Innehållsförteckning för January 2019 från Classic Rock

WELCOME Gobsmacked. That’s about the best word I’ve been able to come up with. And that’s how I’ve felt about two things during the making of this issue. Firstly, I can’t believe I’m writing my final editorial of the year, pondering on just how quickly the past 12 months have flown by. Seriously, I’m still trying to clear my email inbox from last Christmas. But there you have it. Another year in rock has passed us by … Secondly, and even more incredibly, it’s been 20 years – 20 years – since Classic Rock magazine was launched on the world as a one-shot magazine by editor Jerry Ewing (who is now boss of our sister magazine Prog). The mag has changed a great deal since that very first issue, but…

the DIRT RIP Thank you and good night. Tony Joe White July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018 During a 50-year career singer, guitarist and songwriter Tony Joe White wrote hits for himself and other artists, having success under his own name with Polk Salad Annie and even greater acclaim via Elvis Presley, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker and Tom Jones. White was 75 years old when he suffered a fatal heart attack. Hugh McDowell July 31, 1953 – November 6, 2018 Cancer has claimed the life of Hugh McDowell at 65. Born in London, at 19 he was invited to join ELO. In 1972 he quit ELO with Roy Wood to form Wizzard, but soon returned and remained with ELO until 1979. Jimmy Farrar December 8, 1950 – October 29,…

Slayer To Sign Off At Download Pumpkins, Dream Theater and Anthrax also on bill. REX/SHUTTERSTOCK SLAYER, SMASHING PUMPKINS, Dream Theater, Anthrax and Blackberry Smoke are among the latest names announced for next summer’s Download Festival. It’s set to be the final UK show from Slayer. It will be the first time at Download for Smashing Pumpkins(pictured), who are engaged in a 30th-anniversary tour. As usual, Download takes place at Donington Park, over the weekend of June 14-16 in 2019, with headliners Def Leppard, Slipknot and Tool, and Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators and Whitesnake among the supporting cast (the latter have have confirmed that their new studio album, Flesh & Blood, which was delayed due to “technical issues whilst mixing”, will now be released in May). Elsewhere on…

WELCOME BACK Zal Cleminson’s /Sin’Dogs/ Guitarist goes back to his pre-SAHB heavy roots, with the focus on songs rather than make-up and guitar flash. GETTY AFTER STARTING OUT in The Bo-Weavles (“the best-looking beat group in Scotland”), Glaswegian guitarist Zal Cleminson graduated through hard-edged progressive rockers Tear Gas before making his name as the half-clown/half-Pierrot co-focal point of mid-70s chartbusters the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Following SAHB’s split in 1977, Cleminson joined Nazareth and worked with Elkie Brooks, Midge Ure, Bonnie Tyler and Fish. After a brief post-Alex SAHB reunion, Cleminson ’retired’ in ’08. But, as his metal-driven /Sin’Dogs/project proves, you can’t keep a good clown down. “This is me getting back to playing a more basic heavy rock.” What prompted your retirement ten years ago? When we re-formed SAHB…

DOLBY SOUND Mick Jones credits Thomas Dolby with helping bring Foreigner into the 1980s. He had been introduced to the young electronics wizard by Mutt Lange, and encouraged Dolby to experiment. “We’d leave him in the studio for an hour or two to while we went get a drink, then come back to hear what he’d done,” says Jones. “And nine times out of ten it would be great.” Post-Foreigner, Dolby notched up solo hits with She Blinded Me With Science and Hyperactive, and worked on Def Leppard’s Pyromania under the name Booker T Boffin.…

THE TOP ALBUM OF EACH OF THE PAST 20 YEARS We asked you on social media to nominate one all-conquering album of each year since 1998. Here are the results. As selected by the CR staff and YOU! 1998Metallica Garage IncElektra 1999Red Hot Chili Peppers CalifornicationWarner 2000Iron Maiden Brave New WorldColumbia 2001Tool LateralusVolcano Entertainment 2002Audioslave AudioslaveEpic/Interscope 2003The Darkness Permission To LandAtlantic 2004Velvet Revolver ContrabandRCA 2005Wolfmother WolfmotherModular 2006David Gilmour On An IslandEMI 2007Alter Bridge BlackbirdRepublic 2008AC/DC Black IceColumbia 2009Heaven And Hell The Devil You KnowRoadrunner 2010Slash SlashEMI/Universal/Roadrunner/Sony 2011Joe Bonamassa Dust BowlProvogue 2012Rush Clockwork AngelsAnthem/Roadrunner 2013Steven Wilson The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)Kscope 2014Rival Sons Great Western ValkyrieEarache 2015Motörhead Bad MagicMotörhead Music 2016David Bowie BlackstarColumbia 2017Black Country Communion BCCIVMascot 2018The Struts Young And DangerousInterscope…

David Crosby An icon of 60s counterculture, who with The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash helped soundtrack a golden era, he’s now more prolific than ever, still political and still gets a thrill out of simply singing. Words: Hannah May Kilroy ANNA WEBBER/PRESS After more than 50 years in music, David Crosby is still an emblem of 1960s counterculture. With The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, he created music that helped to define a generation. Now in his late 70s, his music making is more prolific than ever. Together with his two line-ups – the acoustic Lighthouse band and the electric Sky Trails – he’s released four solo albums in five years, the latest being the stunning Here If You Listen, and is still taking his music out…

Top 5 Prog Albums of 2018 Words: Jo Kendall 1 THE FIERCE AND THE DEAD The Euphoric BAD ELEPHANT Three albums in and the London-via-Northampton quartet delivered their meisterwork thus far, a Blade Runner soundtrack created by psychedelic stoners with a penchant for synthwave, King Crimson and Black Flag. Without a sniff of the symphonic or pastoral tropes particular to the genre, dancing robots, video games and grunge weirdness push prog on into 2019. 2 ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF Dead Magic CITY SLANG 3 FIELD MUSIC Open Here MEMPHIS INDUSTRIES 4 TOUNDRA Vortex INSIDEOUT 5 THE OSIRIS CLUB Wine-Dark Sea INDIE RECORDINGS…

“Go out on top. Don’t leave it until some young punk knocks you out” Kiss bassist Gene Simmons looks back on a year of booming business and ahead to the eventual Kiss retirement, and explains why Lady Gaga “is the only new rock star in the last twenty years”. Words: Henry Yates Somewhere off the Florida coast, Gene Simmons is reclining on the deck of a cruise ship, watching the hordes of Kiss Kruise attendees and contemplating his lifelong status as “the luckiest guy in the world”. After another year of razzmatazz and royalties, it would appear to be business as usual for the planet’s most openly commercial band. But with Kiss set to bid farewell with their End Of The Road Tour from January, Simmons’s world is about to…

“For us, 1998 was one of those turning-point years” Europe frontman Joey Tempest on football, politics and his band’s hard road to credibility. Words: Henry Yates The trouble with being in a band called Europe, sighs Joey Tempest, is that you get an awful lot of questions about Brexit. The 55-year-old singer might not have much to say on the subject of hard borders, but when it comes to the modern hard-rock scene there’s no stopping him. “If rock‘n’roll is played, recorded and produced the right way,” he says, “then it can still touch people.” Has 2018 been a good year for Europe? It’s a haze right now [laughs]. We’ve been touring Walk The Earth all year. We went to Australia for the first time and they were up for…

Top 25 Reissues of 2018 In a year packed with major anniversaries, we were spoilt for choice when it came to quality reissues. Here are some of our favourites. The reissue market has experienced a new surge over the past couple of years. That’s partly because veteran bands are remaining active for longer, partly simply a case of demand for ‘luxury’ nostalgia. In 2018, with many bands celebrating landmark anniversaries (including 50th birthdays for Led Zeppelin, The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors, among others), this trend peaked, bringing with it a wave of thoughtful remixes, lost classics and other goodies from artists across the rock spectrum. FLEETWOOD MAC Fleetwood Mac WARNERS What we said: “Of the live tracks, instrumentals and studio out-takes making up the additional 35 tracks of…

“I wondered: Does anybody even like Thin lizzy music any longer?” Lizzy and Black Star Riders guitarist Scott Gorham on triumphs, Tweets and resurrecting Phil Lynott. Words: Henry Yates Scott Gorham still remembers the bad years. Which helps him to now appreciate the good ones. “When Thin Lizzy ended, I thought that was gonna be it for me,” he reflects. “Back then I probably thought I wouldn’t still be doing this at sixty-seven years old. But I well and truly love what I do with Black Star Riders.” What’s the best thing you’ve seen this year? This summer we were out on a major festival run and Prophets Of Rage were playing. These guys fucking crank it up, and right from chorus one I was absolutely hooked. Have BSR faced…

BLACKBERRY SMOKE Q&A with frontman Charlie Starr Interview: Rob Hughes BLACKBERRY SMOKE: ROSS HALFIN/PRESS Arguably the 21st century’s answer to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackberry Smoke have honed a rich gumbo of southern rock and country tones. But there’s heaviness in their influences as well. Drummer Brit and bassist Rich Turner played in a metal band in the 90s, while frontman Charlie Starr has absorbed the likes of Metallica, Megadeth and DC hardcore over the years, alongside the gospel and bluegrass of his childhood. There’s nothing very ‘metal’ about Blackberry Smoke these days, but it’s this musical openness – and capacity for music that rocks – that keeps their music fresh and engaging. This year they released a new album, Find A Light, and played a lot of shows. Blackberry Smoke have…

THE CADILLAC THREE Q&A with Jaren Johnston Interview: Polly Glass The last time we saw The Cadillac Three they were tearing up the main stage at Ramblin’ Man Fair this summer, to the delight of masses of existing fans and a fair few new ones. In some ways it was pure Dixie-battered joy – Jaren Johnston’s broad Tennessee inflection, Kelby Ray’s lap-steel screams, all those lyrics about the south – but in another sense it was their non-purist approach that really shone through. “It’s a very exciting time to be coming up in this, whatever this genre is,” Johnston says. “I love that.” What’s the best thing that’s happened to TC3 in 2018? We’ve played a lot of shows. The best thing is that we’ve gotten considerably bigger without radio…

LIVE! MC50/Michael Monroe London Shepherd’s Bush Empire A double bill to die for. ‘Wayne Kramer and co: a rock testimonial par excellence.’ GETTY X2 ⋆ There are crack-addicted lap-dancers three months behind with their rent who don’t apply themselves to their craft with the indomitable vigour of ex-Hanoi Rocks human dynamo Michael Monroe. Given 45 minutes to dazzle, he James Browns the shit out of a glam-drenched show as exhausting as it is compelling. Mixing solo gems (78; Dead, Jail Or Rock’N’Roll) with cannily deployed bangers (Hanoi’s Malibu Beach; Up Around The Bend), he nixes vocal fatigue by attacking his performance like a peroxide Tasmanian Devil. Multi-tasking like Chaplin in Modern Times he changes hats, honks sax, spits into an upside-down gob-iron, assaults his mic and climbs the kit before…

Shinedown London Brixton Academy Bro-rock with a sensitive heart does gangbusters in the capital. ⋆ Last year this ultra-ripped American foursome opened for Iron Maiden on their Book Of Souls tour. An odd fit, you might think. But watching them tonight at a heavily sold-out Brixton Academy, it actually makes a lot of sense. Like Iron Maiden, Shinedown’s shows are near-as-dammit identical. The same songs (punctuated by select new ones; from this year’s UK Top 10 album Attention Attention in Shinedown’s case), poses and audience-corralling tricks are hammered out with the kind of might and precision normally reserved for military operations. All of which is led by pint-sized singer/recovering addict Brent Smith, marching, gesturing and barking commands like rock’s answer to GI Joe. But here’s the thing; they do it…

This month’s contributors HANNAH MAY KILROY Hannah May started her career at an extreme metal magazine, where she had to keep her love of Lynyrd Skynyrd secret. Now she’s the deputy editor of our sister magazine Prog, and when she’s not donning her cape she can be found rocking out to southern sounds. This issue she spoke to one of her all-time favourites, David Crosby (p28). BILL DEMAIN Bill is a very busy fella. He’s a songwriter, journalist, BBC correspondent and owner/guide of the Walkin’ Nashville history tour. His latest output includes a solo album and the acclaimed book Sgt Pepper At 50. For this issue, Bill was perfectly placed to discover why 2018 was the year that country rocked. Read about that on page 78. ROB HUGHES Long-time Classic…

NEWS Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi releases We Talk Too Much, an album made with vocalist Hannah Rickard, a collaborator of Quo’s from their Aquostic sessions, on March 15. There’s also a new autobiography with the same title, and a lengthy spoken-word tour. King Crimson whose debut album In The Court Of The Crimson King has its 50th anniversary in 2019, have announced three gigs at the Royal Albert Hall in London, on June 18, 19 and 20. Bruce Dickinson says that should Iron Maiden ever be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, he would refuse the invitation. “Rock‘n’roll does not belong in a mausoleum in Cleveland. It’s a living, breathing thing, and if you put it in a museum then it’s dead. It’s worse than horrible,…

Perry “Doing Well” After Health Scare But Aerosmith guitarist forced to cancel solo tour. JOE PERRY IS resting at home after a difficult month. The Aerosmith guitarist, 68, was hospitalised following a guest appearance with Billy Joel at New York’s Madison Square Garden where he performed Walk This Way. Perry collapsed backstage and, according to website TMZ, required assistance from paramedics before he was taken to hospital. From there Perry tweeted: “Doing well, thanks for all the love and support.” TMZ quoted sources who said Perry has been having breathing difficulties “for the last few weeks” He was later released from care, but was forced to cancel a run of solo dates and other appearances. Unsurprisingly, he is to take the rest of the year off. Perry apologised to fans…

Q&A James Dean Bradfield The Manic Street Preachers frontman on fame, hecklers and getting beaten to No.1 by the “fucking Greatest Showman”. Interview: Henry Yates OLLY CURTIS “If somebody wants to say they hate me, I haven’t got that much of a problem with it.” There’s nothing like cabin fever to get an interviewee talking. James Dean Bradfield has spent the past two days without human contact, chipping away at a documentary soundtrack in the Manic Street Preachers’ studio. Since the Welsh band’s formation in ’86, bassist Nicky Wire has been their chief mouthpiece and agitator. But following Bradfield’s solitary confinement the 49-year-old singer/guitarist is spilling over with opinions on subjects ranging from the Manics’ thirteenth album, this year’s Resistance Is Futile, to their appearance in the first issue of…

Albums Of The Year 2018 delivered plenty of new albums to get excited about, from both big names and newcomers. Here, then, is the Classic Rock critics’ choice of the best 50. Words: Tim Batcup, Paul Elliott, Dave Everley, Ian Fortnam, Polly Glass, Rob Hughes, Fraser Lewry, Dave Ling, Hannah May Kilroy, Henry Yates 50 VEGA Only Human FRONTIERS Born on a wave of falsely perceived boastfulness, Vega have had to earn respect. Five albums later they’re still plugging away making slow but steady progress. The quintet’s best percolation so far of familiar-sounding AOR building blocks and modern-pop sensibilities, Only Human was said in these pages to sound “just like the 80s – only in the here and now”. DL Killer track: Last Man Standing 49 TAX THE HEAT Change Your Position…

Top 5 Country Albums Words: Rob Hughes 1 LUCERO Among The Ghosts THIRTY TIGERS The Memphis quintet’s ninth album signalled a departure from their usual first-person narratives, with leader Ben Nichols instead mining the rich storytelling traditions of the American South. Cue a dark, gothic-tinged masterpiece - born of blues, country, punk and no-holds rock’n’roll. 2 ISRAEL NASH Lifted LOOSE 3 COWBOY JUNKIES All That Reckoning PROPER 4 DAN STUART The Unfortunate Demise Of Marlowe Billings CADIZ 5 SARAH SHOOK & THE DISARMERS Years BLOODSHOT…

Myles Kennedy He’s released a live album with Alter Bridge, a record with Slash and his first solo LP. A busy year for one of the top voices in rock, then? Interview: Nick Hasted After 27 years of recording, and 14 leading Alter Bridge, Myles Kennedy released his solo debut in 2018. Year Of The Tiger was also an emotional breakthrough, as its songs exorcised the death of his father when Kennedy was four, having refused medical help due to his Christian Scientist beliefs. Having also fitted in a third album backing Slash with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, Living The Dream, and an album of Alter Bridge’s 2017 gigs with the Parallax Orchestra, Live At The Royal Albert Hall, Kennedy looks back on a landmark 12 months. How has…

Top 5 AOR Albums Words: Dave Ling AIC: PAMELA LITTKY/PRESS 1 MODERN ART FEATURING TED POLEY Modern Art Featuring Ted Poley TED-POLEY.COM The unlikely combination of veteran singer Ted Poley (of Danger Danger fame) and the Swedish foursome Degreed, one of a handful of younger acts doing exciting new and modern things within the sphere of melodic hard rock, is quite remarkable. You have never heard Poley sounding like this before. 2 AIRRACE Untold Stories FRONTIERS 3 W.E.T. Earthrage FRONTIERS 4 PERFECT PLAN All Rise FRONTIERS 5 MIDNITE CITY There Goes The Neighbourhood AOR HEAVEN…

“I’m so in the trenches as far as rock n’ roll is concerned” No kidding. Slash may be the busiest man in showbiz, with a new solo record and the Guns N’ Roses reunion under his belt this year – plus film productions on the horizon, global tours… Words: Dave Everley Few people have been as omnipresent in 2018 as Slash. If the blockbusting success of the reconstituted Guns N’ Roses’ ongoing Not In This Lifetime tour – current takings: $480 million and counting – wasn’t enough, he also pulled double-duty with Living The Dream, his third collaboration with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators (his fourth solo LP overall). Despite that impressive workload, the man in the top hat is his usual supernaturally laidback self when it comes to casting…

The Best Gigs Of 2018 From A-list rock giants to new faces and unexpected treats, 2018 was a cracking year for quality live shows. We look back at some of our favourites. KEVIN NIXON JILL FURMANOVSKY/PRESS THE ROLLING STONES Coventry Ricoh Stadium Taking the piss out of the Rolling Stones isn’t just easy, it’s almost compulsory – like laughing at religion or the Royal Family. They’ve been the Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band In The World for so long, it’s easy to take them for granted. But unlike religion or the Royals, they won’t be around forever. The Stones’ songs still resonate like few other bands’. The band have an uncanny knack for invoking the history of the past few decades. They sound like fighting in the streets, like sex gods, serial…

Appetite For Reconstruction Five young hopefuls called Guns N’ Roses walked into a recording studio. Nine months later they walked out with one of the best debut albums ever. But Appetite could have turned out very different. Words: Paul Elliott NEIL ZLOZOWER/ATLASICONS.COM June 5, 1986. At Sound City studios in Los Angeles, Guns N’ Roses are recording demos for their debut album. The most talked about band on the LA rock scene have recently signed to Geffen Records following a furious bidding war between major labels. To oversee this recording session, Geffen have brought in a man who has seen and done it all – Manny Charlton, the guitarist with Nazareth, one of the great rock bands of the 70s. For the first couple of hours, the cool air in…

“We’ve still got the same passion we’ve always had” Uriah Heep mainman Mick Box on a good year for the band and looking forward to plenty more. Words: Dave Everley Portrait: Will Ireland Mick Box is one of rock’s great lifers. The East Londoner has been the guitarist and driving force behind Uriah Heep for nearly 50 years, but his enthusiasm and energy remain undepleted even after all this time. “’Appy days” isn’t so much a catchphrase for the 71-year-old as a mantra for life. “It’s ridiculous to think I’m still doing it after all this time,” he says. “But then I still love it, or I would have done something else years ago.” How has 2018 treated you? It’s gone great, mate. We recorded an album, Living The Dream,…

BRENT COBB Q&A with the singer-songwriter. Interview: Henry Yates The popular perception of modern country – beers, babes, vests, trucks – receded a little in 2018 thanks to Brent Cobb’s album Providence Canyon. The Georgia-born, Grammy-nominated songwriter’s third album was an all-inclusive triumph that mixed rock, soul and funk flavours, while speaking of universal truths like the pang of missing home. “My head is spinning a little bit,” he tells us of his rocketing profile, “but bring it on, man.” Has country music got better or worse in the past year? I think country music is the most popular it’s ever been, and at the same time there’s another side of country that may be the most soul-searching it’s ever been. But I don’t know that both of those sides…

Essential Playlist Music Man R.E.O./T.W.O. Son Of A Poor Man Ridin’ The Storm Out Ridin’ The Storm Out Live: You Get What You Play For Keep Pushin’ Live: You Get What You Play For Roll With The Changes You Can Tune A Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish Time For Me To Fly You Can Tune A Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish Back On The Road Again Nine Lives Heavy On Your Love Nine Lives Keep On Loving You Hi Infidelity Take It On The Run Hi Infidelity Don’t Let Him Go Hi Infidelity I’ll Follow You Good Trouble Keep The Fire Burnin’ Good Trouble Can’t Fight This Feeling Wheels Are Turnin’ Live Every Moment Wheels Are Turnin’ That Ain’t Love Life As We Know It In My Dreams…

A Tribute To Chas Hodges Dave Peacock previews a charity memorial show. Let’s start by saying that Classic Rock is very sorry for your loss. Cheers, mate. It’s been a very tough time. Chas and I were together for more than fifty years. I was fishing with him two days before he died. Would Chas have been surprised by the extent of the nation’s grief? Maybe so, though of course he knew he was very popular. He would have been happy to know that so many people were thinking about him. He put up a brave fight, having been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in February but continuing to play concerts. Making music was all that Chas lived for. He was a keen gardener as well, but he played and played…

David Byrne Manchester Arena Ex-Talking Head on “jaw-dropping” form. ⋆ When David Byrne discovered he was enjoying a Leonard Cohen-style autumnal spike in his live audiences, how did the Old Master of lateral-thinking quirk-rock respond? By putting together the most innovative, ambitious and exuberant spectacle of his post-Talking Heads career. Indeed, this all-singing, all-dancing, jaw-dropping show may be the 66-year-old post-punk legend’s greatest ever. Framed by a curtain of beaded chains, Byrne first appears on the bare stage clutching a plastic brain for the (literally) cerebral opening number Here. But the silver-haired pop professor is soon up on his bare feet and bouncing around with 11 singer-dancer-musicians, all in matching grey suits. The next two hours turn into an impeccably choreographed high-energy carnival, mixing newer material with percussion-heavy reworkings of…

Generation Sex Los Angeles The Roxy Generation X-heavy set from veteran punk swindlers. ⋆ The news seemed to come out of nowhere: a free concert featuring Billy Idol and Tony James of Generation X and Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, with tickets to be dished out via a lottery on the day of the show. It had the buzz of an event rather than a simple gig. And so it proves at The Roxy tonight. The set-list is divided equally between Generation X classics, and tunes from the Pistols’ much-maligned Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle soundtrack. There is nothing from Never Mind The Bollocks, but the opportunities to hear these guys perform songs like Silly Thing and No One Is Innocent, plus Ready Steady Go and…

The Soundtrack Of My Life Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott on the special records, artists and gigs that are of lasting significance to him. Interview: Paul Elliott Next year Joe Elliott will reach a major landmark. On August 1, 2019 – just a few weeks after Def Leppard headline the Download festival – the singer will celebrate his sixtieth birthday. In the soundtrack of his life, glam rock has played a significant role in rite of passage and as an influence on the sound that has made Def Leppard one of the biggest bands in the world. But it was The Beatles that first inspired the young Joe Elliott to sing, and it was a Beatles song, heard many years later, that moved him to tears. THE FIRST MUSIC I…

Birmingham To Honour Sabbath Plans for home-town bridge and more mooted. PLANS ARE AFOOT to pay tribute to Black Sabbath in their home town of Birmingham, which if they come off would see a Black Sabbath bridge built over the canal on Broad Street, and an accompanying metal bench, plus the addition of a final band member to a Hollywood-style walk of fame that honours local celebrities. Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi are already enshrined in Brum’s Walk Of Stars and, in line with this proposal, Bill Ward, the co-founding drummer, who sat out their last tour, would join them. The proposal comes from Mohammed Osama, an architect and lifelong fan of the band, whose ultimate goal is to involve all four members in the unveiling of the…

THE STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS Foreigner Urgent Mick Jones looks back on the single that steered Foreigner out of a difficult time – ‘power-dressed’ production and sax solo included. Words: Dave Everley ALAMY Mick Jones isn’t the sort of man who usually lets himself be bullied into things. The genteel Englishman’s aristocratic air hides a steeliness that helped him rise from hired gun in the 60s to leader of one of the biggest rock bands of the late 70s and early 80s. But when producer Mutt Lange demanded in the summer of 1980 that Jones play him all the ideas he had for his band Foreigner’s fourth album, the guitarist decided to comply. “I’d never done that before, but I sat down and played him this tape of stuff I…

The Music That Shaped Our Lifetime With Classic Rock turning 20 this year, we look back at the records, artists and industry changes that have built the rock landscape around us since the magazine was launched. Words: Polly Glass GETTY WILL IRELAND FOR CLASSIC ROCK It’s curious to think that Classic Rock began in the same year as Google. At the same time as the internet took hold of our lives forever, a group of music journalists decided to launch a “rock magazine for grown-ups” – one that would cover icons of old and also celebrate new music that serious rock fans would actually be interested in. You could call it a means of clinging on to ‘the good old days’ in the face of change, and in some ways…

Top 5 Blues Albums Words: Henry Yates 1 IAN SIEGAL All The Rage NUGENE Three back-to-back live releases is all well and good, but Britain’s most fascinating bluesman owed us a studio album – and All The Rage delivered in spades. From Eagle Vulture’s dystopian roots-rumble to the heaven-sent soul of Sweet Souvenir, this was the sound of a titan swatting away the competition. 2 BIG BOY BLOATER Pills MASCOT/PROVOGUE 3 VICTOR WAINWRIGHT & THE TRAIN Victor Wainwright & The Train RUF 4 HANDSOME JACK Everything’s Gonna Be Alright ALIVE NATURALSOUND 5 SHEMEKIA COPELAND America’s Child ALLIGATOR…

Joe Bonamassa Maybe a mid-life crisis is good for a bluesman. It certainly hasn’t put a wall in front of the genre’s man of the moment. Interview: Polly Glass Another year, another tightly packed 12 months for New Hartford’s prodigal son. In 2018 the king of contemporary blues guitar released his thirteenth solo album, a fourth with soul siren Beth Hart and his tenth live album in 10 years. It also brought some emotional trials and personal dilemmas. Smokin’ Joe talks to us about his latest records, the new rock generation and his “mid-life crisis”. This year you released albums of your own and also with Beth Hart. Which sides of you do these, quite different, projects appeal to? Beth and I really enjoy playing that kinda music together. It’s…

“I still believe it was divine intervention” Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain on live extravaganzas, critical slatings and smacking Classic Rock in the mouth. Words: Henry Yates Photos: John McMurtrie Keeping them out on the road all summer, Iron Maiden’s Legacy Of The Beast World Tour prompted a thousand fine words from the rock-press cognoscenti. But nobody has nailed the show’s merits quite as succinctly as drummer Nicko McBrain. “From the band’s point of view, it was absolutely the bollocks,” he tells us. You enjoyed the tour, then? When people go on tour they always say: “It was the best yet.” But I have to be honest, this one was. Bruce [Dickinson], Rod [Smallwood, manager] and Steve [Harris] really excelled themselves with the visual aspect. We pulled out the stops…

“The last album was a total political protest that could have ended it all” Marillion’s vocalist Steve Hogarth talks about the band members’ campfire musical choices, why playing the Royal Albert Hall is special and how Classic Rock “changed a bad smell in the media”. Words: Dave Ling It’s been a successful year for Marillion, the cherry on the cake perhaps being walking on to the stage at the hallowed Royal Albert Hall for the first time. Frontman Steve Hogarth looks back over the past 12 months, and also at how some things have changed over the past 20 years. When Classic Rock launched 20 years ago you faxed us a good-luck message. I thought news of the magazine was a good thing. Back then the music press seemed to…

“It’s been turbulent, but I’m hard to kill” A core, prolific presence throughout Classic Rock’s lifetime, Ginger Wildheart reflects on the immortality of the guitar, his first tour with Motörhead and being dead “for thirty-six hours”. Words: Dave Ling Photo: Will Ireland South Shields-born David Walls has pursued a varied and certainly colourful career. Best known as leader of The Wildhearts, he has also worked with Avenger, the Quireboys, The Throbs, Silver Ginger 5, Supershit 666, Mutation, Brides Of Destruction, Hey! Hello!, and the Michael Monroe Band, among others. A long-term sufferer of mental health issues, Ginger’s life has been equally unpredictable. He attempted suicide after assaulting an audience member during a gig in Ballymena, Northern Ireland – and Tweeted that he was “fucking gutted” to have failed. Back in…

Ask not what you can do for country — ask what country can do for you! Big changes have been taking place in country music – changes that rock fans have been getting excited about. As 2018 proved to be the year that country rocked, we get to the heart of why, and talk to some of the new scene’s movers and shakers. Words: Bill DeMain THE BROHTERS OSBORNE: ALYSSE GAFKJEN/PRESS BLACKBERRY SMOKE: ROSS HALFIN/PRESS The legendary songwriter Harlan Howard once said: “Country music is three chords and the truth.” In 2018 those three chords are ringing louder than ever, and the truth has swung back towards the whole dark-and-light honesty of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. You can hear this powerful combination in the latest releases by Eric Church,…

BROTHERS OSBORNE Q&A with John Osborne Interview: Hannah May Kilroy BRENT COBB: PRESS, THE BROTHERS OSBORNE: ALYSSE GAFKJEN/PRESS, JOHNNY CASH, LORETTA LYNN: GETTY Fusing their love of classic country with vintage southern rock (think Willie Nelson-meets-the Allman Brothers), Nashville-based sibling duo Brothers Osborne topped charts earlier this year with their rollicking second album Port Saint Joe, a record that’s brimming with whiskey-soaked rootsy grooves. From finding creative heads-pace to political woes, John Osborne looks back over their year. What do you think you’ll remember most about 2018? It’s been an incredible year. But the pivotal moment for us was releasing Port Saint Joe. We tracked it mostly live, and I think it shows how far we’ve come and what we are all about. You recorded the album in Port Saint…