What binds this series together, and what brings it to life, is that all of the authors - musicians, scholars, and writers - are deeply in love with the album they have chosen. Seemingly granted 'classic album' status within days of its release in 1997, OK Computer transformed Radiohead from a highly promising rock act into The Most Important Band in the World - a label the band has been burdened by (and has fooled around with) ever since. Through close analysis of each song, Dai Griffiths explores the themes and ideas that have made this album resonate so deeply with its audience - and he argues that OK Computer is one of the most successfully realised CD albums - as opposed to vinyl albums - so far created. 33 1/3 is a series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. Focusing on one album rather than an artist's entire output, the books dispense with the standard biographical background that fans know already, and cut to the heart of the music on each album. The authors provide fresh, original perspectives, often through their access to and relationships with the key figures involved in the recording of these albums. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative, and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music. (A task that can be, as Elvis Costello famously observed, as tricky as dancing about architecture.) What binds this series together, and what brings it to life, is that all of the authors - musicians, scholars, and writers - are deeply in love with the album they have chosen. Previous titles in this now well-established series have beaten sales expectations and received excellent review coverage - the third batch is sure to continue this success. More titles follow in the spring of 2005.

This epoch-making record of the late '80s effortlessly combines dense swathes of guitar noise and dance music. This turned out to be their last record, guitarist and studio maestro Kevin Shields having set their standards so high it was impossible to surpass them. Shields is now playing with Primal Scream. Includes the classics Loomer, Soon and To Here Knows When.

Through a series of interviews with a wide range of people connected to Pink Floyd in their earliest days, John Cavanagh paints a vivid picture of how this remarkable debut album was created. He brings to life the stories behind each track, as well as Pink Floyd's live performances. Through a series of interviews with a wide range of people connected to Pink Floyd in their earliest days (including Nick Mason, Peter Jenner, Jenny Fabian, Storm Thorgerson, Duggie Fields and Peter Whitehead), John Cavanagh paints a vivid picture of how this remarkable debut album was created. He brings to life the stories behind each track, as well as Pink Floyd's groundbreaking live performances of the time. EXCERPT The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is a wondrous creation often seen through the distorted view of later events. These things have served to overshadow the achievement of The Pink Floyd on their debut album: an outstanding group performance; a milestone in record production; and something made in much happier circumstances than I had expected to find...This is not another book about "mad Syd". This, instead, is a celebration of a moment when everything seemed possible, when creative worlds and forces converged, when an album spoke with an entirely new voice. "Such music I never dreamed of," as Rat said to Mole.

This title is one of many in a series of books which focus on epic albums of our time. Here, Joe Pernice looks at The Smith's album "Meat is Murder". A Catholic high school near Boston in 1985. A time of suicides, gymnasium humiliations, smoking for beginners, asthma attacks, and incendiary teenage infatuations. Infatuations with a girl (Allison), with a band (The Smiths) and with an album, Meat is Murder, that was so raw, so vivid and so melodic that you could cling to it like a lifeboat in a storm. In this brilliant novella Joe Pernice tells the story of an asthmatic kid's discovery of Meat is Murder. Here is a short exceropt: One morning as I was jogging my way past the bronze plaque commemorating the deaths of one student and one motorcyclist, my necktie flapping like a windsock, Ray floored the brake pedal of his Dodge as he closed in on me. Fifty mile an hour traffic came to a screeching, nearly murderous halt behind him. He leaned over and rolled down the passenger side window in one fluid motion. He dispensed with formalities while I marveled at the audacity of his driving and, tossing something at me, winked and said, "Here. I'm going to kill myself." He pegged the gas, leaving a surprisingly good patch of rubber for such a shitty car. In the gutter, sugared with sand put down during the winter's last snow, I saw written in red felt ink on masking tape stuck to a smoky-clear cassette: "Smiths: Meat."

Sexy swimwear has evolved along with the times. The sun-kissed bodies that filled the seams have always caught the eye of appreciative onlookers. Throughout the nation-defining decades of the 1930s and 1940s, the flawlessly famous bodies of models and movie starlets were often found clad in sexy sunwear and swimwear for the eager eyes of the world. Throughout the pages of this first-of-its-kind book, you are bathed in the glowing images of swimwear that revealed the lives and livelihoods of the starlets and models that prompted our beach bound desires. Sun worshipers of every generation will enjoy the nostalgic images of the bathing beauties found between the covers of Sunkissed.

The legend of The Golem of Venice Beach that began 400 years ago in Europe comes to a fateful conclusion in present day sunny California. Writer Chanan Beizer and artist Vanessa Cardinali (Slumber) deliver an action-packed 184-page sequel with a legendary cast of artists joining them: A wrap-around cover by superstar Frank Quitely (All-Star Superman). Eisner winner Jae Lee (Stephen King''s The Dark Tower) returns to complete the story of the Golem’s resurrection during World War Two. David Mack (Echo) creates a unique six-page vision quest sequence of existential exploration. Famed Spanish painter Das Pastoras (Ax-Wielder Jon) crafts a striking homage to an iconic Sal Buscema pin up from 1973’s groundbreaking Avengers/Defenders War. And a nine-page bonus story inspired by the classic What If ? comic book series with art by Dean Haspiel (Covid Cop), Juan José Ryp (Wolverine), Nick Dragotta (Absolute Batman), and Hall-of-Famers Howard Chaykin (American Flagg!) & Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo).

What do you want? I mean, REALLY want? Money? Sex? Power? It's all yours--for a price--in this anthology that recalls the classic horror comics of the past. In one of the most beautiful, most wealthy zip codes in the country lies the sleepy, sun-drenched coastal town of La Jolla, California, and among all of this beauty stands Diablo House. It'll make your dreams come true, if you dare. Surf-bum and host, Riley, invites us into his house of mystery and shares the secrets of the people who let their desires come at the cost of all else. This edition collects eight new prose stories, plus a new installment in the DIABLO HOUSE comic series by Grady Hendrix and Damien Worm.

A misfit crew of heroes-in-training contend with a crafty ogre and a cunning thief—neither of whom are quite who they appear to be—in a fun and funny world dubbed “hilarious, whimsical epic adventure” by Hilo creator Judd Winick. High-stakes action blends with laugh-out-loud humor in a story with themes of self-acceptance, betrayal and forgiveness, and the power of friendship. Punycorn—the world’s clumsiest unicorn—is officially an apprentice hero, complete with the laminated membership card to prove it! Together with a dragon who can’t breathe fire and a dung beetle with delusions of grandeur, Punycorn is on a mission to save a friend. Along the way, the trio battle a vain and decidedly dimwitted warlord and their own self-doubts, and they find an unexpected ally in a legendary female robber who secretly feeds the poor. Big heroes come in small packages in this comedic and heartwarming delight by multi-Eisner Award–nominated graphic novelist Andi Watson.

A young adult graphic novel that captures the complexities of the war in Ukraine, focusing on the siege of Mariupol (Feb ’22 – May ’22) and the brave people who stayed to defend their city against Russian forces as well as the resulting effects on global politics. A city ruined. In once quiet residential streets, two armies battle, driving people into cellars and basements with little food or water. No lights or heat. Dwindling medical supplies. Shells and bullets deliver cruel, random death to the young and old, men, women, and children. This is Mariupol, a Ukrainian city and early target of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Bordering Russian-occupied territory, the coastal city seemed doomed to a defeat that would come within days, if not hours. Could Mariupol, and Ukraine, survive? As Russian rockets threatened the city, Ukrainians resisted, and with a heroic combination of sacrifice and bravery, the besieged city endured . . for months. But it all came at a steep cost. With compassion and his keen journalist’s eye, Sibert Honor creator Don Brown illuminates the horrors of Mariupol and the depredations of its people not seen in the city since World War II. He also shows that outside of Mariupol, the city’s agonies were mirrored by similar events occurring in towns and cities across Ukraine. 83 Days in Mariupol reminds us that the bloody defiance shown at the Alamo, Dunkirk, Leningrad, and Thermopylae isn’t confined to the past but has a violent, modern presence. It is the story of senseless destruction, patriotism, and grit against long odds—a brutal battle whose consequences still reverberate across Ukraine and continue to reshape the global political landscape. Read more books by Don Brown: Run and Hide: How Jewish Youth Escaped the Holocaust In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks Fever Year: The Killer Flu of 1918 The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees

The Investigators meet The First Cat in Space in this hilarious graphic novel. Fairy and Mouse will forever change young readers’ perspectives on stepmothers, princes, and pumpkins as they help Cinderella set things right when her carriage veers off course. Every fairy tale needs a fairy. Because sometimes stories go off the rails, and this fairy knows just what to do to fix them. Actually, he doesn’t . . He makes it up as he goes along. And sometimes he needs help. A lot of help. Which is where Mouse comes in. Together, she and Fairy will make sure this tale has a happily ever after—just maybe not the one you expect.

The bestselling literary mashup that transforms Jane Austen's beloved classic into a thrilling zombie adventure filled with romance, satire, sword fights, and undead chaos. Now a major motion picture! Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is an audacious retelling of English literature’s most enduring novel. This expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem begins when a mysterious plague falls upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. It’s the perfect read for literature lovers, zombie fans, and anyone who loves a reanimated Austen.

A visual history of the seven-inch record.