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Since Sonicbond Publishing launched at the end of 2018, iwe have published books that span most genres in popular music, from easy listening to psychedelia and from pop to metal. However, it is in the world of progressive rock that we have found our most comfortable home. This book features eleven chapters from books on some of the greats of the genre, including from our On Track series Yes, Genesis, Caravan, ELP, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree and Steve Hackett solo. Our Decades series offers up chapters on Marillion in the 1980s and Van Der Graaf Generator in the 1970s and our Year In series has a chapter on Aphrodite’s Child’s seminal 666. This is just the tip o...
1979 was an amazing time for post-punk pop. At the end of March, a fresh new sound entered the UK top 20. It was ‘Sultans of Swing’, a very wordy song with lots of driving guitar, a tight rhythm section and some killer musicianship. Dire Straits, unlikely pop stars led by a 29-year-old Geordie who could play guitar brilliantly, had finally arrived. Six years later, they were, for a time, the biggest band in the world. Brothers in Arms sold by the truckload, one of the first massive sellers on CD. Since then, however, their star has fallen. Over exposure as the safe, boring champions of the CD age has resulted in Dire Straits becoming, to many, the embodiment of a certain sort of benign, ...
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 rock album of all time, and the best-selling Who’s Next. Powered by the phenomenal rhythm section of Keith Moon and John Entwistle, they earned a reputation as a premier live act and pioneered festival and arena performances. The rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia took popular music into uncharted territories and both albums inspired hit films. Despite regular infighting, break ups and the death of two key members, the band continued into the ...
From the vibrant musical scene in Britain’s 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 Roy’s distinctive song writing style alongside the band’s unique harmonies, they became regulars on British TV’s 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 ...
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 the 1970s, and since VdGG reformed in 2005 has continued to lead the group down a unique musical path. But Van der Graaf Generator are only part of the Peter Hammill story. Beginning with 1971’s Fool’s Mate and continuing all the way to 2021’s In Translation, Hammill has carved out a lengthy solo career consisting of some 35 albums, plus many live albums and collaborations. The range of styles in evidence on these albums is remarkable,...
Fairport Convention are a great British institution – or, at least, they should be. For more than 50 years they have helped to keep traditional music alive and kicking by injecting it with a healthy dose of electric rock ’n’ roll. Their finest albums – including What We Did On Our Holidays and Liege And Lief – are landmarks is the development of British music. In this exhaustive and illuminating book, Kevan Furbank looks at all the studio albums in detail – from their uncertain debut in 1968 to their most recent release, celebrating half a century of music-making. He chronicles the stories behind each recording, touching on the highs and lows, the successes and tragedies, the ple...
Porcupine Tree began in 1987 as a solo project for Steven Wilson but became a four-piece band when Steven was later joined by Richard Barbieri, Colin Edwin, and Chris Maitland (who was later replaced by Gavin Harrison). Their first live gig was in a pub in High Wycombe, England, in 1993, but by 2010 the band had toured Europe and America extensively, ending up by playing to thousands of fans at a sold-out Royal Albert Hall in London. The band was nominated for two Grammy awards, and their last album, The Incident, made the top 30 in both the UK and the US. Although often labelled as a progressive rock band, Porcupine Tree constantly changed style. Beginning by playing psychedelic music, Porcupine Tree experimented with space rock, dance, trance and melodic pop as well as prog rock. In their last few albums, the band created a new hybrid of progressive metal riffs, melodic strength and rich vocal harmonies, with strong lyrics and powerful concepts. This aspect of the band has provided their most enduring legacy. This book analyses all Porcupine Tree’s studio albums and EPs in forensic detail, providing illuminating insight into the band’s music for existing and new fans alike.
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 ear...
Music may not have been the designated career path for the members of Tool when they each relocated to Los Angeles in the 1980s, but the quartet would soon find one another and join forces to become one of the most distinctive acts in the history of rock and metal. Tool On Track documents all of the band’s studio releases, from their raw and unapologetic 1991 demo tape to their 2019 epic, Fear Inoculum, a record thirteen years in the making and an album that would solidify Tool as one of the greatest progressive rock bands of all time. Something of an enigma but an extremely complex and intelligent band, this book goes into considerable depth as it uncovers the stories behind Tool’s engr...
In her long career, Canadian songstress Joni Mitchell has been hailed as everything from a 1960s folk icon to 20th century cultural figure, artistic iconoclast to musical heroine, extreme romantic confessor to both outspoken commentator and lyrical painter. Eschewing commercial considerations, she simply viewed her trajectory as that of any artist serious about the integrity of their work. But whatever musical position she took, she was always one step ahead of the game, making eclectic and innovative music. Albums like The Ladies Of The Canyon, Blue, Hejira and Mingus helped define each era of the 1970s, as she moved from exquisitely pitched singer-songwriter material towards jazz. By the 1...