
Neil Jeffries
Freelance contributor to Classic Rock and several of its offshoots since 2006. In the 1980s he began a 15-year spell working for Kerrang! intially as a cub reviewer and later as Geoff Barton’s deputy and then pouring precious metal into test tubes as editor of its Special Projects division. Has spent quality time with Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Ritchie Blackmore, Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore – and also spent time in a maximum security prison alongside Love/Hate. Loves Rush, Aerosmith and beer. Will work for food.
Latest articles by Neil Jeffries

The epic story of Foreigner 4, the AOR masterpiece that helped shape 80s rock
By Neil Jeffries published
Foreigner 4 is one of the greatest rock albums of the 80s – and one of the most expensive

"His Midas touch is confirmed": Bernie Marsden covers the greats on posthumously released album
By Neil Jeffries published
Classy covers from late guitarist Bernie Marsden on Icons, the fourth album in a series of five

Fifty reasons why three Canadian oddballs became a treasured part of rock history
By Neil Jeffries published
Rush's career-spanning box set R50 is a chronological 50-track anthology that documents the trio's five-decade arc

Jon Anderson effortlessly recreates the best of Yes on new album Live – Perpetual Change
By Neil Jeffries published
Looking for a hit of classic Yes in 2025? Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks deliver it on new album Live – Perpetual Change

The wild story of Aerosmith’s spectacular 1980s fall and rise
By Neil Jeffries published
They started the 80s in drug-addled disarray and ended it bigger than ever

The wired story of Aerosmith’s drug-fuelled classic Rocks
By Neil Jeffries published
The drugs really were working for Aerosmith on 1976’s classic Rocks album

The 50 Best Rock Albums of 2024
By Classic Rock Magazine published
A-listers, established artists, up-and-comers, previously unknowns and more

The deluxe edition of UFO's final studio album with Michael Schenker still functions highly
By Neil Jeffries published
The one with the balls. Michael Schenker's Last stand. And a masterclass from all five of them

Album review: Bryan Adams - Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2024
By Neil Jeffries published
Bryan Adams reinvents his wheels again

Terry Wilson Slesser and friends successfully conjure up the ghost of Paul Kossoff
By Neil Jeffries published
Back Street Crawler singer Terry Slesser sang on Pyromania and auditioned for both AC/DC and Iron Maiden. Now he's finally made a solo album

Steve Howe ranges far and wide on Guitarscape
By Neil Jeffries published
Instrumental solo album from Yes/Asia guitarist Steve Howe

Brian Johnson on the worst and best cars he's ever owned
By Neil Jeffries published
In 2009 AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson joined the ranks of celebrity authors - but forget the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, it was all about cars

Pete Townshend finds new ways to play old songs on Live In Concert 1985-2001
By Neil Jeffries published
Live In Concert 1985-2001 comprises 14 discs of live recordings from The Who guitarist Pete Townshend

Black Country Communion stick to a winning formula on V
By Neil Jeffries published
V is the fifth album from the retro-styled supergroup featuring Bonham, Bonamassa, Hughes and Sherinian

Grand Slam's lack of originality tires on second album Wheel Of Fortune
By Neil Jeffries published
Phil Lynott's old band are back for a second spin

The forgotten late 70s David Coverdale solo albums that sowed the seeds for Whitesnake
By Neil Jeffries published
David Coverdale’s late 70s solo albums, White Snake and Northwinds, are overlooked – but without them, Whitesnake wouldn’t exist

The 40th anniversary edition of Def Leppard's Pyromania finds them digging for diamonds
By Neil Jeffries published
Def Leppard's difficult third album, which lit the blue touch-paper for the band, now expanded with demos and live albums

“Keyboards were the new thing. There was this attitude: ‘They sound big and they sound cool’”: how Rush swapped guitars and kimonos for synths and mullets in the 1980s
By Neil Jeffries published
A deep dive into Rush’s divisive 80s period, when side-long epics were out and synths came in

Gun sparkle on the ninth album, Hombres
By Neil Jeffries published
Cocky and reloaded, Gun are firing on all six cylinders again on album number nine, Hombres

"It was a pretty low time. We weren't sure of the kind of band we wanted to be": How time took its toll on Rush as they worked on the follow-up to Signals
By Neil Jeffries published
For 1984's Grace Under Pressure, Rush brought in Supertramp producer Peter Henderson: It was not a good fit

That mix that made Deep Purple great was never stronger than on Machine Head, and never clearer than it is now, on its 50th anniversary edition
By Neil Jeffries published
This reissue of Deep Purple's 1972 album Machine Head adds remixes, Montreux and BBC live sets, audio fairy dust and more

"Wakeman's genius-level playing and careful modernising have given the music legitimate new life": Rick Wakeman reinvents his past on Live At The Palladium 2023
By Neil Jeffries published
Live At The Palladium 2023 is a four CD set that revisits Rick Wakeman's classic solo works and Yes

"His thirtieth studio album outside of Genesis, it's as wide-ranging as the catalogue that precedes it": Steve Hackett voyages to multiple ports on The Circus And The Nightwhale
By Neil Jeffries published
Prog maestro and former Genesis man Steve Hackett extends his catalogue on wide-ranging solo album The Circus And The Nightwhale
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