Black Sabbath, Birmingham, and the invention of heavy metal
Ozzy, Geezer and Tony reminisce about the early days of Black Sabbath and the creation of a genre
Classic Rock Features
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The Affinity Photo New Rock Photographer 2020 Challenge #6: Local Band Portraits
A great shot of a young band can help launch their career. In the final round of our hunt to find the best new rock photographer of 2020, we want to see your local band portraits
This ye olde medieval version of Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters is next-level genius
YouTuber Algal the Bard gets medieval on Metallica’s ass
Every Tool album ranked from worst to best
Putting the prog-metal icons' back catalogue in order of greatness
Better late than never: the story of Beverly "Guitar" Watkins
Beverly "Guitar" Watkins didn’t record her first album until she was 60, but she was tearing up the blues circuit long before then
10 things you didn’t know about Deftones’ White Pony
From screaming matches and self-mutilation to a cameo by a jail-dodging rock star, here are 10 things you didn’t know about Deftones’ epic third album White Pony
Krautrock, communism and chaos: the anarchic story of Can
Avant-garde Germans Can influenced everyone from Bowie to Mark E. Smith and beyond. Geoff Barton looks at their cult appeal and legacy
Led Zeppelin: how Celebration Day happened
On December 10, 2007, Led Zeppelin took to the stage at London’s O2 Arena for one night only. Jimmy Page explains how they got there
Wishbone Ash interview: "There was some dickishness on both sides"
After 50 years, 26 studio albums and a bitter legal battle, for Andy Powell keeping Wishbone Ash going “has been a personal quest. For me it’s almost become a religion”
Some genius has covered Metallica’s Enter Sandman in the style of Iron Maiden
YouTube mad scientist Metal Börje fuses together two of the planet’s biggest bands, and the results are surprisingly excellent
How to clean vinyl records, deal with scratches, and store LP records properly
How to All you need to know about caring for your LP collection, including how to clean vinyl records properly, and where NOT to store them
Why Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy Of Gold is more than just metal’s greatest intro music
How Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy Of Gold become part of metal’s mythology courtesy of Metallica
Tracks of the Week: new music from Jim Kirkpatrick, Low Cut Connie and more
Start your week right with eight of the world's best new rock tracks. But which one's THE best? You decide.
Megadeth’s Rust In Peace: the inside story of the greatest thrash album of the ’90s
How a newly cleaned-up Megadeth made Rust In Peace – the 1990 masterpiece that sealed their place in thrash metal’s Big Four
Alice Cooper: “I woke up with 40 bodies around me”
Pythons, guillotines and drug-fuelled parties – this why Alice Cooper is the Godfather Of Shock and you're not
Metallica’s Rob Trujillo: My Life Story
Suicidal Tendencies, Ozzy Osbourne, Jerry Cantrell and, of course, Metallica – Rob Trujillo has played for them all. This is the story of the man behind the bass
The 10 best NWOBHM bands, by the man who gave the movement its name
At the end of the 70s, the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal revitalised the genre in the UK and now bears a weighty influence on metal worldwide. Geoff Barton – who invented the phrase all those years ago – charts 10 of the best
Kansas: an everyday story of success, failure, drugs, booze and jealousy
The story of Kansas is just your average tale of power struggles, line-up changes, religious conversions and multi-million selling hit records
Crap 80s Metal Art is our new favourite thing
All hail the Mona Lisas of 80s metal album sleeves