This book lifts the lid on every single track recorded by Iron Maiden, album by album, from the punk-ish debut album with original vocalist Paul DiAnno through to the sprawling double disc epic Book Of Souls. By way of facts, anecdotes, analysis and a dollop of opinion, author Steve Pilkington provides both an informative companion.
A year-by-year journey through Iriah Heap in the 1970s, looking at the albums, the often gruelling touring schedules and the ups and downs of the relationships within the band. Never quite attaining the sales and success of some of their rivals at the time, Uriah Heep nevertheless released some of the most extraordinary music of the decade.
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'.
The archetypal 1970s rock band, everyone has heard of Led Zeppelin and their name is a byword for rock excess. All their albums except their first reached number one in the UK and throughout Europe. Page, Plant and Jones are still active today. The band reformed for a one-off concert in 2007.
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' 1970s line-up of Van Der Graaf Generator.
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.