Articles by Philip Wilding

Philip Wilding is a novelist, journalist, scriptwriter, biographer and radio producer. As a young journalist he criss-crossed most of the United States with bands like Motley Crue, Kiss and Poison (think the Almost Famous movie but with more hairspray). More latterly, he’s sat down to chat with bands like the slightly more erudite Manic Street Preachers, Afghan Whigs, Rush and Marillion. He ghosted Carl Barat’s acclaimed autobiography, Threepenny Memoir, and helped launch the BBC 6 Music network as producer and co-presenter on the Phill Jupitus Breakfast Show. Five years later he and Jupitus fronted the hugely popular Perfect 10 podcast and live shows. His debut novel, Cross Country Murder Song, was described, variously, as ‘sophisticated and compelling’ and ‘like a worm inside my brain’. His latest novel The Death And Life Of Red Henley is out now.

Articles by: Philip Wilding

“It was sounding great, then halfway through the loop stops… We turned into a sort of working men’s club band!”: Marillion’s late-career hit single didn’t stop people asking Steve Hogarth about Fish

By Philip Wilding published 9 September 24

You’re Gone, from 2004 album Marbles, was their first Top 10 entry since 1987, and the track came about in a non-standard manner for the band

Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts: Rogue To Redemption cover art

"Pristine pop and rock with a twist of glam and bursting with arena-ready songs": Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts shine on Rogue To Redemption

By Philip Wilding published 30 August 24

Former Biters frontman Tuk Smith delivers a power-pop/classic rock gem

"That extraordinary voice, switching from urgency to desolation within a few bars": The Chris Cornell albums you should definitely listen to

By Philip Wilding published 30 July 24

With Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple Of The Dog and solo, Chris Cornell proved to be a vocalist of singular talent. Here we round up his best albums

“We’ve done Jimmy justice. Whether we quit or not, we’ve done what we were put on earth to do”: how Avenged Sevenfold emerged from tragedy with Nightmare

By Philip Wilding published 27 July 24

Avenged Sevenfold’s Nightmare album was released on July 27, 2010 – their first without late drummer Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan

"Rock songs, power ballads, it’s a big-sounding record designed to be played to big rooms": Bon Jovi fight for their future on Forever

By Philip Wilding published 7 June 24

Following Jon Bon Jovi's vocal surgery, the band are back, and it's about time

"Sounding as pristine today as it did in 1994": Trevor Rabin and Jon Anderson shine on their final Yes album together, Talk

By Philip Wilding published 24 May 24

Overlooked and undersold Yes gem Talk gets a welcome multidisc reissue

“A lot of it is first takes and demos. Because of what had happened to Neil we didn’t want to re-record – the songs felt too precious”: Rush fans had to wait 11 years for Vapor Trails to become the album it deserved to be

By Philip Wilding published 14 May 24

After tragedy shattered drummer Neil Peart’s life, many were just glad to have their 17th studio album in 2002. But it left almost everyone disappointed at the time

Rush onstage at the Sound Advice Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach Florida on June 15, 2007

"Without a doubt, the best experience I've had making an album, ever": How Rush made Snakes & Arrows and learned to love recording again

By Philip Wilding published 1 May 24

Neil Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson on the making of 2007's Snakes & Ladders album

Emerson Lake & Powell - the Complete Collection

“A much better testimony to ELP’s legacy than the original incarnation’s risible swan song Love Beach”: Emerson, Lake & Powell’s The Complete Collection

By Philip Wilding published 12 April 24

The other ELP’s sole album remastered and bulked out, frustratingly showing how good a live act they were

Steve Vai relaxed in a red chair wearing sunglasses, his guitar pointed at the ceiling

Every Steve Vai album ranked from worst to best

By Philip Wilding published 28 March 24

Heart-shaped guitars, Berklee music school and Frank Zappa – Steve Vai's had no ordinary career. Here are each of his albums, ranked from worst to best

Judas Priest: Invincible Shield cover art

Rob Halford may look like Santa Claus in fetish gear, but his vocal is still the unrelenting, glass-breaking scream of a man 50 years younger, and Judas Priest's Invincible Shield is pristine and powerful

By Philip Wilding published 8 March 24

Judas Priest's late-career renaissance continues apace with thundering nineteenth album Invincible Shield

The 20 greatest rock supergroups ever

By Philip Wilding, Dave Everley published 2 March 24

From Cream and ELP to Temple Of The Dog and Velvet Revolver, these are history’s greatest supergroups

"I signed a deal. I was a millionaire for one whole day. The money was gone in an afternoon": Paul Westerberg on The Replacements, going solo and the love of rock'n'roll

By Philip Wilding published 20 February 24

Replacements lynchpin Paul Westerberg is one of the most lauded songwriters of his generation

Blackberry Smoke - Be Right Here cover art

"Listen to a tune, and three minutes later you're whistling the damn melody and mangling the lyrics": Blackberry Smoke's songwriting shines on Be Right Here

By Philip Wilding published 16 February 24

Blackberry Smoke's eighth album Be Right Here delivers stomp, soul, country, and rock and roll in equal measure

Dense, layered and pulsing with melody, Florence Black's Bed Of Nails is a remarkable album

By Philip Wilding published 2 February 24

Raucous yet soulful second album Bed Of Nails makes good on debut promise from Welsh rockers Florence Black

The Replacements and Paul Westerberg albums you should definitely own

By Philip Wilding published 1 February 24

He's an underachiever and proud of it, man: These are the best from Paul Westerberg, from the Replacements to a delightfully erratic solo career

The Dave Grohl albums you should definitely own

By Philip Wilding published 14 January 24

A musical jack of all trades and master of many, with Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age and more, Dave Grohl has recorded a truly glittering catalogue

"The ones I love the best are the ones where he sounds like he's falling over drunk while he's playing": Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzeznik on the soundtrack of his life

By Philip Wilding published 1 January 24

Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik picks his records, artists and gigs of lasting significance, and reveals what happens when you spend half your studio budget on beer and speed

Geddy Lee on the roof of Waterstones bookshop in London

"I said, 'I'm glad the music meant something to you,' and she burst into tears!": On the road with Rush's Geddy Lee

By Philip Wilding published 22 November 23

In 2019 Classic Rock accompanied Geddy Lee on the road as he promoted Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book Of Bass

“Steve Harris of Iron Maiden loves A Passion Play. I’m glad someone liked it!” Every Jethro Tull album in Ian Anderson’s words

By Philip Wilding published 9 October 23

The coming-of-age one, the darker one, the singer/songwriter one, the step-too-far one, the kind-of-okay one, the odd one, the mainstream one…

“I always knew that I was going to return to the Amory Wars." Coheed And Cambria and Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures

By Philip Wilding published 5 October 23

After exploring personal turmoil on Coheed And Cambria’s last release, frontman Claudio Sanchez is now relaxed, revitalised and ready to take us back into his Amory Wars universe.

"This band has literally cost me everything!": Tigertailz know it's ludicrous to keep dreaming but they're in too deep to stop

By Philip Wilding published 5 October 23

In the 80s they looked like they should be prowling the sunny Sunset Strip rather than the rainy streets of South Wales. Four decades on Tigertailz are still here, older and a lot wiser

The 50 best live albums ever

By Fraser Lewry published 10 September 23

The best live albums are defining moments in any band’s career, when the music, the performance, and the atmosphere generated between band and audience are captured on tape

"If he had been breathing in, he would have been dead": What happened the night James Hetfield caught fire

By Philip Wilding published 8 August 23

The story of Montreal 1992: the night Metallica's James Hetfield almost lost his life and Guns N' Roses' fans rioted

The Manic Street Preachers in front of the artwork for Rush's Hemispheres

"If I can't sing it with conviction then it doesn't matter, I can’t do it": What happened when Rush met the Manic Street Preachers

By Philip Wilding published 2 August 23

At the end of 2007, there was a clash of cultures as Welsh rockers the Manic Street Preachers went head to head with Rush and probed their inner secrets

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
View Archive

Philip Wilding

Get the Louder Newsletter