Category: Books

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…