Music

An engrossing oral history of a band that came to define a generation, Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run tells the madcap story of Paul McCartney and his newly formed band, from their humble beginnings in the early 1970s to their dissolution barely a decade later. Drawn from over 500,000 words of interviews with McCartney, family and band members, and other key participants, Wings recounts―now with a half-century’s wisdom―the musical odyssey taken by a man searching for his identity in the aftermath of The Beatles’ breakup.

“Narrator [Hannah] Church delivers a performance that is both tender and resonant. Her warm, emotionally nuanced voice draws listeners into the heart of Parton’s journey, capturing not just the facts of her life, but the spirit behind them. Church’s pacing is thoughtful and deliberate...

A Rolling Stone journalist presents the story of the late singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle. When Justin Townes Earle died of an overdose alone in his Nashville apartment, his death sent waves of grief through the country-Americana music community. The son of alt-country hellraiser Steve...

Blunt, irreverent, and at times wittily subversive, Opera Wars spotlights opera’s colorful and sometimes warring personalities, increasingly fierce controversies over content, and the battles being waged for its economic future. Drawing on interviews with dozens of opera insiders—as well as...

Learn how this group of Australian mates became one of the few truly legendary rock and roll bands in history. Author Susan Masino traces the band's roots, from their beginnings in Sydney, Australia in the early 1970s to trail-blazing the United States mainstream to the devastating death of lead singer Bon Scott in 1980. After that tragedy, the band pulled together and rebounded to the top of the charts with new front man, Brian Johnson, and their watershed album, Back in Black.

By 1993, Guns N' Roses had hit practically every benchmark possible for a rock n' roll band. Their eight-year journey included an explosive and game-changing debut record, a self-indulgent but even more successful double album release, a handful of raucous global tours, and various front page controversies over their lyrics, drug addictions, and lead singer Axl Rose's rattlesnake temper. The most captivating part of the Guns N' Roses story was just beginning, however.

Music is interwoven into the fabric of our lives. We listen to it, some of us play it, but throughout history, humans have also attempted to capture it visually, from the musical images of Ancient Sumer, to Frozen's Elsa standing on the side of a mountain, her voice making crystals in the air. In this startlingly original history of music, Eleanor Chan takes us on a journey through sound that encompasses the 35,000-year-old flute found in a German cave, Kandinsky's kaleidoscopic paintings, illuminated manuscripts, and haute couture.

P-Funk keyboardist Daniel Bedrosian brings to life the recording and musical activity of Parliament-Funkadelic in 1975, an epoch-making year marked by the release of three seminal albums: Chocolate City , Let's Take It to the Stage , and Mothership Connection. By the end of it, George Clinton and P-Funk were catapulted into superstardom, becoming a massive platinum success with multiple hit singles.

Resulta que la música no es sólo entretenimiento: es un medio de comunicación profundamente arraigado y sutilmente poderoso. Las canciones resuenan con tus patrones de ondas cerebrales e impulsan cambios en tu cerebro: creando tus estados de ánimo, consolidando tus recuerdos, fortaleciendo tus hábitos (tanto los buenos como los malos) ... incluso haciendo que te enamores o desenamores. Tu música te está moldeando, a nivel subconsciente, durante todo el día. Y ahora, por primera vez, puedes hacerte cargo.

Byzantine chant studies have long fascinated scholars due to its rich history and unique musical elements. This author's study originated from an initial interest in Byzantine chant for a film project, evolving into a comprehensive academic investigation. By immersing in the Byzantine chant community and learning its notation, the author gained valuable insights shaping the analytical framework of this study. This report examines how integrating Byzantine chant into Western choral music has contributed to contemporary compositions, offering a unique blend of musical traditions.

The eleven-year collaboration between Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann is often called the greatest director-composer partnership in cinema history. Their eight films together include such classic thrillers as Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds. In Hitchcock and Herrmann, Steven C. Smith delivers an intimate account of how the reserved, but deeply anxious, Hitchcock found his ideal creative partner in the cantankerous, but deeply romantic, Herrmann.

Unlock the secrets to creating songs that resonate and endure with "The Art and Craft of Songwriting: A Guide to Writing Meaningful Lyrics" by Simon Blake. Whether you're an aspiring songwriter, a seasoned musician, or simply passionate about crafting lyrics that touch hearts, this comprehensive guide offers invaluable insights into the art of lyrical storytelling.

The Unlocked interviews was recorded over a period of six months with some of music's biggest stars including Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran who is featured in two separate interviews; the bonus one has never been heard before, as Simon takes you through their second album, Rio, and goes over each track in turn, describing the writing, recording and meaning — and even singing parts of them!

When we think of rock stars, we are entrained to think of them as having come from regular, working-class backgrounds, and having worked their way up the slippery pole to success through hard work and talent alone. The reality is that all household name musicians are selected for success. Barely a plumber in sight. But no shortage of generals, admirals, politicians, civil servants and spies. Mark Devlin offers further evidence to show how the corporate music industry exists solely for the mind-control of the masses, with artists becoming little more than hand-picked puppets.

From the joyous communal connections fostered through shared auditory experience to the devastating impact of noise pollution in the deep sea, musician and author Damon Krukowski urges readers to reconsider the significance of sound and its role in both our personal and collective well-being. He looks despairingly at how the multipronged efforts of urban dwellers to mitigate city noise have led to increased isolation, loss of community, and a sense of physical detachment from one’s surroundings.