Articles by Mick Wall

Mick Wall is the UK's best-known rock writer, author and TV and radio programme maker, and is the author of numerous critically-acclaimed books, including definitive, bestselling titles on Led Zeppelin (When Giants Walked the Earth), Metallica (Enter Night), AC/DC (Hell Ain't a Bad Place To Be), Black Sabbath (Symptom of the Universe), Lou Reed, The Doors (Love Becomes a Funeral Pyre), Guns N' Roses and Lemmy. He lives in England.

Articles by: Mick Wall

"I could hardly listen to that song when we were recording it - it made me ill": the Eagles song that was written as a warning but heard as a celebration

By Mick Wall published 6 June 24

Life In The Fast Lane was built on a swaggering riff from Joe Walsh, with a title that reflected the craziness of the Eagles

“There’d be three numbers in the set; Dave Swarbrick would go berserk with his Echoplex and wah-wah. Especially in America, with substances being consumed”: The origins of Fairport Convention

By Mick Wall published 3 June 24

The folk-rock pioneers’ 80s resurgence was no less unlikely than their earlier years, as they meandered towards success and influence

"Everything up to then had been about climbing the mountain. With Powerslave it felt like we were looking out over the rest of the world": How Iron Maiden grew up

By Mick Wall published 17 April 24

When it came to making the follow-up to 1983’s Piece Of Mind album, Iron Maiden knew they needed to come up with something a bit special. That was Powerslave

John Bonham onstage in Los Angeles, 1973

Moby Dick began life as a modest instrumental showcase for John Bonham: Played live, it took on an epic, often drug-fuelled life of its own

By Mick Wall published 6 April 24

The epic story of Led Zeppelin's ever-expanding instrumental tour-de-force, Moby Dick

"Everybody wanted to get in on the action. I wasn't letting that happen": Dio's first platinum album could have been very different

By Mick Wall published 1 April 24

Unencumbered by the curse of the second album, The Last In Line became one of the most momentous metal albums of the 80s

New vocalists lasted five minutes and founder members quit amid the chaos: 1984 was an awful year for Black Sabbath, and by its end they were almost obliterated

By Mick Wall published 28 March 24

Molotov cocktails and member mayhem: The chaotic story of Black Sabbabth's worst year

The original line-up of Motorhead featuring Larry Wallis, Lemmy and Lucas Fox in the studio in 1975

“Lemmy was standing at the door. He gave me a bullet belt and a leather jacket and said, ‘You’re in!’”: the riotous story of Motörhead’s early years and the birth of “the worst band in the world“

By Mick Wall published 23 March 24

How Lemmy bounced back from being fired from Hawkwind and defied the detractors to launch Motörhead into orbit

Light My Fire turned The Doors into superstars: For a moment, it also turned Jim Morrison into a target for the Mob

By Mick Wall published 8 February 24

The Doors experienced their first taste of big success with Light My Fire, but it infuriated a certain Frank Sinatra

Elton John in a flamboyant stage outfit of white suit with feather trim and rhinestone encrusted glasses, circa 1973.

"Those were crazy times. I wouldn’t change it for the world": how Goodbye Yellow Brick Road reinforced Elton John's status as a global superstar

By Mick Wall published 13 December 23

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the second-biggest-selling album released in 1973, with more than 32 million sales worldwide

"I'm like... You sure that's what you want me to sing, honey?": How the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter represented the death of the 1960s spirit

By Mick Wall published 5 December 23

Written by Keith Richards as he brooded over Anita Pallenberg's dalliance with Mick Jagger, Gimme Shelter represented something truly dark

Alice Cooper in 1975 with an inset of the Welcome To My Nightmare album cover

“Peter Sellers wanted to change places with me on part of my tour. Only if I could play Inspector Clouseau in a movie”: the outrageous story of Alice Cooper’s Welcome To My Nightmare

By Mick Wall published 28 October 23

Bob Ezrin, Vincent Price, a giant spider and The Muppets - how Alice Cooper made his epic 1975 rock opera Welcome To My Nightmare

“I used to look at myself all dolled up like some guy in Def Leppard, and think, ‘Who do you think you are?’”: how Gary Moore ditched hard rock and saved his career with Still Got The Blues

By Mick Wall published 2 September 23

The epic story of Gary Moore’s journey from 80s hard rock hero to the man who ushered in the 90s blues revival

"We just hadn’t a clue how to make a single. We'd never done one before": how Roxy Music borrowed a motorcycle and broke all the rules to create Virginia Plain

By Mick Wall published 1 September 23

Roxy's glam-era debut broke all the rules: no chorus, a fade intro and a stop-dead ending. So just what was Bryan Ferry's exercise in coolly-aloof style all about?

Frank Zappa sitting on a chair and leaning forward

“People thought the Beatles were God. That's not correct”: the genius of Frank Zappa, the rock’n’roll icon who had no time for rock’n’roll

By Mick Wall published 19 August 23

Musical genius, rock’n’roll outsider, sexual obsessive, the ‘original shock rocker’ – this is the epic story of how Frank Zappa became Frank Zappa

"When I’m happy, I’m writing the heaviest riff possible." From his deeply religious upbringing to fronting the world's biggest metal band, the life of Metallica's James Hetfield, in his own words

By Mick Wall published 17 July 23

Metallica's James Hetfield has certainly lived a life. This is what the man himself has had to say about it

BATH, ENGLAND - JUNE 27: A female fan in the crowd attending the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet, England on 27 June, 1970.

“Led Zeppelin’s fee went from £500 to £20,000 in a year!” Collapsing stages and no toilets: The 1969 Bath Blues Festival that inspired Glastonbury

By Mick Wall published 28 June 23

They sold 7000 tickets – and 30,000 people turned up. How The Bath Blues Festivals became the inspiration to a young Michael Eavis and Glastonbury.

"We'd spend all day farting about and end up with nothing usable": the aggravating story of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

By Mick Wall published 23 June 23

Write some songs, get into studio, come out with an album. It worked before. But when it came to making the follow-up to Vol. 4, Black Sabbath couldn’t even get started

Billy Cobham: “It was testing the waters of rock and jazz!"

By Mick Wall published 16 May 23

Jazz fusion drummer extraordinaire Billy Cobham recalls his time with Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra and beyond...

The Stranglers standing in a derelict house

The story of The Stranglers' controversial No More Heroes album: "We got away with murder"

By Mick Wall published 30 March 23

Hugh Cornwell tells the story of the Stranglers' summer-of-punk-classic second album No More Heroes: "We definitely couldn’t get away with that now"

Eddie Kramer at a mixing desk, and the cover of Houses Of The Holy

Eddie Kramer's track-by-track guide to Led Zeppelin's Houses Of The Holy

By Mick Wall last updated 28 March 23

Houses Of The Holy was the sound of Led Zeppelin at the top of their game. Producer Eddie Kramer was at the helm, and these are his memories of those eight landmark songs

Elton John in 1972 wearing sunglasses and denim jacket

The Elton John albums you should definitely own

By Mick Wall last updated 25 March 23

Elton John: So much more than just a showman, the master singer-songwriter created some of the 70s’ most important and enduring albums

Kashmir: the story of the song Robert Plant calls "Perfect Zeppelin"

By Mick Wall published 24 February 23

Robert Plant reveals why Physical Graffiti highlight Kashmir really marks Led Zeppelin's most towering musical peak

The Doors - debut album cover detail showing the band's faces

How The Doors harnessed the self-destruction and creativity of Jim Morrison to make their first album

By Mick Wall published 4 January 23

In late August 1966, The Doors entered the studio to record their debut album. Released five months later, it laid down a singular marker that still resonates today