Everything old is new again. Well, OK, not everything. Just everything about the music of Pearl Jam, Joe Jackson, Phil Collins, Roxy Music and the members of Pink Floyd. Read all about ’em:
Pearl Jam: Every Album, Every Song
By Ben L. Connor
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pearl Jam are the last men standing from great alternative rock explosion of the ’90s. They introduced themselves with one of the biggest-selling and most iconic albums of the decade, and their followup albums broke sales records worldwide. To date they have sold over 30 million albums worldwide, as many as iconic such artists as The Doors, Tom Petty and Rush. Just as those artists did, Pearl Jam built an intense cult following who feel personally connected to the band. They tour constantly and are renowned for the quality of their live shows. While maintaining a huge network of fans, they have also collaborated with rock legends and helped boost the profiles of new artists. They fight for social justice causes even when that costs them in other areas. And through it all they keep releasing amazing music. Yet for many they remain an artefact of the Nineties, the epitome of the angsty Gen X stereotype. By going through their entire discography track-by-track, covering their origins in the Seattle scene, their musical development, and how the pop culture context has changed around them, this book will argue that Pearl Jam are not only one the greatest bands of their generation, but one of the greatest bands of all time.”
Pink Floyd Solo: Every Album, Every Song
By Mike Goode
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Although multi-million selling albums such as Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall are justifiably at the forefront of the Pink Floyd canon, the solo work of all five members — Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Rick Wright — is a largely undocumented and fascinating aspect of the band’s ongoing history. It is certainly diverse, from Barrett’s mercurial early-’70s album The Madcap Laughs, through Waters’ ever-acerbic solo concepts, to Gilmour’s mainstream post-Millennium releases such as Rattle That Lock. And lest we forget the often under-appreciated contribution Mason and Wright made to Pink Floyd, their solo works are also represented, along with the session and production duties each Floyd member has undertaken over the years — some of which may raise an eyebrow or two! The ground-breaking nature of Pink Floyd’s music has been kept alive and well in the releases of all solo members and has long been screaming out for analysis — something this book provides with compelling enthusiasm and insight. Listing every studio track they have released — placing them in chronological order — this is the perfect book for those who wish to delve deeper into Pink Floyd.”
Joe Jackson: Every Album, Every Song
By Richard James
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Joe Jackson is a singer, songwriter, composer, and performer who has twisted and turned his career through numerous genres, and continues to release excellent albums 40 years after his initial breakthrough success. For some he’s the ‘Angsty Young Man’, forever hitched to two hit singles; Is She Really Going Out With Him?, and It’s Different For Girls. Other memories may extend further to include the smooth pop gems of Steppin’ Out and Breaking Us In Two from the early 1980s. By the 1990s he had apparently faded from the spotlight. Stardom has never seemed to be the Jackson’s central ambition; he’s been happier to follow his muse. There is more, so much more to this gifted musician, and this book covers every facet of a brilliant, unpredictable, and fearsomely independent recording career. From early ‘new wave’ successes, via unexpected ‘covers’ albums, film soundtracks, impressive conceptual works, to classical compositions. These are all interspersed with more great songs always written with intelligence and verve. Jackson is the constant musical explorer. For those who have stayed the course this book charts his every port of call so far; if you are unfamiliar but want to know more, jump onboard. You won’t regret it.”
Phil Collins In The 80s: Decades
By Andrew Wild
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Phil Collins was everywhere in the 1980s. He had more Top 40 singles in the U.S. than any other artist during the 1980s: 14 as a solo artist and 11 with Genesis, along with two No. 1 albums. Add to this, 25 solo and group hit singles and eight No. 1 albums in the U.K. He also recorded with artists as diverse as Peter Gabriel, John Martyn, Frida, Robert Plant, Mike Oldfield, Marti Webb, Al Di Meola, Adam Ant, Eric Clapton, Phil Bailey, Band Aid, Marilyn Martin, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, Chaka Khan and Tears For Fears — another 35 albums or standalone singles, some of which were massive global hits. He also found time, somehow, to tour with Plant and Clapton in addition to his extensive in-concert duties with Genesis and as a solo artist. And he performed at Live Aid — both concerts. That’s around 600 live shows between 1980 and 1989. There’s no doubt that the guy was busy in that period! His ubiquity between 1980 and 1989 includes 10 years of magnificent music — and this book examines Collins’ output through these tumultuous years.”
Roxy Music In The 1970s: Decades
By Dave Thompson
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Between 1972 and their first breakup in 1976 (and then again following their 1979 reunion), Roxy Music were arguably the most exciting, ambitious and vivacious band in the land — a core four piece of vocalist Bryan Ferry, guitarist Phil Manzanera, horn player Andy Mackay and drummer Phil Thompson (but also featuring, at different times, Brian Eno and Eddie Jobson) who emerged during 1972’s long, hot summer of glam rock, but who could never be readily pigeonholed. The greatest records they made became, in turn, some of the greatest records of the age. Virginia Plain, Pyjamarama, Street Life, All I Want Is You, Love is the Drug, Trash and Dance Away were the hits, but even the deepest cuts on the band’s first five albums became anthems for a generation. Roxy were no ordinary band in other ways, too, as Ferry, Manzanera, Mackay and Eno all embarked upon solo careers — which, between them, were responsible for a complex catalogue of songs that stretches from the ballads of the 1930s to the electronica of the distant future, from Wagner’s Valkyries to David Bowie’s Low. This book encompasses all of that, documenting the histories of both band and band members, while analysing and detailing every album and single released by the Roxy family throughout the decade.”
Vibe Merchants: The Sound Creators of Jamaican Popular Music
By Ray Hitchins
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Vibe Merchants offers an insider’s perspective on the development of Jamaican popular music, researched and analysed by a 30-year veteran with a wide range of experience in performance, production and academic study. This rare perspective, derived from interviews and ethnographic methodologies, focuses on the actual details of music-making practice, rationalized in the context of the economic and creative forces that locally drive music production. By focusing on the work of audio engineers and musicians, recording studios and recording models, Ray Hitchins highlights a music creation methodology that has been acknowledged as being different to that of Europe and North America. The book leads to a broadening of our understanding of how Jamaican popular music emerged, developed and functions, thus providing an engaging example of the important relationship between music, technology and culture that will appeal to a wide range of scholars.”
