The Great Rock Discography

by Martin C. Strong

Organized alphabetically, this comprehensive reference lists more than one thousand rock-and-roll artists and bands spanning five decades and includes all the songs and albums they ever recorded, each band's members throughout its history, reviews, and other valuable information. Simultaneous.

Genres: Music, Reference, Nonfiction, History

1120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apparently after the 2001 edition the series went downhill as it started to exclude many bands in favour of them being included in the spin off series' which collected Indie and Metal discographies. Regardless this was the book to have back in the day when the internet was still young and you had to rely on fan pages that would get abandoned or stagnate not updated for months or years. Now it's probably easier to use Discogs but there's something about flipping through a book which is just a different experience and I'll always be fond of this book for helping me find information on B-sides and EPs I didn't know existed.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE GREAT ROCK DISCOGRAPHY - 7th edition – Martin C. Strong.

Thoroughly comprehensive. Fantastic resource. Hundreds of hours worth of solid reading.
(No I have not it all!). Here are some examples.

BOB DYLAN (p460)
In 1963 he unleashed 'THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN', .. a pronounced development in DYLAN's songwriting dexterity on tracks like the cutting 'MASTERS OF WAR'. While his untrained, nasal vocals could be something of an acquired taste, they communicated the lyrics in a way that lent them greater depth and resonance.
…
Dylan stunned folk purists with the half electric/half acoustic 'BRIGING IT AL BACK HOME' (1965). The newly plugged in DYLAN was a revelation an with the likes of the stream-of-consciousness 'SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES', the album influenced in turn the bands DYLAN had taken his cue from. (p460)
- - -

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE (p1251)
Signed to 'Epic' partly on the strength of their famous live reputation, the band divebombed their way into the UK charts after performing the incendiary 'KILLING IN THE NAME OF' on cult 'yoof' TV show (now sadly missed), 'The Word'. On of the most visceral, angry and overtly political record of the 90's, the song formed the centrepiece of their pivotal 1993 eponymous debut album. A revelatory hybrid of monster riffing and knotty hip hop rhythms, the album was venom-spewing and utterly defiant.
..
The vital point was that this was one SERIOUSLY angry young man, raging against all kinds of injustice, mainly the ruling white American capitalist system. … how many bands of the 90's have had the balls to be openly political?, or rather, how many bands even know the meaning of protest? (p1251)

[John Hubbard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lead to many discoveries. Not as much as the original RS Album Guide but many more listing. Before anything like RYM or Discogs was developed.

[Tootie Blank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love true history! And this book lists rock and roll, the bands, the labels, the history. For me, what I need! Coolest part of the book, I found it at a thrift store for $2. What a deal.