On Track – serie

It all began in 1977, when Jim Crichton and Michael Sadler, both with UK heritage, joined forces in their hometown of Oakville, Ontario, to write a few songs. What transpired was an impressive output of recorded material and the emergence of one of Canada’s most influential bands, selling millions of records worldwide. Initially influenced by Gentle Giant and King Crimson, they developed synth-driven, complex prog rock arrangements and melodic hooks that were tricky to categorise, but that didn’t halt their growing popularity across Europe (mainly Germany), North America and Costa Rica. Fans admired their technical prowess, intelligent storytelling, and innovative approach to songwriting. They were also clever, daring, and experimental, creating an inspired decades-spanning Chapters puzzle, a 25-track concept album, an ill-fated TV soundtrack attempt, and a ‘hits’ acoustic reworking. Saga didn’t achieve mainstream recognition, but is appreciated for its incredible musicianship, thought-provoking anthemic music, and exceptional live performances. This book explores every track from Saga’s 23 studio albums and chronicles the band's other releases, highlighting the key factors related to each. It includes the thoughts of the band and the music press, as well as exclusive interviews with two of Saga’s founders. It’s a homage and an essential guide to an exceptional band.

'Probably the most successful British musician most people have never heard of.' The TelegraphA self-taught musician, songwriter and producer, Steven Wilson grew up wanting to be a pop star. His early band No-Man signed to a major label, but instead he gained a dedicated following and chart success with Porcupine Tree, who eventually sold out London's Royal Albert Hall in 2010 before a revival after 12 years in 2022. Porcupine Tree are the subject of Nick Holmes' first book in this series.This book, the first of two volumes on Wilson, tackles the first ten years of his solo career, from his debut Insurgentes in 2008, up until 2017's bold and hugely successful To The Bone, via the award-winning Hand. Cannot. Erase. Wilson became known as the 'King Of Prog' since some of these albums feature long-form songs, virtuosic musicianship and complex concepts. But he has always enjoyed surprising his fans, and this part of his solo career also includes jazz, indie rock, pop and electronic music. Whatever the genre, his music shares strong melodies, profound lyrics, thoughtful concepts and high production values. This book is a forensic and illuminating analysis of Wilson's first five solo albums, associated EPs and bonus tracks.

One of rock and roll's iconic figures, Bruce Springsteen produced his most influential, and many would argue his greatest body of work from 1973 to 1987. During that time, he released eight studio albums, along with the mammoth live album Live/1975-1985. Among these records are five that are included on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Born to Run, Nebraska, and Born in the U.S.A., all of which came out during the period covered by this book.American critic and musician David Starkey takes a deep dive into Springsteen's early catalogue, highlighting the brilliance of Springsteen's writing and composing, his flair for the dramatic, along with his profound commitment to the gruelling lives of working-class people-and occasionally pointing out moments when 'the Boss' isn't quite up to his own high standards. Starkey shares stories from Springsteen and those around him about the songs' creation, and looks closely at the musicians and musicianship that brought Springsteen's vision to life.Finally, Starkey's writing-concise yet wide-ranging, analytic yet witty-brings it all together, telling the familiar story of Bruce Springsteen in an entirely new way.

There’s more to Iggy Pop than The Stooges, wild tales and the occasional ‘Lust For Life’ sync in a commercial. Much of his solo career, spanning decades of reckless reinvention, is often overlooked, reduced to a handful of hits or dismissed as a footnote to his incendiary past. Yet there is a vast world to explore: the sheer variety of musical styles, the energy, the humour, the vivid imagery, the sharp social critique, the highs, the misfires, the unexpected detours and his collaborations with some of music’s biggest names.This book dives deep into Iggy’s solo output from 1977 to 1999, exploring every album track by track. It unpacks the music, lyrics, influences and the stories behind them. Fact-driven yet opinionated, it draws from interviews, archival material and trivia to trace the evolution of America’s ultimate rock’n’roll outlaw. Whether crooning over icy synths, bellowing over scuzzy guitars or delivering deadpan one-liners with a smirk, Iggy has never stopped moving. This is the sound of his journey.

Bob Seger began his career during the 1960s, fronting various bands in the Michigan area, a local hero who took almost a decade to break through to a national American audience. The in-concert Live Bullet, followed by the single and album Night Moves in 1976, established him as a major attraction at home and then internationally. Further success came with the singles ‘Hollywood Nights’ and the much-covered ‘We’ve Got Tonight’ and albums like Stranger In Town, the US number one Against The Wind and The Distance, while touring regularly with his backing outfit The Silver Bullet Band. He was regarded as one of the prime examples of ‘heartland rock’, embracing styles from rock’n’roll and soul to introspective ballads and country, and also had an out-of-character pop US number one in 1987 with ‘Shakedown’. Although less prolific in later years, altogether he released 18 studio albums and two live sets, spanning over half a century from his garage band beginnings in 1966 fronting The Last Heard, to his final set I Knew You When in 2017 and a farewell tour that ended two years later. This book examines every album track and single from his lengthy career.

In thebeginning, there was Led Zeppelin - and Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple, theprogenitors of British heavy metal, a musical form that wildly expanded theterrain of rock in the early Seventies. And as that decade progressed, it beganto mutate, as Judas Priest fused heavy metal's intensity and dark emotion withunbridled theatricality and the power of twin guitars. The New Wave of BritishHeavy Metal was underway. Five young men from Sheffield - some of them still inschool - took that new sound and infused it with large doses of the glam they'dgrown up on - T. Rex, Queen, Davie Bowie - and blazed a trail into theEighties, leading NWOBHM into the new era of MTV.Taking the name Def Leppard, they broughtunprecedented energy and innovation to every song, to every show, thenpartnering with legendary producer Mutt Lange to become heavy metal's apostlesto top 40 radio - delivering an astonishing string of hit singles andmulti-platinum albums while setting new standards for arena rock. They'restill rocking the world today, a dozen albums in, touring the world and neverresting on their laurels. Heavy metal, NWOBHM, hair metal have all come andgone - but Def Leppard remain

Few would deny that Deep Purple were one of the most influential and popular heavy rock bands to emerge from the melting pot of the late 1960s. They went through several line-up changes and stylistic shifts, before splitting up for the first time in the mid-1970s. Talismanic guitarist Ritchie Blackmore carried the spirit on when he formed Rainbow after leaving Purple in 1975, particularly through his partnership with legendary singer Ronnie James Dio. Deep Purple reformed some years later, of course, but many consider this original, sometimes turbulent, decade to be their most significant.In this updated new edition, Steve Pilkington puts his focus on the period from Shades Of Deep Purple in 1968 through to the first dissolution of the band after Come Taste The Band in 1976, via such classics as Machine Head and In Rock. He also discusses the first four Rainbow studio albums, including the classic Rainbow Rising and the hit-laden Down To Earth album in 1979, taking a look at every song from every album in detail. He also discusses live recordings, plus DVD and video releases. Critical! opinion rubs shoulders with facts, trivia and anecdotes, making this alternative history the most exhaustive guide to the band's music yet produced.

Motorhead are arguably the greatest rock and roll band in history, but it took many years to win that accolade. This is the story of the band that refused to die. They started off as the Vengeful Bastard and they had a tough beginning. The band had to deal with wayward producers, hostile record companies, more than a couple of false starts and even the ignominy of being proclaimed the Worst Band in the World by the NME!Famed for their legendary loudness and their singular anthem, 'Ace Of Spades', Motorhead have not only proved inspirational but also, accidentally, created two sub-genres of heavy music: speed and thrash metal. Not bad for a band who announced themselves with: 'We are Motorhead, and we play rock and roll.' at their numerous live gigs.This book covers every studio album, band rarities and significant solo work from Lemmy. It is designed as a useful companion to the recorded output of a unique band. From the highly regarded trio of albums that ended the 1970s, through the line-up hardships and turmoil of the 1980s to the occasionally awkward musical experiments of the early 1990s, this book closes with the triumphant two-decade-long career revival of the band.

Soft Machine are perceived as cold and forbidding. At their peak in the 1970s, they purposefully raised the hackles of pop journalists, the musical establishment, and even their own fans. Their music was designed to exclude all but the most devoted. Their line-up constantly churned, divesting themselves of every player that tried to make a human connection. Instead of the community of live performance, they favoured an abusive blast of ferocious noise that never ceased from the first note to the point you were driven out of the venue in shock. That all this was true only for a short period of their career and is certainly not the case for more recent incarnations is irrelevant if potential listeners are turned away before they've even dared to hear a note of their music. Do so, and an entirely different band emerges: one that is sly, spry, tuneful, trippy, and surprisingly welcoming, merging a glorious melange of prog rock, jazz fusion, and much more and capable of shifting on a unison beat from soul ballad to freeform skronk, from fuzz-driven pounding to aching minimalism. This book guides you through the maze of the band's works, revealing why every album is worthy of re-evaluation, why they're so influential, and why you should rush to assimilate as many of them as you can. It covers the live and studio material released by the parent group, all related projects with a 'Soft' in their name, and the essential extracurricular activities of every member from 1960 to the present day.

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 a number of live albums and collaborations. The range of styles in evidence on these albums is remarkable, from baroque progressive rock to snotty proto-punk, angular new wave, delicate ballads, electronic experiments and even a full-length opera. This is the first book to offer an in-depth exploration of Peter Hammill's solo discography, revealing the sonic intensity and emotional turmoil that lie at the heart of his work. The book is an invaluable companion to Dan Coffey's Van der Graaf Generator: every album, every song, already published by Sonicbond Publishing.

UFO, the legendary band which have been gracing the world’s stages for the last 50 years, have given us more than their fair share of superb quality hard rock songs including ‘Doctor, Doctor’, ‘Rock Bottom’, ‘Shoot Shoot’, ‘Too Hot To Handle’, and ‘Only You Can Rock Me’. And that was just during the Seventies!Albums such as ‘Force It’, ‘Obsession’, ‘The Wild, The Willing, And The Innocent’, ‘Walk On Water’ and ‘You Are Here’ are acknowledged as classics of the melodic hard rock genre, and their live masterpiece ‘Strangers In The Night’ regularly features at or near the top of rock music polls.UFO’s history can be delineated by the guitarists who have passed through their ranks. From the early ‘Space Rock’ stumblings, their astonishing development with the brilliant, mercurial Michael Schenker, the consolidation and first downfall during Paul Chapman’s tenure, subsequent re-launches and crash-landings, a troubled reformation of the Schenker line-up, and the final mostly settled version with Vinnie Moore, this book explores each of the band’s 23 studio albums, and, of course, ‘Strangers’. Every song is analysed in detail and opinions are numerous in this passionate critique of one of Britain’s best loved and most influential rock institutions

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Lynyrd Skynyrd have been playing their patented brand of Southern Rock music for over fifty years. The term 'Southern Rock' has been a contentious one, and their use of the Confederate flag has been controversial. However, the message the band put across today is one of unity and of bringing the generations together.In a short space of time, between 1973 and 1977, the band went from obscurity to stardom and were on course to become one of the world's pre-eminent bands. However, in 1977, just days after the release of their Street Survivors album, the band suffered a terrible tragedy in a plane crash that took the lives of front man Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backing singer Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William John Gray. The remaining members of the band suffered significantly both physically and psychologically, but against all the odds returned to the stage and in 1987 reformed for the Tribute Tour. This turned into a full-blown reunion and the band went on to record new studio and live albums. This was a move that divided fans, particularly as the original members began to pass. Their story is a complex one, and there are many contradictions in the recollections of band members and associates. This is not a biography, but it is an account of their music, and through their music, it tells their story.

"We only ever get glimpses of Ian Dury; nothing is as it seems. From irascible rogue to national treasure, pop star to social commentator, cockney geezer to artist, he was a man greater than the sum of his parts. Part teddy boy, part punk, part vaudeville act; he was unique. The music that emanates from this powerful personality echoes the heart and drive of their complex creator.Dury began his career as a frontman with post-punk outfit Kilburn And The High Roads, but had his greatest success with backing band The Blockheads, which featured Chis Jankel and Wilko Johnson at various times. He found true commercial success with the albums New Boots And Panties and Do It Yourself. Dury went on to a critically acclaimed solo career and worked with The Blockheads again on the 1997 album Mr Love Pants. He also had a slew of non-album hits, especially the UK number one 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick'.In this book, Opher Goodwin dissects his albums and songs to tease out their spirit and reveal the inspirations behind them. This is Ian Dury: a Blockhead, a genius."

Of all of the 'classic' British rockers who came to prominence in the 1960s, only a very few have achieved significant, sustained success through to the present day. A list that comprises Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones should also include Eric Clapton. His critical and commercial accomplishments with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith and his first solo album between 1965 and 1970 was followed the inexplicable failure of the Layla album, released under the semi-pseudonym of Derek & The Dominos. Clapton withdrew into heroin addiction for several years.In 1974, his 'comeback' album, 461 Ocean Boulevard, returned him to the top three in both the UK and America. Always a strong concert draw, Clapton has released another sixteen top twenty albums since. Even 'Layla' returned to the charts in 1982.Eric Clapton Solo reviews and analyses all of Clapton's studio albums since 1974, as well as successful collaborations with BB King and JJ Cale. It's been a long, varied journey: the laid-back rocker of the 1970s; the commercial sheen of the 1980s; the polished, acoustic yuppie music and hard blues of the 1990s; the slick R & B stylings of the 2000s and the roots homages of the 2010s. All of this was underpinned by the skill and talent of Britain's greatest blues guitarist and a hugely underrated vocalist

Pink Floyd are one of the most innovative and enduringly successful bands in history. 1973's Dark Side of the Moon, though far from the first concept album, established a new model for quasi-symphonic, long-form investigations into the human condition. It is a record of thoughtfully poignant lyrics and some of the most powerful, genre-defining rock music ever made. Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason and the tragically brilliant Syd Barrett fused English whimsy with electrifying voyages through inner and outer space. Their underground gigs are the stuff of psychedelic legend, but between 1968 and 1971, with Barrett replaced by David Gilmour, their sonic inquiries were never braver. Some were delivered instantly while others were revealed slowly, but all played crucial parts in rock's development. During the 1970s, the music matured as the messages darkened. While Floyd continued to prove that emotional weight can be forged from deceptively modest arrangements, the band's live spectaculars reached a pitch of technical complexity and extravagance none has matched.With insightful analysis and witty objectivity, Richard Butterworth appraises afresh Pink Floyd's official recorded canon, from 'Arnold Layne' to The Endless River and beyond to 2022 and the first all-new Floyd music for 28 years.

As Love’s mostrevered album is titled Forever Changes, it’s little wonder that their superiorback catalogue encompasses a multitude of genres: folk rock, garage, jazz rock,baroque, psychedelia, soul, funk, and reggae - or certainly Arthur Lee’s does. Butwho can separate Love from their beleaguered yet brilliant front man? Love OnTrack explores the many embodiments of his group, with his solo work closelyexamined at the same time. Love were the first rock signing to folklabel Elektra and something of this contradiction inhabits their work. From theraw beat of their eponymous debut, to sweetly ruminative songs on Da Capo, tothe ultimate comment on the counter-culture in Forever Changes, onto FourSail’s auguring the hard rocking 1970s, these albums represent Love’s bestknown work.  But the book knows the Love story doesn’tend there. There’s the epic double album Out Here, collaborations with JimiHendrix, vegetarian protest songs, and a gorgeously romantic revival in FiveString Serenade. There are also stops along the way to recall the solo work ofBryan MacLean et al, a new interview with Berton Averre, who played with Lee inthe 1990s, and a detailed look at live recordings – the book is a real labourof Love.

U2 were Formed at a Dublin Secondary School by Adam Clayton, Bono, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr. Like most bands, they wanted to be among the best in the world. By 1991, with Achtung Baby in the pipeline and War, The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree behind them, they were arguably deserving of that intention. Yet there was more to the band than the stadium records that made their fans deliriously happy and the music's creators artistically and lucratively fulfilled. Their second album, October, opened the four piece into a spiritual journey that fed their later work. Their double album Rattle and Hum proved one of the greatest torchbearers of American music of its time. And then there were Zooropa and Pop - dance oriented albums that showed the initially-punk oriented quartet exploring effects, sounds and territories that few of their contemporaries dared contemplate. That they should exist forty years after their debut is testament to the will, fortitude and versatility U2 holds. Their most recent works Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience have proven their most reflective and perhaps their most autobiographical. What lies next for U2 only the band know, but this book delves into their past work, without leaving a passenger behind.

In ten short years, Roxy Music made two of the most experimental albums in popular music history and one of the most smoothly romantic. Conceived by Bryan Ferry at the turn of the 1970s, the band released its first album, Roxy Music, to wide acclaim in 1972 and swiftly followed up with the ground-breaking single 'Virginia Plain'. Ferry, Andy Mackay, and Phil Manzanera remained Roxy's core players over seven more albums, in three distinct phases. The debut and For Your Pleasure (1973) featured all manner of electronic weirdness from Brian Eno, while Stranded (1973), Country Life (1974), and Siren (1975) marked the peak of Ferry's songwriting and struck a delicate balance between edgy art and gorgeous craft. Finally, Manifesto (1979), Flesh + Blood (1980), and Avalon (1982), the last two without powerhouse founding drummer Paul Thompson, framed Ferry's tales of doomed romance within a sophisticated wash of sound that used the studio itself as an instrument.The members of Roxy Music have had long and distinguished careers outside the band, but nothing can surpass the eight albums they made together. This book tells the musical story of this most enigmatic of British bands.

The DoobieBrothers On Track tells the story of a band that helped define one of the mosttransformative decades in popular music. Formed in California in 1970, TheDoobie Brothers blended blues, folk and R&B with tight harmonies androad-tested musicianship. Their early hits-'Listen to the Music', 'Long TrainRunnin'', 'China Grove' and 'Black Water'-captured the easygoing optimism ofthe West Coast while reflecting a country in transition after the upheavals ofthe 1960s. As the decadeunfolded, the band evolved alongside the changing sound of rock. Guitarist Jeff"Skunk" Baxter brought a jazz sensibility from his time with Steely Dan, whilesinger and keyboardist Michael McDonald introduced smooth, soulful texturesthat reshaped the group's identity. With Takin' It to the Streets and theGrammy-winning Minute by Minute, The Doobie Brothers became one of the fewbands able to bridge bar-band grit and radio polish without losing credibility.This book placestheir journey within the broader story of 1970s American music-a period ofgenre-blending, studio innovation and shifting cultural moods. Drawingconnections to contemporaries like Little Feat and Steely Dan, it explores howThe Doobies balanced experimentation with accessibility and why their songscontinue to resonate today. More than a bandbiography, it's a portrait of resilience and reinvention-how a group rooted inCalifornia's club scene learned to adapt, thrive and keep audiences listeningfor over fifty years.

Rising to prominence in 1994 on the back of their eponymous debut album, Korn ushered in a new sound within heavy metal which many would try and imitate in the years that followed. Earning themselves the title of "The Godfathers of Nu Metal", the Bakersfield quintet has sold well over 40 million records, they have topped charts all around the world, and they have also won multiple awards which include two prestigious Grammys. Still firing on all cylinders after three decades, Korn continues to produce powerful and accessible anthems in the present day.Korn On Track covers all the band's studio releases thus far- from their 1993 demo tape, Neidermayer's Mind, to their thirteenth studio album, The Nothing, released in 2018. Reviewing every track and delving into the stories behind many of them, also discussed is Korn's largely unheralded unreleased material, and B-sides which also include songs exclusively featured on movie soundtracks.

Thin Lizzy emerged as a four-piece in Dublin as the 1960s drew to a close, when guitarist Eric Bell and keyboard player Eric Wrixon, both from Belfast, encountered a band named Orphanage, which included Dubliners Brian Downey on drums and charismatic front man Philip Lynott. Evolving through a number of incarnations, through psychedelic power trio through classic four-piece guitar-toting rockers, to a quintet of heavy metal heroes, with the ever-present Lynott and Downey at its core, Thin Lizzy rose to become one of the most powerful and iconic rock bands in Europe, before the erosive effects of the rock'n'roll lifestyle took their toll.The purpose of this book is to present a history of the band through its music - to cover every song released through official channels, presented in context, including an overview of its content. From the difficult early years of the early 1970s, which did produce the surprise hit single 'Whisky In The Jar', via their breakthrough album Jailbreak and the heavy rock excesses of the early 80s, this book follows the evolution of Thin Lizzy and its stellar cast of guitarists, from start to finish through their music, track by glorious track.

This volume is the companion book to Rush On Track 1973 - 1982 . Fans who hoped that 1982's keyboard heavy Signals had been a one off were to be disappointed. In line with their desire never to make the same album twice the infamous 'synth era' began. Albums including Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire split the fan base; the 'old guard' resenting the changes in both instrumentation and song-writing style. New followers joined the fold, however, and the band's popularity in album sales and concert receipts continued to grow. Rush were never ones for treading water, as subsequent releases into the 1990s showed a gradual but welcome return to the guitar-centric power-trio format.A double family tragedy for drummer Neil Peart seemed to signal the end of the band, with a sign-off triple live album, Different Stages appearing in 1997. But five years later a reformed Rush released a series of new albums, culminating in the magnificent concept record, Clockwork Angels.This book reviews all the band's studio and live releases from 1984's Grace Under Pressure to the final, farewell live album, R40, in 2015. Peart's subsequent retirement and tragically early death in 2020 finally closed the annals of this unique band.

Once, there were four university students who started a rock band named after a firetruck. Five and a half decades later, REO Speedwagon are still going strong, still drawing massive crowds, and, thankfully, still have no plans to stop. With classic albums like the multi-platinum You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish and the ten million-selling Hi Infidelity, REO conquered America's heartland, then the nation, and then - as a ten-year 'overnight sensation' - the world. It was the rock tunes like 'Golden Country' and 'Back on the Road Again' that built their reputation before the ballads like 'Keep on Loving You' and 'Can't Fight this Feeling' brought them global fame. REO have sold over 40 million records under their own name and are further featured on the soundtracks to scores of films and television programs, including Supernatural and Ozark. The current line-up with the 'new guys' has been together for more than 30 years.REO Speedwagon On Track shines a light on the band's lengthy career. This book delves into the tracks on each of their 16 studio albums, their official live releases, and several compilations, and provides a glimpse of some of the band members' outside projects,

Jefferson Airplane were not the sole exemplars of 1960s Californian acid rock; the Grateful Dead could equally claim the mantle of house band to the Summer of Love. Airplane's instrumentation was conventional, comprising mainly vocal harmonies, guitars, bass and drums. The band drew upon the folk traditions of The Weavers, the legendary bluesmen Gary Davis and B.B. King, improvisational masters from Miles Davis to Cream, even literary visionaries such as James Joyce and Isaac Asimov.Yet fusing together these influences in the creative furnace of San Francisco between 1966 and 1970, Jefferson Airplane's classic lineup – one ex-model, two ex-folkies, one ex-jazzer and two ex-D.C. guitarslingers – crafted music that was at once powerful, innovative and beautiful. Birthed in the dizzy hippie heartland of Haight-Ashbury, no other group were so wedded to their environment, winning international acclaim with two anthemic hit singles even as they impishly prodded the morés of middle Amerika. A musical and social force of nature, Airplane mirrored the psychedelic dream, burning higher, fiercer and brighter than any of their contemporaries.Combining a concise history of this magnificent band and their milieu with comprehensive and entertaining reviews of all their recordings, this is the most accessible book on the band yet written

AC/DC - a global rock institution and big brand name. The secret to their success has always been they are a rock 'n' roll band, pure and simple, undiluted by trends. They have a solid authenticity with no frills or pretentiousness. Chris Sutton examines the recorded output of the band in detail, helped by new interview material with former members, collaborators and friends in Michael Browning (manager), Peter Clack (drums), Tony Currenti (drums), Mike Fraser (engineer/ producer), Gerard Huerta (logo design), Ian Hampton (bass), Noel Taylor (drums) and Dave Thoener (engineer). Hampton reveals the time that he was close to replacing Mark Evans. They have one of the world's biggest-selling albums in Back In Black, but is it their best album, and which are their best songs? As well as commentary and analysis of every track on every studio album, space is also given to B-sides and out-takes. The live albums and box sets are also featured. The background to each album is also covered as the band navigate tragedy and setbacks with a determination to keep going - rock or bust!The book's aim is to send you back to the albums and listen again, or catch up with the ones you have missed.

Celebrating 50 years as a band in 2022, Magnum remain a musical enigma, much loved by legions of fans despite never fitting easily into the sub-genres favoured by rock music critics. Formed in the West Midlands of England around a nucleus of guitarist and songwriter Tony Clarkin and vocalist Bob Catley, the band dabbled with pomp rock and progressive sounds in the late 1970s before achieving success in the 1980s with records like Chase the Dragon, On a Storyteller's Night and their commercial highpoint, Wings of Heaven. They even had two top thirty singles in the UK, with 'Start Talking Love' and 'Rockin' Chair'. The changing musical landscape of the 1990s led to a split, but the band returned in 2001 and continue to release records of remarkable consistency while entertaining live audiences across Europe. This is the first book on the history and music of Magnum. It covers each of the band's twenty-two studio albums, as well as live recordings, compilations and the late 1990s Hard Rain project. Charting the ups and downs in commercial and artistic achievement, it is an essential guide to one of Britain's most underappreciated rock bands.