MIKE DALEY – YORKVILLE: HOW A 1960s COFFEEHOUSE SCENE REWROTE POPULAR MUSIC SUTHERLAND HOUSE BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY I was eager to read this book, as this is an era and place that has not had deep dives written about it. From 1954 [...]
RICHARD BOWES – GARY NUMAN: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY SPENWOOD BOOKS BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY Tubeway Army, featuring Gary Numan, released their self-titled debut album in 1978. By 1979, Numan began dominating the charts in the U.K. both with [...]
KELLY CATLIN – KURT COBAIN: FOREVER IN BLOOM: THE LEGACY BEYOND THE TRAGEDY SKYHORSE PUBLISHING BOOK REVIEW BY CHRIS X Kurt Cobain. Grunge. For those of us that saw the events unfold in real time, we didn’t just listen to the music, we [...]
NIGEL DICK – MUSIC VIDEO MISCHIEF OZZY TO BRITNEY, OASIS TO GN’R, McCARTNEY TO CHER: A LIFETIME OF ROCK AND CHAOS TROUSER PRESS BOOK REVIEW BY CHRIS X I just want to preface this review by saying that I received an advance digital copy of [...]
RACHEL BRODSKY – LESSONS & LACE: EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT DREAMS, HEARTBREAK, AND MAGIC I LEARNED FROM STEVIE NICKS HARMONY/PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE BOOK REVIEW BY ROXY MACDONALD Dedicated Stevie Nicks fans are a bit deranged. We cloak [...]
MARTIN POPOFF – METALLICA: ALBUM BY ALBUM MOTORBOOKS/QUARTO BOOK REVIEW BY MIKE MATTHEW Seasoned rock critic and prolific music writer Martin Popoff cranks out another epic tome, this time about Metallica’s discography. In it he [...]
CHARLIE HARPER – AN ANARCHY OF DEMONS EARTH ISLAND BOOKS BOOK REVIEW BY JOHN PORTER There’s already a mystique around Charlie Harper, ever-present member and founder of the U.K. Subs – after all, there are few punks from his era around, [...]
LEONARD GRAVES PHILLIPS – THE DICKIES AND ME – THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LEONARD GRAVES PHILLIPS CLEOPATRA RECORDS BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY Try to imagine, it is 1978, punk is at full force, and for the most part, a serious and angry [...]
TONY FLETCHER – POW! WHEN UK PUNK WENT POP 1980-84 TROUSER PRESS BOOK REVIEW BY LJUBINKO ZIVKOVIC The number of music books seems to be proliferating which at the same time means that there is quite some divergence in their quality. It can [...]
SEAN KELLY – BATTLE AXES: A HARD ROCKIN’ HISTORY OF POINTY GUITARS ECW PRESS BOOK REVIEW BY JULIE CORRELL Rock ’n’ roll has never been particularly good at following the rules, and eventually its guitars stopped following them too. Pointy [...]
CHANTAL KREVIAZUK AND RAINE MAIDA – I’M GOING TO BREAK YOUR HEART: A ROCK N ROLL LOVE STORY ECW PRESS BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY I’m Going To Break Your Heart: A Rock N Roll Love Story is a fascinating and rather unique book. Chantal [...]
ADAM BERNARD – ONE HIT WONDERING: THE STORIES OF 40 ONE HIT WONDERS + OTHER TALES FROM THE CRATES INDEPENDENT BOOK REVIEW BY CHRIS X What if a musician’s greatest, most terrifying nightmare isn’t fading into absolute obscurity, [...]
BRAD TOLINSKI & CHRIS GILL – BLOW BY BLOW: THE JEFF BECK STORY DA CAPO BOOK REVIEW BY GERROD HARRIS For his legendary status, Jeff Beck remains an understated and misunderstood tour de creative force among guitarist and popular music alike. [...]
TYLER SONNICHSEN – THE DEAD MILKMEN J-CARD PRESS BOOK REVIEW BY JOHN PORTER It’s hard to understand how one even begins to tell the story of The Dead Milkmen, being the incongruous fits even for the punk scene that they are, but credit to [...]
SUE FOLEY – GUITAR WOMEN: CONVERSATIONS & LIFE LESSONS WITH SIX-STRING HEROINES SUTHERLAND HOUSE BOOK REVIEW BY TRISH MELANSON Sue Foley, author of Guitar Women: Conversations & Life Lessons with Six-String Heroines, is no stranger [...]
KIM THAYIL – A SCREAMING LIFE: INTO THE SUPERUNKNOWN WITH SOUNDGARDEN AND BEYOND WILLIAM MORROW BOOK REVIEW BY GERROD HARRIS Little has been written about the ascent, songwriting, and legacy of perhaps the greatest band to emerge from the [...]
DON PYLE – ROUGH DESCRIPTION: LOVE LETTERS AND GHOST STORIES FROM A LIFE IN MUSIC ECW PRESS BOOK REVIEW BY GERROD HARRIS Don Pyle remains a consistent figure among Toronto’s vibrant creative communities as a musician, photographer, and [...]
PAT GILBERT – PASSION IS A FASHION: THE REAL STORY OF THE CLASH AURUM/QUARTO GROUP BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY Pat Gilbert’s Passion Is A Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash has stood out from other bios on The Clash since it was first [...]
TOM DOYLE – RINGO STARR: A FAB LIFE ECW PRESS BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY Tom Doyle is a very respected music journalist who has also written several books about many artists. His library includes books about Paul McCartney, Elton John, [...]
JENN L. BECKWITH – ALL GOOD CRETINS GO TO HEAVEN: THE ENDURING SPIRIT OF THE RAMONES EARTH ISLAND BOOKS/DIWULF PUBLISHING BOOK REVIEW BY BRYAN WILLISTON All Good Cretins Go To Heaven: The Enduring Spirit of the Ramones, by Jenn L. [...]
DEIRDRE O’CALLAGHAN – THE DRUM THING (COMPACT EDITION) PRESTEL BOOK REVIEW BY GERROD HARRIS Through her appreciation of rhythm sections, author and photographer Deirdre O’Callaghan, from 2011 to 2015, sought out some of the most prolific [...]
CAM GORDON – TRACK CHANGES: THE ORIGIN STORY OF CANADIAN MUSIC ON THE INTERNET (1990 – 2010) FRIESENPRESS BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY Cam Gordon introduces Track Changes: The Origin Story of Canadian Music on the Internet [...]
RIK EMMETT – LEANING INTO IT MISFIT/ECW PRESS BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY Besides being on third of the power rock trio, Triumph, Rik Emmett has had a successful solo career and is also an accomplished author. Not only has he written his [...]
JEFF GOMEZ – SAMMY J-CARD PRESS BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY One of the wonderful things about music is that it almost automatically attaches to a person, place, or time. It can be a band, song or album. Each song can have a deep [...]
