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When Kurt Cobain died at his Seattle home on April 8, 1994 at the age of 27, music lost the idol of an entire generation. Ernesto Assante, renowned music journalist, guides the reader through the personal story of an artist and the discovery of an entire musical genre that symbolises an era. A story of pain, passion, and music. A fascinating and mysterious personal adventure. The story of a troubled boy who became a rock star and that of a band that gave sound to the last great rock season of the 20th century: Nirvana.

_A look at the mysterious and troubled man behind legend and idol, Kurt Cobain, commemorating 30 years since his death
_Insights into the fall and rise of Nirvana - from the '90s Seattle grunge scene to becoming one of the best-selling bands of all time

About the Author:

Ernesto Assante is a renowned journalist, music critic, author and radio and television host. He has written a number of books published by White Star Publishers, including The Legends of Rock, U2. The Story and Images of a Rock Legend, Woodstock ’69. Rock Revolution, The Beatles. 1962-1969 from Liverpool to Abbey Road, Info Rock. The History of Rock Music, Freddie Mercury. A Legendary voice, The Great History of Rock Music. From Elvis Presley to the Present Day, Bruce Springsteen. 50 years of Rock ‘n Roll.

A stunning photographic presentation of the guitars that defined the distinctive sounds and style of Johnny Marr with personal reflections and insights from the legendary guitarist himself

The guitarist's guitarist, Johnny Marr redefined music for a generation. His ringing arpeggios and chordal innovations helped elevate The Smiths to be one of the most influential and important British bands of all time.

Tracing Marr's career from his teenage years to his recent work on the Bond soundtrack, Marr's Guitars showcases the most significant of Marr's superb collection of electric and acoustic guitars, revealing through them the evolution of his iconic sound and style of playing. Each guitar is identified with a crucial moment, a specific song or a particular sound, and each embodies a key aspect of Marr's lifelong passion.

Renowned photographer Pat Graham presents each instrument as a full portrait, supported by micro shots highlighting the specific details that make each one unique, while Johnny Marr himself reveals in his accompanying commentary on what tracks and at which shows the guitars were played. Many of the guitars are closely associated with Marr, such as the Rickenbacker 330, the Gibson ES-355 and the Johnny Marr Signature Fender Jaguar. Some were passed down to him, including Nile Rodgers' Stratocaster, Bryan Ferry's Roxy Music Hagstrom and Bert Jansch's Yamaha. Others are guitars once owned by Marr that have since been passed on to the next generation of guitar heroes, including the Stratocaster used by Noel Gallagher on 'Wonderwall' and the Gibson Les Paul Goldtop used on In Rainbows by Radiohead's Ed O'Brien.

Punctuating the photography of the guitars and the accompanying commentary are contextual studio, backstage and onstage shots. Together, they make Marr's Guitars a unique cultural history of modern music and guitar playing told through the prism of Johnny Marr's experiences and achievements.

About the Author:

Johnny Marr was co-creator and lead guitarist of The Smiths. He went on to join The The and The Pretenders and collaborated with Talking Heads and the Pet Shop Boys before forming Electronic with Bernard Sumner. In the 2000s he joined Modest Mouse and The Cribs before launching a successful solo career. He has added his distinctive sound to film soundtracks, collaborating with Hans Zimmer on Inception, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, which won the Oscar for Best Song. In 2014 Marr developed and launched a guitar with Fender: the Johnny Marr Signature Fender Jaguar has gone on to be one of Fender's most popular models.

Remembering Starman. Mick Rock’s legendary photos of the late artist

A unique tribute from David Bowie’s official photographer and creative partner, Mick Rock, compiled in 2015, with Bowie’s blessing.

In 1972, David Bowie released his groundbreaking album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. With it landed Bowie’s Stardust alter ego: a glitter-clad, mascara-eyed, sexually ambiguous persona who kicked down the boundaries between male and female, straight and gay, fact and fiction into one shifting and sparkling phenomenon of ’70s self-expression. Together, Ziggy the album and Ziggy the stage spectacular propelled the softly spoken Londoner into one of the world’s biggest stars.

A key passenger on this glam trip into the stratosphere was fellow Londoner and photographer Mick Rock. Rock bonded with Bowie artistically and personally immersed himself in the singer’s inner circle, and, between 1972 and 1973, worked as the singer’s photographer and videographer.

This collection brings together spectacular stage shots, iconic photoshoots, as well as intimate backstage portraits. It celebrates Bowie’s fearless experimentation and reinvention while offering privileged access to the many facets of his personality and fame. Through the aloof and approachable, the playful and serious, the candid and the contrived, the result is a passionate tribute to a brilliant and inspirational artist whose creative vision will never be forgotten.

The photographer:

Mick Rock was born in London in 1948 and is known as “The Man who shot the seventies.” As well as David Bowie, he has photographed Lou Reed, Queen, Iggy Pop, Roxy Music and Blondie. He also produced and directed music videos for the classic Bowie songs: “John, I’m Only Dancing”, “The Jean Genie”, “Space Oddity” and “Life On Mars?”. Rock has had major exhibitions in London, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.

The authors:

Barney Hoskyns was born in London in 1959. He is the editorial director of Rock’s Backpages, the online library of pop writing and journalism, and a former staff writer at the New Musical Express, contributing editor to Vogue, and U.S. correspondent for MOJO. He is the author of the Tom Waits biography Lowside of the Road (2009) and Trampled Under Foot, the oral history of Led Zeppelin (2012).

Michael Bracewell was born in London in 1958 and has written widely on modern and contemporary art and culture. His more recent publications include Richard Hamilton: Late Works, and Damien Hirst: The Complete Psalm Paintings. He has contributed to The Faber Book of Pop and The Penguin Book of Twentieth-Century Fashion Writing.

Told in revelatory detail, this is the definitive exploration of the writing, recording and release of John Lennon’s celebrated fourth solo album Mind Games

Described by Yoko Ono as ‘ahead of its time’, Mind Games is a breakthrough album from John Lennon in which he employs a Plastic Ono Band comprising the cream of the crop of New York session musicians – a fan favourite that remains a cult classic ever since its first release on 29 October 1973. This insightful and beautiful book presents handwritten lyrics, letters and artworks by Lennon and Ono, and previously unseen photography alongside their firsthand commentary about the lyrics, songs and album artwork, as well as contributions from the musicians, friends, engineers and key figures involved in the making of this landmark album.

Mind Games was the product of an exceptionally turbulent time for the Lennons. While Nixon and Hoover were attempting to have Lennon deported, John and Yoko endured endless litigations, and as the popular press turned on them once again, they bravely rose above it all, continuing their campaigns for non-violent peaceful protest to end the war in Vietnam and for equal rights for women. It was also an exciting time, when they both re-embraced mysticism and magical thinking. In this sumptuous volume, text and images from the key players are woven together to reveal not only the details behind the creation, recording and release of this groundbreaking commercial and skilfully crafted recording, but also to shed new light on a period of transformation and experimentation for Lennon and Ono.

Publication of this volume will coincide with extensive publicity surrounding the release of an exceptional, completely remixed and reissued 6 x CD / 2 x BluRay digital edition of Mind Games, together with two deluxe Mind Games boxsets, bringing the album to a new generation of listeners.

About the Authors:

John Lennon (1940–1980) was an English singer, songwriter and peace activist who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. To date, his solo releases have generated equivalent album sales of over 74 million. Yoko Ono is a globally renowned multimedia artist, singer, songwriter and activist. She married John Lennon in 1969 and became his creative partner and muse. She continues to work to preserve his legacy, funding, among other projects, Strawberry Fields in Manhattan’s Central Park, the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER in Iceland and the 'Imagine There’s No Hunger' campaign.

Experience the passion and drama of the world's greatest operas with this sumptuously illustrated visual guide.

Immerse yourself in more than 400 years of the world's most celebrated operas and discover the fascinating stories behind them. Explore the lives of singers such as Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti, and Jonas Kaufmann. Meet composers like Mozart, Wagner, and Britten, and the librettists with whom they collaborated to create the magical blend of words and music that make up opera.

From its origins in the 17th-century courts of Italy to live screenings in public spaces today, Opera: The Definitive Illustrated Story follows the history of opera from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in 1607, to Cosi fan Tutte, La Bohème, and modern operas such as Brokeback Mountain. It explains musical terminology, traces historical developments, and sets everything in cultural context.

This awe-inspiring opera book further features:
-Includes all of the most important operas from the Renaissance to the 21st century
-Profiles the key composers, librettists, performers, and companies, with details of their lives, works, and influence
-Arranged in chronological order to show the evolution of the genre
-Clear, informative explanation of musical terminology and different types of opera

Filled with photographs of all the key figures and performances, this book revels in the sets and costumes that make up the grand spectacle of opera. It also explores the great opera houses of the world, such as La Scala, Milan, the Met in New York, and the Sydney Opera House. Opera: The Definitive Illustrated Story is the essential book for anyone who wants to understand and enjoy the constantly evolving world of this beloved art form.

Did you know that there are more than 25,000 opera performances per year worldwide? Opera: The Definitive Illustrated Story can be regarded as the most lavishly illustrated history of opera currently available, covering all of the most important operas from the Renaissance to the 21st century, and is completely global in scope. A must-have volume for opera buffs, whether as a gift or self-purchase, if you're a music lover looking for an accessible introduction to opera, then this is the book for you!

About the Authors:

Alan Riding is a former European arts correspondent of The New York Times and author of several books.
Leslie Dunton-Downer is a librettist who has collaborated with leading composers, conductors, and directors.

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Пролистать книгу Opera: The Definitive Illustrated Story на Google Books

Take a deep dive into one of the best-selling albums ever on the 50th anniversary of its release with this beautifully produced and authoritatively written slipcased edition.

Veteran rock critic Martin Popoff leaves no stone unturned in taking apart Pink Floyd’s generation-spanning masterpiece, The Dark Side of the Moon, while exploring each of the album’s 10 tracks and their themes of madness, anxiety, and alienation. Chapters cover:

- The state of Pink Floyd as of 1972, with special emphasis on deposed founder Syd Barrett
- The recording sessions at famed Abbey Road Studios, including techniques used and the roles of personnel such as engineer Alan Parsons
- Song-by-song studies of each album side, including analyses of lyrics and the guitars, drums, keyboards, and synthesizers employed by members David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright
- The ground-breaking art and packaging created by design firm Hipgnosis and its founder Storm Thorgerson
- The continent-hopping tours that supported the album and also introduced the songs before its release
- The rock group’s trajectory post-Dark Side, including notable albums, tours, and the departure of WatersPopoff also takes you on side journeys examining each band member, session players, prog rock, the Live at Pompeii concert and film, Waters’ singular writing technique, Dark Side collectibles, awards, and more. There’s even a brief discography and complete LP tour dates.

Presented in a 26.7 × 26.7 cm slipcased book, Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon is illustrated with stunning performance and candid off-stage photography as well as rare memorabilia.

The result is a richly presented celebration and your ultimate tribute to the prog-rock masterpiece.

About the Author:

Working out of Toronto, Canada, Martin Popoff (martinpopoff.com) has penned more than 100 books on hard rock, heavy metal, classic rock, and record collecting, including Rush: The Illustrated History, Led Zeppelin: Song by Song, Pink Floyd: Album by Album, Bowie at 75, AC/DC at 50, Kiss at 50, and In the Groove. In addition, he has appeared in Revolver, Guitar World, Goldmine, Record Collector, bravewords.com, lollipop.com, and hardradio.com. Martin also worked on the award-winning documentaries Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage and ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas for Banger Films.

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Пролистать книгу Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon: 50 Years на Google Books

The official book commemorating the 50th anniversary of The Dark Side Of The Moon

March 2023 marks fifty years since the release of Pink Floyd's classic album The Dark Side Of The Moon. Designed by Pentagram to high specifications, this celebratory publication brims with rare and unseen photographs and reveals the visual conception of the original iconic album artwork. It will be a covetable package for the legions of Floyd fans out there – new and old.

• Presents rare and unseen backstage and onstage photography of the band during the album tours of 1972 to 1975.
• 129 candid photographs by Storm Thorgerson, Jill Furmanovsky, Aubrey Powell and Peter Christopherson document the soundchecks, the shows and the after shows.
• A review of the October 1972 Wembley gig, originally published in Melody Maker, provides insight into one of the Floyd’s most celebrated performances.
• Reveals the visual conception of the iconic album artwork.
• Includes a complete listing of the tour dates.

About the Author:

Jill Furmanovsky has photographed some of the greatest musicians in the world, including the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Oasis. She made her name as the official photographer of the band during the recording of The Dark Side Of The Moon and during the UK album tour. Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell co-founded the design agency Hipgnosis with Storm Thorgerson in 1968, creating over the next 15 years some of the most iconic record covers for artists such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney and Genesis. Powell is currently art director for Pink Floyd, responsible for designing and curating the record-breaking exhibition ‘Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains’, which premiered for five months in 2017 at the V&A in London.

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Посмотреть видео о книге Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon. The Official 50th Anniversary Book

As a co-founder of Dazed & Confused and AnOther magazines, and the photographer of countless iconic album covers, Rankin creates imagery through which many stars of the pop world have found their visual voices.

Play draws exclusively on Rankin's archive of photographs of the biggest names in contemporary music--from the rock gods who shaped our musical landscape to the British Invasion of the 1990s and the American superstars who mix music and production to define what the record industry is today.

Divided by theme -- "Heroes" and "Girl Gangs and Boy Bands," "Cool Britannia" and "My Generation" -- Play collects almost two hundred of Rankin's favorite images of the most influential artists of the last three decades, from David Bowie and Elton John to Pharrell, the Spice Girls, Grimes, and Björk. Alongside his photos are anecdotes from Rankin and the artists themselves on the reciprocal relationship between photographer and subject--and between the star power of pop music and the iconography of fashion.

About the Author:

Rankin is a photographer living and working in London. His photography has been published everywhere from his own publications to Elle, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, GQ, Rolling Stone, and Wonderland, and has been exhibited around the world. He has worked in television as either cinematographer, director, producer, or presenter for Dazed TV, the BBC, and his own Hunger TV. He is the author of Unfashionable, also published by Rizzoli.

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Пролисать книгу Play: Images of Music

Authoritatively written and including rare photography and memorabilia, this sumptuous slipcased hardcover is the only illustrated gift book to examine Prince’s most iconic album and film, Purple Rain.

In 1984, Prince, along with his band, The Revolution, released what would become his best-selling album and a touchstone of 1980s pop culture. Purple Rain has gone on to sell 25 million copies and counting. In Prince and Purple Rain, Andrea Swensson, a Minneapolis-based journalist and host/co-producer of Prince | Official Podcast, takes a deep dive into the legendary musician’s most famous album on its 40th anniversary.

The book features:

- A lush purple velvet slipcase with gold-foil lettering
- A foreword by Prince superfan Maya Rudolph
- Stunning performance and off-stage photography
- Interviews with musicians who worked with Prince
- Images of memorabilia from top collectors 

Chapters cover:

- Prince’s youth and early music career in Minneapolis, as well as each of the five studio albums that preceded Purple Rain
- Prince’s backing band, The Revolution, and the backgrounds of each of its individual members, with an emphasis on the Purple Rain studio and touring members: drummer Bobby Z, bassist Brown Mark, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboardist Lisa Coleman, and keyboardist Matt Fink
- Track-by-track analyses of each side
- A look at the groundbreaking film of the same name and its multiplatinum soundtrack
- Awards, accolades, and critical reception
- Prince’s legacy post–Purple Rain, up to his untimely death in 2016
- From intimate afternoon tea taken in the drawing-room to glamorous tea parties in the garden, there are afternoon tea experiences to suit any occasion.  

Prince and Purple Rain is a definitive and beautifully produced tribute to a legendary album from a legendary performer and artist.

The Great Albums series presents authoritative explorations of rock’s most revered records, beautifully packaged for fans to treasure. Delve into even more groundbreaking releases with: Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon, The Who & Quadrophenia, Bruce Springsteen and Born to Run, and Queen & A Night at the Opera, with more to come.

About the Author:

Andrea Swensson is an author, podcast host, and music journalist based in Minneapolis. She hosts the Official Prince Podcast, produced in collaboration with Paisley Park Enterprises, NPG Records, Warner Records, and Sony Music Entertainment, and has contributed music journalism to numerous outlets, including NPR Music, Pitchfork, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, City Pages, and The Current, where she previously hosted “The Local Show.” Her first book, Got to Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound, chronicling the funk and soul scene from the 1950s to the 1970s, was released in October 2017 and honored with a Minnesota Book Award. She is also the author of the new book Deeper Blues, a heartfelt biography of the nonagenarian blues musician (and Jimmy Jam’s father) Cornbread Harris.

A thoughtfully curated and gloriously illustrated retrospective of the band’s studio releases, Queen, comes just in time for the 45th anniversary of their debut LP and biopic.

Formed in 1970, Queen went on to become one of the most popular — and most successful — rock bands of all time. Even following the untimely death of beloved and magnetic frontman Freddie Mercury, and nearly 50 years after their formation, interest in the band has continued, evidenced by scores of reissues, arena tours with surviving members, and a feature-film biopic.

In this new installment in Voyageur Press’s Album by Album series, rock journo Martin Popoff convenes a cast of 19 Queen experts and superfans to discuss all 15 of the band’s studio albums (including their soundtrack for the 1980 film Flash Gordon). Panelists include Queen experts, rock journalists, musicians, and record industry figures. The results are freewheeling discussions delving into the individual songs, the circumstances that surrounded the recording of each album, the band and contemporary rock contexts into which they were released, and more.

The engaging text of this beautifully designed book is illustrated throughout with rare live performance and candid offstage photography, as well as scads of rare Queen ephemera.

The Album by Album series is a unique approach to the rock bio, injecting the varied voices of several contributors. The results have even the most diehard fans rushing back to their MP3 players (or turntables) to confirm the details and opinions expressed!

About the Author:

Martin Popoff has been described as the world’s most famous heavy-metal journalist, though he has covered plenty of Punk and New Wave albums in his career of 7,000-plus album reviews. He has penned many books on various bands, genres of rock, and record collecting, including Voyageur Press’ Rush: The Illustrated History; Metallica: The Complete Illustrated History; The Art of Metal; and The Big Book of Hair Metal. He has also worked on film documentaries about Rush and ZZ Top. Popoff lives in Toronto.

The definitive collection of the Radiohead photographs of legendary photographer Tom Sheehan - with unseen images.

Explore the story of Radiohead - perhaps the finest band of a generation - through the lens of legendary Melody Maker chief photographer Tom Sheehan.

Through more than 200 photographs and Sheehan's first-hand memories and stories, journey into the eye of a musical storm. From their earliest days as indie upstarts, through the wild, all-conquering years of OK Computer and into the experimental soundscapes beyond, Tom Sheehan captured Radiohead's world in breathtaking detail.

Covering recording sessions, live performances, studio portraits and moments snatched on tour around the world, these photographs - many of which have never been published before - paint an intimate picture of a band pushing the boundaries of music.

Accompanied by a biography of Radiohead from Craig McLean (Associate Editor, The Face) drawing on his personal interviews with the band, this book - beautifully presented in a cloth bound hardback - is a unique visual record of a breathtaking musical journey.

About the Author:

Tom Sheehan is a renowned music photographer. Former Chief Photographer for Melody Maker, he has taken iconic images of artists including Oasis, The Smiths, The Cure, The Jam, Mick Jagger, Ozzy Osbourne, Snoop Dogg, Tom Waits, Kate Bush and many more. Described as 'legendary' by Vice, Tom's photographs have featured in the NME, The Times, the Guardian, the Observer, Q, Uncut and Mojo.

A visual and cultural history of hip hop, charting its meteoric rise from underground trailblazer to global tastemaker

To tell the story of contemporary American culture is to tell the story of hip hop. From its humble, underground origins, hip hop transcended the confines of rap music and spread its influence across a broad spectrum of American life – fashion, film, art, sports, politics, language – to become a cultural movement of profound influence.

Rapper’s Deluxe is a critical contribution to America’s cultural canon, shining a light on hip hop’s ability to redefine and influence culture, through: photographs; fine art; advertisements; book, magazine, and album covers; film stills; and more. Organized chronologically from the 1970s to the present, image-rich and dynamic layouts show the people, places, events, objects, outfits, and inspirations that redefined the world as we know it – from fur-coated fans lining up for a Muhammad Ali fight at Madison Square Garden to a legendary party in the “Boogie Down” Bronx, through the hoods of South Los Angeles and the trap houses of Atlanta to the extravagant red carpet looks of the Met Gala.

Drawing on a broad range of curated examples, Dr. Todd Boyd re-examines hip hop’s legacy and how the genre remixes ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, past and present, to come up with a style that is uniquely its own. Filled with original insights and clever wordplay, Rapper’s Deluxe is a tale of transformation,  following hip hop’s arduous, but always triumphant, journey as it rose up to dominate the game.

About the Author:

Dr. Todd Boyd is Price Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture and Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at USC. A media commentator, author, producer, and consultant, Dr. Boyd has appeared in documentaries such as The Last Dance (ESPN, 2020) and the Ken Burns-directed Muhammed Ali (PBS, 2021). His body of work includes seven books and his essays have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Guardian.

This title includes a book and 4 CDs.

Jazz is his great passion. Siggi Loch, formerly one of the biggest international record bosses, now head of the ACT label, has been the companion of many noted stars. And he has been closer to these musicians than professional photographers have.

Since the 1960's, Siggi Loch has captured the 'magic moments' of jazz, blues, and rock on film. This book shows his fascinating pictures, from Louis Armstrong to Ray Charles, Klaus Doldinger, Johnny Griffin, Dexter Gordon, Cannonball Adderley, Little Richard, Nils Landgren and many others.

Music CDs: The music itself that Siggi Loch has produced over the last four decades is no less interesting. A treat for the ears, which bring the photos to life.

Amid the sea of listening options available in our digital world, it often takes more than a good beat or catchy lyrics for artistes to stand out among their peers, which is why – be they from the mainstream or indie genre – musicians often combine sound with compelling visuals to express their individuality and deliver their message.

Songscapes takes a deeper look into the craft that goes behind the making of a successful music identity, with artist interviews, production processes, and plenty of behind-the-scenes details. Explore the new wave of creativity in the packaging of CDs, vinyls, to cassette tapes, as well as the art and graphics that take to online streaming services, music videos, events and more.