Features archive

November 2023

Filter

Year
Month

196 articles

November 30
- If the idea of Shane McGowan, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker and Pete Doherty singing Disney classics together sounds like an acid-fried fever dream, trust us, the reality was even weirder
- "Its release was welcomed with as much enthusiasm by Californian punks as if a Nazi had yakked on Darby Crash’s grave." How Bad Religion took a prog detour with Into The Unknown
- 10 times major metal stars cameoed in music videos
- "I really didn’t know what I was doing": Watch horror icon Stephen King's awkward fanboy interview with AC/DC
- “You don’t need big orchestras and lots of notes to make things come alive. Just three notes will do, if they’re the right ones”: How to horrify, by movie soundtrack specialist Claudio Simonetti
- "Not being able to play gigs probably saved us": Meet Geese, the New York noiseniks who found themselves at the centre of a bidding war just as they were about to break up
- Roger Waters had a little black book with his poems in – and he turned them into a massive, multimedia masterpiece that ultimately destroyed Pink Floyd
- "I'm sure I was appreciated, but it wasn’t hero worship or anything like that": Christine McVie, the calm eye of the Fleetwood Mac storm
- When audience members attack: Six times a rock star was injured by someone in the crowd
November 29
- A round sleeve for a round record: how The Small Faces' Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake broke the mould and tested the patience of record stores worldwide
- Every Napalm Death album ranked from worst to best
- “It’s the end of Sabbath, believe me”: The story of Black Sabbath’s abandoned 20th album
- "We were always looking out for a producer, but the trouble was that most of them took a lot of drugs": Ian Anderson on the recording of Aqualung, and why it really isn't a concept album
- Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard reached out to James And The Cold Gun via Instagram and signed them: now they've supported Guns N' Roses
November 28
- 10 times metal musicians covered their own songs in other bands
- ”I was pretty much ordered to go and play with Steve Howe, Carl Palmer, Geoff Downes and John Wetton. I was told that if I didn’t, I’d be dropped”: Trevor Rabin’s challenging road to Yes
- 10 heavy metal supergroups that actually turned out super
- "We got high without drink or anything. It's a record that still takes me to another sphere": Doro picks the soundtrack of her life
- "We realised that anything, from that moment onwards, was possible": The first time I heard The Beatles, by Jon Anderson
November 27
- “Am I Prog’s Taylor Swift? That’s a debate that could run and run”: why Peter Hammill re-recorded his Enigma-era albums
- "My advice? Buy records. And when you think you’ve bought enough, buy more": Danko Jones on barbecuing, karaoke, and why you should buy more vinyl
- "He used to stand at the side of the stage and watch our every move": How Johnny Kidd & The Pirates made one of the great British rock'n'roll records and inspired Jimmy Page
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now, including Måneskin, Bernie Marsden, Saxon and more
November 26
- A WCW wrestling match taking place on a beach, while Fear Factory played live in the background, with Kid Rock on commentary, all broadcast on MTV, is about as 90s as life ever got
- “That was it for me, I knew I wanted to play rock’n’roll”: Skindred’s Benji Webbe on the moment he realised he wanted to be a rock star
- 10 moments of genius from MTV Unplugged
- “After the first couple of years the darkness descended. There were some volatile individuals. We’re almost talking asylum levels”: how cult ’70s rockers The Babys blew their chance to be the next big thing
- “I met a gorgeous Steven Wilson fan. I then introduced her to my girlfriend… the story is told in my song Beautiful Night”: Franck Carducci’s life in prog
November 25
- “Diamonds are made under pressure!”: Stone Temple Pilots’ Dean DeLeo on the band's songwriting dynamic when they made Purple
- “Peter Grant had tears in his eyes. He gave a little speech and then said, ‘Now get the f**k out of here and knock them dead’”: how Bad Company‘s classic debut album won over the US and turned them into the next Led Zeppelin
- “For those of you looking for the Siamese Dream lead sound, pick one of these…”: Billy Corgan’s guide to getting that classic Smashing Pumpkins guitar sound
- The 10 longest songs by 10 iconic heavy metal bands
- “We knew we didn’t want to do an acoustic version of Teen Spirit, that would’ve been horrendously stupid”: Revisiting Nirvana’s iconic MTV Unplugged performance 30 years on
- “An album that refuses to wallow in self-pity… Having gained their musical chops in the dance arena, they wisely apply those dynamics to their newfound idiom”: The prog heart of Doves’ Lost Souls
- “Poor Iggy became a guinea pig for what I wanted to do with sound”: in 1977, David Bowie moved to Berlin to kick drugs. He emerged with five albums that changed music forever
November 24
- “Gene looked like a transvestite, Paul looked like some whore and Ace looked like Shirley Maclaine”: the outrageous story of Kiss’s first 12 months
- The 10 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- “The kids who wanted to buy our records were like, ‘Cool! The religious right’s burning them!’” The track-by-track guide to Iron Maiden’s The Number Of The Beast
- Apple AirPods (3rd Gen) vs Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen): What's your best option this Black Friday?
- 10 cover versions that are way more popular than the originals (according to Spotify)
- "I've lived, I really have. I've done it all. I love the fact that I make people happy": The life and times of rock's most outrageous star, Freddie Mercury
- “We didn’t want to be extras, we didn’t want to be bit men… If you haven’t got an ego, you shouldn’t be doing this”: Rick Wakeman on the Keith Emerson collaboration that never happened
- Marshall Emberton vs Marshall Emberton II: We put both portable speakers to the test
- "She may be the hardest-working, most consistent musician I’ve ever been around": Needtobreathe on what they learned from Taylor Swift
- In 1997 John Lydon's drummer sued him for lost wages and assault: it was a case only Judge Judy could resolve
November 23
- “I was worried - what would if nothing came out? That didn’t happen… I was singing melodies, Ian was putting in riffs and lyrics were flying all over the place”: How Karnataka’s new line-up just clicked
- Watch The Cure play on board The Orient Express in this vintage British TV footage
- "It's the ultimate Nektar feelgood track, because everyone – onstage and in the crowd – loves it so much”: the late Roye Albrighton’s six favourite songs to play
- "This has given me a whole new reason to live": Former Nymphs frontwoman Inger Lorre wants to shine some light into a very dark world
November 22
- Metallica played Iron Maiden classic Prowler during the Black Album tour, and it’s the best cover they never recorded
- The 11 most amazing onstage team-ups in heavy metal history
- 10 incredible non-metal albums made by metal bands
- "Anyone who was there will remember because they probably got pink-eye." Actress and metal musician Jessica Pimentel on licking Meshuggah’s faces, Orange Is The New Black and why Peter Steele was like a big brother to her
- "They’re both extreme, and they can be intimidating to an outsider." Svalbard made one of 2023's most personal and emotional metal albums. It was at least partly inspired by rollercoasters
- "Between burn-out and a looming crisis, Sabbath somehow hit their greatest high." Which is Black Sabbath's best album? Metal Hammer's writers argue it out
- “Brian Eno has a very simple view on music - the more we clutter it up with things the more foggy the goodness gets”: Huey Morgan’s prog education
- "I said, 'I'm glad the music meant something to you,' and she burst into tears!": On the road with Rush's Geddy Lee
November 21
- "George Harrison had set fire to an ashtray and was running around the studio with it above his head": the chaotic creation of The Beatles' wildest song
- “I grew up with a lot of metal, so the heavier side of prog is where my roots are." Southern Empire and the making of Civilisation
- “We started seeing this crossroads in the progressive metal scene. Bands were going towards art-rock – more technical. We wanted to preserve that metal vibe”: Soen keep it heavy with latest album Memorial
- "Get a knife and cut them off!": Watch Kate Bush chaotically fight her own legs in the bizarre 1993 short film that she later regarded as "a load of old bollocks"
- "I looked to John Lennon as a father figure when I was a kid": watch Chris Cornell discuss the influence of John Lennon, and perform a beautiful acoustic version of Imagine, on the Howard Stern show in 2011
- "We’d build our own pyro - there was a lot of smoke and chaos": Dave Lombardo talks Cuban heritage, befriending Mike Patton and why Slayer were the greatest thrash metal band
- Earthside take us through new album Let The Truth Speak, track by track
- “Ian Anderson does have a face that lends itself to illustrating… He doesn’t have to do much to look evil!” The creation of Jethro Tull’s The Broadsword And The Beast Cover
- Life of Bryan
November 20
- "With music, you seem to take it all in and it becomes immersive. Music has a power all its own": The Cure's Reeves Gabrels picks the 10 records that changed his life
- "I’m not so lonely now, there are other girls to talk with and exchange tips and tricks on how to survive a tour!" Heavy metal Queen Doro on a career in rock, near-death experiences and, erm, fighting ducks
- On Halloween 1990, Billy Idol played the final show of his Charmed Life tour in Seattle. The night would feature Faith No More dancing naked, 600 dead fish, five miniature pigs, a goat, and a visit from the Seattle police department
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now, including Blackberry Smoke, The Answer, Crossbone Skully and more
November 19
- "For a while I was bummed out about the fuss it caused because I was worried my mum would find out:" the story behind L7's Pretend We're Dead
- "He's out cold. I think he's gone and eaten something he shouldn't have eaten": What happened the night a Who fan was pulled from the crowd to fill in for Keith Moon
- “Though quintessentially punk records, their first two albums featured tricky time signatures, a four-part musical suite, and songs that clocked in at seven minutes”: The Stranglers were always more prog than you thought
- Why are there a load of random Chelsea players hidden on old Reading Festival line-up posters?
November 18
- “I don’t even know where you’d put us. I guess ‘American symphonic art-prog-pop’?” The sound of Pattern-Seeking Animals
- "There's a lack of occasion in music these days." How Threshold are trying to right that with Dividing Lines
- Watch every song from Led Zeppelin IV being played live
- If you can sing prog, you can dub foreign-language movies: the satisfying double career of ex Kayak vocalist Edward Reekers
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
November 17
- “We could never be Nirvana, but we could make an album that would fit in with the times without us looking like stupid old farts”: how Def Leppard survived tragedy, grunge and the turbulent 1990s to make two of their most underrated albums
- The 10 best covers by Iron Maiden
- “If I ended up in jail, I knew I wouldn’t be able to play guitar”: the secret history of Jimi Hendrix’s pre-fame years
- “I took my in-ear monitors out and the whole theatre was deathly silent. It was a proper goosebumps moment”: How IO Earth learned to shut up and trust their audience
- Great new prog music you must hear from Cyan, DiVirgilio Morse Jennings and more in Prog's Tracks Of The Week
- "I got married two years ago and this was on par with that." On Trivium's last tour for "quite some time", we learned two things: 1) their shows are still some of the most intense in metal and 2) fans really love their 'Pig Pen'. Erm...
- “There are some good things on it… I just find it hard to believe we called a prog album Love Beach, and the three of us look like the Bee Gees. That’s a prog cover?” Carl Palmer on ELP’s most misguided moment
- "We have one rule: you can have body punches and choke-holds and throw bottles at each other, but we never crack each other in the face": What happens when bands fight
- "There are so many variations on the Sabbath influence and that is what keeps it exciting and evolving": How stoner rock sparked a musical revolution
- "Let's give them a record that they can lose themselves in": Steven Wilson doesn't think rock belongs in 2023 but he'll still try and make that million-seller
November 16
- Haunt The Woods admit their music “isn’t really that accessible” – but you get to hear it thanks to Peppa Pig…
- 10 brilliant indie bands from the 2000s who should have been massive
- “21st Century Schizoid Man – the first track on the first prog album – is a political protest song! Anyone who says prog and politics don’t belong together never realised what it was about”: The Tangent’s Andy Tillison on why prog should challenge you
- "For a long time there was a sense of imposter syndrome, but now we know we’re a force to be reckoned with": While She Sleeps aim to take their rightful place as metalcore icons with new album Self Hell
- 10 songs proving that metalcore is back and that it's more diverse and exciting than ever
- “Dolly Parton is tickling my beard! I thought: ‘Well, this is off to a good start!’”: how Rob Halford ended up appearing on Dolly Parton’s new rock album
- "We had a real human skull. Its name was Govinda, and it used to sit on top of a mic stand at gigs, like a mascot" the story of Radio Birdman, the original Oz punks
- "In Scorpions days I sometimes ran out of frets because I wanted to play higher": Uli Jon Roth on his iconic guitars, onstage danger, and reconnecting with an old friend
November 15
- "Ozzy was on his hands and knees with these Rottweilers behind him. But what I didn’t realise was that Ozzy was terrified of dogs": how Ozzy Osbourne was transformed into a big scary werewolf for Bark At The Moon's iconic cover
- Pantera were one of America’s most important metal bands. Now they’re little more than Phil Anselmo trying to whitewash his own legacy
- "We didn’t take it seriously until the armed SWAT team arrived”: Ithaca's Djamila Azzouz talks visibility, nightmare gigs and auditioning for Ithaca by singing Break Stuff
- "When we signed to a major, one guy wrote to tell us he hoped we died in a firey van accident": Your ultimate guide to every Jawbox album in the band's own words
- "There have been pivotal moments, like playing with Metallica or Iron Maiden for the first time, where you go, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’" We went to LA to see Ghost's world takeover reach yet another new peak
- “We categorise it as ‘bleaktastic’… how and what I sing often stem from my frustrations with my bloody back!” New monster stories from Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate
- That episode of Married With Children where Al Bundy pretends his name is Axl, plays a pastrami sandwich, and records a charity single with some real-life rock stars
- "The misbehaving goes on after I've gone to bed. And I'm always the first to bed": Phil Campbell on touring with his three sons
- That time Suzi Quatro appeared as Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days and played the classic Devil Gate Drive at Arnold's Diner
November 14
- "People said we ruined music": How The Used's The Taste Of Ink helped emo kick nu metal to the curb
- 11 legendary heavy metal bands with only one original member left
- “We didn't emulate Mudhoney's behaviour because we might not be alive if we had!" Superchunk look back on the decade that helped birth and destroy US alt rock
- 4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month
- "Here's to Hell. May we have as much fun there as we had getting there": watch Steven Tyler, Slash and Dave Grohl serenade Howard Stern at his 60th birthday celebrations
- "People talk about how brilliant it was that grunge wiped out hair metal. Listen, hair metal was way more fun:" Creeper are bringing character back to rock'n'roll and somewhere Jim Steinman is applauding
- "We've lost so many people from around the band, in the end we said: Yeah, let’s do this": The original line-up of The Almighty gear up to play their first shows in more than 30 years
- Revisiting that Led Zeppelin / Limp Bizkit / Puddle Of Mudd collaboration you'd probably forgotten all about
November 13
- 10 times massive metal bands appeared in video games
- The beginner’s guide to djent in five essential albums
- 10 drummers who could replace Jay Weinberg in Slipknot
- “Not my finest hour… but if you can forgive my codpiece and tights in the 70s you can forgive me getting out a coffin in a cloak and comedy fangs”: Ian Anderson on Jethro Tull’s 80s era
- "It’s absurd that I have Bruce Springsteen's number. It's like me as a seven year-old having Batman's phone number": How a pizza date with The Boss played a part in The Gaslight Anthem's triumphant return
- “Occasionally one of their legs would go up slightly. Were they playing or checking emails? I thought it would be fun to have them doing The Hokey Cokey”: Bill Bailey’s Kraftwerk sketch
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now, including The Record Company, Laura Jane Grace, Måneskin and more
November 12
- Why I ❤️ Led Zeppelin IV and Stairway To Heaven, by Goldray guitarist Kenwyn House
- “Though Dave Mustaine might claim he wrote Leper Messiah, he didn’t”: The track-by-track guide to Metallica’s Master Of Puppets
- "The neighbours are a little weirded out by us. They’re wary of the neighbours who moved in and painted the house black." I spent an evening at the fascinating secret home of Twin Temple, the Satanic couple who make doo-wop for the Devil
- 10 amazing metal albums that are only one song long
- “You oughtta see if you could get somebody to send you money”: we wondered how ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons got his nickname ‘The Reverend’, so we asked Billy Gibbons to tell us
November 11
- “I always wanted an opportunity to get out there and rock!” Wicked Wisdom: The story of Jada Pinkett Smith’s short-lived nu metal band
- Vote for the best metal album of 2023
- "Lambasting it as 'selling out' directly contradicts its musical integrity and emotional vulnerability. It's all killer, no filler." Metal Hammer's writers battle it out over which is Metallica's best album
- "They were the only band that kicked our ass." Better Loves are the Every Time I Die/Dillinger Escape Plan supergroup you didn't know you needed, but will be so happy to have in your life
- The 10 greatest solo albums in heavy metal history
November 10
- “We set up outside Frank Zappa’s bedroom door and played so loud the pictures on the wall ended up crooked. I thought he’d shoot us”: the forgotten psychedelic beginnings of Alice Cooper
- The Grammys are still failing heavy metal – with so many new bands releasing incredible music, it’s never been more unforgivable
- 10 A-list Hollywood directors who have directed music videos
- The best new prog music you must hear from Mariusz Duda, The Anchoress and more in Prog's Tracks Of The Week
- The 10 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- “It’s a place where outsiders live. When you’re getting hit in the face for being a dirty grunger, it’s a world to escape to.” How UK goth-punks Creeper crafted a deliciously dark new world for outcasts everywhere to hide in. With vampires.
- I've been going to metal gigs for over 25 years. So why are all the craziest crowds now at pop, hip hop and dance shows?
- I've always wanted to ask you, Rod...
- “Rock’n’roll is dead. It’s a toothless old woman. It’s really embarrassing”: how David Bowie turned his back on glam rock to make his ‘plastic soul’ masterpiece Young Americans
November 9
- “People like bits of what we do, then they don’t like bits… and the reality is that half of the band don’t like half of what we do”: Steeleye Span never stop taking risks
- "Maybe we could play a show at Stonehenge? That would be very cool.” Rikard Sjoblom's Gungfly and the making of Friendship
- “Whenever King Crimson is in active mode there is nothing else I can do with my life… to be able to focus on being more of a guitarist is the right place for me”: Robert Fripp’s new lease of life
- There’s only one metal headliner at Download 2024 - and as a dedicated metalhead, I think that can be a good thing for the genre
- The 50 best collaborations in rock
- "I'll say goodbye to the boys and they can get someone else in to do the job. And I really mean it": Revisiting Black Ice, the album that saved AC/DC's career
November 8
- "We're buddies and brothers first and a band second": Twenty years and eight albums in, Black Stone Cherry reflect on life, love, and what they've learned
- Every cover song by Metallica, ranked from worst to best
- “I speak like I do because I spent years trying to impersonate Vivian Stanshall”: Comedian and musician Ade Edmondson’s prog record collection
- The best metal albums of 2023 so far
- “It almost didn’t happen!” Dragula: how a last-minute demo turned into Rob Zombie’s immortal horror hit
- "I want to make a record where I don’t have to play by the rules or have any hit singles": Bruce Springsteen on his acoustic masterpiece The Ghost Of Tom Joad
- “I was interested in being on stage with people who are not only comfortable with not knowing what’s going to happen next, but would rather not know”: Bill Bruford’s journey through jazz and prog
November 7
- 10 amazing UK metal bands that couldn’t break America
- The 11 greatest final shows in heavy metal history
- Corey Taylor: My stories of Lemmy, Dimebag Darrell, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Björk and more
- 10 albums that changed the life of Pulitzer prize-winning author and Star Trek showrunner Michael Chabon
November 6
- He took guitar lessons from Robert Fripp, set out to destroy his old self with an album he hoped would fail, then made the resulting niche his own – Al Stewart's prog credentials ring loud
- Still wondering what Meat Loaf wouldn't do for love? Then read the lyrics
- "Keep writing me words, keep giving me things, I will sing, I will sing": A look back at Freddie Mercury's final Queen album, Made In Heaven
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now, including The Struts, The Hot Damn!, Deap Vally and more
November 5
- From Bruce Springsteen to Beyonce: 10 Eddie Vedder duets you need to watch
- “You hear bombs, a baby being born, an eagle flying, you hear things that people don’t normally hear”: how Jimi Hendrix pulled back from the brink of disaster at Woodstock and sealed his legend
- “For a while, I got jealous." Christine McVie on playing second fiddle to Stevie Nicks in Fleetwood Mac
- “The world of music was going through some serious changes and we were not embracing them”: how Yes’s Going For The One and Tormato almost ended things for good
- “A chance to work with him would be incredible. But in a way I do… he always raises the bar a bit higher”: Why Peter Gabriel is Kip Winger’s prog hero
November 4
- “We were the same side of the coin – we were just different coins." Eddie Vedder on Kurt Cobain, and the time they slow danced together
- The 10 best Lynyrd Skynyrd songs that aren’t Free Bird, according to Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke
- “We’ll fight Foo day and night to make sure you receive the compensation you deserve." Watch the brilliant moment Foo Fighters posed as lawyers in a fake TV commercial
- “It was strange to pick up a tape and find titles like Sex Type Thing”: the time the mum of a 90s grunge fan made him go on Oprah to clean up his look
- “Certain people might think that – the type of person that wears only denim, has a lot of tattoos and doesn’t wash”: meet the man who ‘ruined’ Status Quo
November 3
- “I wouldn’t say we were trying to create another Close To The Edge or A Night At The Opera, but there are definitely some of those elements on the record." The making of the Von Hertzen Brothers' War Is Over
- 10 new metal songs you need to hear right now
- “The universe and self and the inside of ourselves is all the same thing, depending on which end you look down the telescope”: Gong continue a “loose trilogy” with Unending Ascending
- Great new prog music you must hear from Gong, Tarja, Exploring Birdsong and more in Prog's Tracks Of The Week
- Watch the the hilariously weird moment that Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers played a trumpet solo with Nirvana
- Every The Wonder Years album ranked from worst to best, by vocalist Dan 'Soupy' Campbell
- "So Jaco Pastorius and Joni Mitchell walk past and ask, ‘Hey, is there a party here?’." The story of Italian prog legends PFM
- 10 new albums coming in 2024 to get incredibly excited about right now
- “A standard teen rebellion story - on paper, at least… But this is a musical concept, where pieces join to form a narrative in which things get weird”: Why The Who’s Quadrophenia is a prog epic
- "I thought it was going to be the usual boring day, then suddenly The Yardbirds knocked on the door": the day rock'n'roll took on the British establishment
November 2
- “The perception of what kind of band you are can count for so much… The hard lesson to learn is that the quality of the music counts for very little”: Steven Wilson on Porcupine Tree’s slow rise to success
- 12 songs that brought horniness back to heavy metal (without the cringe)
- As a millennial metalhead, I was laughed at for loving nu metal. In 2023 it's filling festivals and influencing more young bands than ever - and I couldn't be happier about it
- “There’s a tendency for people to cherry-pick tracks or create playlists… we prefer our music to be listened to from the opening track to the final notes”: Downes Braide Association on the album as art form
- "John Lennon was definitely my favourite Beatle... Paul McCartney embarrasses me:" Why The Beatles meant so much to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, and changed his life forever
- The 10 greatest guest spots in heavy metal history
- “This was the Prime Minister we were dealing with, and we were very naughty boys:" a story of The Move, acid, axes and a 55-year-old political scandal
- "It remains a touchstone of art-rock genius, a true masterpiece": Why you should definitely own The Modern Dance by Pere Ubu
November 1
- Pentangle got a bit of stick and still does... but music is about putting ideas together and understanding them, not making sounds you think are trendy”: Why John Renbourn always stood up to the purists
- 10 brilliant rock bands from the 2000s who should have been absolutely massive
- Metal Hammer's writers battle it out to decide which is Iron Maiden's best album
- 10 amazing metal albums that were too ahead of their time
- "We would race cars and listen to The Eagles and Led Zeppelin": Susan Tedeschi picks the soundtrack of her life
- "It's a huge gift that I’m still here and I’m still doing what I did:" How Rick Allen fought trauma and found happiness
- "So bad that it makes you forget how good the songs are": the story of the incomprehensible Bob Dylan musical that was killed by Bob Dylan fans