Features archive
December 2024
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72 articles
- December 14
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- “We had a plan. Jesus Christ, are you kidding? My whole plan was to make an album that sells more than the last one”: How Whitesnake shed their skin and made a solid gold hard rock classic with the 1987 album
- “Keith Moon was schizophrenic. I saw many sides of him in half an hour. If that‘s not a split personality, I don’t know what is”: Late keyboard legend Ian McLagan’s wild tales of the Stones, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan and more
- “There’s all these secret passages where staff seem to just appear and disappear again”: what it’s like to stay at Elton John’s house
- “Nick Cave has this spiritual fervour with the audience”: Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood on becoming a Bad Seed
- “Unfriendly immigration officers read ‘musician’ and ask, ‘Anything I should know?’ I say, ‘Oh yeah!’ They remember Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and it’s OK”: Yello’s offbeat synth prog ethic gets Dieter Meier round the world
- December 13
- December 12
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- The 10 best hip-hop albums of 2024
- “I remember trying to work out what extra notes he’d put in. I was so infatuated…” Gun guitarist Jools Gizzi on his prog hero Alex Lifeson
- 10 brilliant rock albums that last less than 30 minutes
- "Our first show we made two songs last for fifty minutes": Meet Sacri Monti, the psychedelic rockers who don't know where they're going but dig the journey
- December 11
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- "I've always existed between two cultures." Meet Lowen, 2024's breakout prog metal sensation inspired by System Of A Down and Akercocke
- “I lie to them and change the goalposts… you build up techniques of throwing the curveball of discomfort. If it gets comfortable I change it”: David Thomas calls Pere Ubu “avant-garage” – but how prog are they?
- "His mouth moved, but I'd have to say he gave me only 30 percent": The night Bob Dylan trolled David Letterman and a TV audience of millions
- The 10 best King Crimson songs, by Jakko Jakszyk
- For years Tommy Henriksen has played guitar for others: Now's he's spreading the gospel of Crossbone Skully, avenging superhero from outer space
- "I told Thunder that if they wanted to replace me, I was fine with that": Danny Bowes on the long road to recovery and his return to the stage
- December 10
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- "I was twelve, on the bus, and someone said it was angel dust, and I thought 'That sounds great'": Fantastic Negrito has poured his upbringing into his extraordinary and beautiful latest album
- “I don’t have many rock’n’roll stories for you – that was always someone else’s job”: Phil Collins was pranked by George Harrison, outdrunk by John Martyn, blown away by Robert Fripp and well-behaved with Eric Clapton
- "I had never heard of Cats In Space because I no longer listen to music": Cats In Space and Willie Dowling are on tour and cannot get enough of each other
- "We played to more than 350,000 fans in stadiums": Those Damn Crows are used to big crowds, but their next show is another step up
- December 9
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- The 10 best metalcore albums of 2024
- The 10 best black metal albums of 2024
- Kate Bush's only live performance on US TV didn't transform her fortunes, but she did inspire a Hollywood actor's recipe for braised spare ribs
- “The NME said, ‘There’s one of your Rutles songs on this Beatles bootleg album.’ I got them to play it to me over the phone. I said, ‘That’s me on Saturday Night Live!’” How prog were Neil Innes and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band?
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
- December 8
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- “Jimmy Page allowed Eric to unleash the power he had”: How Eric Clapton helped reinvent the blues with The Bluesbreakers’ landmark Beano album
- “He had a level of charisma beyond what you normally experience”: Christopher Nolan on working with David Bowie
- “He’s one of the most gifted songwriters that ever lived. What can I say? I’m not worthy!”: The eccentric prog icon who blew Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris’s mind
- “He wasn’t a phoney. He didn’t have to be somebody else – he felt comfortable being himself“: We lost Dimebag Darrell 20 years ago today. His brother Vinnie Paul never let his memory die
- “I said, ‘No way, I’m not having a song on some show we’ve never heard of’ and my publisher pretended that conversation never took place”: how Stephen Fretwell came to have one of his songs as the Gavin & Stacey theme tune
- “They didn’t do the posing rock thing – that attitude has stuck with me ever since”: Ruts DC drummer David Ruffy explains why Edgar Broughton Band are his prog heroes
- December 7
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- “If we weren’t tied to the whims of another band, things would be different. There’s been a lot of bumps in the road”: The story of Brad, the greatest Seattle band no one ever talks about
- “There were fire, floods and riots. We saw LA being destroyed. We channelled that into the record”: How Fear Factory predicted the apocalypse with industrial-metal masterpiece Demanufacture
- “It was a reaction to a life of being bullied and also a celebration of fun. A lot of the metal world didn’t understand that”: How Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst became nu metal’s biggest star – and lived to tell the tale
- “I’m told that I introduced Ozzy to cocaine when Black Sabbath opened for Mountain on their first American tour”: Leslie West’s wild tales of Ozzy Osbourne, Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix and Tom Hanks
- “Given the state he was in I would have given him two years, tops. But Sharon literally rescued him”: Inside the booze-soaked 35-year friendship between Lemmy and Ozzy Osbourne
- “I grew up around rock stars. My dad’s mates were Mark Knopfler and Thin Lizzy… and Christopher Biggins was a mainstay in our house!”: the indie-pop superstar who had a slightly different upbringing than your average frontman
- “Don’t blame me for glam metal. Most of those bands played their hairspray cans better than their instruments”: The wild story of Hanoi Rocks’ Back To Mystery City, the glam-punk classic that helped invent Guns N’ Roses
- “I just see a pie hit me in the grill”: Metallica’s Robert Trujillo on the rock legend who caked him in the face onstage
- “The sort of thing which got prog a bad name, but which now seems increasingly bold and ambitious”: 10 essential Greg Lake songs
- December 6
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- The 10 best prog metal albums of 2024
- The 20 Best Songs by The Sisters of Mercy – as chosen by former members, collaborators & more
- “Eccentric characters at the centre of songs was all the rage… maybe it was all the acid!” Steve Howe’s bandmate, a tragic grocer and an unfinished concept album – was Excerpt From A Teenage Opera the strangest prog hit single ever?
- December 5
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- “The lyrics come from articles about near-death experiences. They all follow a similar thread… they read like a metaphor for discovering true meaning and purpose”: Stuckfish’s fourth album contains a collection of firsts
- "They’re very special to me, probably my favourite band in the world." Oscar-winning Irish actor Cillian Murphy on the band he adores, and the "remarkable" song that he listened to "five times in a row" when it was released
- "Phil wouldn't be afraid to throw a punch, but it was Eddie who gave people a battering": How Motörhead made their game-changing Overkill album and the anarchic tour that followed
- December 4
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- “We were limited by venues, by the number of people in the band. We wanted to play louder. Everyone had been talking about going electric as Dylan had. None of us had the budget…” Maddy Prior’s history of Steeleye Span
- "They all lived on half a pigeon’s egg each in the morning": The extraordinary life of Bill Wyman: WW2 evacuee, RAF airman, hit solo artist, bandleader, author, restaurateur, archaeologist, cricketer and Rolling Stone
- December 3
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- "Above all, it was detested by the critics": A beginner’s guide to yacht rock in five essential albums
- "The album has a very spooky touch." Epica say they're embracing "dark fantasy" themes on their next album
- “I was on Battersea Bridge when the pig broke free. I drove to the power station and saw this look of schoolboy glee on Roger Waters’ face… ‘You sort this out, Po’”: Aubrey Powell’s Hipgnosis story
- 4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month
- "We've got a new lot from Leighton Buzzard who're going to do their best for you." Keith Richards playing tuba on Sonny and Cher's I Got You Babe while The Rolling Stones' manager professes his love for Mick Jagger is peak '60s TV
- “There are hardly any solos here… it has to feel like we have something new to say”: Why the Von Hertzen Brothers dropped wizard-cloak synths but added sax to In Murmuration
- "Ultimately, you realise that people will forget about you": Myles Kennedy on being in three bands, how Jim Carrey changed his life, and why he worries about Billie Eilish
- All hail the goth Led Zeppelin: Every album by The Cure ranked from worst to best
- December 2
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- There are a ton of retro WWE shirts included in Hot Topic's Cyber Monday sale that are pushing all my nostalgia buttons
- CDs are back! Here are ten essential rock and metal albums you can still get in Amazon's Cyber Monday CD sale before the end of tonight
- Here are the most disgustingly ugly Christmas jumpers you can bag in EMP's Cyber Monday deal - if you have the guts to wear them in public
- Some of my favourite rock and metal records ever are included in Walmart's big Cyber Monday vinyl sale
- “I can’t stop reading it, cos I’m a hypochondriac it affects me, makes me want to cut my nose off”: Kurt Cobain on the book he was obsessed with and how it inspired a Nirvana classic
- “An album drenched in musical innovation that proves quality is not defined by quantity”: The Clash used the musical language of prog to make the statement that is Combat Rock
- "He sent me an email that said, I watched. I laughed. What do I do now?" How David Bowie ended up starring in one of the most memorable TV comedy scenes of all time
- “A phrase that works on every occasion is an invaluable exit strategy”: Bono on the priceless advice he was given by a hard rock, harder-drinking legend
- “There are many things I like to express musically that aren’t related to Dream Theater. It’s important that I can find my voice”: Jordan Rudess hopes the band he gathered for Permission to Fly becomes a permanent part of his world
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
- December 1
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- Cyber Monday Lego deals 2024: Lego kits for little rockers up to adults are on still on sale - but get in quick
- Cyber Monday CD player deals: Save a bundle on a top CD player - even though the big sales day is over
- Cyber Monday CD deals 2024: There's still time to grab a CD bargain but you're going to have to be quick
- "I remember Jimmy yelling at us and calling us hooligans": Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Jeff Beck and the chaotic session that sowed the seeds for Led Zeppelin
- “Whatever response it gets is irrelevant to us”: revisiting The Stone Roses 1994 comeback interview for their long-awaited, hugely-anticipated second record
- Vagabonds, kings, fools and madmen: The Thin Lizzy albums you should definitely listen to
