BOOK REVIEWS

RECENT BOOK REVIEWS

  • JIM LEA with DARYL EASLEA – How Does It Feel? Slade and Beyond

    RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/how-does-it-feel-the-jim-lea-autobiography While renowned British rockers Slade are the stuff of legend and the very definition of cool in so many ways, one of its principial songwriters and sonic architects, namely bass player extraordinaire Jim Lea, seemingly always thrived in the background and was rarely the center of attention, nor did he desire…

  • JASON WOOD & MATT JOHNSON – Cognitive Dissident: Conversations with THE THE’s Matt Johnson

    RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/cognitive-dissident Cognitive Dissident offers something quite extraordinary and different to the usual fare of (auto)biographies out there; what we have here is an organic, fluid, and essentially long-form talk and exchange of ideas and viewpoints between none other than the multi-talented Matt Johnson of THE THE fame and author Jason Wood. The…

  • RICHIE UNTERBERGER – Do What You Fear Most: The History of the Velvet Underground

    RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/do-what-you-fear-most Do What You Fear Most: The History of the Velvet Underground is undoubtedly the most comprehensive study of one of the most fascinating and mythic acts of all time, and to many rock music obsessives out there it will turn out to be one of the year’s most important books.  …

  • TONY FLETCHER – Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon (Omnibus Remastered)

    RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/dear-boy-the-life-of-keith-moon-omnibus-remastered?srsltid=AfmBOoryhaCbxlk8SoCO06TrDJvAuPy3cRfsez_jHAMHZVhkmUqBGaTX What we have here is undoubtedly one of the greatest rock music biographies ever written. The very thought and idea of summing up the magnificence and quality of this vivid portrait of the infinitely talented and sadly missed Keith Moon of the Who fame is a daunting task as mere words…

  • EVERETT TRUE – Hey! Ho! Let’s Go! The Story of the Ramones

    RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/hey-ho-lets-go-the-st0ry-of-the-ramones?srsltid=AfmBOop-OBwnFd-WxDMgsGKZPCGxPIUdLtnY2SPVSRjLK4NUQf37u6R0 Few bands are as influential and important as the Ramones are in wider musical and cultural context, and their classic and much-loved song material remains as fresh-sounding and innovative now as it did when it first blared out of the speakers in 1976. Spreading from the New York underground scene like…

  • OZZY OSBOURNE – Last Rites

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/ozzy-osbourne/last-rites/9781408724057/ Last Rites by the sadly missed and inimitable Ozzy Osbourne is nothing short of a triumph in every sense of the word. Published just a few months after his unforgettable performance at the historic Back to the Beginning event in Birmingham – the place where he and his mates in Black…

  • W.A.S.P. – live in Oslo

    Full photo gallery here: Photos by Jonathan Mazin Text by Roger Haugerupsen W.A.S.P    ROCKEFELLER 9/10 – 2025 OSLO Året var 1984, og selv om ikke W.A.S.P var shock rockens fedre, så videreførte de i det minste ideen i 1984 når debuten’ (også kalt W.A.S.P) kom i butikkhyllene. Igjen i bandet fra den gangen er…

  • PAMELA DES BARRES – I’m with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie (Omnibus Remastered)

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/im-with-the-band-confessions-of-a-groupie Another legendary and timeless piece of work that was recently added to the Omnibus Remastered series and published is the infamous I’m with the Band by Pamela Des Barres, which has often been characterized as a groupie’s memoir but which in fact is so much more than that. It is a…

  • GRAEME THOMSON – George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door (Omnibus Remastered)

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/ Author Graeme Thomson composed the brilliantly evocative Small Hours: The Long Night of John Martyn five years ago, which captivated and inspired this scribe immensely, and once Omnibus Press announced that his Behind the Locked Door opus had been included in the publisher’s recently launched Remastered series, anticipation and excitement were…

  • DAVID LEAF – SMiLE: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/smile-the-rise-fall-and-resurrection-of-brian-wilson-published-10th-october-2024 Noted author and filmmaker David Leaf not only wrote the magnificent God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys & the California Myth, which remains one of the best books on the subject ever conceived, but he also directed the moving and heartfelt documentary titled Beautiful Dreamer: Brian…

  • TOM WRIGHT (photographs), ANDY NEILL (contributor) & PETE TOWNSHEND (foreword) – Their Generation: The Who in American 1967-69

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/their-generation-the-who-in-america-1967-69-available-to-pre-order What a delightful piece of music literature this is! A beautiful and aesthetically appealing large hardback book that visually documents the Who’s conquest and capture of the US and its audiences back in the late sixties – what more could a proper fan of 60s rock music ask for?! Compiling hundreds…

  • DARRYL W. BULLOCK – Love and Fury: The Extraordinary Life, Death and Legacy of Joe Meek

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/love-and-fury Darryl W. Bullock was an immensely talented writer (with the phenomenal The Velvet Mafia: The Gay Men Who Ran the Swinging Sixties being a standout) whose books on queer music history were thought-provoking and reflective, but the latest entry in his bibliography may well be the finest and most impressive one…

  • SIMON GODDARD – Bowie Odyssey 75

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/bowie-odyssey-75 The sixth entry in Simon Goddard’s magnificent and irresistible series of books on the life and times of the inimitable David Bowie in the seventies is yet another exquisitely written and perfectly compiled piece of work that leaves nothing to be desired. While Bowie Odyssey 70 was an enjoyable read, it…

  • RICHARD BALLS – Sex & Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Life of Ian Dury (Omnibus Remastered)

    Being a huge fan and admirer of Balls’ excellent biographical study of the sadly missed Shane McGowan titled A Furious Devotion, I was quite naturally very keen on reading this “remastered” version of his book on the legendary Ian Dury. It turned out to be as riveting and emotionally charged as one could have hoped…

  • BRAD TOLINSKI & JAAN UHELSZKI, WITH BEN EDMONDS – MC5: An Oral Biography of Rock’s Most Revolutionary Band

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/mc5-an-oral-biography-of-rock-s-most-revolutionary-band In this day and age, it might be nigh on impossible to imagine or even fathom just how pivotal MC5 truly were. Inhabiting a musical landscape that laid somewhere between raw garage rock and fierce proto-punk, these Detroit-based rebels essentially spearheaded a new movement that challenged pretty much every norm and…

  • ALAN BYRNE – Philip Lynott: Renegade

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.sonicbondpublishing.co.uk/other-books/phil-lynott-renegade It was with great joy that I received and opened a parcel in late December containing one of Sonicbond Publishing’s latest titles, namely this updated version of Alan Byrne’s Renegade, which is a study of (and a reflection on) the sadly missed Philip Lynott of Thin Lizzy fame. From his…

  • GRANT McPHEE – Postcards from Scotland: Scottish Independent Music 1983-1995

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/postcards-from-scotland-scottish-independent-music-1983-1995 This one is a rather fascinating piece of work that examines and tells the story of a hugely interesting phenomenon that took place in Scotland in the eighties and early nineties, namely that of Scottish post-punk and its closely related genres within that geographical area. Author Grant McPhee has basically…

  • EVERETT TRUE – Nirvana: The True Story (Omnibus Remastered)

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/nirvana-the-true-story Another excellent entry in Omnibus Press’ Remastered series is the classic Nirvana: The True Story by Everett “The Legend” True, the renowned music journalist who experienced the Nirvana phenomenon in ways that would leave most others green with envy. Just to list a few examples,  True introduced Kurt to Courtney…

  • GRAEME THOMSON – Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush (Omnibus Remastered)

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/kate-bush-under-the-ivy-omnibus-remastered Omnibus Press recently launched the perfectly titled Remastered series, which sees some of the older and most popular entries in their catalog having been updated and expanded upon. One of those is the beautifully written and evocative Under the Ivy, which offers an incredibly sympathetic and heartwarming portrait of the…

  • FLOGGING MOLLY – Oslo concert review

    There aren’t hat many musical events in Oslo in July, at least not that I know of or I’m interested in. So it was a bit surprising to see such a lovely arrangement for mid July, when the whole of Norway shuts down. But hey, those who attended surely had way more fun than hose…

  • MATTHEW COLLIN -Dream Machines: Electronic Music in Britain from Doctor Who to Acid House

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/collections/frontpage/products/dream-machines-electronic-music-in-britain-from-doctor-who-to-acid-house Dream Machines by author Matthew Collin is quite literally a dream come true for anyone interested in the subject of British electronic music – regardless of whether one is merely curious about the phenomenon or harbor much more than just a passing interest in its gloriously labyrinthine history. Exhaustively researched,…

  • MARK PERRY – Sniffin’ Glue . . . and Other Rock ‘n’ Roll Habits (2024 Edition)

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/collections/frontpage/products/sniffin-glue-and-other-rock-n-roll-habits-published-29-february-2024 The legendary British underground fanzine titled Sniffin’ Glue . . . and Other Rock ‘n’ Roll Habits formed an essential part of the early punk scene (primarily in the UK) and was driven by a deep-seated love and admiration for the then-burgeoning milieu that began to form and take proper…

  • CHARLES WHITE – The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorized Biography (2024 Edition)

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-life-and-times-of-little-richard-the-authorized-biography-published-22-february-2024 Sporting a brand-new cover as well as a comprehensive overview of Richard’s recorded works and photos from the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer’s own archive but containing the same fast-paced and captivating story, this edition of the classic The Life and Times of Little Richard has lost none of its power…

  • PAULINE MURRAY – Life’s a Gamble: Penetration, The Invisible Girls and Other Stories

    RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/lifes-a-gamble-my-life-in-penetration-the-invisible-girls-published-on-18th-may-2023 The talented and iconic Pauline Murray is best known for her splendid work with punk rockers Penetration in the latter half of the seventies and some truly interesting, original-sounding solo works in the eighties that exist somewhere between new wave, synth pop, post-punk, and electronic music. Life’s a Gamble, her…

  • DARRYL W. BULLOCK – Queer Blues: The Hidden Figures of Early Blues Music

    RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/queer-blues-the-hidden-figures-of-early-blues-music-published-6th-july-2023?_pos=1&_sid=c7511005c&_ss=r The immensely talented author Darryl W. Bullock composed one of the best books of 2021 in the shape of Velvet Mafia, and its follow-up titled Pride, Pop and Politics (2022) was yet another thought-provoking and illuminating study of the LGBQT community in relation to British music history, culture, and society…

  • DARYL EASLEA – Whatever Happened to Slade? When the Whole World Went Crazee

    RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/whatever-happened-to-slade-when-the-whole-world-went-crazee Whatever Happened to Slade? by Daryl Easlea is undoubtedly one of the most enthusiastic, warm-hearted, and passionate books on any band out there that I have come across for quite some time. This one basically reads like a love letter to not only one of the greatest yet most underrated…

  • MARTIN POWER – White Knuckles: The Life and Music of Gary Moore

    RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/white-knuckles-the-life-of-gary-moore-published-on-8th-september-2021?_pos=1&_sid=672ce29c4&_ss=r Being the huge fan and admirer of Martin Power’s epic book on Jimmy Page titled No Quarter that I am, I was naturally rather psyched and excited when a copy of White Knuckles landed on my doorstep. The role and significance of the immortal and sadly missed Gary Moore cannot…

  • NICK BANKS – So It Started There: From Punk to Pulp

    RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/collections/frontpage/products/and-it-started-there-from-punk-to-pulp-published-28-september-2023 The renowned purveyors of quirky pop and art rock known as Pulp surely need no introduction and to many of us, their Different Class LP from 1995 provided a lovely soundtrack to our youth and teenage years. Drummer Nick Banks recently published this warm-hearted, humorous, and engaging autobiography of his…

  • SIMON SPENCE – What Have We Got? The Turbulent Story of Oi!

    RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/what-have-we-got-the-turbulent-story-of-oi What Have We Got? by author Simon Spence is a most illuminating, thought-provoking, and perfectly balanced overview of the origins and evolution of the Oi! music genre and the whole scene revolving around that both in the UK and abroad. In some ways highly controversial and infamous yet also underappreciated…

  • WAYNE HUSSEY – Heady Daze: The Mission Years 1985-1990

    RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/collections/frontpage/products/heady-daze-the-mission-years-1985-1990-published-on-25th-august-2022 This scribe was madly in love with the inimitable Wayne Hussey’s previous autobiography (or rather the first part of what is presumably a trilogy), namely the brilliant and ridiculously entertaining Salad Daze from 2019. His latest literary output, Heady Daze, picks up where its predecessor ended, and as its title…