Latest articles by Ian Fortnam
"I woke up singing this song about being in jail waiting for the electric chair": Medicine Head's John Fiddler on inspiration, love, and the perils of getting older
A duo back in the 60s, Medicine Head is now effectively just John Fiddler, whose new album Heartworks is filled with love
"It pays all the bills, it's paid for everything we've ever done since": Modern English didn't set out to write commercial songs, but they're not complaining
Modern English on getting older, the trouble with politics, and the financial heft of Burger King
“He didn’t think the concerts would work… the fluidity, precision and phrasing is simply dazzling”: Rick Wakeman’s Live At The London Palladium 2023
Performed over two nights, box set featuring The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur, Yes Classics and Journey To The Centre Of The Earth is an essential package
"Transcending both hype and generic pigeon-holing, it is arguably one of the finest recordings of all time": the miracle of Television's Marquee Moon
With poetic concision and angular symphonics, guitarists Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine always took the most unorthodox route from one guitar chord to another
Your essential guide to every studio album by The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground reshaped the sound of rock'n'roll with four albums that continue to have an incalculable influence on the musical zeitgeist. The less said about their fifth, the better
“Their run of mid-70s hits were bona fide, pop-literate, soft-prog gold… but warming to their deeper cuts is a far tougher task”: 10cc’s 20 Years Box Set
Exhaustive 145-track collection highlights the infuriating, imperfect magic of the preposterously ambitious original four-piece
"Abbey Road was really unfinished songs all stuck together. None of the songs had anything to do with each other, no thread at all": A track-by-track guide to the final album recorded by The Beatles
After the fractious Let It Be sessions, Paul McCartney urged his bandmates back into the studio to make an album “like the old days, like we used to"
"I don't think that song has any semblance of meaning - it's one of those rambling songs": Mick Jagger on the Exile On Main St classic that's the sound of a band at their peak
"I would never take Mick's recollection of anything seriously" - Keith Richards
32 of the greatest onstage moments in the entire history of the rock guitar
Celebrating the pioneering, the spectacular, the unexpected and the unrepeatable
The 50 best rock albums of 2023
The past 12 months may go down in history as a period of tumult and turmoil, but on the positive side, rock'n'roll is very much alive and well – as the best 50 albums of 2023 reflect
"The music and the band matters so much to us that it is do-or-die": Six things you need to know about Saint Agnes
Saint Agnes's metal-meets-punk debut album is angry – very angry. They live for the stage, and that’s where they come alive
"Not being able to play gigs probably saved us": Meet Geese, the New York noiseniks who found themselves at the centre of a bidding war just as they were about to break up
For prodigious Brooklynite post-post-punks Geese, it all began just as they were about to call it a day
“Poor Iggy became a guinea pig for what I wanted to do with sound”: in 1977, David Bowie moved to Berlin to kick drugs. He emerged with five albums that changed music forever
Two Iggy Pop albums and the ‘Berlin Trilogy’ – the second half of the 1970s was David Bowie’s most groundbreaking period
“We set up outside Frank Zappa’s bedroom door and played so loud the pictures on the wall ended up crooked. I thought he’d shoot us”: the forgotten psychedelic beginnings of Alice Cooper
How five psychedelic freaks from Detroit became rock’n’roll’s first great bogeymen – this is the story of Alice Cooper’s early years
"Guitar subtleties astound and vocal harmonies soar in surprisingly spacious mixes leaving 2009's stereo remasters sounding weedy and gutless": The Beatles' Red and Blue albums
A Yule-targeted Giles Martin makeover for The Beatles' iconic ’73 compilation sets 1962-1966 and 1967-1970
Every Rolling Stones album ranked from worst to best
Half a century of recordings from ‘the greatest rock‘n’roll band in the world’, ranked from worst to brilliant, belligerent best
"As unmistakable contemporary backing vocals from McCartney intertwine with Lennon, an involuntary emotional response is utterly inevitable." Classic Rock's Reviews Editor and biggest Beatles fan gives his verdict on Now And Then
Classic Rock Reviews Editor Ian Fortnam gives his take on the song everyone is talking about
“His work with Gentle Giant surely seals his prog reputation”: Produced By Tony Visconti box set
73 personally curated tracks covers a huge range of genres from Ralph McTell to Thin Lizzy
“A few progressive leaps too far, with its experimentation and sheer audacity… but the future understood”: The Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat
Massively inspirational, the 1969 album didn’t enjoy mass appeal at the time.
Hackney Diamonds is the Rolling Stones' most quintessentially Stonesy album in 40 years: it's also a 21st-century record for a 21st-century audience
The Rolling Stones' Hackney Diamonds is the first album of original material in 18 years from the creators of rock's blueprint
These are the six essential Rod Stewart solo albums every rock fan needs in their life
Forget the Great American Songbook series – these are the albums that prove Rod Stewart is one of rock’s greatest voices
Start Me Up was an abandoned, reggae-flavoured jam that almost never saw the light of day. Then it became a classic and earned The Rolling Stones a $14 million payday
The Rolling Stones' last Top 10 UK single Start Me Up was originally an entirely different beast – and Keith Richards may still hold a grudge about that
"Loath to actually leave Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett made it so they had to chuck him out. And none of them ever got over it": Storm Thorgerson's documentary on the Pink Floyd founder reviewed
Have You Got It Yet? The Story Of Syd Barrett And Pink Floyd reviewed
