Omnibus imprint: 824 books

“Barnes gets the story, and with the full participation of those brave musicians who attempted to interpret Beefheart's sometimes otherworldly methodology”  The Times Through new interview material, and with reference to reports and eulogies that appeared in the media, Mike Barnes studies...

Wild, defiant and startlingly inventive, The Slits were ahead of their time, embodying the creative fire of punk music and rebellion like few others. Although they created unique hybrids - dub reggae and pop-punk, funk and free jazz - they were dismissed as being unable to play. Their lyrics...

When Little Richard burst onto the scene in the early 1950s, he sounded like nothing on earth. Drenched in sweat, screaming, hollering and pumping his piano, he made all who followed soud tame. His stage act was so explosive that for years people assumed the real man could never match the flamboyant...

Walk the halls of the famous studio that produced hits for Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Sam and Dave, and Booker T. and the MGs. Soulsville, U.S.A. provides the first history of the groundbreaking label along with compelling biographies of the promoters, producers, and performers who made and sold the...

He became famous with Genesis but simply to call Peter Gabriel a pop star would be to sell him very short indeed. A quintessential Englishman, he has since pursued several overlapping careers, bringing to each of them his trademark preoccupation with quality control and restless curiosity. In...

From a Battle of the Bands contest in Teignmouth, to the first band ever to sell out the new Wembley Stadium, the story of Muse's stratospheric rise is one of UK rock's most fascinating and incendiary tales. As three unassuming kids from Devon plot a course to become the biggest British rock...

The life and work of the greatest of all Italian composers, Giuseppe Verdi, including the much-loved anecdotes, which the author firmly believes reflect both historical and mythic truths about their subject. Covers all Verdi operas, from the early works in the bel canto tradition to the late masterpieces Otello and Falstaff.

Crass was the anarcho-punk face of a revolutionary movement founded by radical thinkers Penny Rimbaud and Steve Ignorant. When punk ruled the waves, Crass waived the rules and took it further, putting out their own records, films and magazines and setting up a series of situationist pranks...

Joel McIver's acclaimed Black Sabbath biography, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, concluded in 2011 that its subjects were at a crossroads. Could Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill manage after over 40 years in business to get back together one more time? After all, the veteran heavy metal musicians were grieving...

Lorde won two Grammys earlier this year for her song 'Royals,' which has captivated audiences all over the world and skyrocketed her from obscurity to superstardom. Quite an accomplishment for a girl who just turned 17. Lorde is the voice of her generation, a head-strong, determined young woman who...

This new biography is a fascinating account of the period in which Chopin lived, and the way in which the political scene helped shape his music. The important people and places in the composer's life are brought vividly to life by the use of contemporary engraving, paintings and lithographs. The...

This is the definitive biography of this extraordinary and controversial superstar, written by Geoff Brown, a former editor of Black Music magazine. For three decades James Brown dominated the changing face of post-war popular black music. Others were as inspirational in the short term, and several...

The eclectic Orange County band No Doubt was formed in 1986 by Eric Stefani and John Spence who soon recruited Eric’s younger sister Gwen as co-vocalist. With the addition of Tony Kanal on Bass, they launched a 20 year career that would fuse ska, grunge, alt. rock and shades of several other musical...

No Direction Home took 20 years to complete and has received widespread critical acclaim. Robert Shelton met Bob Dylan when the young singer arrived in New York; he became Dylan's friend, champion, and critic, and his book has been hailed as the definitive unauthorised biography of this moody, passionate...