Articles by Geoff Barton

Geoff Barton is a British journalist who founded the heavy metal magazine Kerrang! and was an editor of Sounds music magazine. He specialised in covering rock music and helped popularise the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) after using the term for the first time (after editor Alan Lewis coined it) in the May 1979 issue of Sounds.

Articles by: Geoff Barton

"One demo was of a guy playing one finger piano on Black Night": When the call went out to replace Ian Gillan in Deep Purple, only one man got an audition

By Geoff Barton published 16 April 24

In 1973, Deep Purple replaced Ian Gillan with an unknown singer. They then went on to make one of rock’s most underrated albums, Burn

"I could stand up with four cardboard cut-outs and still be a star": Steve Harley spent four years of his childhood in hospital and grew up to hate journalists, but all he wanted was an audience

By Geoff Barton published 3 April 24

The late Steve Harley was most famous for his 1975 hit Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me), but his story involves so much more

"The scent of cremated steaks and exotic gateaux lingers in the air": Revisiting the secret launch of Deep Purple's Perfect Strangers

By Geoff Barton published 20 March 24

In 1984 Deep Purple's much-loved Mk II lineup reformed, and one Classic Rock writer was invited along to a secret location to hear all about it

"A mesmerising snapshot of the nihilistic grunge age": Mad Season's only album may forever be associated with tragedy and loss, but the musicians sound liberated

By Geoff Barton published 13 March 24

With members of Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and Screaming Trees on board, Mad Season's 1995 album Above was gut-wrenching but transfixing

Mick Mars - The Other Side Of Mars cover art

"A full-scale solo stormer: a 90s grunge record made by a marauding horde of evil mutants": Mick Mars has made a would-be classic with The Other Side Of Mars

By Geoff Barton published 23 February 24

Former Mötley Crüe man Mick Mars' debut solo album The Other Side Of Mars is as dangerous as a black mamba in your pants

"A low- wattage washout, as if recorded by an Ace imposter": Ace Frehley fails to spark on 10,000 Volts

By Geoff Barton published 22 February 24

Ace Frehley's eighth solo album 10,000 Volts in a word: Shocking

Bon Scott wags his finger art the camera

"He wanted to stay up and party. Bon just wanted to keep the party going": What really happened on the night Bon Scott died?

By Geoff Barton published 19 February 24

Mystery surrounds Bon Scott's death to this day: Classic Rock looks back at Bon’s last hours, the world he moved in and the disappearance of the last man to see him alive

UFO - Lights Out cover deluxe edition packshot

"The sonics are out of this world, as deep and resonant as Phil Mogg’s tonsils at the top of their game": The Deluxe Edition of UFO's Lights Out comes with vivacious and vital extras

By Geoff Barton published 2 February 24

UFO's sixth album Lights Out gets the traditional deluxe makeover, just don't believe the hype

“We were the original bearded pirates. Nobody gave us a chance”: the epic story of how Whitesnake became the greatest blues rock band of the early 80s

By Geoff Barton published 21 January 24

Before MTV and hair metal, Whitesnake were the greatest blues rock band of the early 80s

Deep Purple posing on a pool table in 1975

"Towards the end it was not pretty. I scraped myself off the walls of insanity. I was barking like a dog": the last days of Deep Purple

By Geoff Barton published 19 January 24

On July 19, 1976, Deep Purple officially split up. The ending was horrible, marked by addiction and jealousy

Saxon: Hell, Fire And Damnation cover art

"It's like being forced by Mary Beard, wielding a vicious riding crop, to watch never-ending episodes of The Time Tunnel": Saxon's Hell, Fire And Damnation

By Geoff Barton published 16 January 24

Biff Byford lines up the history lessons on Saxon's 24th studio album Hell, Fire And Damnation

"It was a very magical time. The right people came together at the right moment": Ronnie James Dio's track-by-track guide to Dio's classic Holy Diver

By Geoff Barton published 31 December 23

Many believed Ronnie James Dio was finished when he quit Black Sabbath, but he proved the doubters wrong with an all-time classic

Studio portraits of AC/DC and Rainbow in 1976

"I'll be honest here – I think they blew us off stage every single night": what happened when AC/DC went on tour with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

By Geoff Barton published 5 December 23

In 1976 Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow embarked on the Rising tour of Europe with a young band from Australia in tow: Ronnie James Dio was watching them very closely

"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

By Henry Yates, Jerry Ewing, Malcolm Dome, Geoff Barton, Fraser Lewry published 17 November 23

The 40 bitterest bust-ups in rock history: From fisticuffs to wars of words to litigation and beyond, rock'n'roll’s divorce courts are packed with ire and animosity:

Doro: Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud cover art

Doro's latest celebration of all things heavy metal brims with power, pride and passion

By Geoff Barton published 26 October 23

Horns in the air! Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud is the 14th album from Metal Queen™️ Doro

“When I started out I thought: ‘I’ll be able to play guitar, drink, take drugs and shag as many women as I can!’ But we ended up in the prog vein”: Pye Hastings’ lifelong urges

By Geoff Barton published 16 October 23

Becoming an archetype of the Canterbury scene with Caravan at least satisfied his creative desires

Aerosmith helped Karen Lawrence on her way, and she wrote a four-times-platinum hit single… but then Barbra Streisand stole all the glory

By Geoff Barton published 13 October 23

Is Karen Lawrence the greatest rock singer you’ve never heard of?

The final word on Van Halen's Sammy Hagar era: it's a bit corporate, a bit rock-by-numbers, a bit... uneventful

By Geoff Barton published 5 October 23

A five disc roundup of Van Hagar: four studio albums and a disc of rarities, but every home shouldn't have one

KK's Priest: The Return Of The Sinner album art

"All grinding desperation and lank-haired perspiration": the new album by KK's Priest confirms that they're not a viable alternative to the real thing

By Geoff Barton published 29 September 23

The apocalypse is nigh (part 182)

Paul Rodgers and run-of-the-mill band provide flashes of brilliance on new album Midnight Rose as the hyperbole rings hollow

By Geoff Barton published 22 September 23

The first new solo album from Paul Rodgers in quarter of a century was perhaps not worth the wait

In Through The Out Door: the last days of Led Zeppelin

By Geoff Barton last updated 15 August 23

Led Zeppelin's In Through The Out Door failed to light the blue touch-paper, and their sign-off was more like a match fizzling out

10 bands whose best album was recorded live

By Fraser Lewry, Geoff Barton, Sleazegrinder, Paul Elliot, Dave Ling, Rob Hughes, Malcolm Dome published 27 July 23

10 live albums that remain a career pinnacle for 10 legendary bands

Robert Plant on the Old Grey Whistle Test', London, 25th October 1982

"Zeppelin wasn’t safe, but we had such a following that virtually everything was accepted" - How Robert Plant made peace with the end of Led Zeppelin

By Geoff Barton published 7 July 23

In 1982, Robert Plant gave his first ever post-Led Zeppelin interview, and Classic Rock's Geoff Barton was the man with the tape recorder

Bullet trains and atomic bombs: what happened when Iron Maiden went to Hiroshima

By Geoff Barton published 7 July 23

Iron Maiden released A Matter Of Life And Death in August 2006, then went to Japan to play the whole album live. Classic Rock joined them on the road

Six snippets of cover artwork from non-grunge bands who went grunge

Six classic rock bands who "went grunge" and lived to tell the tale

By Geoff Barton published 28 June 23

Grunge swept all aside as it barrelled in from Seattle, and some bands preferred to jump the bandwagon rather than stand in the way and get mown down

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Geoff Barton

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