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Finally, a brilliant exploration of the German rock band Can's 1971 album Tago Mago. This hugely unique and influential album deserves close analysis from a fan, rather than a musicologist. Novelist Alan Warner details the concrete music we hear on the album, how it was composed, executed and recorded--including the history of the album in terms of its release, promotion and art work. This tale of Tago Mago is also the tale of a young man obsessed with record collecting in the dark and mysterious period of pop music before Google. Warner includes a backtracking of the history of the band up to that point and also some description of Can's unique recording approach taking into account their home studio set up.Interviews with the two surviving members: drummer Jaki Liebezeit, keyboardist Irmin Schmidt and bassist Holger Czukay make this a hilariously personal and illuminating picture of Can.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins carefully retraces Hamilton's origins as the musical that brought politicians "from both sides of the aisle," from Michelle Obama calling it "the best work of art [she's] ever seen in any medium" to Hillary Clinton's quoting it at the end of her 2016 speech at the Democratic National Convention. This book squares the emergence of Hamilton as a cultural darling of the American leftist political classes with its portraits of a morally-questionable political figures in history told through the merging of two forms with notoriously radical roots. It parses how and why this Broadway musical reached the height of visibility that it has and what this communicates about the American sociopolitical climate and culture at the beginning of the 21st century - especially after one of the most discordant and alarming sociopolitical showdowns since the 19th century. And ultimately, though Hamilton is a perfectly enjoyable and impressively crafty piece of musical theater, it argues that it in many ways is not, in fact, revolutionary. Does Hamilton engage seriously with politics? Or is politics merely the backdrop for the same-old show business?

The band that took US college rock across the world and turned it into stadium rock. This is their first album that kicked off their journey to stardom and remains a cult obsession to the legions of dedicated fans. Features their classic song Radio Free Europe.

The band to introduce the blues to the British mainstream and who continue to sell millions of records 40 years on. This bleak album is now regarded as their finest hour. Includes Rocks Off.

A caustic wit and the knack for great pop, this is Costello's classic mixture of soul and new wave. Features Accidents Will Happen, Oliver's Army and What's So Funny 'bout Peace Love and Understanding.

Focusing on one album rather than an artist's entire output, the books dispense with the standard biographical background that fans know already, and cut to the heart of the music on each album.

What binds this series together, and what brings it to life, is that all of the authors - musicians, scholars, and writers - are deeply in love with the album they have chosen.

"Dusty in Memphis", Dusty Springfield's beautiful and bizarre magnum opus, remains as fine a hybrid of pop and rhythm and blues as has ever been made. In this book, Zanes explores his own love affair with the record.

This title is one of a series of books which focus on epic albums of our time. Here, Andrew Hultkrans looks at Love's album "Forever Changes".

This title is one of many in a series of books which focus on epic albums of our time. Here, Joe Pernice looks at The Smith's album "Meat is Murder".

Neil Young's "Harvest" is one of those strange albums that has achieved lasting success without ever winning the full approval of rock critics or hardcore fans. Inglis here explores the creation of the album and its lasting appeal.

33 1/3 is a new series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. Focusing on one album rather than an artist's entire output, the books dispense with the standard biographical background that fans know already, and cut to the heart of the music on each album.

33 1/3 is a new series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. Focusing on one album rather than an artist's entire output, the books cut to the heart of the music on each album. Joy Division only released two albums but they led the way out of punk rock and towards Madchester.

When the Motor City 5 stormed the stage, the band combined the kinetic flash of James Brown with the raw musical dynamics of the Who gone berserk. Frequently ridiculed, they've been hailed as a primal influence on everything from punk to metal to Rage Against the Machine to the Detroit populist resurgence of the White Stripes, Kid Rock and Eminem.

Bruce Springsteen goes back on the road in 1984. Weinberg hits his drums with a two-fisted physicality that cut through the swelling chords. Springsteen sings with the throat-scraping desperation of a man with his back against the wall. When he reaches the crucial lines, the guitars and bass dropped out and Weinberg switches to just the hi-hat.

Talks about Josh Davis's (DJ Shadow) early years in California, the friends and mentors who helped him along the way, his relationship with Mo'Wax and James Lavelle, and the genesis and creation of his masterpiece, "Endtroducing" (released in 1996). This book includes several long conversations with him.

"Court and Spark" is Joni Mitchell's attempt at making a hit record, full of glossy production, catchy choruses, and even guest stars from every stratum of rock culture. The record was a smash, reaching number two on the charts in March of 1974, spawning three hit singles.

Since its release, "Sell Out", though still not the best selling release in "The Who's" catalog, has been embraced by a growing number of fans. As much as it is an expression of the band's expanding sonic palette, this work also functions as a critique of the rock and roll lifestyle.

"Songs in the Key of Life" is different from the four albums that preceded it; it's a maddeningly ambitious encapsulation of all the progress Stevie Wonder had made in that short space of time. This work covers Stevie Wonder's excessive work habits and recording methodology, his reliance on synthesizers, and other aspects.

Though "Nevermind" was Nirvana's most commercially successful album, and the record that broke them - and the grunge phenomenon - internationally, "In Utero" has increasingly become regarded as the band's best album, both by the critics and the band members themselves. This work tells the story behind the creation of "In Utero".

A collection of short stories - each one a cover version of a song on "Rid of Me".

"Aja" was the album that made Steely Dan a commercial force on the order of contemporaries like Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and Chicago. A double-platinum, Grammy-winning bestseller, it lingered on the Billboard charts for more than a year and spawned three hit singles. This book paints a detailed picture of the making of a masterpiece.

Trent Reznor rode into music mythology on "Pretty Hate Machine", powered by Futurist industrial pistons and covered in ice-spiked synth hooks shined by new wave robots. Then there was his voice. This book interviews dozens of NIN fans to provide information on the heart of Reznor's very personal appeal.

Features twenty different writers' views on albums by Neutral Milk Hotel, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, David Bowie, the Pixies, the Beastie Boys, Nirvana, REM the Band and many more. This book also serves as a gift for the music lover in your life.

Explores how a tiny acoustic record has puttered and purred its way into the millennium. This book contains interviews of producer Joe Boyd, string arranger Robert Kirby, and the marketing team behind the VW commercial.

The Minutemen have enjoyed something of a revival, due to a chapter in Michael Azerrad's book "Our Band Could Be Your Life", and a documentary film, "We Jam Econo", showcasing the band's legacy. This book sheds light on the band's remarkable music and on an album. It includes interviews with Mike Watt, the band's bass player, and with others.

Takes a look at what many consider to be U2's most fully formed album through the prisms of politics, spirituality, and culture. This work features interviews with Daniel Lanois, Steve Lillywhite, Flood, and more.

Provides perspective on how Belle & Sebastian transformed themselves, over the space of a decade, from an underground, slightly shambolic cult secret into a polished, highly entertaining, mainstream pop group. This work includes interviews with band members, producers, management, and a range of fans.

Late in the Reagan years, three young men at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University formed the Christian rap group dc Talk. The trio put out a series of records that quickly secured their place at the forefront of contemporary Christian music. But, with their fourth studio album Jesus Freak (1995), dc Talk staked a powerful claim on the worldly market of alternative music, becoming an evangelical group with secular selling power.This book sets out to study this mid-90s crossover phenomenon-a moment of cultural convergence between Christian and secular music and an era of particular political importance for American evangelicalism. Written by two queer scholars with evangelical pasts, Jesus Freak explores the importance of a multifarious album with complex ideas about race, sexuality, gender, and politics-an album where dc Talk wonders, "What will people do when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak?" and evangelical fans stake a claim for Christ-like coolness in a secular musical world.

Released when ELP and Elton John were plodding from one packed stadium to the next, Radio City was a radical album. In time, power pop would become an official rock genre and the influence of Radio City would be widely heard through artists like The Bangles and Teenage Fanclub. This book examines the key ingredients of Radio City's lasting appeal.