Features archive
October 2024
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107 articles
- October 18
- 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
- “It isn’t necessarily what he plays that makes the statement, but how he plays it”: 30 prog stars name their favourite 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
- “Every time we arrived back in the early hours in our van, we’d be stopped by the police…In those days, anyone with long hair was a drug addict”: Hawkwind’s bid to spread the counterculture with In Search Of Space (if that’s the album’s actual name)
- “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 – until the world reminded them
- 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
