Books About Music

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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