“Amid the turmoil over synths, there’s a perfect balance”: 12 great Rush songs of the 80s
They ditched the kimonos for keyboards and pursued a new, modern sound that had fans bewitched and bewildered in equal measure. Here are some prime examples
Classic Rock Features
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The heroes and villains of the Black Sabbath journey
Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler reflect on some good, bad and ugly encounters
Inspired by Keith Moon and Star Trek, Come Sail Away took Styx to places they never expected
A song about being picked up and taken away by aliens, Come Sail Away gave Styx a career boost and eventually took on a life of its own
Testament's Alex Skolnick on thrash, Testament and Ozzy
Testament’s six-string superstar reflects on the chaos of the Bay Area, guesting with Lamb Of God and studying with jazz legends
Marillion were facing oblivion. Then they made This Strange Engine and found a way forward
They still don’t agree over the contents of their make-or-break 1997 album – except on one thing they did wrong
From microbiologist to musician - the unlikely rise of Stephen Wilson Jr
Inspired by his late father, songwriter-for-hire Stephen Wilson Jr is now telling his stories with his own voice
Nine albums by the Allman Brothers Band you should listen to... and one you should ignore
Celebrating the musical telepathy of the Allman Brothers Band
The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
Including Mother Vulture, Sludge Mother, and six other acts whose names don't contain the word 'mother'
“It’s their first time listening to prog, and they like it!” Ross Valory on his solo album
Bassist recalls the AOR giants’ progressive early years and explains why he thinks the genre is getting stronger all the time
Even though Kate Bush refused to produce Gavin Friday’s Virgin Prunes, he still loves her
Composer, actor and painter explains why her work is high art in the style of influential writer James Joyce
The song that transformed Dire Straits' fortunes and set them on the path to global fame
Inspired by watching a hopeless jazz combo play in a deserted pub, Sultans Of Swing sent Dire Straits on a journey to superstardom
How Queen + Paul Rodgers resurrected one of rock’s most iconic bands
The story of Queen + Paul Rodgers’ one-and-done album The Cosmos Rocks
How Nita Strauss became a modern guitar hero
She's shared a stage with Jim Carrey and outrun a tornado, but Nita Strauss's proudest achievement is inspiring the next generation of guitarists
How Iron Maiden’s epic Somewhere Back In Time tour took them where other metal bands dare not go
In 2008, Metal Hammer climbed aboard Ed Force One to join Iron Maiden on the tour of a lifetime
How Ozzy Osbourne rediscovered himself with the Scream album
In 2010, Ozzy Osbourne released his eleventh solo album Scream – and he had reality TV, reunions and “Jesus Freaks” on his mind
1977 was the supposedly the year punk killed prog. The truth is very different
Exploding the myth that progressive rock’s ‘dinosaurs’ were finished off by punk
Stephen Stills’ wild stories of Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Public Enemy
He’s jammed with Hendrix, hung out with Peter Sellers and ribbed Bob Dylan – you name them, Stephen Stills knows them
The unbelievable story of Def Leppard’s 80s hard rock masterpiece Hysteria
Four years, one near-fatal car crash and an ocean of booze in the making, Def Leppard’s Hysteria is the 80s hard rock album against which all others should be measured
Black Sabbath albums ranked, from worst to best
Some Black Sabbath albums are epoch-defining classics, some are average, some downright embarrassing, and we've ranked them – from woeful worst to brilliant best
