10 of the Best Rock Books of 2024

It would be remiss not to start this piece with a quote from Milos Forman’s Amadeus. “On the page, it looked nothing,” says Salieri. “The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse. Bassoons and basset horns, like a rusty squeezebox. And then suddenly, high above it, an oboe. A single note, hanging there, unwavering. Until a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey!”

Writing about music is often as pleasurable as the work itself. Some of the books in this list – particularly those written by Aaron Badgley and Larry Tye – measure up to the opulence of the above quote. Here are ten of the best rock books from 2024.

Unsung: Unsaid Syd and Nick In Absentia (Rob Chapman)

In this fictional scenario, Syd Barrett and Nick Drake discuss the everythings and nothings of life, and in typically English fashion, the pair meet up at the café snack bar in Kensington Market. From that point, the book delves into Barrett’s unfinished work, and an epistle about Paris, written with stylistic prose by Drake.  Beautifully pieced together, this volume makes an impressive “what if,” painting a world where possibility is endless. The limitation only lies on the participants in question.

Dreams: The Many Lives Of Fleetwood Mac (Mark Blake)

Oasis split up suddenly in 2009, Genesis have had more guitarists than hot dinners and Steve Lillywhite allegedly had to record Dirty Work with Keith Richards at one point of the day, and Mick Jagger at another. But none of these stories compare to Fleetwood Mac, a group fashioned by sexual and creative politics. In this tidy compendium, Blake weaves all the stories together, never losing focus on the very essence that made the band so impactful in the first place: the music.

David Bowie 1964 to 1982 On Track: Every Album, Every Song (Carl Ewens)

There are plenty of David Bowie books, and while the Nicholas Pegg tome looks at the whole picture, Ewens cleverly peers at a period in the Thin White Duke’s life where his actions emanated from spontaneity and a desperation to rediscover himself against the changing cultural shifts of the 1970s. Breezily pieced together, Ewen’s overview captures the giddy Englishness that was found in Bowie’s catalog.

Macca in the Long Noughties: Paul McCartney tracks, life and tours 1998-2009 (Ian B Derbyshire)

Tastefully, Derbyshire explores the solo Beatle at a turbulent time in his life: the loss of Linda. Indeed, her cancer may have inspired Rushes’ forlorn atmosphere, a cerebral collage of little nothings and sound effects creating an impressive whole. Ever the professional, Paul McCartney picked himself up to issue a collection of covers, Run Devil Run, before embarking on a new decade of fertile endeavors. It’s an overlooked aspect of McCartney’s life, but Derbyshire admirably pivots from academic grandstanding to piece together an enjoyable narrative.

Street-Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence (Will Hodgkinson)

From Syd Barrett to Damon Albarn, England has produced its fair share of eccentric superstars, but Lawrence might be the battiest of the bunch. Eager to pursue a musical career, Lawrence has overcome obstacles aplenty in his time. “I am a songwriter, it is what I must do,” he candidly admits. “However long I have to sit in this room with no money, no matter how many times the police break down my door to check I’m still alive, I cannot admit I’m not an artist” The candor makes for riveting reading, and by the end, you can’t help but root for the artist in the future.

Dark Horse Records: The Story of George Harrison’s Post-Beatles Record Label (Aaron Badgley)

In a world of Beatles literature, Badgley’s work takes a novel stance, exploring the music that George Harrison helped issue to the world. People who signed on to Dark Horse Records included former Wings guitarist Henry McCullough – not forgetting Ravi Shankar, Harrison’s mentor — and British vocal duo Splinter. In many ways, Dark Horse Records paved the way for Handmade Films, a studio that operated on a similar philosophy to the album label. Badgley’s research is impressive, positing context and contradiction onto every record he writes about.

When Rock Met Reggae: How the Cultural Crossover of Bob Marley, The Clash, The Specials and More Changed the Face of Rock Music (Steven Blush)

The distinction between art was dwindling by the 1970s, and rock bands that had favored 4/4 time signatures were broadening their palette. Of course, The Police – featuring prog alumnus Stewart Copeland on drums – were the most noteworthy, a trio who enjoyed unparalleled success performing reggae-laced tunes. But there were other British bands that enjoyed the call of reggae, and Steven Blush offers a rationale for each and every notable act that did.

This is Hardcore (Jane Savidge)

By 1997, Britpop was over. Blur changed direction as heard on the spirited self-titled record; The Verve employed pathos, which was wrapped all over the yearning grooves of Urban Hymns; and Oasis swiftly realized that Be Here Now was not the “be all and end all” album they had intended to make. Savidge delves into 1998, as Pulp climbed up from the wreckage to sing about the years that had passed them by like a Ferrari speeding for the finish line. Out of this desolation, Jarvis Cocker unleashed some of the most rewarding compositions in his career: it boasted more than a little soul.

Travelling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell (Ann Powers)

In the book, Ann Powers makes a curious admission. Biography, she feels “was invented to celebrate heroes—or really to organize such creatures into being.” What we get from this book is a musical ghost who is better interpreted through her work than the perspectives of others. Powers spent time with David Crosby and Graham Nash in an effort to gain a better understanding of the artist, but clearly, Mitchell enjoys the mystique, culminating in a body of work that has more than two sides. It has too many to count.

The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America (Larry Tye)

The best until last? Tye’s work certainly makes a stab at the title. As it happens, this is as much a history as it is a riveting story, demonstrating a keen understanding to comprehend the arrival of a music that was predominantly American. Gripping stuff from beginning to end, the book is something of a minor triumph and a must-read.

-Eoghan Lyng

Photo: Paul and Linda McCartney (Getty)