All content archive
August 2023
Filter
422 articles
- August 31
-
- From channeling Converge and Fantomas to Slayer legend Dave Lombardo's incredible drum work, Biffy Clyro side-project Empire State Bastard just put out one of 2023's best extreme metal albums with Rivers Of Heresy
- Gong continue their intergalactic voyage with new album Unending Ascending
- "It's the audience that brings something magical to that song": the story of Nights In White Satin by the Moody Blues
- “We do what we wanna do. If people consider that selling out, then… whatever!” Watch Metallica respond to being called sell-outs all the way back in 1986
- “We played Madison Square Garden twice in one day… we saw our name in 50ft-high letters and said, ‘Perhaps we’ve made it!’ We bought a load of tickets off a scalper and gave them away”: When the Moody Blues started taking themselves seriously
- “Death is something that we’ll always write about because it’s tragic, negative and beautiful at the same time." The story of Helena: the song about Gerard Way's grandmother that confirmed My Chemical Romance as emo's first superstars
- “I look into the eyes of young people and there's still a disconnect – there's tragedy, there's hurt." How a tragic school shooting inspired P.O.D. to write nu metal's most affecting anthem with Youth Of The Nation
- Doja Cat's new album artwork looks almost identical to a new album cover belonging to a German metal band, and The Internet is confused
- Listen to an exuberant, previously unreleased live version of Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way
- "We did stuff that cannot be done now because it's illegal": With lyrics by gonzo rock critics and a crazy live show, Blue Öyster Cult were born to break the mould
- "These ****ers opened with Whiplash!" Watch Jason Momoa excitedly moshing at Metallica's record-breaking Los Angeles show at the Sofi Stadium
- Watch this drummer smash out a classic metalcore song with the unexpected special touch of Michael Scott from The US Office
- Toyah and Robert Fripp played an epic version of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir as Robert Plant watched on at a festival three weeks ago and somehow we missed it
- "It took us ten years, for a million different reasons." Moon Safari announce Himlabacken Vol. 2
- Peter Gabriel releases brand new single Love Can Heal, a tribute to murdered MP Jo Cox
- 10 up-and-coming thrash metal bands every self-respecting metalhead should listen to
- Magma announce limited edition seven disc 50th anniversary Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh vinyl box set
- "Me and Anthony and Flea showed up wearing dildos": The night Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers played a freaky private Halloween party for a high roller called 'The Colonel'
- August 30
-
- "We’ve never called ourselves prog. Prog is a very technically demanding genre, I couldn’t play it if I wanted to.” Sam Healy on their new album and why North Atlantic Oscillation won't be playing live any time soon
- Pat Travers: six songs you need to know
- The strange story behind Axl Rose allegedly getting into a fight with David Bowie after the 'Devil from Bromley' tried to steal Axl's girlfriend
- Marshall’s new Motif II ANC earbuds are primed and ready to rock
- "It turned out to be a wonderful show, and it healed us for a little while": Nirvana at Reading 1992 - a story of rumours, a wheelchair and salvation
- "It blurred all the boundaries of my musical vocabulary." - John Wetton on Surf's Up
- Pink Floyd to release newly remastered Dark Side Of The Moon on vinyl, CD and Blu-ray
- In 1992 The Beach Boys released Summer In Paradise. It was so bad it took them 20 years to put out another album
- The Strokes at All Points East: mediocre, charisma-free, indie rock mumblings which make you wonder what all the hype and fuss was about
- "This needs to represent the UK in Eurovision". Watch Jedward react to music videos by metal sensations Sleep Token and hardcore bands Knocked Loose and Scowl
- "There’s bells ringing and people running down the corridor. As we left the bathroom, it burst into flames": That time Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards almost burned down the Playboy Mansion
- Hell's Bells, beer and an unexpected trombone: this rare footage of AC/DC backstage in 1983 is an absolute delight
- "Do the holes for your neck in your t-shirts have to be cut bigger for that neck you have?": Watch Corey Taylor react to hilarious trash talk from fans
- Get your exclusive Within Temptation x Metal Hammer bundle – featuring an art print signed by Sharon den Adel
- "Sorry, we lied. Everything’s not okay": Neil Peart's sister recalls how family members broke the news of the late Rush drummer's death
- "I'm rediscovering songs I have written and sung over the years." Justin Hayward announces UK tour for March 2024
- "I get the opportunity to give people a little hope in the darkness, and that’s more important to me than any cheque": From council estates to festival stages, Skindred are still on the rise
- “I don’t want to equal people’s expectations – I want to exceed them.” How Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith returned to Iron Maiden and saved the band's career
- August 29
-
- Has Steven Wilson's remix of Hawkwind's Warrior On The Edge Of Time become the definitive version?
- "I still confront the expectations of my audience. I rarely give them what they want": Steven Wilson on the "privilege" of being able to do what the hell he likes
- “We put a lot of money, time and effort into it, then it disappeared.” The story of Metallica: Through The Never – how metal’s biggest band and a Spider-Man star disastrously bombed at the box office
- "When I heard that on the radio, I went, Dammit, I should have written that song": Alice Cooper names the emo and grunge anthems he wishes he had written
- "It appeared that he had fallen down an elevator shaft, but we knew that he was murdered": the traumatic story of Deep Purple's visit to Indonesia in 1975
- The 10 greatest nu metal bands of all time
- “Mike Oldfield engineered the first track Henry Cow recorded, because Tom Newman had been celebrating the end of Tubular Bells and was brainless drunk under the console”: Bassist John Greaves’ life in prog
- The sexual assault investigation into Rammstein's Till Lindemann has been dropped
- “It was a finished product, called A for Anderson, intended as a solo record. Then the record company heard it." The story of Jethro Tull and A
- Reading Festival 2023 showed that when Matty Healy tones down his nonsense, The 1975 remain a top tier live band
- Watch Thin Lizzy's historic first appearance on The Midnight Special: grit, charisma, Jailbreak and Don't Believe A Word
- Lemmy's favourite bar is being sued for allegedly creating a "dangerous, sexualized, and hostile environment" for women customers
- "It would just have reminded me of being back in Nirvana. It would have been sad, for me personally": Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl on why he turned down joining Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
- “The idea was a girl in a leather jacket, holding a Flying V guitar, surrounded by cows.” The story of Metalhead – the most authentic heavy metal movie to feature Metallica, Megadeth and buckets of existential dread
- "That kind of bare-bones grit they had in the early days was replaced with this driving sonic overload": Why I ❤️ AC/DC's Back In Black, by Kiss's Paul Stanley
- Steven Wilson shares first music from The Harmony Codex. Watch the video for Economies Of Scale here
- A beginner's guide to folk metal in five essential albums
- Watch Sophie Lloyd's dazzling shred version of Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven
- August 28
-
- "We thought it was funny, and then there were articles in The Guardian and The New York Times. It was on Fox News!". We interviewed Attack Attack!, the band behind that insane 2008 MySpace 'crabcore' trend
- "There's kids in our T-shirts, flying our banners, and they know every word": The Dust Coda are ready to take on the world, and they love it
- "You can’t play Stairway to Heaven with cold fingers in front of Jimmy Page!": What happened when Ann and Nancy Wilson performed Stairway To Heaven for Led Zeppelin
- Three years ago Lucinda Williams lost her home to a tornado and suffered a stroke, but new album Stories From A Rock N Roll Heart is testament to an indomitable spirit
- "The closest metal scene was two hours away. We couldn't just go and see a show." From being an outsider to playing Sepultura songs with Max Cavalera, these are the life lessons of Gojira's Joe Duplantier
- These are the best new rock songs you need to hear right now, featuring Blackberry Smoke, In This Moment, Elles Bailey and more
- "My dad put on the song Big Balls by AC/DC. It made me laugh so hard." From System Of A Down to Peter Gabriel, these are the songs that have soundtracked Wolfgang Van Halen's life
- "Impeccable, clear and soulful in equal measure": Robbie Robertson - Robbie Robertson album review
- 10 classic metal albums where the last song is the best
- “Whenever I got accosted on the street by a crazy maniac, the best thing to do was walk away. I always felt threatened. We had to leave by the back door at a lot of places”: Devo’s battle for survival
- August 27
-
- Haunting tunes from the head and heart, The Blue Nile's A Walk Across The Rooftops defies easy categorisation.
- "I have never heard a sound like that, before or since": In 1967, Queen’s Brian May was an unknown student. Then he booked Jimi Hendrix to play his college for £1000 and his life changed forever
- 10 terrible metal albums with amazing cover art
- “A subversive and musically schizophrenic infiltration of mainstream America”: Faith No More’s The Real Thing was more prog than many realised
- Governor of Nevada wants AC/DC for Super Bowl LVIII halftime show
- Alice Cooper dropped by cosmetics company over trans comments
- August 26
-
- 30 guitarists on the guitar heroes who changed their life
- From 'The Pale Ones' to, erm, 'Gwaaarrrgghhlllgh': 10 legendary metal bands that used to have incredibly goofy names
- “I should’ve died of alcohol poisoning!” How Waking The Fallen catapulted Avenged Sevenfold to international fame and new levels of debauchery
- 10 nu metal bands who should have been massive
- August 25
-
- “David Bowie kidnapped us!”: the unlikely story of Joe Elliott, Bono, Bowie, a hijacked taxicab and the most unlikely version of Happy Birthday ever
- “My mum said, ‘What about the drink and drugs and wild women?’ I said, ‘That‘s what I want to do this for!’”: the life and times of Bernie Marsden, British blues-rock‘s secret weapon
- “I was p**sed off and I proceeded to stomp”: the time Blue Oyster Cult declared war on AC/DC at an 80s music festival
- "I've read that David wrote it after his marriage broke up, or that it was written on a boat in Venezuela": The story behind Whitesnake's Here I Go Again
- Queen were poor. Their singer sounded like a "bleating sheep". Their music was greeted with indifference. But they believed in themselves, and their debut album would make the years of pain worthwhile
- Former Whitesnake guitarist and solo artist Bernie Marsden dead at 72
- Spiritbox, Beartooth, In This Moment, Myrkur and more: here are the best new metal songs you need to hear this week
- Blackberry Smoke announce new album Be Right Here, launch Dig A Hole single
- "Van Halen could do nothing, night after night, to stem the charge of this Godzilla": How 1988's Monsters Of Rock tour was the making of Metallica
- Shepherds Reign's Ala Mai is a promising sign that Polynesian metal is here to stay
- 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...
- “I thought Eminem was chanting my name, but he was chanting for me to jump!” Why Rage Against The Machine protested against Limp Bizkit atop a 15-foot statue and started the most one-sided rivalry in nu metal history
- "When it came out, I was a raging alcoholic prick...I wasn't paying attention to the songs": Corey Taylor on why he now loves Metallica's St. Anger
- "We knew within forty-five minutes that we had a superstar. It was electrifying": The Elton John show that launched his career into the stratosphere
- "Purists who hate anything invented after the Mellotron might not like it. But if prog is to have a future beyond legacy acts, it needs fresh ideas": Voyager's Fearless In Love is the most energised music of their career
- Watch Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante sing Spinal Tap's Tonight I'm Going To Rock You at chaotic 1991 Los Angeles club show
- Where Do We Go From Here? is a perfect encapsulation of Asking Alexandria's fascinating journey so far...apart from the bits that sound like Maroon 5
- Assault accusations, tax evasion charges: All this sits uncomfortably with our view of Sigur Rós as magic moon-faced elves. You can understand why they'd want to escape from reality
- This is what winning looks like: Godsticks latest might be their greatest album yet
- D'Virgilio, Morse and Jennings to release second album
- From underground trailblazing to commercial success: Ultravox's Quartet saw George Martin take them further into the mainstream – but at what cost?
- August 24
-
- "The songs have a vibe of, Get the f**k off me, and quit telling me what I should be doing": Why XO is the most perfect representation of Elliott Smith's brooding, beautiful genius
- Soft Machine: less a band and more an organism which is constantly evolving
- "Where you hold your guitar for the first time is crucial. It kind of signifies how much of a c**t you’re going to be:" Noel Gallagher reveals a crucial piece of rock star etiquette he learned ahead of his very first gig with Oasis
- "An album for a world where reality is being reconfigured": North Atlantic Oscillation's United Wire reviewed
- 40-odd years on, Gentle Giant's 1976 album Interview remains an object lesson in risk-taking
- "We got stopped literally every ten metres by people wanting to take pictures with us": Meet Powder Chutes, the small town New Zealand band making a big noise
- "So there I was, sitting in the driver's seat of a Lincoln Continental, underwater": The night The Who’s Keith Moon drove his car into a swimming pool
- "We know we’re good - As a live band nobody can touch us": Even after almost 50 years, Raven are still playing it hot, playing it hard and playing it loud
- "The voice had been there all along... Hidden in plain sight": Listen to Roger Waters' atmospheric new version of Pink Floyd's Time, from his reimagined The Dark Side of the Moon Redux album
- “I remember Nick Mason saying, ‘Pink Floyd is stopping… we’ll leave him to do the big outdoor concerts now!’” But Jean-Michel Jarre argues: “I want to contribute to tomorrow, not yesterday”
- "When they said they wanted the whole full-length version of Whole Lotta Love, I said, Really?": what happened when Jimmy Page took a Led Zeppelin classic to China
- "Loath to actually leave Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett made it so they had to chuck him out. And none of them ever got over it": Storm Thorgerson's documentary on the Pink Floyd founder reviewed
- “Our identities are unimportant.” Unlike Slipknot or Ghost, no one seems to want to know who's behind the mask in Sleep Token. From TikTok infamy to their strange sex appeal, here’s why
- "I have never drunk milk, and never will": Revisiting Lemmy's bizarre appearance in the Finnish milk advert filmed weeks before his death
- Get your exclusive Skindred x Metal Hammer bundle – featuring a signed art print and a special Smile patch
- Previously unreleased Dieter Moebius album out in October
- Trivium are about to take a break from touring, but their live show still proves they’re one of the greatest metal bands of their generation
- “I’d play Bodies five times a night if people really wanted it that bad!" How a misunderstood mosh anthem and patronage by Sharon Osbourne made Drowning Pool nu metal's new superstars - before tragedy snatched it all away
- O.R.k. team up with Nervosa drummer Michaela Naydenova for 2Days Prog + 1 Festival
- August 23
-
- Either ‘too progressive’ or ‘not progressive enough’: the impressive boxset that reveals some heart-breaking detail behind The Pineapple Thief's early career
- Yes singles collection to be released on vinyl in October
- "The inebriation factor was endorsed by the hot tub, the bedroom with the chains, the S&M suite": How The Who's Keith Moon made rock's worst solo album
- He’s a YouTube sensation who’s made an album inspired by Toto, Michael Jackson and 80s Genesis. “Now I get to find out whether I’ve gotten away with it or not,” says Martin Miller
- Ozric Tentacles announce brand new album Lotus Unfolding
- 10 metal bands who thankfully retired before they turned rubbish
- Have the Rolling Stones just launched a new album via a cryptic advertisement in an east London newspaper?
- "We could have been bigger had we had an amazing manager. We’re our own worst enemies": How Roxy Music got it together despite themselves
- "It was hard to care when no one else did": Watch Brian Johnson perform on TV with Geordie on the show that made no difference
- Fish On Friday will release new album 8mm in October
- Watch Dave Grohl, Chad Smith and Taylor Hawkins' son Shane cover Led Zeppelin, Queen, AC/DC and Van Halen classics in a pizza joint
- A beginner's guide to deathcore in five essential albums
- Disturbed's David Draiman would "love" to collaborate with Taylor Swift: "She's a brilliant woman and one of the great songwriters of our time"
- Are Guns N' Roses and Aerosmith making new albums? Alice Cooper seems to think so
- Watch Chrissie Hynde join Guns N' Roses onstage in Boston for a lively romp through Bad Obsession
- VOLA return with anthemic new single Paper Wolf
- “People thought, ‘Not another actor who thinks he can sing!’, but I proved I could carry it off.” How Dracula, Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings legend Christopher Lee became a heavy metal star in his 80s
- "I don't know if she's aware that Jessie’s Girl is about her": The true story of the Rick Springfield song that turned him into a superstar
- August 22
-
- "I was sitting there thinking, I can’t hear guitar": Alex Lifeson on the battle behind Rush's most divisive song, Subdivisions
- Meet Laura Meade, the most dangerous woman in America!
- The deluxe version of Aerosmith's Greatest Hits: includes everything a reasonably sane person could possibly want
- Slipknot sound like a deranged and destructive organism on the 77-minute sensory blitzkrieg of Live At MSG
- Music doesn't get much more gorgeous than ELO's performance of Strange Magic on The Midnight Special
- John Lennon wanted to produce them, Pat Metheny said he wouldn’t have played jazz fusion without them, and Rick Wakeman claimed he played the greatest organ solo ever: Rod Argent looks back on his time with the Zombies and Argent
- Myrkur returns with new album Spine in October
- "I was considered an enemy": In the face of misogyny, sexism, corporate bullying, betrayal and abuse, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the joyous, defiant, fierce and fearless sound of an artist refusing to shut up and sing
- Descent isn't just one of 2023's best albums: it should be the record that finally confirms Orbit Culture as metal's next big breakout band
- The best new metal bands you need to hear this month
- 10 bands who peaked with the first song on their first album
- John Carpenter announces Anthology II (Movie Themes 1976-1988) will be released in October
- “It was horrifying. The heat was intense and I felt at times that I was really burning”. The insane story of The Wicker Man, the folk horror cult-classic with a disastrous background
- "It’s my songs with the sound and vision of Steven Wilson”. Aviv Geffen on the making of Blackfield IV
- Drummer Zoltan Csörsz to sit out Lifesigns September tour
- How to clean your headphones and keep them sounding great for longer
- 10 hard rock and heavy metal music videos that got banned for the dumbest reasons
- “If they had the flares and beards and the record was from 1971 or 1972, that was what I wanted… records that looked odd and I could afford”: How Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt discovered prog
- August 21
-
- "There are keyboard players who are way better than me who have made albums that aren’t as good as mine!" - The Tangent, Andy Tillison and Auto Reconnaissance
- "The cops were setting their dogs on the kids, the kids were throwing bottles at the cops, and I'm like, This is so cool!": The night a free Green Day show turned into a violent punks versus police showdown
- Three ex-Megadeth members once started a Metallica cover band together
- "Scott Stapp mistakes the trite for the profound and delivers hallmark card lyrics with an earnestness bordering on the comical": Creed: Human Clay - Album Of The Week Club review
- “I didn’t have much knowledge of Marillion. A singer who painted his face like Peter Gabriel? It all seemed a little bit derivative…” How Marillion reinvented themselves with Steve Hogarth and Seasons End
- At last! The "holy grail" footage of Van Halen's full set at Donington 1984 has unexpectedly surfaced online
- These are the best new rock songs you need to hear right now, featuring Scott Stapp, Starbenders, Baroness and more
- "When I was a clown in the circus, I was backstage peeling off my nose and snorting cocaine." Steve-O on the Jackass stunts too hot for TV, drug addiction and finding sobriety
- “She didn’t even show up for the rehearsal." From a nixed red carpet date to an angry Playboy interview, inside the unlikely MTV VMAs duet between Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst and Christina Aguilera
- "On every stage, we played for our lives": The Scorpions look back on 50 years of rock'n'roll
- “We were going to take the world by any means necessary”: How Slipknot’s Wait And Bleed punished the mainstream and became the essential nu metal song
- August 20
-
- "Halo was a hit single before we even put out the record": how a million dollar demand, distaste for black metal and bungled record deal helped Soil write a millennial metal anthem
- The 20 most underrated Beatles songs
- "Dave was really nervous about talking to these guys": Why Dave Grohl ditched the Foo Fighters to make extreme metal supergroup Probot, featuring members of Venom, Sepultura, Motorhead and more
- “Updating The Wall for disaffected, mid-90s youth”: The prog roots of Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral
- “We wanted to challenge all the ideas. We had no rules, no limits, no laws”: why Oliver Stone’s The Doors is the most influential rock biopic ever made
- Kid Rock spotted drinking Bud Light at gig in Nashville – just months after ridiculous anti-trans beer-shooting stunt
- "Little tyrant" David Byrne regrets how Talking Heads split went down
- August 19
-
- "We don’t take our brotherhood for granted now": Max and Iggor Cavalera on mending fences, Sepultura and the legacy of global metal
- "Craziness, drugs, alcohol, chicks – you name it, I did it." How Korn's most chaotic and hedonistic era birthed a nu metal classic in Follow The Leader
- “My brother was into Yes but it didn’t speak to me. They knew too many chords!” He was a punk hero, while her dad was Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen was her babysitter. How Galen Ayers turned Paul Simonon onto prog
- "Joey got to take the mask off and be a different person": how The Exorcist, quoting Airplane! and Joey Jordison's mum turned Wednesday 13 from Hot Topic clerk to glam punk star
- “People thought the Beatles were God. That's not correct”: the genius of Frank Zappa, the rock’n’roll icon who had no time for rock’n’roll
- Heilung’s awe-inspiring rituals are raising the bar for live music
- Corey Taylor thinks one of Slipknot's best-loved anthems is their most over-rated song, and says the fact that he still sings it "tells you how much of a psycho I am"
- August 18
-
- 30 insanely obscure underground rock albums that only connoisseurs know about
- “I waited for the call from David but it never came. Two days later he was dead”: Graham Nash and David Crosby were on the verge of reconciling earlier this year
- "You start something, then come back after half an hour and you’ve seen the cosmos together." Motorpsycho and the making of Ancient Astronauts
- The 10 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- "Sometimes you take a gamble and luck’s on your side": Listen to raw demos from Green Day's 30th anniversary reissue of their 20 million-selling masterpiece Dookie
- The best new prog music from Steve Hackett, The Omnific, Pomegranate Tiger and more in Tracks Of The Week
- How secretly embracing English glam rockers The Sweet put Scorpions on the launch pad to global stardom
- “There was this element the whole time, like, We’re doing this. And if it doesn’t work, we’re f***ed”: Why the timeless magic of The Gaslight Anthem's The '59 Sound will never fade
- "I mean, seriously, how much better does it get?" Dolly Parton on her version of The Beatles' iconic Let It Be, featuring Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Peter Frampton and Mick Fleetwood
- “The media built up this mutual hatred between prog and punk, but really I don’t think it existed”: Sonja Kristina on Curved Air’s impact - and the time she nearly quit
- Jean-Michel Jarre teams up with Nina Kraviz for chilled out remake of Sex In The Machine
- "I remember driving round listening to Jane Doe by Converge and being so inspired": How members of Biffy Clyro, Oceansize and Slayer teamed up to make one of 2023's most extreme metal debuts
- White Willow reissues programme announced
- "Metal was getting heavier and heavier again. I had this idea..." How Metalocalypse finally brought heavy metal back to the TV screen
- “We have got to get that monkey out of the office before he kills us all.” How metal (mostly) united against George W. Bush in the 2000s
- "I promise you this, as long as you are here, I will always be here for you": Watch Slipknot's Corey Taylor break down in tears during an emotional speech to fans
- The albums! The bands! The stories! The new issue of Classic Rock is the ultimate celebration of the 1980s
- King Crimson announce 50th anniversary issue of Larks Tongues In Aspic
- Rival Sons confirm Lightbringer album details, launch new single Sweet Life
- August 17
-
- "We did have a couple of séances, but I didn't see any ghosts, though I know the place was haunted": Glenn Hughes on the recording of Deep Purple's Burn
- "Maybe they just don’t care": System Of A Down's Serj Tankian calls out Imagine Dragons for ignoring his pleas to cancel a scheduled show in Azerbaijan, which he claims will help "whitewash" brutal human rights abuses in the country
- "The next day I started putting signs up in guitar places." Corey Taylor reveals the band that inspired him to pursue a career in music - and how it came during his darkest moment
- "He’s a prince who thinks he’s a king already": The day a young Prince supported The Rolling Stones, and was abused and brought to tears by thousands of food-throwing racists
- "There was talk that I would have to appear to prove that I was alive". The FBI once launched an investigation into the murder of Trent Reznor. Two years later, they realised he was still alive.
- Tobias Forge wrote Ghost's first song "almost as a joke"
- The Omnific announce world tour for September and October
- "I had a phone call from Dave Gilmour and he said, 'Would you be interested in coming down?' Former XTC man Colin Moulding on how he almost joined Pink Floyd
- A man has set a new world record after playing Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd perfectly on Guitar Hero II but three times faster than the original
- If you'd like to watch 18,812 Australians singing Africa by Toto, that option is now available on the internet
- "Plenty of my guitars went down in flames. We smashed ’em and taped fireworks to ’em." How Damageplan gave Dimebag Darrell hope in a post-Pantera world
- "We kept the groupies and drug dealers away": Steve Albini on the making of In Utero, Nirvana's bleak, beautiful swansong
- "You take me back to that time. You remind me what I did on the stage": Jimmy Page on the Japanese fan with the obsession that's been turned into a film
- "We can talk about bubblegum, but I can also talk about things that matter.” Within Temptation return to the cover of Metal Hammer for a world exclusive interview
- “I played Sweet Home Alabama, and that became part of Metallica’s The Four Horsemen”: The Four Horsemen vs Mechanix – how Metallica and Megadeth released two warring versions of the same song
- “I just didn’t feel I could pull off the things Peter Gabriel did. I said: ‘I’ll give it a go but don’t expect me to wear costumes!’” Phil Collins’ first show as Genesis frontman
- August 16
-
- Corey Taylor: "For eight years I was married to the wrong woman. It was a very toxic relationship and it ate a part of me that I don't know if I'll ever get back"
- "We got mobbed for autographs – thousands of screaming schoolgirls and we had to escape in a limo": the wild ride of Pacific Gas & Electric
- “For Lemmy and I, Hawkwind wasn’t a job, it was like family. That’s why he was so devastated when he got fired”: Stacia Blake’s role in space rock
- Audio-Technica ATH-A1000Z review
- "Nobody with any sense would pay and queue for a ticket just to stand on a seat and scream and not hear one sound from the stage": it turns out George Harrison's mum had her doubts about The Beatles
- Dave Lombardo defends Lars Ulrich and isn't happy with his haters: "I admonish the people who talk **** about him"
- "It was the punk gig of dreams": what happened when The Clash brought Buzzcocks, The Slits and Subway Sect to Manchester
- Rick Wakeman teams up with Jah Wobble and Chester Thompson for new track Io
- "One of our group members unknowingly invited Satan into our midst": When The Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson became friends with The Manson family his life changed forever
- "When he introduced me so beautifully, and the roar of the crowd was so loud, I burst into tears": the story behind Rick Allen's triumphant comeback
- Videogames, office rage and, erm, sweets: inside the wild and colourful world of Hanabie, Japan's next metal superstars in waiting
- Chris Daughtry says Joe Perry called him about replacing Steven Tyler in Aerosmith
- "It was a beautiful scar on the metal world." How Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Korn and the rest took nu metal from hated subgenre to the biggest thing on Planet Earth
- "These songs aren’t written to be your friend, they're written to protect you": supergroup Empire State Bastard want you to join their riot
- TesseracT reveal new video game play in visualizer for The Grey
- 10 classic metal albums with horribly ugly cover art
- "It sounds a bit like they’re speaking underwater, but it’s our first shot at this": scientists have recreated Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall using patients' brainwaves
- "They’re not just wearing our shirts, they’re stealing the f**king music as well!" Venom's Cronos on his first impressions of Metallica, and nearly choking Lars Ulrich
- House Of Marley “satisfy the soul” with the new Stir It Up Lux turntable
- August 15
-
- Curved Air appeal for new guitarist on social media
- "At this point we certainly don't do it for fame or money, because there is none to be had": The Defiants' new album is a throwback to better days
- "It had a very spiritually sexual vibe": Red Hot Chili Pepper's John Frusciante once claimed to have an encounter with a horny ghost whilst recording Blood Sugar Sex Magik in a haunted mansion
- Oceans Of Slumber sign new record deal with Season Of Mist
- The Lemon Twigs have backed The Zombies and played with Todd Rundgren: they also drive each other crazy
- "It was never about money, it was never about fame, it was about having fun": six things you need to know about The Revivalists
- "I felt embarrassed - I haven’t been that angry in a long time." From dinner at Bradley Cooper's to an unplugged mic, the story of Metallica's chaotic Grammys performance with Lady Gaga
- "Food was flying everywhere, with no regard for the industry geeks whose suits were getting splattered": That time Nirvana got kicked out of their Nevermind release party for starting a drunken food fight
- Woodstock Festival: 50 mind-blowing facts about the original celebration of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll
- Subsignal unveil new line-up for album number six
- "It speaks to regular people, and that's why it's so great": Watch the worlds of emo and Britpop collide as My Chemical Romance cover Pulp's Common People
- Every Architects album ranked from worst to best
- "Its sheer capacity for repelling the viewer is almost immeasurable": How Alice Cooper, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon and Mae West found themselves in one of the worst movies ever made
- 10 metal riffs that look easy but are incredibly difficult to play
- August 14
-
- The 10 best cover songs by Ghost
- Some people on the internet are angry at Stevie Nicks for being "tone deaf" to wildfire situation in Hawaii
- Forget Manchester: Leeds was the REAL home of 80s alternative music
- “I shrugged off advice and instead went headlong into experimenting with different musical ideas. Not my best ever move”: Greg Lake’s faltering reboot after ELP split
- These are the best new rock songs you need to hear right now, featuring Creeper, The Struts, Alice Cooper and more
- Bring Me The Horizon and Architects finally headlining festivals shows that metal is ready for the next generation to take over
- "We will ALWAYS encourage creative expression, we will NEVER stifle it": Ghost fans were asked to remove face paint at a show, and the band were not impressed
- "It’s so dope and so different... it really is the long-lost album": Corey Taylor says Slipknot's Look Outside Your Window album will finally be released in 2024, and admits that he's kinda to blame for the delay
- Megadeth's return to the UK for Bloodstock was far from perfect, but a riotous, career-spanning celebration all the same
- "He's not reinventing the wheel here, just venturing out of the wheelhouse": Bruce Dickinson: Tattooed Millionaire - Album Of The Week Club review
- “This motherf****r better know the song!” Watch Michael Bublé front Foo Fighters in San Francisco
- Killswitch Engage's stunning Bloodstock headline set was a moment two decades in the making
- "Do we have any Oasis fans in the house?": Liam Gallagher's triumphant Boardmasters headline set shows exactly why he has the upper hand on Noel
- August 13
-
- “Will I be borrowing the Harley? Nah, they’ve given me a moped!": Richie Faulkner's Elegant Weapons are the supergroup trad metal needs in 2023
- "I wish I'd had Rick on Cold Turkey – Clapton choked up": What happened when John Lennon hired Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen to play on Double Fantasy
- “We’ve had a few Floyd moments… we got a giant ghetto blaster on a boat and parked it in the harbour… we closed down an airport for six hours!” The Orb were prog all along
- A beginner’s guide to doom metal in five essential albums
- 30 musicians on the album that changed their life as a kid
- Alice Cooper believes Beatles would "absolutely" have reformed if John Lennon survived
- Corey Taylor: It terrifies me that conspiracy theories are the norm
- August 12
-
- 10 brilliant Kiss deep cuts we’re begging them to play one last time before they retire
- 10 classic metal songs we can't believe don't get played live
- The time Blaze Bayley and Bruce Dickinson sang together at an Iron Maiden show in 1990
- “I found that offensive. I hope you lose your voice.” Remember that time someone screamed Let It Go like a black metal song on Britain’s Got Talent and really annoyed Amanda Holden?
- The 10 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- Watch Carrie Underwood cover Motorhead classic Ace of Spades
- Watch pro-shot footage of Metallica performing Seek & Destroy in New Jersey
- August 11
-
- Great new prog music from Southern Empire, Karnataka, Jack Hues and more in Tracks Of The Week
- 10 rock stars who missed out on their dream movie roles
- "People were very down on us after Syd left. Everyone thought Syd was all the group had": In the wake of the worldwide success of The Dark Side Of The Moon, David Gilmour remembered when Pink Floyd were written off as yesterday's men
- A beginner’s guide to Iron Maiden in five essential albums
- "We wanted to write songs that Adele or Lewis Capaldi could sing, but to make it rocky too": Why Ashley Sherlock might be more than just another blues prodigy
- Nice moves, Robert! Watch Fripp and Toyah's backstage dance-off
- Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen on the genius of AC/DC’s Bon Scott: “My house burnt down the same day as Bon died. I cared more about Bon than the building”
- Here are the best songs you'll hear this week, featuring Olivia Rodrigo, Creeper, Goat, Teenage Fanclub and more
- "We have to bring people together not divide them": Electric Callboy don't mind being tagged a 'novelty' band so long as they can make metalheads smile
- Dee Snider takes aim at Kiss, Ozzy and Scorpions over retirement plans: “I see people singing Crazy Nights and they’re not so crazy any more”
- "I’d pay to be in it!": Noel Gallagher names his dream supergroup, featuring some very familiar faces
- “I didn’t realise how much I missed Cliff until I went into rehab”: When Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson interviewed Metallica’s James Hetfield about Some Kind Of Monster and the death of Cliff Burton
- "All the things that happen during any revolutionary time brings out the best music": Vintage Trouble's Ty Taylor is ready for the revolution
- Greta Van Fleet take lessons on longevity from tour partners Metallica
- Mick Fleetwood's Hawaii restaurant destroyed by wildfire
- August 10
-
- Tonbridge Castle's Walled Garden Festival cancelled
- “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
- Everything you wanted to know about Rock In Opposition but were too afraid to ask
- "With Van Halen, I learned a lot of how I didn’t want things to be with Mammoth": Wolfgang Van Halen on the lessons he took away from playing in his dad's band
- Every Star Wars film ranked from worst to best
- David Gilmour and The Orb's Metallic Spheres remixed and reimagined
- The 1975 must pay Good Vibes festival promoters two million pounds by August 14 or face court action
- Every Rival Sons album ranked from worst to best
- The ultimate Canterbury Scene playlist
- A beginner's guide to Metallica in five essential albums
- "We were ahead of our time": How tales of Thor, lightning-spewing hammers and a battle to the death at the end of the world turned Amon Amarth into the world's favourite heavy metal Vikings
- "Red Hot Chili Peppers are being used by the Satanic powers of darkness": How Anthony Kiedis incurred the wrath of evangelical Christians, and his granny, at the 1992 MTV Awards
- "Their collective dishonesty is beyond shameful. God help Britain": Queen's Brian May hits out at the UK government and Britain's right-wing press
- Watch the historic footage of Robbie Robertson saving Eric Clapton before they go head-to-head in a duel for the ages
- “American culture at its absolute finest”: This video of a metalcore band turning a Denny’s into a moshpit is still the best thing on the internet
- "This album almost destroyed our lives!" Earthside return with first new album for eight years
- August 9
-
- The Band’s Robbie Robertson dies at 80
- “I’m quite happy no one knows who we are!” IO Earth on working out of the spotlight
- "I listened to my dad's prog records. That's what I wanted to play." Cellar Darling on the music that drives them
- It turns out that Kiss sound like the happiest group of musicians in the world if you mix them with the J. Geils Band
- “Don’t show up at my shows or you’ll get ****ed”: Fred Durst once threatened a nu metal band for turning down a record deal
- "I’d seen this wild-eyed, crazy-haired guy and my parents were horrified!" Marc Almond's lifelong passion for Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson
- Every Foo Fighters album ranked from worst to best
- Corey Taylor: "There are a lot of people in Iowa that are very ashamed of the fact that Slipknot comes from there"
- A beginner's guide to metalcore in five essential albums
- The Grateful Dead albums you should definitely own
- Hawklords announce new album Space
- "Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a helicopter, and you can land next to some": The wit and wisdom of David Lee Roth
- Enslaved's Ivar Bjørnson: "Euronymous got me into prog!
- "Can you believe that at Freddie Mercury's last concert, no one actually pressed record?": The story of the great showman's last stand
- August 8
-
- "The N.W.A. attitude is we don't give a f**k": how Straight Outta Compton changed hip-hop, and then the world
- Alcatrazz are well into their second coming, but it's confusing
- "It's like two different people, like watching a movie": AC/DC's Angus Young reveals what it's like to be Angus Young onstage
- “I have no problem with people that want to drink and do drugs – if they can do it in moderation. I wish I could, but I can’t”: when Mike Portnoy performed his 12-Step Suite
- GOAT will release new album Medicine in October
- "That church burned down before we got there": Dani Filth on the next Cradle Of Filth album, collaborating with Ed Sheeran and the sexiest member of Slayer
- This Winter Machine sign new deal for album number four
- "Oh god, there’s a weird old guy naked right in front of me": Watch Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong share his memory of meeting a nude Roger Daltrey
- Skindred: the six songs you need to know
- 10 times nu metal gloriously gatecrashed mainstream TV
- The Drive-By Truckers' albums you should definitely own
- "From the moment that Steph gets the mic, this is no longer a Paramore show, this is a Steph Curry show": watch NBA superstar Stephen Curry sing Misery Business with Paramore in San Francisco
- Fates Warning to stop releasing new albums
- "If he had been breathing in, he would have been dead": What happened the night James Hetfield caught fire
- August 7
-
- AC/DC: High Voltage - Album Of The Week Club review
- "I’d be thinking, Behind this cocaine, either someone is dead, or someone is going to be killed": That time a Los Angeles drug dealer asked former Deep Purple vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes to look after five kilos of coke
- “Even if you don’t like metal, you’d like a Slipknot concert”: Is Margot Robbie the most metal actor in Hollywood?
- “We inadvertently started an LA riot, and we didn’t even do anything." System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian on fleeing civil war in Lebanon, causing mayhem in Hollywood and becoming an unlikely metal icon
- These are the best new rock songs you need to hear right now, featuring Mammoth WVH, Doro and more
- "There is not a single redeemable factor involved in this film. I'm in." A new horror film about a killer sloth called Slotherhouse is going viral for just how ridiculous it is: watch the trailer now
- Crazy On You: Watch Heart's explosive television debut on The Midnight Special in 1977
- In 2001, Nintendo approved a Pokémon nu metal song, and it’s honestly worse than you could ever imagine
- "Oh lord, YEAAAH!": Listen to this "scary accurate" AI James Hetfield cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs
- "Syd Barrett was absolutely unbelievable": Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page on Pink Floyd's "very, very cool" early years and Syd Barrett's "futuristic vision"
- "I could certainly see death in the rear view mirror." From being a "class clown" to beating cancer, the incredible life and career of Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson
- "There’s a tape of us doing Black Sabbath covers. I hope that never surfaces, we were appalling." - Tinyfish come clean
- "If it's not good enough for myself, it's not good enough for you!": Watch Kirk Hammett botch the intro to Metallica's Nothing Else Matters at a recent show
- 10 of the wildest things you can see on Thunderflix, the world's only streaming service dedicated to heavy metal
- 10 terrible thrash metal albums with one classic song
- "I can't do this": Watch Chad Kroeger halt Nickelback show due to "absolutely destroyed throat"
- “I’ve been known to rant and rave… I had no idea that my words would be hostages to fortune”: but Van der Graaf Generator’s Peter Hammill doesn’t mind if quotes limited his success
- August 6
-
- 10 brilliant but obscure late 80s and early 90s hard rock bands that everyone should know about
- The 10 greatest video game soundtracks ever
- "David Bowie said, 'That was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.’” Magna Carta and friends in high places
- "I like the idea of my face leering out, some guy drowning himself in the corner of one of these terrible disco bars where they have MTV playing": Thom Yorke on the making of Radiohead’s shocking No Surprises video
- August 5
-
- Ex-Kinks keyboard player John Gosling dies at 75
- “I have 40 incomplete songs on the go”: We met the busiest solo artist in American metal, and he’s a one-man NWOBHM revival
- “These kinds of albums only come along once in a generation." Wishbone Ash and the making of Argus
- “Some people would want me to just be playing jazz-rock in a pub somewhere!" Dave Stewart refuses to bow to fan expectations
- 9 legendary bands who are playing farewell tours in 2023
- “We came as ambassadors for heavy music, so we did our job”: How butt-plugs, sold out shows and Iron Maiden helped Lord Of The Lost laugh off their Eurovision loss
- Molybaron return with third album Something Ominous
- The Anchoress to release covers album Versions in October
- “Part of the deal was we couldn’t disturb the penguins”: Lars Ulrich looks back on Metallica’s record-breaking Antarctica gig
- August 4
-
- The 10 filthiest rock’n’roll riffs ever
- Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week: brand new music from Sherinian/Phillips, Hayley Griffiths and more
- Bill Bruford surprises fans with live performance at John Wetton Tribute show
- The 10 best new metal songs you need to hear this week
- "She went on several talk shows and said it was about her. But I can tell you that it wasn't": the real story behind Toto's Rosanna
- Here are the best alt. rock songs you'll hear this week, featuring Yungblud, Queens Of The Stone Age, Meet Me @ The Altar and more
- Prog teams up with Voyager for a keytar-tastic bundle
- "It allows me to have a much broader palette": Watch Bill Bruford introduce TV viewers to electronic drums back in 1985
- Trevor Rabin shares first new vocal-led music for over 30 years
- "It connects with me in a way that I just can't describe, creating a very special environment that no other record can achieve": Chris Cornell on the Pink Floyd album he loved the most
- 10 classic metal albums almost ruined by one terrible song
- 4 brilliant new bands you need to hear this month
- Downes Braide Association hook up with Francis Dunnery for Keep On Moving
- You can now view Freddie Mercury's stage costumes, photos, hand-written lyrics, the piano on which he wrote Bohemian Rhapsody and his silk kimono collection before they go under the hammer
- Watch Dave Mustaine angrily call out a drunk loudmouth fan at a Megadeth show before making a weird joke about incest
- Mammoth WVH's second album finds Wolfgang Van Halen scaling spectacular new peaks
- Skindred have just released the banger-packed, life-affirming soundtrack to everybody’s summer
- "Had we come along two years earlier, before grunge took over, things could have turned out better": Thunder's Luke Morley is at peace with the past
- “You distract the driver and I’ll hit him over the head”: Bruce Dickinson and Ozzy Osbourne once tried to steal a taxi together
- Pink Floyd grace the cover of the new issue of Prog, which is on sale now!
- “They gave me the confidence to try anything in Diamond Head”: Brian Tatler’s prog passion is Gentle Giant (and Muse and It Bites)
- August 3
-
- Rare footage of Fanny playing live is vivid proof of what a special band they were
- "I can't work a bloody digital watch, never mind a phone": Ozzy once accidentally texted Robert Plant looking for his missing cat
- John Wetton: An Extraordinary Life tribute concert - important information!
- “They were a huge part of the beginnings of Metallica”: How the Metal Massacre albums launched Metallica, Slayer and the next decade of metal
- "This guy Bon Scott sounds like he’s got peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth!": Megadeth's Dave Mustaine on how AC/DC changed his life
- Someone has designed a load of comfortable armchairs inspired by classic album covers
- "It left me paralyzed on my right side...I was worried my career was over": Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain suffered a stroke in January, is still recovering.
- John Lydon has a stalker who claims to be his daughter: "It’s making me a bag of nerves"
- Haunt The Woods share new single, the "angry proclamation" Now Is Our Time
- Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme thinks bands who don't want to play their biggest hits for their fans are "a little c**ty"
- 10 heavy metal TV shows that need to come back
- "I got shot down many times: ‘Oh, it’s pop. Oh, it’s bubblegum… the logo is ugly and we don’t hear a single!’” How John Wetton and Asia dialled up their debut album
- August 2
-
- Horns up! Perfect pours, pints and products to help you celebrate International Beer Day in style
- Every In Flames album ranked from worst to best
- "If I can't sing it with conviction then it doesn't matter, I can’t do it": What happened when Rush met the Manic Street Preachers
- "Not many bands have played Summer’s End, ArcTanGent and with Hawkwind!" Welcome to the world of The Fierce And The Dead
- "A lot of people were saying that they didn’t even know this record existed": Steven Wilson says Richard Wright's reissued 1978 solo album Wet Dream is like "a long-lost 1970s Pink Floyd album"
- "It's such a complete record, that perfect balance of technique, songwriting, emotion and energy": Nita Strauss on the music that's soundtracked her life
- The Emerald Dawn tease new album In Time
- Watch this rare footage of Slipknot playing a 1999 hometown show and see why The Nine got so huge so fast
- "Wild adventures and wise ruminations": Stewart Copeland on his upcoming Police Diaries
- "Some Kind Of Monster? It was all a bit Spinal Tap." Bill Bailey on the rock and metal albums that have defined his life
- "Congratulations, this is the most Tool fan post I've ever seen": man divides online opinion after postponing his wedding to see Tool, upsetting his bride-to-be
- "The new drugs are working better than anyone could have hoped for": The Alarm's Mike Peters is feeling good, thanks for asking
- Watch Corey Taylor walk through the Blood Prison experience at the "notoriously haunted" Ohio State Reformatory
- Nickelback have taken part in a documentary that explores why people hate Nickelback: watch the trailer
- 10 metalheads in movies and TV that break all the cliches
- “Without naming names, I have spent time onstage playing music I hate, wishing it was over”: King Crimson, Porcupine Tree and Pineapple Thief’s Gavin Harrison on being a pro
- August 1
-
- "We were lying in a pool of money, wondering if we were gonna get shot:" Six things you need to know about Demob Happy
- "If you think you're rebelling against the authority or the man, the only people you're really rebelling against is Metallica": Lars Ulrich explains why he had to stop fans stealing cushions from venues
- Roadrunner Records held a “funeral” for nu metal in 2002 in honour of Killswitch Engage's Alive Or Just Breathing album and the footage is hilarious
- "Sick! So punk!": Luxury fashion brand Saint Laurent is selling second-hand Nirvana T-shirts for thousands of pounds
- Hilarity ensues as Slash, Dave Mustaine, Rick Nielsen, Dusty Hill, Joey Ramone and more "audition" for the Drew Carey Show
- "If you ever do that to me again, I'll kill you": the night Mark Lanegan had guns pulled on him when drug dealers thought his friend Josh Homme was a cop
- “They pelted the s**t out of them!”: The night Iron Maiden were egged by Sharon Osbourne and friends live on stage
- "Make it cream, make me scream": Prepare to do the most aggressive twerking of your life to this cover of Cardi B's WAP performed in the style of Slipknot
- If you've got a lot of spare cash you can buy a 10% stake in Led Zeppelin
- Find the perfect fit in Converse’s big Back To School sale
- "Neither James nor Bruce are gonna suck your d**k for this, LOVE": Hayley Williams calls out "incel internet bros" after suggestions that Paramore's enthusiasm for touring compares badly to Metallica and Iron Maiden
- Listen to uptempo new Peter Gabriel single Olive Tree here
- JBL Tour One M2 review
- The 10 greatest Megadeth riffs of all time
