History & Criticism

After 40 years in existence, the shorthand of critics of Tears for Fears has been to describe them as an 80s band. It is understandable why that categorisation happens when songs like 'Mad World' appear in films that typify that period and 'Everybody...

In this eloquent, intimate exploration of the delights and demands of the piano, world-renowned concert pianist and music writer Charles Rosen draws on a lifetime's wisdom to consider every aspect of the instrument: from what makes a beautiful sound to...

From Rolling Stone, the definitive and lavishly illustrated companion book to one of the most popular and hotly debated lists in the world of musicWhen Rolling Stone publishes a list, the world listens. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list was first...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.AwardsLong-listed for Porchlight Business Book Awards - Big Ideas and New Perspectives 2022.Book InformationISBN 9780593132739Author Danyel SmithFormat PaperbackPage Count...

A new edition of the essential chronicle of disco culture In 1973, Vince Aletti became the first person to write about the emerging disco scene. His engagement with disco nightlife continued throughout the decade as he wrote his weekly column for...

What links Taylor Swift to a factory worker? Kanye West to a German engineer? Beyonce to a boardroom mogul? They've all changed the face of the music business, in the most unexpected ways. How Music Got Free is the incredible true story of how online...

Experience the passion and drama of the world's greatest operas with this sumptuously illustrated visual guide.Immerse yourself in more than 400 years of the world's most celebrated operas and discover the fascinating stories behind them. Explore the...

'The ideal interpreter of the Ring ... a fascinating and valuable study ... absorbing and convincing' Sunday TimesThe Ring of the Nibelung is one of the greatest works of art created in modern times. Roger Scruton's brilliant and passionate exploration...

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...

This book celebrates Madvillainy as a representation of two genius musical minds melding to form one revered supervillain. A product of circumstance, the album came together soon after MF DOOM's resurgence and Madlib's reluctant return from avant-garde...

Drew Daniel explores the album's multiple agendas: a series of close readings of each song, with key concepts, strategies, and contexts.Previous writings about Throbbing Gristle have tended to dissolve into lurid half-truths about deviance on and...

The sound of 'Wichita Lineman' was the sound of ecstatic solitude, but then its hero was the quintessential loner. What a great metaphor he was: a man who needed a woman more than he actually wanted her. Written in 1968 by Jimmy Webb, 'Wichita Lineman'...

Hans Keller offers his interpretation of 45 of Haydn's quartets which is aimed at bringing insight to all who seek to deepen their understanding of these works. The book also contains examples of the music.Reviews`A work of clarity verging on genius. It...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781068623806Author Ian DerbyshireFormat PaperbackPage Count 217Imprint IDD PublishingPublisher IDD Publishing

A biography of composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, published in collaboration with the Bard Music Festival. One of the most popular classical composers of all time, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) has often been dismissed by critics as a conservative,...

"One might say that where Religion becomes artificial, it is reserved for Art to save the spirit of religion." With these words Richard Wagner began "Religion and Art" (1880), one of his most passionate essays. That passion made Wagner himself a central...

New Order have produced some of the most influential popular music of the last 40 plus years. A unique vision of alternative electronic rock, forged in Manchester and exported to the world; connecting with the alternative-minded as well as the...

From its use in literary theory, film criticism and the discourse of games design, Salome Voegelin expands 'possible world theory' to think the worlding of sound in music, in art and in the everyday. The modal logic of possible worlds, articulated...

The apex of critical praise and commercial success is a metric achieved by a select few. In 2020, Cardi B became synonymous with "record breaking" as her debut album Invasion of Privacy went five times platinum and became the longest charting record by a...

Fleetwood Mac is one of the most successful bands of all time. Despite a long and complicated history, the band has survived dysfunction on a scale that would see many others implode, and remains a perennial favourite across generations. Formed in...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781838326906Author Paul Dawson-BowlingPage Count 1228Imprint de la Porte PublishingPublisher de la Porte PublishingWeight(grams) 2000g

A welcome collection of piano transcriptions made by the composer himself, featuring eight of his best-loved choral pieces spanning the last 40 years. Designed for pianists at early intermediate level, the collection provides skilful and approachable...

Set against a backdrop of world-changing historical and political events, Fire and Rain tells the extraordinary story of one pivotal year in the lives and music of four legendary artists, and reveals how these artists and their songs both shaped and...

Free were formed in 1968 towards the end of the British blues boom. After two critically acclaimed albums, the release of 'All Right Now' and the album Fire and Water in 1970 brought them major success. Musical and personal differences took their toll...

A GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, PITCHFORK, NPR, METRO AND HERALD SCOTLAND BEST MUSIC BOOK OF 2018 'The definitive grime biography' NME 'A landmark genre history' Pitchfork ...

"One day I blew my nose and half my brains came out." Los Angeles, 1976. David Bowie is holed up in his Bel-Air mansion, drifting into drug-induced paranoia and confusion. Obsessed with black magic and the Holy Grail, he's built an altar in the living...

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA Times, Sunday Times and Telegraph Book of the Year______________________________________________'A triumph ... a masterclass in the bottling of its subject's seductive essence. His presence in this book is so strong...

This first-of-its-kind catalog of Elton John's decades-long career tells the story of one of rock's all-time greatest artists, album-by-album and track-by-track.Organized chronologically and covering every album and song that Sir Elton Hercules John has...

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,...

As dazzling as the decade they dominated, The Beatles almost single-handedly created pop music as we know it. Today, their songs are cited as seminal influences by stars like Oasis and Blur. Eloquently giving voice to their time, The Beatles quite simply...

'Highly stimulating ... Kraftwerk is a pleasure to read' Jon Savage, New StatesmanThe story of the phenomenon that is Kraftwerk, and how they revolutionised our cultural landscape'We are not artists nor musicians. We are workers.' Ignoring nearly all...

Courtney Love has never been less than notorious. Her intelligence, ambition and appetite for confrontation have made her a target in a music industry still dominated by men. As Kurt Cobain's wife she was derided as an opportunistic groupie; as his widow...

There have been many books written about Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, but only by people who weren't there. Walter Lure was-from the band's chaotic beginnings on New York's Lower East Side, through a now-legendary UK tour with the Sex Pistols...

The Cure are arguably the biggest alternative rock band in the world. Between 1985 and 2000 every album they released went to at least Gold in the UK, the US or both. In America they have earned four Platinum albums, and they are estimated to have sold...

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Brilliant. The unwritten Bowie book that needed writing' CAITLIN MORAN 'Splendid. Provides plenty of evidence of Bowie's restless, rummaging intelligence, and his pleasure in the fact that books allow readers to slip into...

One of the finest hip-hop albums ever made, A Tribe Called Quest's debut record (featuring stone-cold classics like "Can I Kick It?" and "Bonita Applebum") took the idea of the boasting hip-hop male and turned it on its head. For many listeners, when...

"The new Chris Cornell biography is the book his legacy deserves." -Kerrang!"Reiff unearths plenty of unexpected details and novel anecdotes...but the book is perhaps most valuable for the way it rounds out and humanizes this man who managed to keep so...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781629920467Author Miranda WilsonFormat PaperbackPage Count 256Imprint Fairhaven PressPublisher Fairhaven PressWeight(grams) 399gDimensions(mm) 234mm *...

Celebrate of the history and significance of both the Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster for the company's 75th anniversary in this combined edition of Dave Hunter's two best-selling books! The Fender Telecaster, created in Les Fender's Fullerton,...

FOREWORD BY JAMES MURPHY'Literally changed the course of my life' James MurphyWhen someone says, 'You have to know your history...' this is it. A pop culture classic for over two decades, now fully refreshed and updated as part of White Rabbit's Deep...