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Electric Wizards: A Tapestry of Heavy Music, 1968 to the Present Hardcover – 1 January 2022
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It began with The Beatles’ ‘Helter Skelter’. It was distilled to its dark essence by Black Sabbath. And it has flourished into a vibrant modern underground, epitomised by Newcastle’s Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. This is the evolution of heavy music, and Electric Wizards is your sonic gazetteer.
The voyage is as varied as it is illuminating: from the lysergic blunt trauma of Blue Cheer to the locked grooves of Funkadelic, the aural frightmares of Faust to the tectonic crush of Sleep, alighting on post-punk, industrial, grunge, stoner rock and numerous other genres along the way.
Ranging from household names to obscure cult heroes and heroines, Electric Wizards demonstrates how each successive phase of heavy music was forged by what came before, outlining a rich and eclectic lineage that extends far beyond the usual boundaries of heavy rock or heavy metal. It extols those who did things differently, who introduced something fresh and exciting into this elemental tradition, whether by design, accident or sheer chance. In doing so, Electric Wizards weaves an entirely new tapestry of heavy music.
- Print length480 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherREAKTION BOOKS
- Publication date1 January 2022
- Dimensions15.88 x 4.83 x 23.5 cm
- ISBN-101789144485
- ISBN-13978-1789144482
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Product description
Review
"An enthrallingly funny read, and one that's hard to put down despite its girth."-- "Record Collector"
"A depth-charge exploration to the bloodied heart of heavy. Essential, energetic writing--Moores is the netherworld guide we always needed."--Harry Sword, author of Monolithic Undertow: In Search of Sonic Oblivion
"Moores covers a rich landscape of sounds. . . . What's more, he achieves a rare feat in rock criticism of saying something fresh and interesting about the Beatles."--Dan Franklin, author of HEAVY: How Metal Changes the Way We See the World
"The landscape of heavy music is vast, its existence is ever evolving. There is no better person to explore its dynamic terrain than Moores."--Matt Baty, member of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
"Simultaneously hilarious, provocative, and sensitive; wildly entertaining while always getting to the heart of the matter. . . . Just take my goddamned bitcoin already."--John Doran, cofounder and editor of the Quietus
"This book will open a wormhole in your brain."--Joe Thompson, cofounder of the band Hey Colossus
About the Author
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Product details
- Publisher : REAKTION BOOKS (1 January 2022)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 480 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1789144485
- ISBN-13 : 978-1789144482
- Dimensions : 15.88 x 4.83 x 23.5 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 130,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 120 in Heavy Metal Music (Books)
- 738 in Rock Music (Books)
- 135,703 in Textbooks & Study Guides
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

JR Moores is resident psych-rock columnist for both The Quietus and Record Collector, and his work has also appeared in The Wire, The Guardian, Bandcamp Daily and Vice.
Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries


... because the way JR shoots through a history of heavy guitar based music is super lovely. He keeps it all jogging on nicely. His love of music is there for all to see. And the pacing never lets the beat drop and there are enough great stories and bands that I might have sidelined at the time to pique my interest. I had completely forgotten about Tad. Why?
It's like a perfect mix tape of thoughts, stories and through-lines. I'm half way through but it's a nice little trip down memory lane and reaffirmation of everything I love about music.
And he's right about Mclusky and Future of the Left, they're the UK's most underrated 'heavy' band. But was disappointed that the crazy London outfit Sheep on Drugs wasn't mentioned in the Industrial Rock section. Maybe he'll go have a listen whilst I'm listening to Tad.
I guess there's only so much you can fit on a C90.


Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 October 2021
... because the way JR shoots through a history of heavy guitar based music is super lovely. He keeps it all jogging on nicely. His love of music is there for all to see. And the pacing never lets the beat drop and there are enough great stories and bands that I might have sidelined at the time to pique my interest. I had completely forgotten about Tad. Why?
It's like a perfect mix tape of thoughts, stories and through-lines. I'm half way through but it's a nice little trip down memory lane and reaffirmation of everything I love about music.
And he's right about Mclusky and Future of the Left, they're the UK's most underrated 'heavy' band. But was disappointed that the crazy London outfit Sheep on Drugs wasn't mentioned in the Industrial Rock section. Maybe he'll go have a listen whilst I'm listening to Tad.
I guess there's only so much you can fit on a C90.



I had played Cake of Light by Pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs as loud as my speaker would go while I brushed my teeth and had a shower. My wife had left early for Pilates and my son has been late to his Psychology a level class by up to half an hour on at least 20 occasions.
I had just read the part of the book about pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs. I forget about them often. We saw them at green man once, we turned up at the stage to hear them say 'thanks a lot green man'
I said to him 'Its cake of light by pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs, it's a song about Aleister Crawley who was a very satanic whitchlike magical man going on great British bake off but I couldn't make out the lyrics, did you like it?'
He said he did at first but then it went on for six minutes and I should never ever do that again. My wife had gone to Pilates so she had no opinion although I am certain that she wouldn't have enjoyed the experience in any way.
My son was still 7 minutes late to college this morning.
This book is excellent for reminding me about bands I read about when I was too young to have the disposable income to be able to hear them in a time before Spotify.
Pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs don't qualify in this respect but all the Albini related stuff does. And the Melvins.
I like it. I have reccomended it to my friends. Just don't expect it to get your son to school on time.
