Showing results by narrator "Greg Prato" in All Categories

One of the most tragic stories of the 1990s rock world was that of singer Shannon Hoon and his band, Blind Melon. Despite scoring one of the decade’s most enduring singles and videos, “No Rain”, and a quadruple-platinum hit with their 1992 self-titled debut album (in addition to touring alongside rock’s biggest names), Hoon could not overcome a dangerous drug addiction.

Grunge Is Dead weaves together the definitive story of the Seattle music scene through a series of interviews with the people who were there. Taking the form of an “oral” history, this books contains more than 130 interviews, along with essential background information from acclaimed music writer Greg Prato.

Grunge’s golden era gave us some of the greatest rock voices of all-time–Chris Cornell, Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Eddie Vedder, and of course, Mark Lanegan. During a recording career that spanned several decades, Lanegan’s unmistakable and instantly-recognizable vocals were featured on classic recordings as a member of various groups (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age), plus collaborations (Isobel Campbell, Greg Dulli), guest spots (UNKLE, Soulsavers), and steady solo work.

Today, yacht rock is one of the most celebrated "yesteryear" styles of pop music, and has resonated with a new generation of musicians. But despite all the hoopla, there has never been a book that told the entire story of the genre. Until now. Featuring interviews with many of the heavy hitters of the genre, including John Oates, Kenny Loggins, and Don Felder, The Yacht Rock Book leaves no sail unturned. This is the definitive story of the yacht rock’s creation, rise, chart-smashing success, fall, and stunning rebirth.

There have been few times in modern music history that an instant shift in how we listen to - and view - music has occurred. However, the launch of MTV on August 1, 1981, was certainly one such occurrence. Instantly, music fans were now “listening with their eyes” rather than relying solely on their ears.

Scott Weiland: Memories of a Rock Star features nearly 30 all-new interviews conducted exclusively for this book, including members of bands that toured with STP (Megadeth, Meat Puppets, Blind Melon, etc.), worked with Scott (Scott's autobiography co-author David Ritz, video directors Kevin Kerslake and Josh Taft, producer/engineer Chris Goss, etc.), or were friends and/or admirers of Scott's music (Richard Patrick, Bob Forrest, Matt Pinfield, Eddie Trunk, etc.). Get ready for an honest and accurate portrayal of Scott Weiland!

Place any musical style in front of Faith No More, and seemingly, a timeless song of their own would soon be created. Between 1985-1997, Faith No More issued six full-length recordings (including such classic titles as "The Real Thing" and "Angel Dust") and in the process, influenced countless musicians throughout the world.

"How fast can you play?" "What guitar do you have?" For metal fans in the '80s, these were common and important questions. Tune in to MTV, pick up a magazine, or walk into an instrument store, and more often than not you'd be exposed to what is now known as shredding—the fast, virtuoso soloing popularized by musicians like Van Halen and Dimebag Darrell. Though shredding fell out of favor, it has become increasingly popular again in recent years. Drawing on more than 70 interviews with key shredders, Greg Prato has assembled the definitive guide to the fastest players of them all.

Since its inception in the late 1960s, heavy metal has experienced quite a few ups and downs in popularity. But there was one specific decade that sticks out as the most troubling - the 1990s. In what seemed like one fell swoop, a style of metal that had been popular for much of the 1980s was rendered obsolete, and in its place, was a much more real, raw, and unique approach - detected in several new metal-based "sub-genres".

In addition to offering different viewpoints of grunge's history, new stories and insight are discovered in these nearly forever-forgotten quotes, making I Love Grunge the perfect companion to Grunge Is Dead.

By the mid/late '80s, Iron Maiden was unquestionably one of the biggest heavy metal bands on the planet - regularly headlining arenas/stadiums, each new album rocketing up the charts, and t-shirts sporting their ghastly mascot (Eddie) were one of the most popular fashion statements by metalheads. But by this point of their career, most of the band members were different than the ones that appeared on their classic 1980 self-titled debut album, while musically, they had transformed from a raw "punk metal" sound to a more refined "prog metal" approach.

To many, Tommy Bolin was the legitimate heir to Jimi Hendrix's rock guitar throne. Stints with the James Gang and Deep Purple - as well as solo albums and a groundbreaking release with jazz-rocker Billy Cobham - certainly proved that the adulation was rightly deserved. And with a techno-color fashion sense, he certainly stood out from the pack. Only one problem, Tommy had a death-defying drug addiction, which ultimately would lead to a premature and tragic end - before he was able to truly take his standing among the elite musicians of the world.

When Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple in 1975, many a rock n’ roll fan was left befuddled. Why would one of rock’s top guitarists leave one of the world’s most popular bands? Regardless of the reason, listeners would ultimately be thankful, as Blackmore soon launched Rainbow - a band that rocked just as ferociously as Purple, whose music has proven to be timeless and incredibly influential on subsequent heavy metal bands.

There is a common misconception about KISS, one of the greatest hard rock/heavy metal bands of all time: that their "non-makeup" era of 1983-1996 is not as enduring as when they rocked stages as the Starchild, the Demon, the Spaceman, and the Cat. In fact, this period helped resuscitate KISS' career. While the majority of KISS books are focused on the iconic makeup era, the non-makeup years are ripe to be explored in book form, and Take It Off does just that, zeroing in on the albums KISS issued during this period, as well the resulting tours, videos, and other escapades.

There have been countless books penned about the leading grunge bands - namely, Nirvana and Pearl Jam. But strangely, few have been assembled about the mighty Soundgarden. But this all changed with the arrival of Dark Black and Blue: The Soundgarden Story. Written by author/journalist (and longtime Soundgarden fan) Greg Prato, the audiobook tells the Seattle band’s complete story - beginning with its members pre-SG days, all the way to today.

During the mid ‘80s, Ratt was one of the biggest hard rock/heavy metal bands in the United States. Turn on MTV, and it was seemingly only a matter of time until a Ratt video was aired. Visit your local newsstand, and you were sure to detect a Ratt band member on the cover of one of the leading rock mags. Take a gander at the album charts, and one of their platinum (or platinum plus) LP’s would have been easy to spot.

There have been few rock singers as beloved as the late, great Bon Scott of AC/DC. After all, it was his unmistakable vocals and streetwise/sexually charged lyrics that were a major part of such all-time classic rock anthems as “Highway to Hell", “Sin City”, “Whole Lotta Rosie", “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”, and “TNT”. And it was the “Bon era” that set the stage for AC/DC to go on to become one of rock’s most universally popular and enduring bands. But few rockers partied as hard as Bon - sadly resulting in his death at the age of 33.

In 2008, Greg Prato issued his first ever book, A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon, which, as its title states, retraced the life and career of one of rock’s greatest – yet tragic – singers/performers of all time. In the ensuing years, Prato crossed paths with several key figures who were not interviewed for Devil/Angel....These interviews now serve as the basis for a follow-up book, Shannon.

“What are the greatest rock albums of all-time?” Perhaps one of the more common questions examined between music-loving chums that has led to many a good-natured debate. But if you really dig deeper into the question...is it from the standpoint of the album’s importance in rock history? A classic release that proved significant to an artist’s career? Or perhaps merely a personal favorite, that you just can’t get enough of?

Few rock drummers remain as universally praised as Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham. Listen to any Zeppelin album, and you will hear a virtual showcase on expert rock drumming, while never getting in the way of the group’s other members and their contributions - singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bassist John Paul Jones. But sadly, one of rock’s all-time greats died tragically young - he was only 32 years old - resulting in the end of one of rock’s most celebrated bands.