Latest articles by Geoff Barton
"Zeppelin wasn’t safe, but we had such a following that virtually everything was accepted" - How Robert Plant made peace with the end of Led Zeppelin
In 1982, Robert Plant gave his first ever post-Led Zeppelin interview, and Classic Rock's Geoff Barton was the man with the tape recorder
Bullet trains and atomic bombs: what happened when Iron Maiden went to Hiroshima
Iron Maiden released A Matter Of Life And Death in August 2006, then went to Japan to play the whole album live. Classic Rock joined them on the road
Six classic rock bands who "went grunge" and lived to tell the tale
Grunge swept all aside as it barrelled in from Seattle, and some bands preferred to jump the bandwagon rather than stand in the way and get mown down
Steve Lukather's Bridges: the closest we'll ever get to a new Toto album
Toto chaos from Steve Lukather, Joseph Williams and David Paich on Lukather's ninth solo album Bridges
Five brilliant but obscure NWOBHM albums that could have been huge in a parallel universe
They could have been Iron Maiden. Or Def Leppard. Or even Saxon. But they weren't
Marc Bolan loses the plot on T.Rex's Whatever Happened To The Teenage Dream?
After a stellar 1972, Marc Bolan had a less successful 1973. Whatever Happened To The Teenage Dream? documents the decline
Neal Schon's live celebration of Journey: supremely musicianly and surprisingly rough-and-ready
A live recording from the Journey alumni show to raise money for victims of the fires that ravaged the North Bay area of San Francisco in 2017
Tygers Of Pan Tang's new album is the bog-average sound of a band dithering
Bloodlines is the unlucky 13th album from the band formerly known as "NWOBHM legends" Tygers Of Pan Tang
Argus by Wishbone Ash: the return of the greatest least-known million-selling rock album ever made
The fiftieth anniversary edition of Wishbone Ash's Argus is a class act, with an ear-opening remix and a brilliant half-minute of silence
Losing my way: how I fell out of love with my favourite band, Rush
Some fans never forgave Rush for moving past their swords n' sorcery phase: Classic Rock's Geoff Barton was one
Trapeze's new box set transports the listener back to a time of wide-eyed rock’n’roll wonder
Trapeze: Don’t Stop The Music – Complete Recordings Vol. 1 – 1970-1992 is a six-CD set of studio albums and live recordings
10 insanely collectable Vertigo swirl albums you should always buy if found in junk shops
Vertigo Records' early albums came with the iconic "swirl" label, a treasure trove of unique and essential albums that can fetch crazily high prices
Warning: Mötley Crüe's Crücial Crüe collection is by no means crucial
Another opportunity has arrived to buy those first five Mötley Crüe albums, this time in a variety of exciting hues
Justin Hawkins on songwriting: "There’s always got to be an intangible ingredient"
The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins names the perfect rock song, reveals what 'permission to land' really means, and admits he once wrote a song about a royal princess
Introducing Gandalf's Fist...
Hot on the heels of their 2011 debut album, Prog introduced Cumbrian prog dup Gandalf's Fist to the world
Lone Star were tipped for stardom: then came booze, bongs and Scientology
Welsh wizards Lone Star were loved by Jimmy Page and had connections to Queen and Elton John... but wherever it could go wrong, it did
Kiss celebrate Creatures Of The Night's 40th birthday with kountless kollektibles
The 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe edition of Kiss's Creatures Of The Night boasts 103 total tracks and your choice of new doorbell ring
Against expectations, Joe Lynn Turner has made an intense and thrilling heavy metal album
Produced by Peter Tägtgren, Joe Lynn Turner's Belly Of The Beast is compelling proof that he's anything but a journeyman
Ugly Kid Joe do everything and do it well on fifth album Rad Wings Of Destiny
Are Ugly Kid Joe metallers, hard rockers, country balladeers or a covers band, or all of the above?
Keyboards and guitars engaged in mortal kombat: the story of Pomp Rock
Kansas, Styx, Starcastle, Queen, Magnum... Pomp rock lives - run for the hills...
Why the failure of Stray Dog is one of the rock world’s biggest conundrums
Greg Lake loved them. They had one of the greatest opening tracks on any album, ever. Their guitarist is a hugely successful TV composer. So why did Stray Dog fail?
The 10 Essential 80s Thrash Metal Albums
The must-haves, should-haves and forget-its from the genre that the 'spotty, basement-dwelling' Metallica inspired in the early 80s
The 10 best thrash metal albums: a buyers guide
The must-haves and should-haves from the genre that Metallica inspired in the early 1980s, as we pick the 10 best thrash metal albums
