Articles by: Chris Roberts

Louder Together we're Louder

Chris Roberts has written about music, films, and art for innumerable outlets. His new book The Velvet Underground is out April 4. He has also published books on Lou Reed, Elton John, the Gothic arts, Talk Talk, Kate Moss, Scarlett Johansson, Abba, Tom Jones and others. Among his interviewees over the years have been David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry, Bryan Ferry, Al Green, Tom Waits & Lou Reed. Born in North Wales, he lives in London.

Articles by: Chris Roberts

Todd Rundgren: Something/Anything (50th Anniversary) packshot

Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything: an epic that's as swoony as it is cerebral

By Chris Roberts published 27 November 22

50th-anniversary Record Store Day box of peak Todd Rundgren album Something/Anything

Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Somapolis: "Made with obvious love and drive..."

By Chris Roberts published 25 November 22

Not yet rated

Sixth from enduringly eloquent art-rock artisans

Bruce Springsteen fails to catch fire on tasteful but hit-and-miss karaoke set

By Chris Roberts published 11 November 22

Bruce Springsteen cranks up his soul-man jukebox on covers album, with mixed results

HIM: Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 album cover

HIM’s Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666: how goth metal’s new superstars seduced the world

By Chris Roberts published 3 November 22

HIM’s debut album Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 was released on this day in 1997

Roger Taylor: The Outsider Tour Live cover art

Roger Taylor's live album a tidy, enthusiastically received triumph

By Chris Roberts published 2 October 22

The Outsider Tour Live is a scorching live set from Queen drummer Roger Taylor

Billy Idol's The Cage is compact, catchy, precision-tooled pop-rock

By Chris Roberts published 23 September 22

Stanmore’s finest Billy Idol gets his motor running on his second EP in a year, The Cage

Slade: All The World Is A Stage cover art

Slade: a box set that questions whether punk really needed to happen at all

By Chris Roberts published 9 September 22

All The World Is A Stage is a five-CD set of live albums from the mighty Slade, three of them previously unreleased

Tim Bowness: the Elton John of sublime, avant-garde prog

By Chris Roberts published 5 August 22

No-Man vocalist Tim Bowness’s latest solo salvo Butterfly Mind does more than float

Jethro Tull's controversial parody concept album still holds together 50 years on

By Chris Roberts published 30 July 22

When is a concept album not a concept album? Jethro Tull's loquacious lampoon Thick As A Brick turns fifty

Cropped image from Kate Bush's Never For Ever cover

The story behind Kate Bush's first No.1 album, Never For Ever

By Chris Roberts published 29 July 22

From cheating husbands to saving the planet, Kate Bush explored a diverse range of subjects on Never For Ever, ensuring it was far more than just a pop record. We dissect the themes behind her chart-topping third album.

Yes, Benoit David and the making of Fly From Here

By Chris Roberts published 29 June 22

In 2011 Yes released their first album in a decade. But Fly From Here featured Canadian vocalist Benoit David, not Jon Anderson. Guess how the fans reacted?

cropped album cover of Elbow's Flying Dream 1

Elbow - Flying Dream 1: "rich with an honest warmth"

By Chris Roberts published 27 June 22

Not yet rated

Elbow, Bury’s finest, test the waters of self-reinvention with ninth album, Flying Dream 1

Zola Jesus - Arkhon: "a feast of many flavours"

By Chris Roberts published 24 June 22

Not yet rated

Darkwave vocalist delivers stunning sixth album.

crop of Shearwater's The Great Awakening cover

Shearwater - The Great Awakening: "a remarkable, atmospheric set"

By Chris Roberts published 10 June 22

Not yet rated

Magical return of underrated maverick Jonathan Meiburg, aka Shearwater

Paddy McAloon on prog rock and trawling the megahertz

By Chris Roberts published 7 June 22

Prefab Sprout were already popular with prog fans, but with his reissued I Trawl The Megahertz, Paddy McAloon finds himself drifting in a much proggier world

Kate Bush in the Running Up That Hill video

The story behind Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill - the song everyone's talking about

By Chris Roberts published 3 June 22

Given new life by Stranger Things this week, Kate Bush's hallmark anthem helped to revitalise her career back in 1985

Alan White: 10 Yes performances that show he was a cut above

By Chris Roberts published 27 May 22

Yes drummer Alan White died last night, May 26, at the age of 72. Here's are ten reminders of his prodigious talent

Blowing Free: Underground & Progressive Sounds Of 1972 cover art

Fifty years on, the cheesecloth and flares that shunned glam get another outing

By Chris Roberts published 27 May 22

Blowing Free: Underground & Progressive Sounds Of 1972 mines gems from Yes, ELP, Nektar, Edgar Broughton Band, Free, Thin Lizzy and many more

How Stanley Clarke made Up: creativity and the art of bass liberation

By Chris Roberts last updated 13 May 22

On 2014's Up, the ever-innovative Stanley Clarke nodded to his past while continuing to explore the outer reaches of bass, in another love letter to the instrument

The Waterboys find space for romantic and rebellious reflection on All Souls Hill

By Chris Roberts published 6 May 22

Mike Scott continues prolific period and embraces collaboration on 15th Waterboys album All Souls Hill

Nektar - ...Sounds Like This: "An excellent work of excavation..."

By Chris Roberts published 29 April 22

Not yet rated

Expanded and remastered edition of Nektar’s transitional third.

Midlake: For The Sake Of Bethel Woods cover art

Pleasant but never bland, Midlake's For The Sake Of Bethel Woods mulls over time, illness and innocence

By Chris Roberts published 18 March 22

Folk-proggers Midlake streamline to set their soul free on For The Sake Of Bethel Woods

Spoon absorb the spirit of ZZ Top on the lively Lucifer On The Sofa

By Chris Roberts published 11 February 22

Arch art-rockers Spoon have come to realise that the devil has all the best tunes

Matt Berry - Gather Up: "an appetite-whetting beginner’s guide"

By Chris Roberts last updated 6 December 21

Not yet rated

Toast of the town: Matt’s music earns respect.

Neu!, Harmonia and early Kraftwerk guitarist Michael Rother

The Krautrock albums you should definitely own

By Chris Roberts published 24 November 21

Krautrock runs a truly revolutionary gamut from avant-garde dance to proggy space rock to minimalist electronica and beyond – and these are its best albums

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