Sid Smith

Sid Smith

Sid's feature articles and reviews have appeared in numerous publications including Prog, Classic Rock, Record Collector, Q, Mojo and Uncut. 


A full-time freelance writer with hundreds of sleevenotes and essays for both indie and major record labels to his credit, his book, In The Court Of King Crimson, an acclaimed biography of King Crimson, was substantially revised and expanded in 2019 to coincide with the band’s 50th Anniversary. Alongside appearances on radio and TV, he has lectured on jazz and progressive music in the UK and Europe.  


A resident of Whitley Bay in north-east England, he spends far too much time posting photographs of LPs he's listening to on Twitter and Facebook.

Articles by: Sid Smith

David Sylvian - Samadhisound 2003-2014: Do You Know Me Now?

“Unsettling - not exactly made for repeat listening but more occasional contemplation, like a book of poetry”: David Sylvian’s Samadhisound 2003-2014: Do You Know Me Now?

By Sid Smith published

Box set illustrates an apparent disappearing act over a decade

Soft Machine

“I’ve been very lucky throughout my life as a player." Soft Machine drummer John Marshall remembered

By Sid Smith published

Prog writer Sid Smith pays tribute to former Soft Machine drummer John Marshall, who died over the weekend, aged 82

David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name

“Experimental tunings, daring approaches to form and a genuine improvisational sensibility”: David Crosby’s proggiest album, made against the odds

By Sid Smith published

Debut solo release If I Could Only Remember My Name proved he could stand on his own

Soft Machine

"There’ll always be questions like, ‘What’s going on with Mike Ratledge?’ Or a question about Robert Wyatt." Soft Machine on life in the new millennium

By Sid Smith published

In 2015 Soft Machine dropped the 'legacy' tag and threw themselves headlong into being the Canterbury legends, Hidden Details was their first album under the new/old monicker

Segments of the sleeves of five underrated prog album

The most underrated albums by 10 major prog bands

By Classic Rock published

Showing a little love for the overlooked classics by prog giants Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Rush and more

the Blue Nile's A Walk Across the Rooftops

Haunting tunes from the head and heart, The Blue Nile's A Walk Across The Rooftops defies easy categorisation.

By Sid Smith published

In praise of The Blue Nile's 1984 album, A Walk Across The Rooftops

Richard Wright's Wet Dream album

Recorded between the gruelling Animals tour and the psycho-drama that was The Wall, the sentiments Richard Wright expressed in Wet Dream could apply to Pink Floyd as much as to his disintegrating marriage...

By Sid Smith published

Richard Wright's Wet Dream album: The Pink Floyd keyboardist’s underrated solo debut remixed

Gntle Giant's Interview album sleeve

40-odd years on, Gentle Giant's 1976 album Interview remains an object lesson in risk-taking

By Sid Smith published

Gentle Giant's 1976 album In'terview (2023 Steven Wilson remix) – reviewed

Soft Machine

“Pop music didn’t offer enough open space for improvisation… there was no way we were going to play a tune the same way twice”: How Soft Machine pioneered the Canterbury scene

By Sid Smith published

By the time debut album The Soft Machine was released in 1968, they’d already split up - but its impact changed everything

Rock In Opposition

Everything you wanted to know about Rock In Opposition but were too afraid to ask

By Sid Smith published

Check out our RIO playlist and discover some gems from this oft-ignored sub-genre of prog

Canterbury Playlist

The ultimate Canterbury Scene playlist

By Sid Smith published

Enter a world of Caravan, Soft Machine, Egg, Gilgamesh, Matching Mole and more

Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin

“Some people would want me to just be playing jazz-rock in a pub somewhere!" Dave Stewart refuses to bow to fan expectations

By Sid Smith published

Former Egg/Hatfied & The North/National Health man Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin discuss their musical legacy

The Fierce And The Dead

The Fierce & The Dead - News From The Invisible World: "Taut songs with glorious, air-punching choruses."

By Sid Smith published

Not yet rated

Prog faves The Fierce And The Dead are in fine voice on fourth album.

Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get

“Joe Walsh branched out – a genuine progressive instinct at work”: when future Eagles icon went prog with The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get

By Sid Smith published

1973 album carries flavours of Genesis and the Beatles, helped on its way by a gift from Pete Townshend

Alan White

Remembering the late Alan White

By Sid Smith published

Prog writer Sid Smith pays tribute to the former John Lennon and Yes drummer Alan White, who sadly died in 2022

Comic-style illustration of Yes showing them in orange waters on an alien planet with blue spotted pillars surrounding them

Yes – Mirror To The Sky: "the best Yes album in more than 20 years"

By Sid Smith published

No Jon Anderson, Chris Squire or Alan White? No problem for Yes. Prog’s great survivors hit a late-career upswing on Mirror To The Sky

Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull - RökFlöte: "resounds with personality, meaning and drama."

By Sid Smith published

Not yet rated

Ian Anderson draws on Viking mythology on the follow-up to The Zealot Gene – but no one’s living in the past on Tull’s 23rd album.

Bill Bruford

"I’ve been booted out of King Crimson about three times": Bill Bruford on a life in music

By Sid Smith published

From Yes and King Crimson to UK and Earthworks, the highly respected drummer with an extremely distinctive sound talks developing a thick skin, suffering for his art and why he doesn’t like looking backwards.

Jon Anderson

How Song Of Seven helped Jon Anderson survive the 80s!

By Sid Smith last updated

Jon Andersons second solo album Song Of Seven helped him navigate choppy waters having quit Yes at the turn of the new decade and move on into the 80s

Van der Graaf Generator

A Van der Graaf Generator primer playlist

By Sid Smith published

Here's our pick of some of the finest VdGG music over the years, from their 1970 debut to 2016's Do Not Disturb

King Crimson headshots modern

10 things we learned about the stellar new King Crimson documentary

By Sid Smith published

Tobie Amies' In the Court Of The Crimson King, King Crimson At 50 launches in cinemas and online this week

Yes

Total mass retain: How Yes made Close To The Edge

By Sid Smith last updated

Sibelius, Herman Hesse, The Mahavishnu Orchestra and even The Kinks. These were the inspirations according to Yes, behind the genius of their fifth studio album

Yes: Close To The Edge cover

The Story Behind The Song: Yes’s Close To The Edge

By Sid Smith published

How classical music, Eastern mysticism and the River Thames came together to inspire Yes’s first great side-long epic

Magma

Magma and the story of Félicité Thösz

By Sid Smith published

In 2012 Magma released Félicité Thösz, their first studio release in 27 years to contain new material written after the band's reformation in 1996

ELP

"My hair still stands up on the back of my neck!": The making of ELP's Tarkus

By Sid Smith last updated

Emerson, Lake & Palmer's second studio album Tarkus served as a blueprint for their sound. But it almost never happened

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