Decades – Van der Graaf Generator in the 1970s, Faith No More in the 1990s / On Track – The Allman Brothers Band, New Order

Author:Steve Pilkington,, Matt Karpe, Andrew Wild, Dennis Remmer

That most eccentric of bands Van der Graaf Generator are the subject of this look at the most vital decade in their career. I’m no expert on their music, having only a handful of albums from their large back catalogue, but this is a really interesting read delving into the band’s activities and history, to which band members have also collaborated and contributed. They are certainly a unique outfit, both vocally and instrumentally, and their music could be challenging at times to say the least, and was definitely not for the faint hearted. The book also takes in Peter Hammill’s solo efforts that appeared along the way in this decade when they were so prolific and influential, despite always seeming to somehow remain as outsiders. Well researched and knowledgeably written, this is a good potted history of this key period of their career, and there’s also a comprehensive look at subsequent activity right up to the present day.

Faith No More are one of those bands my kids used to have blasting out of their rooms in their teenage years, so inadvertently I’ve absorbed quite a lot of their stuff over time, although the only ones that stick in my mind are the big songs such as Epic, We Care A Lot and their cover of The Commodores Easy. They do have quite an interesting and indeed turbulent history, which is well recounted here, with a promising run of albums until the seemingly inevitable internal frictions led to their swift demise, before the equally inevitable reformation tour. Dipping back into the albums certainly brought back a few memories, and this is well worth a read if you’re a nu-metal fan.

The Allmans are one of those bands I quite enjoy, without actually listening to them that often. My collection comprises of just the magnificent Live at Fillmore Easr album, plus the Road Goes on Forever compilation, which is maybe all a casual fan really needs. This is a very well written and researched book though, and actually I found it fascinating reading, detailing the comings and goings over the years, the tragic deaths and the divisive court case, as well as taking an in depth look at the music right up to the welcome later years renaissance and subsequently on to their final farewell.

New Order is a band I used to listen to a lot back in the day, but lost track of along the way, somewhere after the Technique album in the late 80’s I think. This is another well researched and put together effort, taking an in depth look at each release, while detailing the in band fall outs that were, for me, to compromise later albums. As well as going through all the albums right up to their most recent, Music Complete, the author looks at non album singles, remixes, soundtrack work and the various compilations that are available. The fact that that the band have been active now for forty years plus and are still going strong certainly says something about their longevity and the lasting appeal of the music they created.

Length of Read:Short

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

Fans of the artists.

One thing you’ve learned

I take my hat off to people who know so much minutiae about their favourite bands, and are prepared to spend the no doubt considerable time and effort involved in putting it all down in book form – a real labour of love!

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