Articles by Mike Barnes

Mike Barnes is the author of Captain Beefheart - The Biography (Omnibus Press, 2011) and A New Day Yesterday: UK Progressive Rock & the 1970s (2020). He was a regular contributor to Select magazine and his work regularly appears in Prog, Mojo and Wire. He also plays the drums.

Articles by: Mike Barnes

“Whenever King Crimson is in active mode there is nothing else I can do with my life… to be able to focus on being more of a guitarist is the right place for me”: Robert Fripp’s new lease of life

By Mike Barnes published 9 November 23

Now Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch has moved from the kitchen to the stage, he enjoys ”giving a heavy kicking to received opinion”

“There’s some good music, of course, but most of it was reshaped for expediency rather than for aesthetic reasons”: Yes compilation Yessingles

By Mike Barnes published 27 October 23

Selection was made to fit on an LP, but as the band have released 41 singles so far, it’s only part of the story

Roger Waters’ Dark Side Of The Moon Redux: “Audacious, affecting, annoying, dull in places… certainly worth investigating”

By Mike Barnes published 6 October 23

Unnecessary? Maybe. But this stark reimagining of the biggest prog album ever possibly works better than it should

“Some people would like us to be doing the Son Of Snow Goose until we drop… people just don’t want you to change, but change is inevitable”: Andy Latimer’s unreleased Camel music

By Mike Barnes published 22 September 23

Veteran band leader on having “reams and reams of material and some of it may be good”

“Marrying a rock band to an orchestra was seat-of-the-pants stuff… even if we had to have extra rehearsals because they weren’t playing it right, they charged us”: Barclay James Harvest’s early days

By Mike Barnes published 11 September 23

From getting a Mellotron at a knock-down price to spending years on the road to recoup recording costs, John Lees looks back before his band stops touring

John Greaves in a green shirt pointing his finger

“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

By Mike Barnes published 29 August 23

After starting out in his dad’s dance band, the Welshman encountered Henry Cow at university, knew he had to be part of it - and he’s never looked back

King Crimson's Robert Fripp dressed in a white shirt, colourful tie, dark waistcoat and trousers, with one arm outstretched mid-dance. He's photographed backstage in a small white dressing room with his guitar on a table to the left of the photo and a carrier bag of food to the right of the image

Nice moves, Robert! Watch Fripp and Toyah's backstage dance-off

By Natasha Scharf published 11 August 23

Robert Fripp's a 21st-century dancing man in new footage shared ahead of his autumn live dates with Toyah

"Musically Scheherazade And Other Stories is the one.” Annie Haslam on Renaissance's 1975 masterpiece

By Mike Barnes published 7 July 23

The inside story of Renaissance's 1975 classic album Scheherazade And Other Stories

"The only way forward is to get rid of corruption, greed and suffering!" Jon Anderson on 1000 Hands: Chapter One!

By Mike Barnes published 31 March 23

Jon Anderson discusses the genesis of his 2019 solo album, 1000 Hands: Chapter One, which was nearly 30 years in the making

The story of Fairport Convention's Full House

By Mike Barnes last updated 7 November 22

The Fairports recall the making of 1970's Full House, the band's first album without founding member Ashley Hutchings and with new boy Dave Pegg

"It was the way to go in the early days, doing longer and longer tracks. To revisit that is a good experience." The story of Caravan's It's None Of Your Business

By Mike Barnes published 8 October 22

In 2021 a refreshed and reinvigorated Caravan released their finest album for years. This is the story...

Colosseum Live In London

By Mike Barnes last updated 10 July 22

Not yet rated

Colosseum's live finale goes out on a high.

Jade Warrior - Reissues: "these albums remain an idiosyncratic delight..."

By Mike Barnes published 29 April 22

Not yet rated

Two of a unique kind from one of prog’s most brilliant oddities.

"Family definitely ran out of steam". Roger Chapman in The Prog Interview

By Mike Barnes published 23 January 22

The Family singer and solo artist in his own right, Roger Chapman reflects on a 50-year career

Faust - Faust 1971-74: "the golden age of krautrock"...

By Mike Barnes published 8 October 21

Not yet rated

Eight-CD set covering the golden age of krautrock’s most inventive group.

Al Stewart: The Prog Interview

By Mike Barnes last updated 5 September 21

The folk progger reflects on a career that started with guitar lessons from Robert Fripp and has seen him work with the likes of Rick Wakeman, Alan Parsons and more...

Roger Chapman - Life In The Pond review

By Mike Barnes published 16 August 21

Not yet rated

Roger Chapman is reunited with old Family chum Poli Palmer on his new solo album

How Mike Oldfield made Crises and ended up with a Top Five hit single!

By Mike Barnes published 26 June 21

Mike Oldfield's eighth studio album, 1983's Crises, saw him riding a wave of new popularity in the 80s

From Tubular Bells to Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom: Henry Cow's John Greaves comes clean

By Mike Barnes last updated 8 June 21

He's played with Henry Cow, National Health and Mike Oldfield, but what makes John Greaves tick? We catch up with the musician to explore his incredible career so far and find out more about his solo albums

12 of the best books about prog for you to read

By Grant Moon, Sid Smith, David West, Mike Barnes, Natasha Scharf, Rachel Mann, Joe Banks, Chris Roberts last updated 3 February 21

Want to catch up on some reading? Here are 12 of the best books about progressive music

The story of Emerson Lake & Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery

By Mike Barnes published 19 November 20

How prog supergroup Emerson Lake & Palmer's created their epic 1973 album Brain Salad Surgery

Nick D'Virgilio - Invisible Review

By Mike Barnes published 26 June 20

Not yet rated

Big Big Train man serves up an unusual kind of “drummer record”.

group shot of the most obscure albums in prog

20 of the most obscure prog albums

By Mike Barnes, Mark Blake, Daryl Easlea, Jerry Ewing, Rob Hughes, Kris Needs, Sid Smith last updated 27 March 20

Prog picks 20 of the most obscure prog albums that you might have nestled at the back of your collection. Some that could even unearth you a small fortune

a portrait of Simon Jeffes sat on a chair

How prog are Penguin Cafe Orchestra?

By Mike Barnes published 30 January 18

The musical collective praised randomness, caught the attention of Brian Eno and were self-described as “modern semi-acoustic chamber music”, amongst other things. But just how prog were they?

Penguin Café Orchestra - Union Cafe album artwork

Penguin Café Orchestra - Union Cafe album review

By Mike Barnes published 20 December 17

Not yet rated

The group’s final album from 1994, released for the first time on vinyl

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