Here are some great books to read about the history of music and band's that helped to shape that history. Covering legends in rock, metal and progressive rock.
Formed in East London by bassist Steve Harris in 1975, Iron Maiden are
one of the most popular heavy metal bands ever. It didn't start that
way though. Killers -The Origins of Iron Maiden traces their humble
roots and the personnel changes that plagued them as the band strived to
find the winning formula Covered here are the legendary Soundhouse
Tapes, the two acclaimed Paul Di'Anno fronted albums - the self-titled
1980 debut and 1981's Killers - and the commercial breakthrough with
1982's The Number Of The Beast, which marked Bruce Dickinson's debut,
and its highly acclaimed followed up Piece Of Mind, which cemented Iron
Maiden's status as the world's biggest heavy metal band. This unique
book is the first to focus on Iron Maiden's important formative years.
It includes a foreword by Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal
and an afterword from ex-Judas Priest frontman Tim 'Ripper' Owens. The
publisher and author have also received extensive help in tracking down
every concert played during the period covered (no easy feat), plus rare
memorabilia. Influential fan Ryan LaMar, who runs a website on the
band, has been amazingly helpful.
Based in the UK, Neil Daniels has written about rock, metal and pop
culture for a wide range of magazines, fanzines and websites.
He
has penned books on Judas Priest, Robert Plant, Linkin Park, Bon Jovi
and Journey, and co-authored Dawn Of The Metal Gods: My Life In Judas
Priest & Heavy Metal with original Judas Priest singer/co-founder Al
Atkins. His third book on Judas Priest is Rock Landmarks: Judas
Priest's British Steel.
His acclaimed series, All Pens Blazing: A
Rock & Heavy Metal Writer's Handbook Volumes I & II, collects
over a hundred original and exclusive interviews with some of the
world's most famous rock and heavy metal scribes. His other duel
collection, Rock 'N' Roll Mercenaries - Interviews With Rock Stars
Volumes I & II, compiles over sixty interviews with many well-known
rock stars and rock writers.
His books have so far been
translated into Brazilian, Bulgarian, Czech, Finnish, French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Polish and Swedish with more foreign titles in the
works.
2012 saw the publication of his books on Metallica, Iron Maiden and You Me At Six.
2013/14 saw the release of his books on AC/DC, Pantera, UFO, ZZ Top, Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden.
It's
not just rock 'n roll. Matthew McConaughey - The Biography was
published in November 2014 by John Blake Publishing. 2015 will see the
release of more film biographies, including a book about actor Martin
Freeman.
His Createspace books include AOR Chronicles, Rock &
Metal Chronicles, Hard Rock Rebels - Talking With Rock Stars, Rock 'N'
Roll Sinners - Volumes I, II & III, Rock Bites, Love It Loud and the
fictional rock 'n' roll novel, It's My Life, amongst several more
weighty tomes. And then there's a book on former American Idol
contestant turned Queen frontman Adam Lambert. Also, In A Dark Room -
Exploits Of A Genre Fan collects his articles, features and reviews on
books, comics, TV and film and is also published by Createspace. His
'Casual Guide' series (also published by Createspace) includes titles on
Neal Schon, Bryan Adams, Richie Sambora, Rob Halford and Brian May.
Further Createspace works are planned for 2015/16.
His reviews,
articles and interviews on music and pop culture have been published in
The Guardian, Classic Rock Presents AOR, Classic Rock Presents Let It
Rock, Rock Sound, Record Collector, Big Cheese, Powerplay, Fireworks,
MediaMagazine, Rocktopia.co.uk, Get Ready To Rock.com, Lucemfero.com,
musicOMH.com, Ghostcultmag.com, Drowned In Sound.com,
BBCNewsOnline.co.uk, Carling.com, Unbarred.co.uk and Planet Sound on
Channel 4's now defunct Teletext service.
He has also written several sets of sleeve notes for Angel Air and BGO Records.
He
can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Tumblr. He has author
pages on both Amazon US and UK sites. Further details can also be found
on Wikipedia.
His primary interests are music, films and books. He has a degree in Film Studies.
His official website is www.neildanielsbooks.com.
(FAQ). Prog Rock FAQ traces the controversial, but much misunderstood
musical genre through its five-decade history, highlighting the rise,
eventual decline, and recent resurgence of one of the most inventive and
storied popular musical forms of the latter half of the 20th Century.
Prog Rock FAQ digs deep to deliver a view of progressive rock as you've
never known it: Technical wizards, cosmic messengers, visionary
producers, groundbreaking album-cover illustrators, and even innovative
musical instrument vendors separate memory from myth, fact from fiction,
to recount prog rock's most historically significant milestones and
little-known tales. This interview-rich, unapologetic volume addresses
topics taboo and burning alike, while welcoming the reader on an
enthralling journey replete with rapturous visions, wondrous stories,
and endless enigmas.
In Sail Away: Whitesnake's Fantastic Voyage - the first ever full
biography of the band - top music writer Martin Popoff tells the tale of
rock legend David Coverdale, from his Deep Purple roots to the two
distinct incarnations of his mega-popular creation. Whitesnake began
life as a UK-based blues rock outfit, until the lad from England’s
chilly east coast departed for America’s sunny west coast in search of
fame, fortune, big videos and even bigger hair. Coverdale found them
all, and 1987’s self-titled album went 8 x platinum in the US alone
before their bright star waned in the face of grimy grunge. In this
book - his 45th - Popoff interviewed the major players, including
Coverdale himself, to piece together the band’s roller-coaster history.
He follows their story through the hirings and firings, the splits and
reunions and the image changes to paint an affectionate yet realistic
picture of one of the giants of rock. If you remember great tracks such
as "Here I Go Again," "Fool For Your Loving," "Still Of The Night,"
"Slow An' Easy," "Crying In The Rain," "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of
The City," or “Love Ain't No Stranger,” then this book is essential
reading. The Sail Away refers to how Coverdale re-invented himself by
sailing away to America's West Coast and making himself right at home.
He loves it, and America loves him.
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