Features archive
July 2025
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148 articles
- July 31
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- "Half of my young fans were big Swifties, and now they’re doing goth make-up." Bambie Thug on converting Taylor Swift fans, leaving the Vatican "on read" and why they have a "doodle arm"
- "First you get slapped in the face, then you get shoved, then you get punched." Legendary record producer Andy Wallace on working with Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine, Slayer and Jeff Buckley on some of the greatest rock albums ever made
- Debate: what was metal's greatest decade?
- "It's a rocket ship and you're just strapped to it, praying to God that you're going to survive": A Thousand Horses on their wild ride and a move back to "the southern rock thing"
- “He does feel a bit like our saviour. It’s good to know he’s kind of protecting us”: How Mike Portnoy helped save Avenged Sevenfold after the The Rev died
- "I felt out of place. That group didn't have much musical merit and I thought it was crap": The oddball career of Kevin Ayers, quintessential English songwriter
- John Mellencamp: Nine albums you should listen to, and one to avoid
- July 30
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- “Various line-ups sprang into existence just because someone said, ‘I’ll be your guitarist – I’ve got money.’ They felt like drunken shags. I gave in, but I hated myself for it”: When Robert John Godfrey rebuilt The Enid after 21 wasted years
- "Ozzy goes, 'I thought it was some ***hole dressed as the guy from Kiss!'" Anthrax's Scott Ian reveals his most hilarious memory of the Prince Of Darkness
- “This well-dressed man walked out on stage, reached inside of his jacket, pulled out a gun, and goes pop-pop-pop. I’m thinking: ‘Oh, I’m dead’”: The epic story of the rise, fall and resurrection of the original Alice Cooper band
- “People saw us setting up and thought we were a ska band. Then we’d start playing and they’d just get more confused”: How nerd septet Thank You Scientist made the Oops! … I Did It Again of prog rock
- “She encourages us to ask big questions: Is there a reason to believe in a god? Are art and death aspects of the same experience? Can we just enjoy sex and stop being hung up about it?” Prog stars choose the 40 greatest Kate Bush songs of all time
- A beginner's guide to Dire Straits in seven essential albums
- July 29
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- I have to stop fighting the overwhelming evidence: nu metal and metalcore are officially dad rock now
- Still outselling vinyl: A beginner's guide to the rise, fall and surprising longevity of the CD
- The 20 greatest power ballads you won't find on power ballad compilations
- “You see the guy at the back playing guitar and looking awkward? I can’t even tell you his name!” Krautrock icons Can and their brief interlude as British pop stars
- "She doesn't know the animal I am when I'm drinking and using": Why Josh Todd wrote Buckcherry's Sorry to apologise to his wife
- July 28
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- "Sabbath were there for me before punk." Duff Mckagan on recording with Ozzy, jamming with Tony Iommi and why Black Sabbath were true punks
- "I formed this band for God’s sake! And I helped Roger a hell of a lot because he wasn’t a musician when we started." The lost Richard Wright interview
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: July 28, 2025
- "People thought we were Nazi sympathisers, and nothing could be further from the truth." The highs, lows, controversies and epic comebacks of Slayer
- "I was physically frightened: 'What danger does it pose to me and my family?!'" Tom Morello on how Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath changed his life
- “I saw pyramids while listening to 2112 and I rode my bike as the street moved like water to YYZ”: Joseph Arthur’s first acid trip turned him on to the majesty of Rush
- “Ozzy used to come into our room to get away from his minders. He’d sit on the bed while having a sly puff of the magic Woodbine”: The epic story of Budgie, the cult heroes who inspired Metallica, Iron Maiden and Soundgarden
- “It’s for the ‘big spliff’ crowd, who frankly get terrified by Dogs or The Wall”: The Pink Floyd songs that influenced final Pink Floyd album The Endless River
- July 27
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- “You can do it, Ozzy! Bite his frickin’ head off!” A timeline of Ozzy Osbourne’s greatest film, TV and videogame cameos
- “He was not doing well physically or psychologically with addiction. And when you hit a wall that hard you become disillusioned”: The tragic story of a late goth metal icon’s final album
- “Grunge was taking off, and yet we were having our two biggest albums. It makes me wonder how well they’d have done had they been out in 1987”: The turbulent story of Lillian Axe, the 80s hard rock band who were too good for hair metal
- "We were sunbathing together outside of the dressing rooms": Thirty years ago, R.E.M. befriended a young British band and helped steer them on the path to greatness
- “There was a sense that the record was the definitive music, and you were to reproduce that night after night. It became boring”: Wang Chung’s Jack Hues reinvented himself by revisiting prog influences Robert Wyatt, Radiohead and Talk Talk
- July 26
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- “Ozzy had a couple beers and said to me, ‘Let’s nick a taxi!”: The incredible story of Bruce Dickinson and Ozzy Osbourne’s plan to commit grand theft auto
- “Pop-punk and emo in the early 2000s was brutally misogynistic”: the story of Paramore's debut album and how it forced the scene to take a long, hard look at itself
- July 25
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- Cool new proggy sounds from Jo Quail, Steeleye Span, Chimpan A and more in this week's Tracks Of The Week
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- “The oddest thing was the audience trying to enjoy themselves when the sound system was barely audible”: Sky covered Bach’s Tocatta on Top Of The Pops… is it the least likely musical moment ever?
- Long hair, tight pants and ripsaw sleaze guitars: Meet Ravagers, your new favourite glam-punk marauders
- Ozzy Osbourne’s chaotic cameo on Late Night With Conan O’Brien is the funniest Prince Of Darkness moment nobody talks about
- July 24
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- The 50 best Ozzy Osbourne songs of all time
- "I puked up every where. Everyone thought it was marvellous rock 'n' roll behaviour." The night The Black Crowes got their pal Noel Gallagher from Oasis so wasted that he passed out in a toilet cubicle and had to be carried out of the building
- “His songs are like a walk through his imagination – they draw you in and use all your senses”: Why Liv Kristine had to cover Mike Oldfield
- “It probably looks like we’re in a great position, but music doesn’t pay all our bills yet. One day we want to be able to play arenas”: When Haken doubled down on ambition with Virus
- July 23
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- From drugs, despondency and dead bats to celebrity status and heavy metal godfather, the rollercoaster story of Ozzy Osbourne's solo career
- "I invented Motörhead, and it’s Motörhead as long as I’m in it": At home with Lemmy - a classic interview
- Rock icon, reality TV star, national treasure: Every Ozzy Osbourne solo album ranked
- “People focus on the fact that he only played on the first record. But there were six years before that when he was their leader”: Rush movie makers knew they couldn’t leave John Rutsey out
- July 22
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- Ozzy Osbourne 1948 - 2025
- "Everyone in Olivia’s band is a huge Turnstile fan. Olivia herself is a huge fan." Arianna Powell is the guitar hero bringing rock 'n' roll to Olivia Rodrigo's live shows, and Gen Z are loving her for it
- “They use notes out of sequence – they’re more experimental than bands like Dream Theater, who are very respectful of tonalities”: Novelists’ Florestan Durand is passionate about Periphery (or at least their early albums)
- Test your knowledge of The Beast with Metal Hammer’s ultimate Iron Maiden quiz
- Fishbone are riding into the next dimension, but first they have a message for Donald Trump
- "It's okay to be a good-looking girl and to be able to sing your arse off": Lita Ford's upcoming shows might be a girl's night out, but boys are welcome too
- "I did all my research in his home in his record collection": A tribute to John Mayall, November 29, 1933 – July 22, 2024
- "Being in this band is like home. I enjoy being a Doobie Brother": 50 years down the tracks, the Doobie Brothers remain friends - even when they argue
- “It was loosely based on a character who’d rant at passers-by in the market square. I squidged a Polaroid, added running make-up and a cockade hat. Bish bosh, I had a jester!” How Mark Wilkinson’s artistic genius helped define Marillion’s image
- July 21
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- "The whole point was to put on a party with our mates and the music we loved." How Wacken became one of metal's biggest and most beloved festivals
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: July 21, 2025
- “Nothing I do is ironic. Irony is the last refuge of the scoundrel”: When Julian Cope immersed himself in the psych-prog world of Syd Barrett, 13th Floor Elevators and Love
- "They said, ‘Can you get Rob off the bloody Teletubbies set, please?'" How Rob Halford's return to Judas Priest on Judas Rising rebuilt one of metal's greatest bands
- “I’m in cricket gear and a duffle coat, side parting, being all spiritual. And people wonder why I’ve been stylistically challenged ever since!” Level 42’s Mark King saw the Mahavishnu Orchestra on colour TV and a fashion crime followed
- July 20
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- “There’s nobody to mentor us these days. People at the label encouraged us to write and record – those people have gone”: When John Lodge accepted there’d be no more Moody Blues music
- “It’s very Spinal Tap of us to have this many drummers”: With Matt Cameron now added to the list, here’s a reminder of all the drummers Pearl Jam have had and lost…
- “They said that even if we sold out, we’d lose £5,000. We thought the label would cover the loss. In the end, the band paid”: Camel and a tale of two visits to the Royal Albert Hall, 43 years apart
- July 19
- July 18
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- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- "The one thing that stuck in this witness's mind when he shot someone at point blank range was that he was quoting one of our lyrics." How a thrash classic from Metallica's Kill 'Em All album got linked to a brutal murder in Texas in the 1980s
- “We were working on Oranges And Lemons. I was putting on a bass part. You don’t want Chris Squire walking in, do you?” XTC’s Colin Moulding on meeting his hero, declining to join Pink Floyd, and working on Billy Sherwood’s Dark Side tribute
- July 17
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- “Hardcore innovators, soulful rockers and, frankly, the best band in the world you’re not listening to”: Every Thrice album ranked from worst to best
- “I’m quite allergic to people who talk too much!" How John Mitchell brought Lonely Robot back down to earth with Feelings Are Good
- “Social media was aroused, then curious, then hooked on the rest of Sleep Token’s material”: How The Summoning turned a faceless cult into metal’s most surprising breakout band
- "It’s an utterly visceral display of raw catharsis." The bands that defined 2000Trees festival 2025
- "He was being very naughty under the piano with a woman at the same time he was singing": The epic story of the ‘stolen’ song that could be the next Stranger Things hit
- “I don’t set out to be the one everyone looks at. But when people are watching me, the others can get on with playing, away from the pressure”: Remembering Kansas’ Robby Steinhardt, one of the most important Americans in prog
- July 16
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- "I would give my left arse cheek to be on a soundtrack for a movie like Resident Evil": Bury Tomorrow's Dani Winter-Bates picks the 10 songs that changed his life
- “A leopard doesn’t change its spots. There’s going to be certain levels of diva‑ness. It might be nice if there wasn’t, but there is”: Why Yes decided, after some doubts, to make Heaven & Earth
- "I cracked my skull and was in the hospital. And nobody called me": How America's most dysfunctional band grew to hate each other but learned to love again
- “No debate, no coaxing, no schmoozing, nothing – I put music on the page and they play it. Don’t tell Sting!” Stewart Copeland on making music after The Police, being outdone by Pink Floyd, Curved Air, Neil Peart and life in his 70s
- July 15
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- "My ambition is always to try to make the perfect album. I haven’t yet, but I’m still trying!” Jacob Holm-Lupo tells the story of Norwegian proggers White Willow
- Missing Black Sabbath? Here are 10 bands that will fill the Sabbath-shaped hole in your life
- “Pink Floyd was bigger than a band. It was more like church. They played A Momentary Lapse Of Reason in its entirety and I thought, ‘I want to be around this all the time’”: Why Billy Howerdel is glad he copied David Gilmour badly
- “He told me how hard it is to live up to that innovation, year after year, tour after tour’: Former Live guitarist Chad Taylor has no regrets about meeting his hero Steve Howe
- The Renaissance Man: Ginger Wildheart albums you should listen to... and one to avoid
- "When he did the four-tom fill that he was famous for, I almost fainted twice": Masters Of Reality's Chris Goss on Ginger Baker, David Bowie and the aggression of Rick Rubin
- July 14
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- "It came down like a guillotine!" That time an angry Britpop icon nearly accidentally killed one of heavy metal's most-famous superstars on a live British TV show
- “We’re starting to turn down gigs, which isn’t something we’ve ever been able to do before." How Mystery came of age with Lies & Butterflies
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: July 14, 2025
- Did David Bowie really have a hand in NINE classic albums in a three year period? Yes, he did.
- “Hundreds of couples have used The Winter Long as their wedding music. It’s been a wonderful ride”: Strawbs’ Dave Cousins and The Magic Of It All
- July 13
- July 12
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- “I understand people who say: ‘There is no Queen without Freddie.’ Because that’s what we felt following his death”: The epic story behind Queen’s triumphant comeback with Adam Lambert
- “Solitary confinement marks you. It tortures your soul. You’re living day-by-day in fear and uncertainty”: This is what it’s like to be jailed by a repressive regime for playing in a metal band
- “She left music behind – but music kept trying to find her”: What Judy Dyble did for Fairport Convention, Robert Fripp, and me
- “She wanted to go and live in Hackney and be with the common people”: the pub encounter behind Pulp’s timeless classic Common People, the song that changed everything for Jarvis & co.
- July 11
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- The 11 new metal songs you need to hear right now
- Excellent new proggy sounds from Ihlo, Our Oceans, Discipline, and more in this week's Tracks Of The Week
- “The album sounds incredible. A masterpiece, even though I say so myself!”: Black Sabbath are over – this is what the four members are doing next
- “I remember the urge to sing when I was out in nature. Soft, beautiful summers and dark, harsh winters. You find that in my music”: Eivør can’t escape the Faroe Islands’ influence, and doesn’t want to
- "The anxieties that Axl Rose generated were crushing him": Why Izzy Stradlin was the rock'n'roll heart of Guns N' Roses
- July 10
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- “Jim would come in too drunk to sing decently. Sometimes it was a phrase at a time”: The tortured story of The Doors’ Waiting For The Sun, the album that set Jim Morrison on the path to destruction
- “They wouldn’t bat an eyelid at Wagner, who believed the church was linked to the downfall of civilisation. But metal is ‘wrong’?”: The metal band who made history by playing one of England’s biggest cathedrals – despite accusations of ‘blasphemy’
- The Uriah Heep albums you should listen to... and one to avoid
- "The Queen Mother asked us to play something on the Moog. She was really cute": PFM on brushes with royalty, spaghetti with Aerosmith, and how to annoy America
- “Robert Fripp said he wanted to revolutionise rock’n’roll with us. I wasn’t sure, given what I’d just heard. But they were about to throw us out the squat”: The League Of Gentlemen led to Beat-era King Crimson
- July 9
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- One of metal’s greatest cult bands have returned after 30 years – but what are the chances of a new album?
- 30 rock and metal songs that defined the 1980s
- "He said, ‘If you play it backwards, Satan will haunt you!’" How Volbeat's Michael Poulsen went from occult-loving teenage guitar thief to leader of Denmark’s biggest metal band
- "I said, what are you talking about? Just step over Keith Richards?!" The cult of Keef: guitar hero, blues scholar, rebel, survivor, self-parody, genius
- "Ozzy stood up, produced a Zippo lighter from his back pocket, and set Bill Ward's beard on fire": A personal insight into the chaotic, beautiful mind of Ozzy Osbourne
- “Asked if Going For The One was about God, spirituality or the oneness of all people, he said no – it was about putting a tenner on a horse race. You’re almost better off not knowing that!” Steve Hogarth on his hero Jon Anderson
- July 8
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- “I had a terrible habit of playing bits of songs by other people”: The Pink Floyd classic that Roger Waters was worried David Gilmour had stolen from someone else
- "David Bowie saw something in Trent Reznor." What it was really like on Nine Inch Nails' infamous Self Destruct tour in the 90s
- "It's about seeking infinite possibilities and walking a path no one has travelled before." How Babymetal are embracing the future of metal on new album Metal Forth
- “We’d smoke a little dope then wander round Heathrow Airport at night. All these hums, knocks, and noises coming from behind locked doors – the whole airport was a musical instrument”: Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s prog credentials
- “I’ve gotten in trouble because my background is so varied. ‘Are you a jazz guy? Are you a rock guy?’ I get it – If I buy cornflakes I want cornflakes”: How Chester Thompson and Neal Morse formed Cosmic Cathedral
- "I was just lying in bed, and my wife came in and said I was blue": Shuyler Jansen on near-death experience, broken ribs and Elton John's piano
- Every album by The Who ranked from worst to best
- July 7
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- “Bill’s brother used to be in a gang, and he was like the knife man. Bill suggested we write a song about him”: The stories behind the three most obscure Black Sabbath covers played at the Back The Beginning gig
- 9 moments that made me cheer, laugh, despair and cry like a baby at Black Sabbath's epic Back To The Beginning show
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: July 7, 2025
- “We knew the album would stick out like a sore thumb and we’d have to show real tenacity. But if it wasn’t for Pull Me Under there’s a strong chance we wouldn’t be having this conversation”: When Dream Theater beat the odds with Images And Words
- July 6
- July 5
- July 4
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- Cool new prog you must hear from Auri, L.O.E., Gaupa and more in this week's Tracks Of The Week
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- Here's everything you need to know about Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's final ever show, Back To The Beginning, including who's playing, where you can watch it and more
- "Is this Ozzy's last show? One thousand per cent": Sharon Osbourne on Black Sabbath's Back To The Beginning all-star blowout
- Every song on Queen's Greatest Hits, ranked from worst to best
- "The last thing I remember, I was playing at a topless bar and had a Volkswagen bus and a hundred bucks": What former Heartbreaker Stan Lynch did next
- “A lot of metalheads wind up finding prog – but it’s in a lot of their favourite bands already”: Progressive metal has never been healthier, and here’s why
- July 3
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- "Korn got ripped off a lot." Shavo Odadjian on nu metal vs deathcore, weird lyrics and whether a new System Of A Down album can live up to their legacy
- 4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month
- From hardcore to hard rock to the nation’s favourite balladeers: The Goo Goo Dolls albums you should listen to... and one to avoid
- "There was something about the way he carried himself. He quite clearly was going to shine": The early years of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell
- Dead Daisies: John Corabi on singing BB King, band lineup changes, and those "billionaire's hobby" jibes
- July 2
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- "You want a smack in the face in the beginning." How Ghost Of Perdition went from a concept about Satanism to the defining Opeth anthem
- Snowman romances and dancing with Oppenheimer: these are the 10 best Kate Bush deep cuts
- From Black Sabbath to Napalm Death: these are the 10 greatest metal bands from Birmingham
- "We're one of the only bands where the original members are still alive and speaking with one another": The final Black Sabbath interview
- "I really have beat the odds here. It's very surreal": Meet Ally Venable, the young blueser who's gone from being bullied at school to playing with Buddy Guy
- “It was only after Woolly killed himself that it seemed an opportune moment to make a last statement, if you like”: Barclay James Harvest probably wouldn’t have made North if co-founder Wolstenholme hadn’t died
- July 1
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- “At one point, he held up an inflatable doll with an erection, dressed like a bee." From orgasmic laugh yoga to shamanic drumming for Mother Earth, here’s what really happens at Glastonbury Festival beyond the music
- Here are five brilliant sets from Glastonbury this year that you probably haven't heard about
- The ‘popularity’ of an AI-generated rock band was inevitable – and it highlights a depressing fact about success in the music streaming age
- The 40 best Black Sabbath songs ever
- "Peaches is voyeuristic, but it's not misogynistic": The meaning behind The Stranglers' controversial classic Peaches
- The Beatles' albums you should listen to... and one to avoid
- "What I stand for is probably closer to Jesus": Ghost's Tobias Forge on spirituality, isolation and the positive joys of fandom
- “The label didn’t want me to do it, but didn’t want to piss me off. We were both famous guitarists so I thought there’d be a lot of interest. I was right all along”: Andy Summers and Robert Fripp collaborated with remarkable ease
