1974 – The Year Of Living Dangerously: Culture, Music and Film

By ( Louder ) published

From the Three-Day week to the rise of the disaster movie, we look at the cultural and current events that shaped 1974.

Mikael Akerfeldt gives his views on the state of music in the year he was born, and we examine what else was happening in '74...

Jerry Ewing, Malcolm Dome
More features
The Darkness posing for a photograph in 80s-style suits

“It’s getting ridiculous now, isn’t it? We’re the last men standing, unless some new wave of rock comes in and kicks the door down, which it doesn’t look like doing”: The rise, fall and resurrection of The Darkness, the band on a mission to save rock
Grima/Melancolia/Church Tongue/Catch Your Breath

4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month
Neil Young, Donald Trump

“If I talk about Donald J. Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor.” Neil Young thinks Donald Trump is the worst president in US history, but fears that saying so could have consequences
See more latest
Most Popular
The Darkness posing for a photograph in 80s-style suits
“It’s getting ridiculous now, isn’t it? We’re the last men standing, unless some new wave of rock comes in and kicks the door down, which it doesn’t look like doing”: The rise, fall and resurrection of The Darkness, the band on a mission to save rock
Grima/Melancolia/Church Tongue/Catch Your Breath
4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month
Angus Young, Lemmy and Ritchie Blackmore
"So much happened during those 12 months that it's hard to pack the impact into mere words": The greatest year in heavy metal history, revisited
Sweet seated at a table backstage
A beginner's guide to Sweet in 10 brilliant songs, from chart hits to deep cuts
Bill Bruford
“With deference to everybody in Beat, my function is to amuse myself and hopefully you. I can’t do music from 45 years ago”: Why Bill Bruford demoted himself from the King Crimson, Yes and Genesis league
Kula Shaker group portrait
"The thing about rock, if it’s real, is that it will always be relevant": Kula Shaker's Crispian Mills on mass psychosis and the best way to solve writer's block
Dee Snider headshot
"There's not a doubt in my mind that when I'm gone that song will live on forever": Dee Snider on the Twisted Sister song that transcended its era
Tracks of the Week artists
The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
Jon Anderson
“Musicians can get upset with each other, but you’re family. Chris Squire and I were like brothers – he was Darth Vader and I was Obi-Wan Kenobi!” Jon Anderson’s time-travelling solo album 1000 Hands
Heriot in 2024
"I had Nails, Oathbreaker, Power Trip, Billie Eilish and Labrinth on my writing playlist.” From being chummy with members of Slipknot to the worst show ever, here's what we learned in five minutes with Heriot's Debbie Gough