Features archive
October 2024
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184 articles
- October 31
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- The 10 best punk albums of the last decade
- “I had this moment of realising that evil does exist – but that I was terrified to admit it. You can hear me coming to that realisation”: Jo Beth Young hopes her new album will change your life as much as it changed hers
- “They didn’t understand how important image was – they started the thing about us being academic geeks. It really hurt us”: The Zombies on living large, inheriting the Beatles’ studio and staff, and being prisoners in a concert hall
- "We'd get to America, and bang! Something happens. Got to get back on the plane and go home": Scott Gorham on Thin Lizzy's breakthrough, Phil Lynott, and why they always screwed up their US tours
- Number one in a field of one: Every album by The Cramps ranked, from worst to best
- October 30
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- 10 movies that prove 2024 has been a brilliant year for horror
- “The kids who bought it didn’t ask, ‘Where’s Syd?’ They increasingly asked, ‘Who’s Syd?’” Meddle marked the point where Pink Floyd as we know them really began
- “People say, ‘I never would have expected that to work.’ But we’re not just a gimmick – we want to create something new”: The Omnific’s two-bass line-up is a serious bid to redefine what the instrument can do
- "There are always fears and doubts lurking, because you're opening yourself up in a completely raw way": Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell on his new album and its guests, songwriting, AI, algorithm bots and AIC's legacy
- "The album is very rejoicing, it's forward-thinking, it's very positive and celebratory": Ginger Wildheart on friendship, fans and the return of The Wildhearts
- October 29
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- "I have to either be in this band or I have to destroy it." A chaotic interview with Slipknot from 1999
- “Their albums hadn’t accomplished much. I went to see them and liked them, especially the new songs… I then witnessed their break-up”: How manager Dave Margereson rebuilt Supertramp and helped them deliver a set of classic prog albums
- "I thought Free were from Alabama, because it sounded southern to me": The Cold Stares' seventh album is both a love letter to Kentucky and a call for unity in volatile times
- "It was terrifying being so vulnerable, but it was all or nothing": Louise Patricia Crane's album features three members of King Crimson and Jethro Tulls Ian Anderson – it's also a work of beauty and darkness
- October 28
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- “Originally we said, ‘Let’s make an album about witchcraft’… but I supposed pyramid power was a sort of witchcraft, so we zeroed in on that”: When The Alan Parsons Project mixed magic with madness (without visiting Egypt)
- “Unrestrained, progressively complex and compelling – there isn’t a weak album among the four”: Fish and Marillion were only together for a seven-year period, but it’s what they did with it that counts
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
- October 27
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- “Johnny Cougar was not going to amount to a hill of beans. But, son of a bitch, he’s still hanging around all these years later”: How John Mellencamp went from failed pop star to reluctant American icon
- “We’d realised that we were not a part of anything else that was going on with the music scene in England, we were doing our own thing”: Dave Gahan on how Black Celebration changed everything for Depeche Mode
- “Getting validation from Beavis And Butt-head was much more gratifying. It showed that people do like this band even if your sales may not reflect fame and fortune”: How stoner rock enigmas Clutch became metal’s favourite weirdbeards
- "I’d gone through my own personal tornado so it was a track that spoke to me": Yellowjackets star Juliette Lewis on her favourite Cure track
- “I felt I was cut adrift from a massive part of the band and I didn’t know what to do without it”: James Dean Bradfield on how Manic Street Preachers had to reinvent themselves after 2011’s National Treasures celebrations
- October 26
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- “In my mind I was thinking this could be the last record we ever made, They thought I wanted to leave it”: How Deftones pulled back from the brink of oblivion to make Saturday Night Wrist
- “We were in LA getting ready for a gig and I said, ‘Where’s Glenn?’ He’d gone to Atlanta. He was a loon, just through doing so much coke and drinking”: How Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes rekindled their turbulent friendship to make Fused
- “Robert Plant said we captured the spirit of Zeppelin. I think he meant we were as debauched as they were”: The chaotic story of The Mission, the goth band who wanted to be Led Zeppelin
- “We recorded it in 20 minutes. But then I am a genius”: The late, great Paul Di’Anno looks back on making Iron Maiden’s Running Free
- “Lemmy and I got on fine most of the time, but we had our moments. Being in Motörhead was crazy 24 hours a day”: ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian ‘Robbo’ Robertson’s wild tales of Phil Lynott, Lemmy, David Bowie and more
- “The early days still feel like the biggest chapter of our band”: Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil on how the band’s beginnings helped to define everything that came after
- “We had a living, breathing Sex Pistol come in and play on it. He wanted $100 and some ‘suction’”: The insane story of Megadeth’s So Far, So Good… So What!, thrash metal’s most self-destructive album
- “I’m lucky that I started using heroin otherwise I’d be so depressingly alcoholic”: Kelley Deal on the tumultuous period when she first joined The Breeders
- “The only way of getting back on track was to regain control of just about every facet of the band”: When Mike Portnoy quit Dream Theater for the first time, the shakeup led to epic double-album Metropolis Pt. 2
- October 25
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- The 13 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- Great new prog you must hear from Beardfish, Motorspcyho, Overhead, The Albatross and more in Prog's Tracks Of The Week
- “We have to be true to ourselves and to the idea of Yes… we’re all aiming for the heart of the same sunrise”: Jon Anderson’s gratitude at returning from the edge of death to make latest solo album True
- A beginner's guide to Jack Bruce in 10 classic tracks
- October 24
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- “There’s not one lyric that’s light-hearted… We’ll see what the tear-shedding level for this album is!” Epica’s Simone Simons waited 20 years to make Vermillion
- “We went through a few phrases… they went off to play in America and left me to get on with it, stripped to my underpants”: Atom Heart Mother’s fusion of ordinary and extraordinary sounds gave Pink Floyd their first No.1 album
- "If you died in your house, within hours most dogs would start eating your face": An interview with Idles about music, politics, dancing and dogs
- October 23
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- "We were nobodies but in that moment, it felt like we had a shot." How Slipknot overcame jealousy, substance abuse and trauma to become metal's most important band
- Black Friday Lego deals 2024: You can still build a fabulous Lego bargain - even though Black Friday is over
- "There was a rumour going round that I was British, rich and faking the Aussie thing." Punk rock saviours Amyl And The Sniffers on finding hope in music, Timmy Mallet and those nepo baby accusations
- “I came down absolutely not knowing what to expect – and I came out a different person”: Robert Trujillo took profound inspiration from Steven Wilson, and believes Metallica would feel the same
- "Heavy doesn’t have to start with guitars." How Heriot became UK metal's most exciting underground band
- “We don’t write as proggy as we used to; we’re older and lazier, but you hear a lot on those early albums”: Doug Pinnick, who stole his sound from Chris Squire, would do everything differently if King’s X went round again
- October 22
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- "If we get some shitty party canons and launch two of them at the end of the show, and they look a bit pathetic, it still works": Meet The Hot Damn!, the colourful, chaotic party crashers intent on enlivening everything
- Fill your heads with heavy metal thunder: The Saxon albums you should definitely listen to
- Paul Di'Anno's 10 greatest performances with Iron Maiden
- I saw one of Paul Di'Anno's final live shows, and despite everything, he still had some of that special spark that made him an Iron Maiden legend
- Black Friday CD player deals 2024: Even if you missed out on Friday, there's still time to treat your CD collection to a brand new player
- “Jon Anderson taught me some things about songwriting – I’d love to work with him again”: Glass Hammer mainman Steve Babb’s prog world orbits Yes, Rush, Genesis… and the Human League
- "Genuine despair wrapped up in a delicious glam-grunge cocktail": A tribute to the anguished genius of Inger Lorre and The Nymphs
- October 21
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- “It was something we’d never heard before. He was creating it on the spot – you went along with what was happening”: David Blackwell of The Lovely Eggs names Can as his prog heroes, and recalls the time he played with half of them
- "In Flames changed my life." We got Bridear's Kimi to make us a mixtape and it's stacked with classic anthems, J-metal rarities and video game bangers
- Black Friday CD deals 2024: There's still time to add to your CD collection for less even though Black Friday is done and dusted
- "He’s got his gas mask on, he’s all taped up and he’s flying like a bird." Inside the chaos and carnage of Slipknot's legendary first UK show at the London Astoria
- “A wild pivot resulting in a pretty impressive psychedelic rock record”: Inspired by Pink Floyd, Lil Yachty’s Let’s Start Here is no dismissible Rap Side Of The Moon
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
- "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
- October 20
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- "Not even Zeppelin or the Stones had ever done what we did": How Mick Jones invented Foreigner and paved the way for the multi-million-selling albums that dominated the next decade
- A beginner's guide to the Dave Matthews Band in 10 songs
- “Jim’s whole shaman thing only became apparent later, after people wrote books about us. To us, he was just the frontman”: Jim Morrison – the man behind the myth, by the people who knew him
- “David Draiman wanted to help us make the best music we could. He didn’t ask us to write The Sickness!”: Why Trivium enlisted some superstar help to make Vengeance Falls
- “Chas Chandler said, ‘I’m going to bring a guy round and he’s going to stay in the other room. His name’s Jimi’”: The mysterious story of the unknown band who let Jimi Hendrix stay on their sofa
- “We were lucky to be able to really capture an energy”: The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster’s Guy McKnight on how the psychobilly punk-rock crew made Celebrate Your Mother
- “I recognise there’s a new generation of people experiencing that record for the first time”: Interpol’s Paul Banks on the upcoming tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Antics
- “I thought it was the height of hilarity to promote drugs and Satan while not doing any of it”: How Monster Magnet became metal’s ultimate space lords
- October 19
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- “Grunge ruined the party. Do you want to be in a band to be boring? I don’t get it”: How Rob Zombie brought the schlock back with killer metal sequel Hellbilly Deluxe 2
- “Neil had a look on his face like he was going to explode. He was a little pissed off”: How the rejuvenated Rush hit full stride during their final chapter with Snakes & Arrows
- “What was the secret? Simple. We wanted to make an album as good as Reign In Blood”: How At The Gates saved death metal with Slaughter Of The Soul
- “To be honest, we probably enjoyed the fact that people got upset by it.” MGMT on the time they followed up their huge hit debut album with an oddball psychedelic record
- “When it became a term, we all derided it”: DJ Shadow on why you shouldn’t mention the words “trip-hop” around him
- “Slash and I could drink anyone under the table, but Arnold Schwarzenegger was a challenge. He was smoking and swearing all the time”: Duff McKagan’s wild tales of Iggy Pop, Aerosmith, Johnny Thunders and The Terminator
- “Those music scenes are supported by local musicians trying to help each other out”: English Teacher's Lily Fontaine on the importance of keeping small venues alive
- “When Eddie was singled out, I can tell you right now, I never felt any jealousy”: From Led Zeppelin to Eddie Van Halen, these are the musicians that shaped ex-Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony’s life
- October 18
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- "They’re doing collab songs with Babymetal so we're low on the priority list." Bury Tomorrow's Dani Winter-Bates answers fan questions on meet and greets, going deathcore and the band they'd love to collaborate with
- The 15 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- Cool new new proggy sounds from Swallow The Sun, Richard Henshall, Blind Ego and more in Prog's Tracks Of The Week
- The Ritchie Blackmore albums you should definitely listen to - but none of them are by Deep Purple
- "That band was dangerous. People died!”: Michael Schenker on his years with UFO, success and escape, and why he didn't join the Rolling Stones
- October 17
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- "Type O Negative will always be in the Olympus, and we’ll always love Paradise Lost." How Our Truth cemented Lacuna Coil as 21st Century goth metal heavyweights
- "I’m so glad I still live in a world where Ozzy walks the Earth." The greatest Ozzy Osbourne songs as picked by members of Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Halestorm and more
- The 30 greatest David Gilmour performances
- "Some of the most mysterious but influential music ever made": The Can albums you should definitely listen to
- "When I listen to him it's like: Why am I even playing?” Paul Gilbert reveals the guitarist who blows his mind as he unveils the soundtrack of his life
- October 16
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- “Had I been told in the 80s that we’d be beset with problems year after year, I think I would have carried on regardless”: With a Monty Python quote as their motto, Jadis somehow keep delivering the goods
- “When it came out, all we got was indifference and accusations that we’d sold out. Now it’s worshipped”: The brutal story of Carcass’s early 90s death metal classic Heartwork
- The 10 bands that defined Aftershock festival 2024
- “Every time my parents went out, Supper’s Ready went on the turntable so I could listen uninterrupted”: Long before Gary Kemp joined Nick Mason’s band, he ensured prog infiltrated Spandau Ballet
- "Music is like the cuisines of the world – there's too much good food out there; we can't just stick to curry": Royal Republic are planning a musical feast - and you're invited
- "Phil started going mental cos he's got these two bass drums and he doesn't know what to do with them!" How the delivery of a new drum kit gave Motörhead's Overkill to the world
- October 15
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- “I found every single thing about it to be offensive, from top to bottom”: The horror Rob Zombie called “the worst movie ever committed to film”
- “I could feel energy and love around me… People who’ve had a near-death experience have described a similar feeling”: He created Alcest out of loneliness, but Neige doesn’t need to scream any more
- "Alice Cooper said our version of Poison was better than his!" Powerwolf's Falk Maria Schlegel shares his wisdom on Iron Maiden, make-up and meeting his heroes
- “Everything is all killer, no filler!” Every song on Iron Maiden’s Powerslave ranked from worst to best
- "A perfect blend of epic songwriting and virtuoso musicianship”: Can you hear the influence of Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd in Toto’s proggiest moments?
- "I don’t remember how I came up with the lyric about wanting to brush the teeth of everyone I see": The Jesus Lizard are back and they're just as surreal as ever
- Every Deep Purple album ranked, from worst to best
- "If you were playing with two other rock bands, you wanted to be the band that people remembered when they walked out": How Aerosmith got their wings and flew
- October 14
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- "This band has opened my eyes to my potential." Formed of former Fever 333 members and backed by ex-Bring Me The Horizon man Jordan Fish, House Of Protection are making a special kind of racket
- “He tore the whole thing to shreds and was very unkind, harsh and cruel … It was very upsetting to have someone you admire being so nasty about your work”: Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull’s War Child, and 1974
- "The public needs fantasy and escapism": Creeper are gearing up for Devil's Night and a huge, pomp-filled night in North London
- “Robert Plant was so impressed with the record, he phoned me up and said, 'Do you wanna support us?'” Meet Forgotten Pharaohs, the rising band making nods to Steely Dan, Neil Young and Led Zeppelin
- "Even now, I have no idea how we got Vincent Price or Twiggy": The night Roger Glover assembled three Deep Purple singers and a cast of stars for a performance based on an old children’s poem
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
- October 13
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- “I’d just fed the gerbils and was practicing how to play the saw when this head popped around the door and asked politely if I would like to join Caravan”: Inside the weird and wonderful world of The Canterbury Scene
- “I was the original vampire and I still have dominion over Slipknot, Rob Zombie and Lady Gaga”: A metal fan’s guide to Alice Cooper
- “An eight-minute opening track… pomp, circumstance, Wagnerian bombast and epic grandeur”: Propaganda’s A Secret Wish was more prog than people knew
- “We’re trying to uphold a delicate state of anarchy. Anarchy in Egypt”: The incredible story of The Grateful Dead’s legendary gigs at the Pyramids Of Giza
- October 12
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- “If you’re a Maiden fan you’re like family. You’ve been with us on a long ride”: How Iron Maiden conquered the parts of the planet where other metal bands feared to tread
- “They put me in a cell with a bank robber and a murderer. The bank robber seemed like a nice bloke. Said he had all my albums”: The wild life and crazy times of Joe Cocker
- “This is very strange music!" Lunatic Soul and the making of Walking On A Flashlight Beam
- “I hate the term ‘thinking man’s metal’. That kind of term could hurt the band”: The story of Opeth’s Blackwater Park, the album that changed prog metal forever
- “The Grateful Dead? Man, they were abysmal. After 20 minutes half the audience had gone”: Meat Loaf’s wild tales of Iggy Pop, the MC5, The Who and more
- “It was originally going to be a Bruce Dickinson solo album – but then I did a very stupid thing”: Arjen Lucassen didn’t make it easy for himself with Ayreon, Star One, Ambeon and other projects
- “I am absolutely proud of it. It was a big risk for us. Everything good usually is”: How Metallica tried to reinvent the rock movie with Through The Never
- October 11
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- The 12 new metal songs you need to hear this week
- "I spent twenty thousand pounds on a s****y album that nobody ever got to listen to." How rising nu gen star RØRY overcame growing pains, industry chaos and a devastating death to finally start making the music she needed
- "I was freaking out and bawling in the studio." Korn's classic debut album at 30: the weirdness, the trauma and the birth of nu metal
- Awesome new proggy sounds from Alex Henry Foster, Teramaze, Laibach and more in Prog's Tracks Of The Week
- “They had the uncanny ability to make odd meter into a catchy, radio-friendly experience”: Hawkind, Dream Theater, Styx, Def Leppard, Manic Street Preachers, Napalm Death members and others name their favourite Rush songs
- "There are no reasons why brothers should not be able to resolve any trauma that they've been through": John Petrucci on the return of Mike Portnoy to Dream Theater
- "I'm able to retire because of that song becoming such a ginormous hit everywhere": Maria McKee on the new Lone Justice album and the reunion that isn't
- October 10
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- “The riffs are insane in that band!” Arch Enemy name their five most surprising influences, from Trouble to Scorpions
- “Well-structured harmonies were important and we liked to be quite artsy… but there was pressure to become more and more commercial”: The tale of prog-tinged City Boy, who landed a hit pop-rock single and never recovered
- "These shows are very special to me, because they’re rare." Why Daron Malakian has resurrected Scars On Broadway
- "I've mastered what I was aiming for thirty years ago": Neil Peart - The Clockwork Angels interview
- "I remember listening back to that and thinking: What the hell is this?!": Behind the scenes at the recording of King Crimson's trailblazing In The Court Of The Crimson King
- The heavenly harmony of the spheres: A beginner's guide to the Mellotron in six essential songs
- October 9
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- “Layne Staley really was one of the most doom-laden, foreboding metal presences you could ever wish to see.“ Manic Street Preachers' James Dean Bradfield on the “pure molten lava“ of Alice In Chains' 1992 masterpiece Dirt
- 10 excellent upcoming bands to catch at Aftershock Festival 2024
- “This was more than just music… It’s part of your DNA if you were that age at the time. It defines the times”: Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd alumni on what The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper did for prog
- From classicly-styled hard rock to the slickest of AOR: The Foreigner albums you definitely need to listen to
- "If someone tries to start a fight with you, put them down as fast and nastily as you possibly can": The wild life of The Who's combustion engine, John Entwistle
- "I went from sleeping on a mattress to playing arenas inside two years": Creed's rise and fall was fast, but now, thanks to the TikTok generation, they're selling more tickets than ever
- October 8
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- “When somebody first called me a rock star it was like a dream come true. And my ego reflected that.” An audience with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor after “self-destruction” forced him to confront some ugly, painful home truths
- "The intensity and that whole, 'playing a bit faster than we are able to' type of approach, makes this such a gem." Dark Tranqullity/Halo Effect vocalist Mikael Stanne picks the greatest death metal album of all time
- “We’d always be stopped by the police… In those days, anyone with long hair was a drug addict”: The story behind Hawkwind’s classic album, In Search Of Space
- “In interviews they’d talk about Phil and Mike then say, ‘What have you been doing while these guys have been in the charts?’ It takes as long to make a record that’s not a success as it does to make one that is”: Tony Banks on his career outside Genesis
- "It's one thing to take off your shirt, but it's another to pre-rip the seams": How Soundgarden's dig at rock star excess helped turn them into rock stars themselves
- 10 West Coast rock albums you really need to hear... and one to avoid
- "When all those glamour models were banging at my door, I should have opened it and let them all in": Phil Mogg on 50 years with UFO, life on the road and new band Moggs Motel
- October 7
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- “The festival lost so much money they asked us for our fee back!” How Rage Against The Machine's generosity helped Coachella recover from a potentially ruinous start to become the world's coolest music festival
- 4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month
- "When I first heard Coldplay, they had that same unique feeling and emotional promise": Steve Perry's track-by-track guide to Journey's Infinity
- “Had we started a little earlier we might have survived. Yes and Genesis got through punk, but we hadn’t gotten to that point”: Gryphon, the unique band who forgot about themselves
- The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
- "Plug me into anything, I'll be alright!": Listen to Sweet and Ritchie Blackmore join forces for a unique performance of Free's All Right Now in tribute to Paul Kosoff
- October 6
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- “A whole generation of bands are standing on the brink of extinction. Look around and see how many have gone”: How Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes became one of American rock’s great unsung heroes
- “I’ve seen a lot of things. Supernatural things. I’ve seen the place between heaven and hell”: The outrageous life of King Diamond, the occult metal icon Metallica love and Gene Simmons wanted to sue
- "Lorde's version is more in tune with the lyrics than our version": Tears For Fears' Curt Smith on his favourite covers of the band's songs
- “No one ever interferes with us creatively and we’d like to keep it that way”: The story of Karnivool, prog metal’s most elusive band
- "He warned me, 'You've got to be careful to avoid being pigeonholed'": The The's Matt Johnson on the time he went to dinner with Leonard Cohen
- October 5
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- “I’m not a Satanist, I’m an atheist, but I write the best Satanic lyrics on the planet”: How Slayer went from thrash provocateurs to metal’s unlikeliest elder statesmen
- “We’d gone from being broke musicians to having James Hetfield slapping me on the back, saying, ‘Hey man, great album’”: How Corrosion Of Conformity ditched hardcore and embraced southern metal with Deliverance
- “We weren’t trying to better Iron Maiden. We were trying to better Michael Jackson!”: The metal fan’s guide to Def Leppard
- “The last time I saw Dimebag Darrell, he hands a bottle of JD over, I take a huge pull off it and throw up. I think I told him I loved him”: Why Nickelback are the rock band all other rock bands secretly wish they were
- “It was like that scene in The Fast Show, the MD, cigar in mouth, going ‘Come on guys, impress me’.”: Shed Seven’s Rick Witter on how the Britpop veterans made their make-or-break hit Going For Gold
- “The doctor told me if I carried on drinking at the same pace I’d start bleeding out of every orifice”: How Zakk Wylde kicked the booze and saved his own life
- “It mentions drugs and boozing and social comment and listening to tunes, what more do you want?”: Noel Gallagher on the making of Oasis’s classic anthem Cigarettes & Alcohol
- “Caravan were changing… I’d written For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night and intended to record it under my own name”: Pye Hastings planned his solo debut 44 years before it happened
- “Ozzy put a pint glass over his mouth and sucked it until he burst all the blood vessels around his face. Then he turned into a character from Planet Of The Apes”: Gary Moore’s wild tales of Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Lynott and Led Zeppelin
- October 4
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- “I don’t think this is a story of failure… It’s a shame she didn’t make it, but we can all learn so much from what happened”: Why Public Service Broadcasting made an album about air pioneer Amelia Earhart
- The 20 songs that defined Slayer's career (and the stories behind them)
- The 10 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- “Prog is the thinking person’s music – maybe that’s why the musicians are so friendly”: Dragonforce’s Herman Li joined Dream Theater’s fan club and never looked back
- "The songs remain lustrous and polished, buoyed up by rattling storylines": Why you should definitely hear Love Junk by The Pursuit Of Happiness
- October 3
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- “We're smelling bodies burning worldwide, and no-one is doing a thing.” Rage Against The Machine's Tim Commerford on his new band 7D7D, RATM, Trump, media censorship, government lies, and why a world on fire needs musicians to stand up and speak out
- How to calibrate your turntable: Get the most from your vinyl with our step-by-step guide
- "We were a bunch of dirty, stinky pirates leaving our families behind." How Mastodon reinvented themselves - and modern metal - on sludge-prog masterpiece Leviathan
- "Happiness is pot-shaped!" A true story about Robert Plant, a fake drugs bust, and a trainee nurse in a mini skirt
- “The creative tension helped here and there. At other times it did not help… it’s difficult to define”: Thijs van Leer reveals his only real regret as Focus roll on in their 55th year
- "It sounds like no one involved had any idea what 1981 was supposed to sound like": What happened when the singer from The Archies made an AOR album
- October 2
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- The best of the Texas cat with the hat and the Strat: the Stevie Ray Vaughan albums you should definitely listen to
- CD vs vinyl: Which sounds better and why it matters
- “I can just make music I like and it’ll **** off people I don’t like”: Zeal & Ardor on why metal gatekeeping is “funny” – plus Björk, Anthony Fantano, Mayhem and more
- “You study music, learn harmonies, technique and business. Then you come into a band like this and rip up the rule book”: Azure’s new album Fym wasn’t complete until they’d recorded a real oboe
- "I wasn't really very happy about this film being made. I don't want to be a film star": Iron Maiden, Ed Force One and the epic journey of Flight 666
- The Sammy Hagar albums you should definitely listen to
- "We were afraid that the Manson family that were still hanging out would come for us": This year Redd Kross will finally tell their story
- October 1
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- "It's Dante meets David Cassidy!" The Sisters of Mercy, Ghost Dance & the journey from goth to glam rock: Gary Marx’s career in 12 Songs
- “It’s devastatingly bleak in a way that resonates into our deepest self”: In his only interview, Sleep Token’s Vessel named his favourite album from the 1990s
- “It was extremely hard to deal with. But if you impose incredibly hard obstacles to making something, and people stay in the room, you might just get there”: The radical neutrality that gave birth to King Crimson’s Red
- “The interesting thing about going mad is you don’t realise you are… I think I’d become unbearable to live with”: Kavus Torabi’s new solo album brought him back from insanity in an almost religious way
- "Probably one of the worst decisions ever made": In 2011 Meat Loaf was booked to play in front of 100,000 fans in Melbourne, and it did not go well