The cursed career of Stray: sometimes, nice guys finish last By Dave Ling Managed by gangsters and plagued by poor record deals, bad luck cursed the career of Stray, once peers to the likes of Judas Priest and UFO
Mason Hill’s Against The Wall: arena-ready rock that proves the power of peristence By Dave Ling Scottish rockers Mason Hill finally release their assured debut album. Fans of Alter Bridge and Shinedown apply here
Evergrey’s Escape Of The Phoenix: soaring anthems from prog metal’s most underrated band By Dave Ling Prog metal lifers Evergrey show their class with soaring 11th album Escape Of The Phoenix
Dream Theater’s John Petrucci: “ We hear some bands and go, ‘We created a Frankenstein’s monster!’” By Dave Ling Up close and personal with Dream Theater guitarist and beard grooming aficionado John Petrucci
Introducing The Byson Family: what Phil Campbell did next By Dave Ling Former Temperance Movement frontman Phil Campbell tells talks about his departure, and introduces new band the Byson Family
Mark Kelly interview: from Marillion to Marathon and beyond By Dave Ling Marillion keyboard player Mark Kelly talks his new record with Marathon, lockdown, and former bandmate Fish’s album Weltschmerz
Shinedown’s Brent Smith: “I thought I was gonna die from withdrawal” By Dave Ling Shinedown and Smith & Myers frontman Brent Smith on drug recovery, the death of Eddie Van Halen and the cover songs the world never needs to hear again
Leslie West and Mountain: a guide to their best albums By Dave Ling With Mountain, West Bruce & Laing and solo, Leslie West – the big guitarist with the big voice and big sound – proved he was a class act
Retransmission by W.E.T. is "ludicrously good" says our reviewer By Dave Ling Melodic rockers W.E.T. come up with an early album of the year contender on fourth album Retransmission
40 years of friendship and one Zoom call: Lars Ulrich and Brian Tatler catch up By Dave Ling As Diamond Head celebrate the 40th anniversary of their debut album Lightning To The Nations, guitarist Brian Tatler and long-time fan Lars Ulrich catch up over Zoom
Accept’s Too Mean To Die: steel-booted ferocity from Germany’s second greatest classic metal band By Dave Ling Ageless German warhorses Accept show the kids how metal should be done on new album Too Mean To Die
Slade: a guide to their best albums By Dave Ling Behind Slade's glam-disaster outfits, the dunce spellings, Dave Hill’s haircut and a Christmas perennial there’s some classic pop-rock. Here are their best albums
10 Essential 90s AOR Albums By Dave Ling Who said AOR was on the ropes in the 1990s? These 10 essential melodic rock classics from Journey, Boston, Harem Scarem and more prove it was alive and kicking during the grunge years
10 essential 80s AOR albums By Dave Ling Big voices, bigger hair and Zippo-waving ballads: from Journey to Bon Jovi, these are the 10 essential AOR albums that ruled the 1980s
10 Essential 70s AOR Albums By Dave Ling AOR might have come truly blossoming into platinum-tinged life in the 1980s, but the genre had been holding lighters aloft and weeping in its beer in the 1970s. These are the best albums
The 100 greatest rock songs of the century... so far By Malcolm Dome, Paul Elliott, Dave Everley, Polly Glass, Dom Lawson, Fraser Lewry, Dave Ling, Sian Llewellyn, Luke Morton, Paul Rees, Johnny Sparks, Philip Wilding, David Stubbs, Henry Yates Many were longlisted, but this is the final selection – the best rock songs of the 21st century thus far, as voted for by you
Cult Heroes: the audacious return of Blue Oyster Cult By Dave Ling A brilliant line-up, lyrics from a science-fiction author, an homage to Spinal Tap… Welcome to the first new Blue Oyster Cult album in almost 20 years
In Trance by the Scorpions: the story behind the song By Dave Ling Bridging the gap between their early Euro-rock and later cult metal status, In Trance – an atmospheric ballad of regret – became a key Scorpions track
Budgie: a guide to their best albums By Dave Ling Covered by Metallica, Soundgarden and Iron Maiden, hardrocking Welsh legends Budgie have an influence that outshines their commercial success
Marathon - Mark Kelly's Marathon review By Dave Ling Not yet rated Marillion keysman takes the solo plunge at last.
Ian Hill: My 50 years with Judas Priest By Dave Ling As Judas Priest celebrate 50 years in rock'n'roll with a lavish photobook, Ian Hill tells us about Rob Halford's sabbatical, how the next album's going, and the stories that have never been told
Adrian Vandenberg interview: from solo to stardom and back again By Dave Ling Vandenberg mastermind and guitarist Adrian Vandenberg on classic rock, David Coverdale and tentative hopes to "tour my ass off"
Dee Snider interview: still doing it for the love of metal By Dave Ling Former Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider on his old band, finding a new musical direction and wanting “to be like Ozzy”
Southern rock is alive and well and its name is The Georgia Thunderbolts By Dave Ling The Georgia Thunderbolts are the young guns taking up the southern rock torch and keeping the flame alive
The remarkable story of Slade, as told by Noddy, Jim, Dave and Don By Dave Ling For a time in 1970s Slade were the most popular band in Britain. But then a car crash put the brakes on, America didn’t ‘get’ them, and as glam-rock faded so too did the band’s fortunes
