Search results for ""Author Steve Pilkington""

Many bands may lay claim to inventing or popularising the term `heavy metal’, but few would deny that Black Sabbath have defined the genre in the minds of many, and have come to embody its popular image. From the `classic’ first decade with singer Ozzy Osbourne, through the Ronnie James Dio period and the oft-overlooked later albums, the Sabbath name has always been a trademark of quality, despite some less celebrated, though often fascinating, periods. To commemorate the final retirement of the band, lifelong devotee Steve Pilkington takes the reader through every song on every one of the band’s studio albums, taking in the highs and occasional lows, as well as looking at the cover artwork and stories behind the albums. He also discusses live recordings and DVD releases. The result will surely be regarded as the most exhaustive guide to the band’s music yet produced, as critical opinion rubs shoulders with facts, trivia and anecdotes to provide the ultimate guide to this legendary band. Whether you are a hard core fan, or simply want a guide to what lies beyond `Paranoid’, this book is for you.

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Some albums are simply undeniable watersheds in an artist's career. Artistic or commercial triumphs (or sometimes both), but most importantly seen by both the fanbase and, to a greater or lesser degree the wider world, as a defining statement in their catalogue. Such was undoubtedly the case when Supertramp released Crime Of The Century in 1974.

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There were a lot of very different bands peddling their wares in the progressive rock 'golden age' of the 1970s - some tending toward symphonic grandeur, other towards jazz fusion, and others still ploughing the more immediate end of the spectrum. There were the left-field eccentrics and the tricky 'difficult' bands. Apart from it all, however, there were Van Der Graaf Generator. In a decade stuffed with a wild array of influences, styles and instrumental line-ups, there can be few tending quite so near to the definition 'unique' as the four musicians who made up the 'classic' line-up of Van Der Graaf. For a start, there was the astonishing songwriting and vocals of generally accepted 'leader' Peter Hammill, but there was much more behind that to set these men apart. Their unparalleled instrumental make-up saw little or no guitar and no bass guitar, while organist Hugh Banton handled the bass parts on pedals, David Jackson pioneered an astonishing saxophone style, playing two instruments at once, electric rather than miked up, and using a full effects pedalboard. Drummer Guy Evans filled in - well, everything else. It was and remains a sound quite like no other. This book documents their incredibly influential first decade as prog's ultimate 'outsiders'. It's quite a ride.

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Everyone has their favourite Monty Python sketches, often quoted almost verbatim, whether it is 'the Parrot Sketch', 'the Cheese Shop' or 'Blackmail' - amongst many. Likewise the Python films, the mere mention of which might solicit quotes like ‘Tis but a flesh wound’ or ‘He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy’. But what lies beyond these well-remembered favourites? How many remember the 'Fresh Fruit Self Defence' sketch, or 'the Fish-Slapping dance'? Or even such almost-forgotten curios as 'Blancmanges Playing Tennis', 'The Olympic Hide And Seek Final' and 'The Batley Townswomen’s Guild Re-enacting Pearl Harbour'. This book will shine a light on all of these often-hilarious - but occasionally misfiring - curios. As well as the films and all 45 TV episodes, the record albums are also analyses for their content and how they differed from the TV show, as well as the books which came out as spin-off merchandise - but were never less than brilliantly entertaining for all that. How did Python come to be, what tensions were there between its stars, and what was the atmosphere like when the crew reunited to make the films long after they had left their TV show days behind them? All this will get an answer and much, much more... Now, do you want to read for five minutes, or the full half-hour?

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Guitarist Gordon Giltrap is the epitome of what is often referred to as a `musician’s musician’, in that the respect in which he is held by his peers speaks volumes for his ability and influence. Beginning his career as a solo acoustic guitarist and vocalist in the late 1960s, it was 1976 before the name Gordon Giltrap came into the public eye with the release of his landmark album Visionary, and album and single chart success followed over the next few years with the albums Perilous Journey and Fear Of The Dark, as he formed The Gordon Giltrap Band to perform these progressive rock-tinged works in the live environment. By now a wholly instrumental performer, his greatest commercial success came with his signature piece Heartsong, which followed up its chart success by being picked up by the BBC for use as the theme tune to their long-running Holiday programme. Following this, Gordon retreated largely to the acoustic realm with his next few albums, and retained a devoted hardcore following, as well as the aforementioned admiration of some of the biggest names in modern guitar music. Coming from the humblest of childhoods in South East London, Gordon’s life in and out of the spotlight has proved to be a rollercoaster of highs and lows and one which ultimately transcends even his musical achievements as a story of human triumph and tragedy

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