It’s the format that’s making the mother of all comebacks. So cue our mammoth 70-page celebration, featuring 250 Albums You Must Own On Vinyl plus much more. Deep breath…
Unsung Classics Ten LPs by legendary artists that have slipped down the back of the sofa of history.
Packaging Heaven Fold-out maps? Fake newspapers? Sometimes you want more than a cardboard sleeve, as these 10 albums prove.
Extreme Record Collecting A trip down the record shop isn’t enough for pilot and vinyl enthusiast Chris Topham. Unless that shop is in an alleyway in Hong Kong or a shed in Johannesburg…
Side-Long Songs Pull up an armchair for the albums that dedicate an entire side to one classic song, via Rush, Floyd and more.
Classic Openers From Black Sabbath to Jackson Browne, here are 10 records worth buying for just for the first track…
Classic Closers …and 10 more worth picking up for the final track alone.
Double LPs Quadrophenia! The Wall! Generation Terrorists! And seven more albums that only two discs can truly do justice to.
Triple LPs George Harrison, Yes and The Smashing Pumpkins demonstrate that there are six sides to every story.
Does Vinyl Sound Better On Drugs? Sparking up a ‘bifter’ and listening to music, all in the name of science. Honest…
Picture Discs Five classic albums that let you watch your favourite band spinning round and round and round…
EPs & 10-inchers Def Leppard, Kate Bush, Dinosaur Jr: sometimes good things come in smaller packages.
**Inside The Pressing Plant **Ever wondered how they actually make your favourite ‘platters’? Wonder no more.
Short LPs Only got half an hour to spare? Creedence, Slayer and Dylan are here to answer your prayers.
Concept LPs In search of space with The Moody Blues and Muse. Back down to earth with The Kinks and Bruce Springsteen.
Brilliant Sleeves Zep, Heep, Gabriel, Big Brother And The Holding Company: the sleeves that raised artwork into… well, an artform.
Gimmick LPs Double-grooves, locked grooves, records with no hole and possibly the ultimate in black plastic gimmickry.
The Economics Of Vinyl Why is vinyl so expensive? We find out…
Lost Treasures Ten albums worth scouring second-hand shops for, from Moby Grape’s debut to Gene Clark’s cosmic masterpiece.
Bootlegs The live records that blur the line between legal and, well, not legal. Plus: a bootleg illustrator speaks!
Coloured Vinyl Paint the whole (sonic) world with a rainbow…
**Vinyl Only LPs **Five great albums that never made it to CD.
**Modern Classics **Proof that vinyl is alive and kicking in the 21st century.
Live LPs The roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd…
Charity Shop Challenge We gave hotshot blues rockers Kill It Kid £60 and let them loose in Oxfam’s record store. This is what happened…
7-inch singles They may be small, but they’re perfectly formed.
Reissues To buy 180g or to not buy 180g? That is the question…
Inside Record Store Day The annual event that almost single-handedly put vinyl back on the map. Plus: five must-have RSD exclusives.
**Variations On A Theme ** Think you know what The Who’s Live At Leeds looks like? Here are 10 different versions you’ve never seen.
**Soundtracks ** From Easy Rider to Dazed & Confused, these are the ultimate sounds of the big screen.
Essential Gear Wheels of steel, decks of doom – whatever you call them, these are the turntables no vinyl lover should be without.
Classic A Sides Ten front-loaded diamonds from U2, Supertramp and more…
Classic B Sides …and five gems from Rainbow, Queen and more that are all about the rear end.
The Secrets Of Record Fairs Our intrepid reporter steps into the shadowy world of the hardcore record collector.
Rarities If you have one of these, you can probably retire.
Essential LPs The 10 records every household should own on vinyl.
Other features
Peter Hammill The Van der Graaf Generator man looks back on spiky prog rock epics, full-blown riots and near-fatal heart attacks.
Casablanca Records Gene Simmons recalls high times and bad behaviour at Neil Bogart’s legendary disco-era den of iniquity.
The Pretty Things They gave the Stones a fright and had Zeppelin in their corner – the story of British rock’s great lost heroes.
Vinegar Joe The rise and fall of the R&B rockers who introduced Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer to the world.
What’s on your free CD
One Nation Under A Groove. One magazine, one goal, one mission – one disc of the latest in rock killers. It’s time to get your groove on, people, with 15 tracks including Europe, UFO, Toto, Jesse Malin, Von Hertzen Brothers, The Answer, Nightwish, Black Star Riders and more…
Regular features
The Dirt Three-fifths of Guns N’ Roses reunite onstage; Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson faces cancer battle; David Gilmour announces solo album… say hi to We Are Harlot and Royal Thunder… welcome back Jesse Malin, Phil Manzanera…
Reviews New albums from Steve Hackett, Blues Pills, Therapy?… Reissues from Steve Howe, Saxon, The Specials… DVDs, films and books on Sandy Denny, Genesis, Ray Davies… Live reviews of Faith No More, Ash, Monster Magnet…
Buyer’s Guide — Joe Bonamassa The best of the 21st-century blues hero.
Lives previews Gig previews from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Status Quo, Simple Minds, Danny Vaughn/Dan Reed and Daniel Lanois, plus who’s playing where and when.
Heavy Load - Jay Buchanan How does the Rival Sons singer want to die? Eaten by a bear.
Available in all good newsagents now.
Alternatively, you can download the Classic Rock magazine app from iTunes, or read it and the new issues of Metal Hammer and Prog magazines via TeamRock+
