Jake Brown is a recognized music biographer who has written many books in the series In the Studio. He presents here the life, and above all, the musical career of Tori Amos. He managed to fully demonstrate the unique musical identity of this great artist who has always refused to play by the rules of the recording industry. The book begins by drawing a portrait of her childhood in a very religious family, her youth and her musical studies. The next chapter discusses her passage in the band Y Kant Tori Read, a rock group influenced by the hard rock wave that prevailed in Los Angeles in the late 1980s. The 10 following chapters present in details each of her 10 solo albums. Anything goes, from her inspiration to success on the charts, including the recording sessions. Through her various albums, we find the evolution of Tori's personality. So it's a great job from Brown who managed to make a real biography of Tori Amos from her recordings. Her fans should absolutely get this book that will appeal also to other music fans less into Tori Amos. A very good book! (August 2011)

198 pages

In the early 1980s, a metal band from Los Angeles moved to San Francisco to join its new bass player. This band was the now famous Metallica and the bassist was the legendary Cliff Burton who was going to die a few years later in an accident. At that time, the quartet was completed by Lars Ulrich on drums, James Hetfield on guitar and Dave Mustaine on guitar. Mustaine would be fired some time later to be replaced by another virtuoso, Kirk Hammett. Mustaine would then form his own band, Megadeth, which would still remain the great rival of Metallica on the Californian thrash metal scene. This book features photos of the band’s debut which quickly became the headliner at the San Francisco clubs. The photographs are offered to us by Bill Hale who was part of the entourage of the band at that time. The comments associated with each photo are very interesting and allow us to immediately grasp the evolution of Metallica over the years. In addition, the introduction of twenty pages even better describes the group at that time and we understand the essence of the band and the environment in which it evolved. Given today's the status Metallica reached in the world of music, it's really interesting to see the environment in which it all began. (February 2011)

112 pages, softcover

Joel McIver has written 12 books on rock and metal, including biographies of Metallica, Slayer, Black Sabbath and Slipknot. He also contributes to various magazines as Total Guitar and Bass Guitar. His unequalled knowledge of metal music helped him to establish a list of the best guitarists, the first 100 positions being presented here. McIver voluntarily leaves aside all the hard rock and hair metal guitarists, including virtuosos like Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai. So he is rather presenting us guitarists with heavy and aggressive riffs, even if several of them can also play incredible solos, proving their great virtuosity. The book depicts the portrait of many rhythm guitarists as well as lead guitarists, and he explores with many details Scandinavian black metal and death metal, 2 genres well known for their speed of execution. If you’re not completely into the world of metal, several names are likely to be unknown to you. Also, several of the first positions will probably be surprises to you, including the very 1st position (which I won’t reveal here). It’s not that they are bad guitarists, but a few specialists would have classified them as high in a list containing all these guitarists of great talent. Even if the positions can be discussed, it remains that here is a book presenting 100 of the best guitarists in the world and doubtless the 100 best guitarists of heavy metal. The large size book presents many photographs, good descriptions of the guitarists, their style and the bands they played with, as well as the genius moments of their career. Here is a really interesting book, containing many details and relevant information. (March 2009)

224 pages, softcover

Many experts agree that most of the modern music genres have their roots in the southern United States, especially Louisiana and more specifically New Orleans. This book is an overview of the history of the region in various aspects, with the backdrop of various songs that were influenced by the bayou, this typical swampy Louisiana. Each of the 18 chapters is introduced by a song, artists as varied as Elvis Presley, Bod Dylan, Joe Satriani, Dr. John, Foghat, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Marcia Ball, Robert Palmer, The Animals, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Alice Cooper and Judas Priest. Some chapters dwell particularly on the song or artist presented, while others describe rather an aspect of the history of New Orleans or a legend of a bygone era. We can even discover alligator recipes! So you can already see that it is a book that goes a little in all directions and can therefore seem somewhat uneven from one chapter to another. As much some chapters can be exciting, others leave us completely indifferent. Music fans will be interested in some occasions, when analyzing in depth the influences of Louisiana may have had on the music of a particular artist (Creedence Clearwater Revival for example though it was from California). On the other side, other chapters have no connection with music and can make you lose interest. The basic idea was good, but it is not always successful. Bayou Underground still remains anyway an interesting reading to learn more about Louisiana and New Orleans. (January 2011)

247 pages, softcover

First published in 2001, this beautiful book is now re-issued 10 years later. In the early 1980s, Canadian music stood completely in the shadow of American and British music. But by 1985, a turning point took place allowing the Canadian rock to take an important place in the world’s music industry. It is this renaissance that is presented here by telling the story of the artists who helped to rebuild that reputation. Whether the appearance of bands like The Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Sloan, Voïvod or the Doughboys, or artists like Sarah McLachlan, Jane Siberry and Daniel Lanois, Canadian rock stood out and became as interesting as the music of our southern neighbors. Neil Young can certainly be considered as the father of Canadian rock, but we now have unparalleled talent to present abroad like the New Pornographers and the Weakerthans. Through the 740 pages of this huge book, we discover the ins and outs of the Canadian music industry over 10 years from 1985, at the moment of the revival of Canadian rock. Despite its rather imposing and intimidating dimension to attack, Have Not Been the Same can certainly be considered as the bible of Canadian rock. (October 2011)

740 pages

Here is a book of almost 400 pages that presents in details the evolution of the entertainment industry, specifically the sale of tickets for concerts. One can discover the different ways of working over the years for booking and purchasing tickets. But what we find most is the evolution of ticket prices and fees charged for the purchase of tickets. All those who find the costs are exaggerated will find some explanations, more or less justified. The book presents a lot of interesting things about the evolution of the industry and the major players. But, it stretches in length and has a lot of less interesting passages, which will capture the interest of a minority. The book could have been significantly reduced and could well capture the interest of a larger readership. If the subject interests you, you will find anyway answers to most of your questions. (September 2011)

374 pages, hardcover