Ian Fortnam

Ian Fortnam

Classic Rock’s Reviews Editor for the last 20 years, Ian stapled his first fanzine in 1977. Since misspending his youth by way of ‘research’ his work has also appeared in such publications as Metal Hammer, Prog, NME, Uncut, Kerrang!, VOX, The Face, The Guardian, Total Guitar, Guitarist, Electronic Sound, Record Collector and across the internet. Permanently buried under mountains of recorded media, ears ringing from a lifetime of gigs, he enjoys nothing more than recreationally throttling a guitar and following a baptism of punk fire has played in bands for 45 years, releasing recordings via Esoteric Antenna and Cleopatra Records. 

Articles by: Ian Fortnam

Roger Waters - Amused To Death cover art

"In which not-so-jolly Roger regales us with his musings on all the usual subjects": Roger Waters rails against capitalism, America, war, religion and television on Amused To Death

By Classic Rock Magazine published

Amused To Death is Roger Waters’ proudest solo moment and a damning reflection on social disintegration.

Patti Smith: Easter cover art

"There are tantalising glimpses of genius but it's only the presence of one classic track that raises Easter above average": Patti Smith's commercial breakthrough is a flawed artistic statement

By Classic Rock Magazine published

Containing her biggest hit and her most controversial song, the Patti Smith Group's third album Easter is a fascinating whole

Boys Wonder: Question Everything cover art

"Imagine a seamless combination of the Sex Pistols and Queen": Question Everything might not be great lost Boys Wonder album, but it's as close as we're ever going to get

By Ian Fortnam published

The greatest band you never heard. Again

The MC5 standing topless in front of a US flag

"If you're going to do anything, do it full measure, don't equivocate, be all the way in": How the MC5's Kick Out The Jams became a rallying call for a generation

By Ian Fortnam published

The title track of the MC5's debut live album was the incendiary call to arms that ignited punk’s vital spark in 60s Detroit

Led Zeppelin in 1968

"I was very green and it was a tentative start, but we knew we had something": The complicated birth of Led Zeppelin

By Ian Fortnam published

How the most creatively fertile era in the history of British Music produced the most important hard rock band of all time, Led Zeppelin

King Crimson - Sheltering Skies

“Stupefying seat-of-the-pants stuff nicely served by a crisp, revelatory sound mix… and ripe for reappraisal”: King Crimson’s Sheltering Skies

By Ian Fortnam published

1982 live set, previously part-released as The Noise, finds the post-Discipline line-up repurposing prog

The Stooges onstage

"Oozing with a tangible undercurrent of dark, forbidden sex": The Stooges' songs that provided a perfect blueprint for rock's future

By Ian Fortnam published

In 1969 the Stooges shaped the future of rock'n'roll and brilliantly captured a young, fiery generation in turmoil. Punk? Grunge? Glam? So much of it started here

Clem Burke studio portrait

"There was no food allowed backstage, only drugs and booze": Clem Burke's stories of Debbie Harry, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop and more

By Ian Fortnam published

He was a Ramone, been treated like royalty when touring with Nancy Sinatra, got hot dogs from Jerry Nolan and played with Pete Townshend: He's Blondie drummer and more Clem Burke

Suzi Quatro pictured at home

"I'm doing a two-hour show with a six-and-a-half-minute bass solo": Glam icon Suzi Quatro is not resting on her laurels

By Ian Fortnam published

Suzi Quatro on paving the way for other women in rock, social media, age and working hard

Cock Sparrer in 1977

"We're five mates who get on a plane on Friday, have fun shouting at some nice people on Saturday and come home on Sunday": The low-key, hit-free career-in-reverse of Cock Sparrer

By Ian Fortnam published

Too punk for punk in the late 70s, Oi! elder statesmen in the early 80s, living-legend role models in the early 90s, Cock Sparrer never got credit for what they started

David Bowie photographed for the cover of his single 'Absolute Beginners', London 1986

"I need a girl who sounds like a shop girl to duet with me": How a retail assistant at Dorothy Perkins got to sing with David Bowie

By Ian Fortnam published

Originally written at a clandestine recording session, Absolute Beginners was the start of a 10-year musical relationship

Frank Zappa – Live at the Whiskey A Go Go 1968

“Among fair fists at the greatest ‘hits’ are extensive improvisations that repeatedly just don’t work”: Frank Zappa’s Live At The Whisky A Go Go, 1968

By Ian Fortnam published

Seems like there’s a reason this live recording remained unreleased in his lifetime

Joan Jett headshot, 2006

"People thought The Runaways were cute until they realised we were serious - and then they started calling us names": Joan Jett on the first girl rock band, her love of leather and nearly joining the army

By Ian Fortnam published

Punk-loving former Runaways hellraiser Joan Jett talks about being a threat and inspiring the riot grrrl movement

Dion holding a guitar sitting on steps

Dion may be 84, but that hasn't stopped him recording a duet that reminds him of *that* scene in When Harry Met Sally

By Ian Fortnam published

More than 60 years after his first hit single, Dion has returned with an album of collaborations with female artists

William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise in the classic science fiction television series 'Star Trek', circa 1968.

"I don't know if what I'm about to do has significance or whether I'm about to make an idiot of myself": William Shatner, progressive rock icon

By Ian Fortnam published

Everyone's favourite nonagenarian starship captain continues to boldly go where no man has gone before

John Fiddler studio portrait

"I woke up singing this song about being in jail waiting for the electric chair": Medicine Head's John Fiddler on inspiration, love, and the perils of getting older

By Ian Fortnam published

A duo back in the 60s, Medicine Head is now effectively just John Fiddler, whose new album Heartworks is filled with love

Modern English group portrait

"It pays all the bills, it's paid for everything we've ever done since": Modern English didn't set out to write commercial songs, but they're not complaining

By Ian Fortnam published

Modern English on getting older, the trouble with politics, and the financial heft of Burger King

Rick Wakeman - Live London Palladium 2023

“He didn’t think the concerts would work… the fluidity, precision and phrasing is simply dazzling”: Rick Wakeman’s Live At The London Palladium 2023

By Ian Fortnam published

Performed over two nights, box set featuring The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur, Yes Classics and Journey To The Centre Of The Earth is an essential package

Television group portrait, 1976

"Transcending both hype and generic pigeon-holing, it is arguably one of the finest recordings of all time": the miracle of Television's Marquee Moon

By Ian Fortnam published

With poetic concision and angular symphonics, guitarists Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine always took the most unorthodox route from one guitar chord to another

The Velvet Underground in 1968, posing with a copy of White Light, White Heat

Your essential guide to every studio album by The Velvet Underground

By Ian Fortnam published

The Velvet Underground reshaped the sound of rock'n'roll with four albums that continue to have an incalculable influence on the musical zeitgeist. The less said about their fifth, the better

10cc - 20 Years box set

“Their run of mid-70s hits were bona fide, pop-literate, soft-prog gold… but warming to their deeper cuts is a far tougher task”: 10cc’s 20 Years Box Set

By Ian Fortnam published

Exhaustive 145-track collection highlights the infuriating, imperfect magic of the preposterously ambitious original four-piece

The Beatles in 1969

"Abbey Road was really unfinished songs all stuck together. None of the songs had anything to do with each other, no thread at all": A track-by-track guide to the final album recorded by The Beatles

By Ian Fortnam published

After the fractious Let It Be sessions, Paul McCartney urged his bandmates back into the studio to make an album “like the old days, like we used to"

The Rolling Stones in 1972

"I don't think that song has any semblance of meaning - it's one of those rambling songs": Mick Jagger on the Exile On Main St classic that's the sound of a band at their peak

By Ian Fortnam published

"I would never take Mick's recollection of anything seriously" - Keith Richards

Slade in 1971

10 Slade songs that prove they're not just for Christmas

By Ian Fortnam published

It may well be Chreeeeesssstttmaaaaaaasssssss, but Slade, like puppies, are an all-year proposition

Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and Rick Nielsen

32 of the greatest onstage moments in the entire history of the rock guitar

By Amit Sharma, Polly Glass, Henry Yates, Ian Fortnam, Paul Henderson, Richard Bienstock, Joe Bosso, Andy Aledort, Damian Fanelli published

Celebrating the pioneering, the spectacular, the unexpected and the unrepeatable