The Best Books About Music

The best books about music for World Book Day

Scenes from some of the greatest music docs of all time: Mick Jagger gets worried in Gimme Shelter; The Beatles get down in Peter Jackson's Get Back; and Liam Gallagher gets thoughtful in Supersonic.

The 20 best music documentaries

Peter Hook - bassist with Joy Division and New Order

Peter Hook's 10 greatest basslines

New Order

Oasis and New Order - both nominated for the 2025 Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame

Oasis and Joy Division/New Order nominated for the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame

Oasis

Could these frontmen master a guitar riff? Freddie Mercury. Bono and Ian Curtis

Great frontmen who weren't that great on guitar

Mancunian masters of the b-side: New Order, The Smiths and The Stone Roses

The best B-sides by Manchester bands

Blur invent Britpop in 1993 with a photo shoot for Modern Life Is Rubbish: amon Albarn, Alex James, Dave Rowntree and Graham Coxon

10 songs that ended an era... or began a new one

Tony Wilson, the mastermind behind Factory Records

19 indie record labels that changed the face of music

Albums missing in action? Noel Gallagher, The Beatles and Joy Division

The most famous lost songs and unreleased albums

Classic album titles... but what do they mean?

What’s the meaning behind these classic album titles?

Ian Brown with The Stone Roses in June 1989... and performing solo at the O2 Academy in Edinburgh, September 2022.

Manchester music legends now and then

Classic LIVE albums from Queen, U2, David Bowie, The Smiths, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, The Who, Arctic Monkeys and The Cure

The 20 best live albums

Famous bassists: Flea, Mani, Kim Deal and Peter Hook

The best bassists in rock

Joy Division's Ian Curtis and Peter Hook in 1979

How Transmission became Joy Division's first classic song

Fantastic compilations from likes of The Beatles, Blur, Oasis, The Killers, Queen, The Smiths and more...

Best "Best Ofs": the greatest artist compilations of all time

The old Factory Records office in Princess St, Manchester

The 20 best singles released on Factory Records

The Wombats in 2007 and Ian Curtis of Joy Division in 1979

Which great songs mention other great songs?

Ian Curtis of Joy Division performing live in 1980

The sad story behind Joy Division's She's Lost Control