Latest articles by Dave Ling
Hollywood Vampires: Alice Cooper and Joe Perry on life inside rock's superstar garage band
As Hollywood Vampires gear up for a run of European shows, we talk to Joe Perry and Alice Cooper about Johnny Depp, compiling setlists, and what's going on with Aerosmith
“Steve Lukather’s guitar collided with a mic stand. He made it part of the song!” Toto’s Dennis Atlas goes solo
Listen to Principle and you’ll hear Bumblefoot, David Paich, Marco Minneman and others, plus Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman and Jordan Rudess influences
Armored Saint have always struggled to fit in – but they're still willing to try something different
Inspired by Motown and R&B as much as by UFO, Queen and Judas Priest, Armored Saint have been ploughing a singular furrow for more than four decades
“The sleeve was better than the record”: After a weak album and Chris Squire's death, Yes had a lot to prove
The failure of Heaven & Earth and the passing of the iconic bassist left people wondering if the veteran band should keep going. After making 2021’s The Quest, Steve Howe and Geoff Downes argued their case
Russ Ballard's wild tales of Ritchie Blackmore, The Beatles, Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne and more
Go-to songwriter, solo artist and former Argent guitarist/singer Russ Ballard hung out with The Beatles, is mates with Roger Daltrey and heard Elvis stories from Robert Plant
Rock'n'roll has thrown everything at Tuk Smith, but he's got a lot to be grateful for
Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts begin a UK tour this week
“I didn’t want the job with Robert Plant, but they called me”: Francis Dunnery’s lessons in life
It Bites co-founder shares his experiences of Steve Hackett, Genesis, Yes and the music industry - and why he thinks it’s no bad thing that most of prog is a “caricature”
With a summer of European festivals ahead, Saxon are happy to fly the flag for British metal
British heavy metal veterans Saxon are currently engaging in some festival fun in the (hopefully not blistering) sun
40 years ago, Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham recorded an AOR album - and it's finally being released
The Western Front thought a major label deal was a formality... but instead, their master tapes sat in a garage for decades
10 essential 80s AOR albums
Buying guide Big voices, bigger hair and Zippo-waving ballads: from Journey to Bon Jovi, these are the 10 essential AOR albums that ruled the 1980s
“There are things I won’t be able to do forever, such as singing Over My Head”: King’s X and Three Sides Of One
After a gap of 15 years Texan heavy prog rockers King's X delighted fans by releasing their 13th studio album in 2022
The controversial 1983 hit that played a part in splitting up Status Quo
Status Quo were one of the most enduring rock bands of the 70s and 80s – until they hit the tequila cocktails
How Rick Wakeman proved everyone wrong with The Six Wives of Henry VIII
His 1973 debut solo album was roundly hated by label bosses and reviewers – but it became a coffee-table classic and gave him freedom from Yes
The 50 best rock albums of 2026 (so far)
Six months of classic rock, prog rock, stoner rock, southern rock, country rock, blues rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock, power pop, heavy metal, punk and all forms of rock'n'roll
Geoff Tate on the third installment of what's now an Operation Mindcrime trilogy
Almost 40 years on, the singer of Queensrÿche’s signature album releases his own third instalment
“The band didn’t break up. But there won’t be any more new music”: Fates Warning’s Ray Alder looks ahead
Singer explains why he gets involved in so many projects
Def Leppard and Extreme Tour are currently on tour together, so we put their guitarists together
Def Leppard and Extreme are currently playing a bunch of dates on what promises to be a cracking double-header
The rollercoaster story of Y&T, the greatest hard rock band never to become huge
Headlining over Van Halen, hanging with Bon Scott, out-partying Mötley Crüe – Y&T deserve way more love than they get
“We haven’t spoken for years. There’s nothing new to say”: How Styx achieved closure with their past
They’d been utilising prog rock for decades. But with 17th studio album Crash Of The Crown, they fully embraced the genre and their post-Dennis DeYoung era, and gained a new lease of life
Nine Budgie albums you should listen to and one to avoid
Buying guide Heroes to the NWOBHM – and covered by Metallica, Soundgarden, Megadeth and Iron Maiden – Welsh legends Budgie are the ultimate example of a band whose influence outshone their commercial impact
Michael Sadler was always going to rejoin Saga, and they knew it
Canadian singer’s five-year absence was long enough for his bandmates to fail the challenge of reinventing themselves
The unbelievable story of Chicago, the soft rock kings with steel in their hearts
Jazz-rock experimentalists, money-spinning soft rock kings, derided balladeers? The mighty Chicago have been all of these and more
The acid-fried story of Man, the Welsh jam band with its heart in San Francisco
"We're a pretty unmanageable bunch of stoned musos, which might have something to do with our lack of commercial success."
