Latest articles by Malcolm Dome
When Kansas cracked the charts with a song they didn’t want to record
In 1976 the US prog rockers found themselves in the upper reaches of the US charts with drivetime classic Carry On Wayward Son – which nearly fell victim to lethargy
A beginner's guide to Bad Company in 10 songs
The best songs by Bad Company, the supergroup who took blues rock to the stadiums of America
The chaotic story of Girls, Girls, Girls, the album that almost killed Motley Crue
The album that kicked Motley Crue to the next level – and nearly killed them
John Sykes looks back on Blue Murder, the band he formed after leaving Whitesnake
A rare interview with the late John Sykes, who died this week at the age of 65 – and some personal memories from Myles Kennedy
Urged on by fans, Mike Oldfield’s final album was a look back to his early years
Return To Ommadawn was a fresh exploration of the ideas on his third album – complete with a vinyl gatefold sleeve offering “hours of enjoyment”
Tony Visconti, Roger Dean and the making of Osibisa’s debut album
Released in 1971, the African-tinged record pioneered what would become world music, and took prog into fresh new waters too.
How a reinvented Black Sabbath saved themselves from oblivion with Heaven And Hell
Heaven And Hell was the start of Black Sabbath’s short but glorious second chapter
“Few can claim to have such a diverse catalogue”: Gryphon’s Dave Oberlé looks back
He’s worked with Steve Howe, Wire and Gandalf’s Fist, and even on a metal magazine – but it’s the quirkiness and curiosity of his own band that makes the singer and percussionist most proud
How The Nice got started by fibbing about their songwriting skills
Prompted by a disagreement that spilled into the public domain, co-founders Keith Emerson and Lee Jackson once visited the Prog office to set things straight
How Saxon’s Wheels Of Steel turned them into the NWOBHM’s first stars
No band did more than Saxon to put the NWOBHM on the map
“You can spend hours studying them and still not get it”: Nik Kershaw’ on Gentle Giant
One of the 80s hitmaker’s early bands covered two of their songs – but it took him years to realise their genius, and he still doesn’t truly understand it
How the Moody Blues returned to superstardom with Long Distance Voyager
With help from an ex Yes member and a new engineer, 1981 release marked a significant update without a loss of their musical values. But is it a concept album?
The chaotic story of Lamb Of God’s New American Gospel, the album that kickstarted 2000s metal
Lamb Of God’s New American Gospel ushered in the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal a couple of years early
How Queensryche made conspiracy theory-based masterpiece Operation: Mindcrime,
Metal’s all-time greatest concept album? Operation: Mindcrime could be it
The convoluted story of Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade Of Pale
In May 1967, the band’s debut single changed the musical world. Nearly six decades later it’s developed a long and protracted legacy
The all-too-short story of promising early proggers Rare Bird
A US tour without enough dates, a move away from the sound that got them signed, frequent line-up changes and never any money – just some of the things that went wrong for the band who once stood alongside The Nice and Van der Graaf Generator
The tumultuous history of Testament, thrash metal’s greatest nearly-men
If there’s a thrash metal Big Five, Bay Area bangers Testament ares strong contenders
Was Excerpt From A Teenage Opera the strangest prog hit single ever?
Tomorrow singer Keith West found himself at No. 2 in the Top 40 in 1967 with a song he’d never been meant to sing
Roger Glover’s Butterfly Ball album was a surprise success –but was it prog?
Having recently quit Deep Purple, the bassist was looking for a new challenge in 1973. It came in the form of The Butterfly Ball And The Grasshopper’s Feast, featuring notable prog guest stars
The chaotic story of Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual De Lo Habitual, the debauched masterpiece that changed music
Forget Nirvana’s Nevermind – it was Jane’s Addiction’s game-changing second album Ritual De Lo Habitual that ushered in the alternative rock decade
What Blue Öyster Cult thought of being called prog – and what they thought of More Cowbell
They may have been called “the thinking man’s metal band” but comparing themselves to ELP, Jethro Tull and King Crimson, they assert there was a lot more progressive thinking going on than many realised
The story of Diamond Head’s Lightning To The Nations, the cult album that invented Metallica
Diamond Head’s Lightning To The Nations should have turned them into NWOBHM-era superstars, but instead it inspired Lars Ulrich to start his own band
The grounding experiences of Barclay James Harvest – the band that broke in two
Unrelentingly Northern in attitude, both parts the slow-burning band that split in two seemed happy with their lot – but is their story one of unfulfilled achievements?
