Articles by Philip Wilding

Philip Wilding is a novelist, journalist, scriptwriter, biographer and radio producer. As a young journalist he criss-crossed most of the United States with bands like Motley Crue, Kiss and Poison (think the Almost Famous movie but with more hairspray). More latterly, he’s sat down to chat with bands like the slightly more erudite Manic Street Preachers, Afghan Whigs, Rush and Marillion. He ghosted Carl Barat’s acclaimed autobiography, Threepenny Memoir, and helped launch the BBC 6 Music network as producer and co-presenter on the Phill Jupitus Breakfast Show. Five years later he and Jupitus fronted the hugely popular Perfect 10 podcast and live shows. His debut novel, Cross Country Murder Song, was described, variously, as ‘sophisticated and compelling’ and ‘like a worm inside my brain’. His latest novel The Death And Life Of Red Henley is out now.

Articles by: Philip Wilding

"I signed a deal. I was a millionaire for one whole day. The money was gone in an afternoon": Paul Westerberg on The Replacements, going solo and the love of rock'n'roll

By Philip Wilding published 20 February 24

Replacements lynchpin Paul Westerberg is one of the most lauded songwriters of his generation

Blackberry Smoke - Be Right Here cover art

"Listen to a tune, and three minutes later you're whistling the damn melody and mangling the lyrics": Blackberry Smoke's songwriting shines on Be Right Here

By Philip Wilding published 16 February 24

Blackberry Smoke's eighth album Be Right Here delivers stomp, soul, country, and rock and roll in equal measure

Dense, layered and pulsing with melody, Florence Black's Bed Of Nails is a remarkable album

By Philip Wilding published 2 February 24

Raucous yet soulful second album Bed Of Nails makes good on debut promise from Welsh rockers Florence Black

The Replacements and Paul Westerberg albums you should definitely own

By Philip Wilding published 1 February 24

He's an underachiever and proud of it, man: These are the best from Paul Westerberg, from the Replacements to a delightfully erratic solo career

The Dave Grohl albums you should definitely own

By Philip Wilding published 14 January 24

A musical jack of all trades and master of many, with Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age and more, Dave Grohl has recorded a truly glittering catalogue

"The ones I love the best are the ones where he sounds like he's falling over drunk while he's playing": Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzeznik on the soundtrack of his life

By Philip Wilding published 1 January 24

Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik picks his records, artists and gigs of lasting significance, and reveals what happens when you spend half your studio budget on beer and speed

Geddy Lee on the roof of Waterstones bookshop in London

"I said, 'I'm glad the music meant something to you,' and she burst into tears!": On the road with Rush's Geddy Lee

By Philip Wilding published 22 November 23

In 2019 Classic Rock accompanied Geddy Lee on the road as he promoted Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book Of Bass

“Steve Harris of Iron Maiden loves A Passion Play. I’m glad someone liked it!” Every Jethro Tull album in Ian Anderson’s words

By Philip Wilding published 9 October 23

The coming-of-age one, the darker one, the singer/songwriter one, the step-too-far one, the kind-of-okay one, the odd one, the mainstream one…

“I always knew that I was going to return to the Amory Wars." Coheed And Cambria and Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures

By Philip Wilding published 5 October 23

After exploring personal turmoil on Coheed And Cambria’s last release, frontman Claudio Sanchez is now relaxed, revitalised and ready to take us back into his Amory Wars universe.

"This band has literally cost me everything!": Tigertailz know it's ludicrous to keep dreaming but they're in too deep to stop

By Philip Wilding published 5 October 23

In the 80s they looked like they should be prowling the sunny Sunset Strip rather than the rainy streets of South Wales. Four decades on Tigertailz are still here, older and a lot wiser

The 50 best live albums ever

By Fraser Lewry published 10 September 23

The best live albums are defining moments in any band’s career, when the music, the performance, and the atmosphere generated between band and audience are captured on tape

"If he had been breathing in, he would have been dead": What happened the night James Hetfield caught fire

By Philip Wilding published 8 August 23

The story of Montreal 1992: the night Metallica's James Hetfield almost lost his life and Guns N' Roses' fans rioted

The Manic Street Preachers in front of the artwork for Rush's Hemispheres

"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

By Philip Wilding published 2 August 23

At the end of 2007, there was a clash of cultures as Welsh rockers the Manic Street Preachers went head to head with Rush and probed their inner secrets

The John Waite albums you should definitely own

By Philip Wilding last updated 4 July 23

A renowned chronicler of broken hearts for nearly five decades – first with The Babys, then with Bad English and solo – there's a lot more than love to John Waite, and these are his best albums

Ayron Jones: Chronicles Of The Kid cover art

Ayron Jones: a vibrant wall of guitar wrangling, musical loops and more colours than a sky full of rainbows

By Philip Wilding published 23 June 23

Showboating fourth album Chronicles Of The Kid propels Ayron Jones into the rock’n’roll stratosphere

Luke Morley breaks from the day job with 10 glittering Americana-tinged gems

By Philip Wilding published 23 June 23

Songs From The Blue Room is an eclectic, occasionally introspective surprise solo album from Thunder songwriter/guitarist Luke Morley

"For a while, it was the worst song on the album…" The story behind Rush's Tom Sawyer

By Paul Elliott published 20 June 23

Inspired by old books and new technology, Tom Sawyer was the song that reinvented prog giants Rush – but it almost never made the album

John Mellencamp: Orpheus Descending cover art

John Mellencamp weaves deft, weary tales on the elegant Orpheus Descending

By Philip Wilding published 16 June 23

John Mellencamp's 25th album Orpheus Descending is still flecked with melancholy and socially minded ire

Extreme return after 15-year absence with showboating and triumphant new album

By Philip Wilding published 9 June 23

Six is Extreme's first new material since 2008's Saudades de Rock

Marillion: Season’s End (Deluxe Edition) packshot

The deluxe edition reissue of Season’s End proves Steve Hogarth was the perfect fit and foil for Marillion

By Philip Wilding published 19 May 23

A plush reissue for Season's End, Marillion’s first album with post-Fish singer Steve Hogarth

Whitesnake - Still Good To Be Bad cover art

Whitesnake add polish to an unexpected gem on the pleasingly punchy Still Good To Be Bad

By Philip Wilding published 29 April 23

Whitesnake’s tenth studio album Good To Be Bad reissued with added bells, whistles and horns

The tragic story behind Mastodon's Emperor Of Sand

By Philip Wilding published 31 March 23

Mastodon's 2017 album, Emperor Of Sand, continued the prog theme of Crack The Skye. But behind the heaviness, lay a family tragedy

Crown Lands: so deep in 70s Rush you can almost see Geddy Lee’s kimono flapping about

By Philip Wilding published 31 March 23

Crown Lands' Fearless may sound exactly like vintage Rush in parts, but it's an album peppered with great songs and pulls off some daring feats of pomp, pop and rock