simmering secrets of the South tell a tragic tale of teenage suicide. So much for the Summer of Love. "Ode to Billie Joe" knocked the Beatles' "All You Need is...

A lively, engaging guide to music around the world, from prehistory to the present Human beings have always made music. Music can move us and tell stories of faith, struggle, or love. It is common to all cultures across the world. But how has it...

Irish Independent Music Book of the YearGuardian Book of the WeekAfter discovering a derelict record plant on the edge of a northern English city, and hearing that it was once visited by David Bowie, Karl Whitney embarks upon a journey to explore the...