Latest articles by Mike Barnes
”They called me about a week after Jeff Porcaro passed… they’d grown up together, they’d lost a blood brother, and suddenly the all-American West Coast band has a tea bag in it!” How Simon Phillips joined and left Toto
The multi-genre drummer spent over two decades with the band – but insists it was surprisingly easy to leave when the time came
“We didn’t want to be extras, we didn’t want to be bit men… If you haven’t got an ego, you shouldn’t be doing this”: Rick Wakeman on the Keith Emerson collaboration that never happened
The “brothers in keyboards” had plans for a show together, a tour with Jon Lord and perhaps even an album before tragedy made it all impossible
“Whenever King Crimson is in active mode there is nothing else I can do with my life… to be able to focus on being more of a guitarist is the right place for me”: Robert Fripp’s new lease of life
Now Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch has moved from the kitchen to the stage, he enjoys ”giving a heavy kicking to received opinion”
“There’s some good music, of course, but most of it was reshaped for expediency rather than for aesthetic reasons”: Yes compilation Yessingles
Selection was made to fit on an LP, but as the band have released 41 singles so far, it’s only part of the story
Roger Waters’ Dark Side Of The Moon Redux: “Audacious, affecting, annoying, dull in places… certainly worth investigating”
Unnecessary? Maybe. But this stark reimagining of the biggest prog album ever possibly works better than it should
“Some people would like us to be doing the Son Of Snow Goose until we drop… people just don’t want you to change, but change is inevitable”: Andy Latimer’s unreleased Camel music
Veteran band leader on having “reams and reams of material and some of it may be good”
“Marrying a rock band to an orchestra was seat-of-the-pants stuff… even if we had to have extra rehearsals because they weren’t playing it right, they charged us”: Barclay James Harvest’s early days
From getting a Mellotron at a knock-down price to spending years on the road to recoup recording costs, John Lees looks back before his band stops touring
“Mike Oldfield engineered the first track Henry Cow recorded, because Tom Newman had been celebrating the end of Tubular Bells and was brainless drunk under the console”: Bassist John Greaves’ life in prog
After starting out in his dad’s dance band, the Welshman encountered Henry Cow at university, knew he had to be part of it - and he’s never looked back
Nice moves, Robert! Watch Fripp and Toyah's backstage dance-off
Robert Fripp's a 21st-century dancing man in new footage shared ahead of his autumn live dates with Toyah
"Musically Scheherazade And Other Stories is the one.” Annie Haslam on Renaissance's 1975 masterpiece
The inside story of Renaissance's 1975 classic album Scheherazade And Other Stories
"The only way forward is to get rid of corruption, greed and suffering!" Jon Anderson on 1000 Hands: Chapter One!
Jon Anderson discusses the genesis of his 2019 solo album, 1000 Hands: Chapter One, which was nearly 30 years in the making
The story of Fairport Convention's Full House
The Fairports recall the making of 1970's Full House, the band's first album without founding member Ashley Hutchings and with new boy Dave Pegg
"It was the way to go in the early days, doing longer and longer tracks. To revisit that is a good experience." The story of Caravan's It's None Of Your Business
In 2021 a refreshed and reinvigorated Caravan released their finest album for years. This is the story...
Jade Warrior - Reissues: "these albums remain an idiosyncratic delight..."
Not yet ratedTwo of a unique kind from one of prog’s most brilliant oddities.
"Family definitely ran out of steam". Roger Chapman in The Prog Interview
The Family singer and solo artist in his own right, Roger Chapman reflects on a 50-year career
Faust - Faust 1971-74: "the golden age of krautrock"...
Not yet ratedEight-CD set covering the golden age of krautrock’s most inventive group.
Al Stewart: The Prog Interview
The folk progger reflects on a career that started with guitar lessons from Robert Fripp and has seen him work with the likes of Rick Wakeman, Alan Parsons and more...
Roger Chapman - Life In The Pond review
Not yet ratedRoger Chapman is reunited with old Family chum Poli Palmer on his new solo album
How Mike Oldfield made Crises and ended up with a Top Five hit single!
Mike Oldfield's eighth studio album, 1983's Crises, saw him riding a wave of new popularity in the 80s
12 of the best books about prog for you to read
Want to catch up on some reading? Here are 12 of the best books about progressive music
The story of Emerson Lake & Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery
How prog supergroup Emerson Lake & Palmer's created their epic 1973 album Brain Salad Surgery
