What is the soundtrack for a nuclear war?During the Cold War, over 500 songs were written about nuclear weapons, fear of the Soviet Union, civil defense, bomb shelters, McCarthyism, uranium mining, the space race, espionage, the Berlin Wall, and glasnost. This music uncovers aspects of these world-changing events that documentaries and history books cannot. In Atomic Tunes, Tim and Joanna Smolko explore everything from the serious to the c...

Since the 1960s, British progressive rock band Jethro Tull has pushed the technical and compositional boundaries of rock music by infusing its musical output with traditions drawn from classical, folk, jazz, and world music. The release of Thick as a Brick (1972) and A Passion Play (1973) won the group legions of new followers and topped the Billboard charts in the United States, among the most unusual albums ever to do so. Tim Smolko explores the large-scale form, expansive instrumentatio...

Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home & Away is a detailed history of the exhaustive road experience of Canadian rock icons Rush. Celebrating the band’s 30th anniversary, By-Tour features in-depth original interviews with Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart. Together, history’s loudest Order of Canada recipients conjure the sights and sounds of their strange journey: one that began in the microscopic, sometimes hostile clubs of Ontario and culminated in hockey barns, arenas...

Ultimate Slap Bass is one of the most popular books ever written on the slap bass technique. In this book, the first in the series of three, the technique is covered from the absolute basics. The book starts with basic slapping and popping technique and moves on to cover ghost notes, using hammer-ons and pull-offs. It also covers popular scales and modes for the slap technique and includes a detailed history of the slap bass technique. There are 63 exercises in this book and all have free ...

From humble folk instrument to American icon, the story of the guitar is told in this "exceptionally well-written" memoir by the NPR commentator ( Guitar Player).In this blend of personal memoir and cultural history, National Public Radio commentator Tim Brookes narrates the long and winding history of the guitar in the United States as he recounts his own quest to build the perfect instrument.Pairing up with a master artisan from the Green Mountai...

The wildly entertaining story of progressive rock, the music that ruled the 1970s charts—and has divided listeners ever since.The Show That Never Ends is the definitive story of the extraordinary rise and fall of progressive (“prog”) rock. Epitomized by such classic, chart-topping bands as Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Emerson Lake & Palmer, along with such successors as Rush, Marillion, Asia, Styx, and Porcupine Tree, prog sold hundreds of mi...

And the Band Begins to Play is an in-depth, 12-volume guide to every song recorded by the Beatles. Part Five examines the Help! LP and associated singles.Going further than the usual song-by-song, album-by-album guide, it is a record of every moment that the Beatles came together to record, from the first EMI session in 1962 to their acrimonious break-up in 1970. In short, this 12-volume set is the blueprint to every single recording made by the Beatles: 12 albums and 22 singles wh...

Strings Attached is the much anticipated authorised biography of John Williams, one of the most accomplished and celebrated musicians of his generation. From his childhood in Australia to his stellar career in London and around the world, John Williams has lived an extraordinary life. Master of the classical repertoire, he took the guitar to a wider audience with the band SKY and by his championing of the music of South America and Africa. William Starling came to know John Williams throug...

This is the uncensored independent guide to the music of Bob Dylan. This authoritative eBook encompasses the complete inside story of the man and his music, tracing the Bob Dylan story from his early folk roots through to the world wide musical phenomenon that we know today. Also included is an in-depth track-by-track analysis of his studio albums.Made with complete editorial freedom, this powerful independent eBook has not been authorised or vetted by Bob Dylan or his management.

Authorised biography of Brian Eno - the 'Father of Ambient Music'A sonic alchemist to the stars, Brian Eno's address book is a veritable who's who of rock and pop. Tellingly, his involvement with Roxy Music, David Bowie, Talking Heads and U2 has coincided with these artists producing their most challenging and critically revered work.ON SOME FARAWAY BEACH is the first serious, critical examination of the life and times of Brian Eno, from an idiosyncratic ch...

By 1987, David Bowie was at a creative, critical, and commercial low. His most recent album was dismissed by the music press, his latest tour written off as a disaster. Fifteen years after becoming the most colourfully controversial superstar in recent rock history, Bowie was seen as a spent force.Almost twenty years later, Bowie has re-established himself at the very peak of his profession in one of the most extraordinary comebacks in rock history. His 1995 release of the critical...

Led Zeppelin, who bestrode the world of rock like a colossus, have continually grown in popularity and influence since their official winding up in 1980. They exasperated critics and eluded classification, synthesizing blues, rock, folk, rockabilly, funk, classical, country, Indian, and Arabic techniques. They performed the alchemical trick of transmuting base led into gold-and platinum-and diamond. They did what they would, finding wisdom through personal excess and artistic self-discipli...