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Peter Kearns

You could consider Kate Bush's The Dreaming to be her finest moment, depending on whether you value the rejection of compromise and see that as a sign of authenticity. Or, you may see her Hounds of Love - equal parts artful and accessible - as the benchmark for artistic integrity meeting commercial success: a slippery and completely unpredictable schizoid beast at the best of times. 
As much as The Dreaming seems to be viewed as Bush's most difficult record to consume, it's easy to forget that it was a top 20 album in multiple countries. In reality, it has a beautiful simplicity, if only for its intention to exist for its own sake - as they say, 'It is what it is', and the rest is up to the listener. What it is, is perhaps one of rock's purest examples of a musician doing their thing, simultaneously (and conveniently) operating at the top of their game without a care for what others thought. 
Ultimately, The Dreaming is just art - music, yes, but it arguably crosses the line into sculpture. You can walk around it, try to decipher it, and still be stumped. Isn't that how art is supposed to be?

Peter Kearns is a New Zealand musician, independent recording artist and producer. Since the 1980s, he has performed live as keyboardist and/or recorded or co-written with a range of artists from in and outside of his home country. He is half of the duo Tabacco & Kearns and as a writer, he's contributed regularly to witchdoctor.co.nz - New Zealand's technology and music website for grown-ups. This is his fourth book for Sonicbond. He first heard Kate Bush in 1978 when he was 11, biking home from school, hearing 'Wuthering Heights' blasting from someone's house, and he stood there in the rain, transfixed, wondering if it was possible to equal something so unique.

Sonicbond Publishing

Rock Classic

Kate Bush - The Dreaming

Steve Pilkington

Some albums are simply undeniable watersheds in an artist’s career. These can be artistic, or commercial triumphs (or both), but are seen by both the fanbase and even the wider world, as defining statements. Such was undoubtedly the case when Supertramp released Crime Of The Century in 1974. The band’s two previous albums had searched for a direction almost as much as Supertramp themselves searched for a stable line-up. But so few copies were sold that the band were almost entirely unknown as they embarked on their third.
Like some serendipitous alchemy, the perfect five-piece line-up coalesced around the creative hub of Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies, and there was a tangible belief and confidence that had not been present before. They took time away from playing live and meticulously crafted Crime Of The Century, which immediately put them both into theatres and into the charts.
With the album celebrating its 50th anniversary and aided by the author’s interview with Roger Hodgson, this book examines the making of the album, while looking into the music and lyrical content with some depth. It also examines the wider story of the band and the lasting legacy of the masterpiece that became Crime Of The Century.

The author
Steve Pilkington is a writer and broadcaster based in the North West of England. He has published books on artists as diverse as Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep, Van Der Graaf Generator, Iron Maiden and The Rolling Stones, and is a regular Sonicbond author. He has also written the official biography of guitarist Gordon Giltrap. Steve also presents a weekly internet radio show entitled A Saucerful Of Prog for Rock Radio UK, as well as writing CD booklet essays and regular content on the Velvet Thunder rock website. Crime Of The Century Rock Classics is his tenth published book.

Supertramp - Crime Of The Century

Stephen Lambe

90125, released towards the end of 1983, was Yes’ best-selling album. A combination of commercial necessity and luck saw an album by a new band called Cinema – featuring Yes stalwarts Chris Squire, Alan White and Tony Kaye alongside talented multi-instrumentalist Trevor Rabin – become Yes, following the last-minute recruitment of vocalist Jon Anderson. A US number one hit single, ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart,’ led to a triple platinum record and a massive world tour, giving this band a new lease of life into the 1980s.
Featuring new interviews with Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Tony Kaye, current Yes bassist Billy Sherwood and Atlantic executive Phil Carson, this book traces the story of the album from its roots in Rabin’s garage in 1981, via Trevor Horn’s turbulent production, up to the end of the world tour in early 1985. 90125 is reviewed in full, and the book also includes a detailed look at the somewhat complex and contrived process that created it, as well as the videos that promoted it. The book also discusses the album’s legacy and the remarkable afterlife of its innovative number-one single.
The 90125 story is possibly the most astonishing in this legendary group’s nearly six-decade history. This is how it happened.

Stephen Lambe is a publisher, festival promoter and freelance writer. A former chairman of The Classic Rock Society, he now owns Sonicbond Publishing. His piece about 90125 for Prog magazine was the inspiration for this, his eleventh book. The other ten include two other books about Yes, and the best-selling Citizens Of Hope And Glory – The Story Of Progressive Rock for Amberley in 2011. He has also written several volumes of local history. He lives in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, UK.

Yes 90125

Rock Classic - The book series

Rock Classic - The book series

Rock Classic books in order

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