Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Music

In Surrender, it’s Bono who picks up the pen, writing for the first time about his remarkable life and those he has shared it with. In his unique voice, Bono takes us from his early days growing up in Dublin, including the sudden loss of his mother when he was 14, to U2’s unlikely journey to become one of the world’s most influential rock bands, to his more than 20 years of activism dedicated to the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty.

Just about every human being knows how to listen to music, but what does it take to make music? Is musicality something we are born with? Or a skill that anyone can develop at any time? If you don't start piano at the age of six, is there any hope? Is skill learning best left to children or can anyone reinvent him-or herself at any time?

Hence this is a story without precedent, a story in which Elton John plays a royal funeral, Mick Jagger gets a knighthood, Bob Dylan picks up the Nobel Prize, the Beatles become, if anything, bigger than the Beatles and it's beginning to look as though all of the above will, thanks to the march of technology, be playing Las Vegas forever.

A compelling and growing body of research has shown music and arts therapies to be effective tools for addressing a widening array of conditions, from providing pain relief and alleviating anxiety and depression to regaining speech after stroke or traumatic brain injury, and improving mobility for people with disorders that include Parkinson’s disease and MS.

Using musical examples from Bach to the Beatles, Levitin reveals the role of music in human evolution, shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience. Music is an obsession at the heart of human nature, even more fundamental to our species than language. In This Is Your Brain on Music Levitin offers nothing less than a new way to understand it and its role in human life.

"I was 22 years old, a hard-on with a pulse: wretched vice-ridden, too much to burn and not enough minutes in a hour to do so. 1995 was a full 365-day year of drinking, fucking, lying, raging and exploration for me - not a dull one in the bunch. It was a time of self-shit: self-importance, self-absorption, self-indulgence and selfishness. I was the only person in the known galaxy and I wanted what the fuck I wanted sooner rather than later." The action begins in Iowa, where Corey Taylor committs each of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen. Book of Longing is Leonard Cohen's first book of new poetry since Book of Mercy was published two decades ago. It collects Cohen's poetry written between the 1980s and the present. Book of Longing demonstrates the range and depth of Cohen's work, revealing an extraordinary gift of language that speaks with rare clarity, passion and timelessness.

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Secrets for the Mad by dodie, read by dodie, Joshua Edwards, Hazel Hayes, Jack Howard, Daniel J. Layton, Sammy Paul, Benjamin Redwood and Rebecca Fortuin. A lot of my worst fears have come true - fears that felt so big I could barely hold them in my head. I was convinced that when they happened, the world would end. But the world didn't end. In fact, it pushed on and demanded to keep spinning through all sorts of mayhem, and I got through it.

Accompanies BBC2's major new TV series and The Story of Music in 50 Pieces on Radio 3. Music is an intrinsic part of everyday life, and yet the history of its development from single notes to multi-layered orchestration can seem bewilderingly specialised and complex. In his dynamic tour through 40,000 years of music, from prehistoric instruments to modern-day pop, Howard Goodall does away with stuffy biographies, unhelpful labels and tired terminology.

In The Indispensable Composers, Tommasini offers his own personal guide to the canon - and what greatness really means in classical music. What does it mean to be canonical now? Who gets to say? And do we have enough perspective on the 20th century to even begin assessing it? To make his case, Tommasini draws on elements of biography, the anxiety of influence, the composer's relationships with colleagues, and shifting attitudes toward a composer's work over time. 

Beethoven by Oxford Professor Laura Tunbridge cuts through the noise in a refreshing way. Each chapter focuses on a period of his life, a piece of music and a revealing theme, from family to friends, from heroism to liberty. It's a winning combination of rich biographical detail, insight into the music and surprising new angles, all of which can transform how you listen to his works. We discover, for example, Beethoven's oddly modern talent for self-promotion, how he was influenced by factors from European wars to instrument building and how he was heard by contemporaries.

Brought to you by Penguin. The songlines are the invisible pathways that criss-cross Australia, ancient tracks connecting communities and following ancient boundaries. Along these lines Aboriginals passed the songs which revealed the creation of the land and the secrets of its past. In this magical account Chatwin recalls his travels across the length and breadth of Australia seeking to find the truth about the songs and unravel the mysteries of their stories.

Despite being unable to play an instrument, Susan Rogers became an extraordinarily successful record producer—and certainly one of the most successful women record producers in history—because of her ability to listen. (She was an engineer on Prince's "When Doves Cry", which inspired the title of the book.) This Is What It Sounds Like distils a lifetime's expertise as a producer and an award-winning professor with a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, to present a new theory of listening for everyday music fans.

Many people will recognise the famous zebra crossing. Some visitors may have graffitied their name on its hallowed outer walls. Others might even have managed to penetrate the iron gates. But what draws in these thousands of fans here, year after year? What is it that really happens behind the doors of the most celebrated recording studio in the world? It may have begun life as an affluent suburban house, but it soon became a creative hub renowned around the world as a place where great music, ground-breaking sounds and unforgettable tunes were forged.

For the first time, Andrew Ridgeley - one-half of one of the most famous bands in the world - tells the inside story of Wham!, his lifelong friendship with George Michael and the formation of a band that changed the shape of the music scene in the early '80s.

Get ready to deep dive into the story of Taylor’s life through her songwriting. Travel back to where it all began with her debut album Taylor Swift and journey through the eras, from the enchanting moments of Speak Now and 1989's red-heart sunglasses, to the cosy cardigan's of Folklore and bejewelled Midnights. Including the musical influences and personal experiences that helped make Taylor the mastermind and icon she is, this book celebrates the inimitable talent of one of the world’s greatest songwriters, performers and cat lovers.

In this New York Times best seller, international superstar Ricky Martin, who has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide, opens up for the first time about memories of his early childhood, experiences in the famed boy band Menudo, struggles with his identity during the Livin' la Vida Loca phenomenon, reflections on coming to terms with his sexuality, relationships that allowed him to embrace love, and life-changing decisions like devoting himself to helping children around the world, and becoming a father.

Taking us from the present day back to the dawn of time, long-lost music is here reconstructed as we enter the worlds of its makers. We feel a child's delight at playing with a water-filled pot that chirps like a bird in Peru in 700 AD; we appreciate the challenge of a soldier sending signals by trumpet along Hadrian's Wall; we hear the chiming of 64 bells buried in a tomb in 5th century China. Graeme Lawson leads us on a grand tour of the world's greatest musical discoveries, revealing that music is part of our DNA.

Sinéad O'Connor's voice and trademark shaved head made her famous by the age of 21. Her recording of Prince's 'Nothing Compares 2 U' made her a global icon. She outraged millions when she tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on American television. O'Connor was unapologetic and impossible to ignore, calling out hypocrisy wherever she saw it. She remained that way for over three decades.

Tina Turner: My Love Story charts the full, dramatic story of one of the most remarkable women in music history, celebrating Tina Turner’s 60th year in the industry. Emphatically showcasing Tina’s signature blend of strength, energy, heart and soul, she candidly examines her personal history and reveals her happiest - and darkest - hours in a thrilling memoir as compelling and entertaining as any of her greatest hits.