Articles by: Howard Johnson

Gene Simmons backstage eating spaghetti and Geddy Lee onstage

'I was trying to get them laid' - what happened when Rush toured with Kiss

By Howard Johnson published 5 January 22

Kiss legend Gene Simmons fondly recalls the days when a fledgling Rush would regularly play support to the panstick-sporting rockers

Metallica's self-titled album was released 25 years ago

The story behind Metallica's Black Album artwork

By Howard Johnson published 12 August 21

On the 30th anniversary of Metallica's Black Album, we go behind the story of the album's cover

The 10 best Van Halen cover versions

By Howard Johnson published 4 December 20

Eddie Van Halen's band were never afraid to wear their influences on their (record) sleeves

Musicians who died in unusual circumstances

A short history of strange deaths in rock

By Howard Johnson published 4 June 20

17 great musicians whose final moments went down in history for the wrong reasons

Every song on Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, ranked from Worst to Best

By Howard Johnson published 2 April 20

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours is a perfect album from start to finish, but that doesn't mean we can't rip it up and start again. So here it is, rearranged so it improves the longer you listen

Why Iron Maiden refused to mime on Top Of The Pops

By Howard Johnson published 30 July 18

How Iron Maiden forced BBC bosses to bend the rules in order to broadcast their performance of Running Free

Rage Against The Machine's nude protest at Lollapalooza 1993

Why did Rage Against The Machine stand naked onstage at Lollapalooza in 1993?

By Howard Johnson published 19 July 18

The story behind Rage Against The Machine's nude, wordless protest at Lollapalooza in Philadelphia

Fields Of The Nephilim: "Police found 13 lbs of cocaine – obviously it turned out to be flour"

By Howard Johnson published 22 May 18

The Fields of the Nephilim came riding out of Hitchin like desperados in a spaghetti western, and while infighting was their undoing, like the best cowboys, they never said die

The 10 Worst Nirvana Songs

By Howard Johnson published 10 December 16

A 36-minute Nirvana playlist which should be escorted to a dense forest and left there forever

Opinion: Guns N' Roses' Not In This Lifetime Tour - Not at those prices!

By Howard Johnson published 9 December 16

How Guns N' Roses' anti-establishment stance is now establishment: create demand and fleece the punter for as much as you can

The 10 Worst Scorpions Songs

By Howard Johnson published 3 December 16

A Scorpions playlist which should really be covered in concrete and thrown into the ocean

Jon Bon Jovi and nine other awful soft rock ballads

The 10 worst power ballads ever written

By Howard Johnson published 19 November 16

Relax, you can keep your lighters firmly in your pocket for these 10 terrible power ballad turkeys

Def Leppard's Pyromania: every song, ranked from worst to best

By Howard Johnson published 18 November 16

Take a bunch of ambitious lads from Yorkshire, add a brilliant producer, and you get the sort of alchemy that sells 10 million albums. Here's Pyromania, restructured to slowly improve as it plays

Why rock stardom is becoming a minority sport

By Howard Johnson published 3 November 16

Myles Kennedy says the age of the rock star is over. And you know what? He could be right

Every Song On Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, Ranked From Worst To Best

By Howard Johnson published 21 October 16

Can we make one of the biggest selling albums of all time better? Of course we can't. But we can rearrange it so it gets better as it plays

Forget Bob Dylan's Nobel Laureate Prize - These Are Rock's Ignoble Laureates

By Howard Johnson published 19 October 16

Bob Dylan has rightly been lauded for his contribution to literature, but what about those who lyrical skills are more rudimentary? Here are 10 serial offenders

The 10 worst Ozzy Osbourne songs

By Howard Johnson published 15 October 16

Ozzy is responsible for some genuine classics. And then there are these stinkers

Every Song On Deep Purple's Burn Ranked From Worst To Best

By Howard Johnson published 14 October 16

With Ian Gillan and Roger Glover gone, Deep Purple ripped up the hard rock rulebook and produced one of the greatest albums of the 70s. Here it is, rearranged from worst to brilliant best

Why Black Sabbath's Paranoid is the Quintessential Heavy Metal Album

By Howard Johnson published 10 October 16

Black Sabbath's Paranoid was a full-stop to the Sixties and the start of something truly extraordinary. Nearly five decades later, its impact still resonates...

The 10 worst Aerosmith songs

By Howard Johnson published 8 October 16

An Aerosmith playlist chock-full of awfulness

Seasick Steve is just the latest in a long line of rock'n'roll liars

By Howard Johnson published 3 October 16

Seasick Steve has been exposed as a jobbing musician rather than a jumper of trains, but haven't musicians always played fast and loose with their stories?

British heavy metal group Judas Priest perform onstage at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois, June 14, 1984.

The 10 worst Judas Priest songs of all time

By Howard Johnson published 1 October 16

The Priest have recorded some guff in their time. Here are 10 examples...

Every Song On Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, Ranked From Worst To Best

By Howard Johnson published 30 September 16

One of the biggest selling hair metal compendiums in history, we've re-shaped Slippery When Wet so it gets better and better the longer you stick around...