Prog Rock
Procol Harum: I Knew Procol Would Be A Success
Interview by Alan Smith, NME, July 1967
says KEITH REID the man who created the group – to ALAN SMITH ...
Nice, The: 1968 The Year Of The Nice
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1968
NICE ARE now one of Britain's top groups, ranking with Cream and Jimi Hendrix's Experience. And as Cream aren't working and are on the edge ...
Nice, The: The Nice: Two Thirds Nice
Interview by Miles, International Times, April 1969
This interview is transcribed from a tape recorded conversation done at my house in Westminster. It has been edited for grammer and coherence only. Lee ...
King Crimson King Crimson King Crimson King Crimson
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, June 1969
TEN YEARS ago every American boy's idea of a teen idol was Charles Atlas totin' a Gibson Jumbo. Today everybody here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ...
Nice, The: The Nice: Ars Longa Vita Brevis (Immediate)
Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, June 1969
WHAT MAY HAVE turned potential Nice freaks off last year was the group's decision to precede their ritual cataclysm 'Rondo' with a set that consisted ...
Review by Mark Williams, Rolling Stone, July 1969
THE BRITISH END of the Atlantic Recording Company's operations rarely signs up this country's groups and when it does, they have to be exceedingly good ...
Nice, The: The Nice: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Profile by Mark Williams, Rolling Stone, July 1969
THE NICE are the most successful British group to have achieved fame without a single in the top ten. The future is surer for them, ...
Nice, The: The Nice: Nice (Immediate)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, August 1969
THE NICE just keep escalating from strength to strength, their reputation solidifying as their incorporation of classical phraseology (sometimes admittedly borrowed wholesale) becomes even more ...
Tea & Symphony: Rock In The Sticks: Tea & Symphony
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, September 1969
THE MOST INTERESTING group in this article, from an historical point of view, is Tea & Symphony. They have had almost as many changes in ...
Review by Loyd Grossman, Fusion, October 1969
MAYBE HIDDEN away in the offices of Atlantic Records right now is an evil genius publicity man who is trying to devise a monstrous hype ...
Deep Purple with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Mark Williams, International Times, October 1969
THE ALBERT Hall Concert on Wednesday September 24th, featuring Deep Purple in concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was possibly the most important musical event ...
Yes: Swiss Rolling And Rocking With Yes
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1969
CHRIS WELCH reporting, with a little Alp from his friends ...
King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King
Review by John Morthland, Rolling Stone, December 1969
THERE ARE CERTAIN problems to be encountered by any band that is consciously avant-garde. In attempting to sound "farout" the musicians inevitably impose on themselves ...
Yes: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Mark Williams, International Times, April 1970
IT HAS BEEN many months since I've seen YES and the consequent starvation of tight British progressive rock music par excellence left me eagerly awaiting ...
Jethro Tull: A Subtle Acceptance
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Circus, July 1970
A LITTLE OVER a year ago, Jethro Tull made their first appearance in America. The result was slightly less than overwhelming. No fanfares went up, ...
Chris Farlowe, Colosseum: Colosseum: Farlowe That!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1970
CHRIS FARLOWE and Colosseum – the mind boggles! One of the country's most powerful vocal talents has joined the most explosive force in groups to ...
Report and Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, October 1970
ONE OF THE more interesting events of last year, away from the resurgence of rock ‘n’ roll in all shapes and sizes, was the first ...
East of Eden: A Good Time East of Eden
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, October 1970
"IF I HAD a choice of playing a technically perfect set or giving people a good time," says Dave Arbus, "I'd definitely give them a ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer, Nice, The: Emerson Lake & Palmer: Here Comes Another Orgasmic Peak
Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, October 1970
KEITH EMERSON is, to say the least, very upset at the release of old Nice tapes currently flooding the market. ...
McDonald and Giles: McDonald & Giles: Outside The Court Of The Crimson King
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, November 1970
THERE ARE, YOU understand, these two musicians, both having played in one of our very best bands, who're sitting at home doing virtually nothing at ...
Colosseum: The Secret Of Their Success – Good Music
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1970
COLOSSEUM are now rated as one of Britain's and Europe's most popular and creative bands. In two years of furious activity and hard work, the ...
Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, December 1970
THE LAST FEW months have seen the emergence of one or two bands whose publicity and stage act seem to be based on – not ...
King Crimson: Reincarnation of King Crimson
Report by Richard Williams, Times, The, December 1970
IN THE PAST, pop music has taken it for granted that its groups would stay together; when a musician has left a band, or the ...
Iron Butterfly, Yes: Yes and Iron Butterfly: Allies of Rock
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1971
Chris Welch with Yes and Iron Butterfly in Holland ...
Moody Blues, The: The Moody Blues: Now I Know How McCartney Felt…
Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, January 1971
FLAUTIST RAY Thomas is now ensconced in the Moody Blues new "Threshold" HQ in Surrey after the group's pre-Christmas run across the States, shattering attendance ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: ELP Is On The Way…
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, March 1971
DESPITE PROTESTATIONS to the contrary, there is no such thing as an instant group – super or otherwise – and ELP are a testimony to ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Review by Loyd Grossman, Rolling Stone, April 1971
WE WERE FOREWARNED by the British music press that Emerson, Lake & Palmer would be a "super-group," and indeed it was hard to see how ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: Melody Maker Band Breakdown: Van der Graaf Generator
Report and Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
If it's Thursday, it must be Ormskirk ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer, Humble Pie: ELP In America
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1971
BLOOD streaming from his head, a middle-aged man, white, well-dressed, staggered into the headlights of the battered Yellow Cab. The Puerto Rican driver, grinned and ...
King Crimson Take To The Road!
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, May 1971
IT'S HARDLY surprising that King Crimson are scared stiff at the prospect of their first British gig, for it will be the first time they've ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: ELP: Fillmore East, New York NYC
Live Review by Mike Jahn, New York Times, May 1971
BRITISH BAND MAKES DEBUT AT FILLMORE ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: The Generator Are Staying Very Content On The Continent
Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, May 1971
PERHAPS THE most obvious band of our times are Van der Graaf Generator who without any publicity hype – hit single or ballyhoo – have ...
Rick Wakeman: Just Another Yes Man
Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, August 1971
WHEN HE was six years old, Rick Wakeman's father dispatched him to a very fine lady piano teacher in Harrow. Two lessons later the infant ...
King Crimson: Reshuffle At The Court Of The King
Interview by Andrew Tyler, Disc and Music Echo, January 1972
"WE'VE ALL gone through our various changes and Peter and I came out at different places." ...
Yes: The Squire Of Nottihg Hill Gate
Interview by David Hughes, Disc and Music Echo, January 1972
...talks to David Hughes ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer, Yes: Ready, Eddie? An Interview with Eddie Offord
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, February 1972
EDDIE OFFORD SITS in his penthouse flat, way above the traffic that thunders down the Vauxhall Bridge Road past Victoria. ...
Curved Air: A Little Rift In Curved Air?
Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, February 1972
IT WAS SCOTT Fitzgerald who held to the theory that the test of a first rate intelligence was to hold two opposed ideas in the ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, March 1972
ASK GENESIS how their careers are progressing and they'll tell you they're superstars in Aylesbury and Belgium, but little known elsewhere. In fact their fame ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: Emerson Lake and Palmer: Why Keith Wants To Become Immortal
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, May 1972
KEITH EMERSON would like to be remembered as a twentieth century composer – he thinks about it quite a lot and finds it curious that ...
Yes: Yes are Well and Grooving
Profile and Interview by Andrew Tyler, Disc and Music Echo, May 1972
IN THE basement of Una Billings School of Dancing, Shepherd's Bush, London, Yes are bouncing ideas off each other for a new album. Jon Anderson, ...
Caravan: Missing Out On Hysteria
Report by Andrew Tyler, Disc and Music Echo, June 1972
YOU CAN almost see the sky through the hazy plastic roof. Richard Sinclair hands around huge pastries stuffed with stringy macro weeds. Guzzling Cokes and ...
Review by John Swenson, Crawdaddy!, August 1972
THE NEW Tull package is clever, very, and complicated enough to sustain interest over an extended series of listenings. Most albums can be assimilated in ...
Review by Richard Cromelin, Rolling Stone, August 1972
OF THE SCADS of similarities between Wishbone Ash and Yes, the most trivial and accidental (and so most interesting) is the fact that both groups ...
Yes: Close To The Edge (Atlantic)
Review by Ian MacDonald, NME, September 1972
Meaningless magnificence from Yes? ...
Genesis, Lindisfarne: Lindisfarne, Genesis: Dublin Stadium, Dublin
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1972
TO BE CASUAL is to be Lindisfarne, but even the most relaxed of bands have a hard time putting over a set of new numbers ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: Super-Group Of The Seventies!
Profile and Interview by Keith Altham, Petticoat, November 1972
EMERSON LAKE and Palmer may not be three names which are immediately known to you but to millions of progressive rock music fans across the ...
King Crimson: Larks' Tongues in Aspic
Review by Gary Lucas, Zoo World, 1973
ONE THING YOU gotta say about Robert Fripp, the auteur behind King Crimson, is that he's ambitious. After perfecting his mellotron-dominated "Death of the Universe" ...
King Crimson: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Ian MacDonald, NME, 1973
IT'S A ROCK concert evening and the stalls are filling to the accompaniment of music played over the public address system. A review-functionary takes his ...
Live Review by Tony Stewart, NME, January 1973
ALTHOUGH OUR entry into the European Economic Community is being saluted with umpteen art forms and rock concerts in the capital, perhaps the greatest – ...
Live Review by Ian MacDonald, NME, February 1973
THE MARQUEE MAY be an ace gig as far as groups are concerned but, for audiences, it can be most uncomfortable – particularly when the ...
Focus, Jan Akkerman: Jan Akkerman: A Poor Relation Comes Good
Interview by Tony Stewart, NME, February 1973
IN A SMALL OFFICE at the Manchester Hardrock, reeking of stale beer and dirty ashtrays, Jan Akkerman is struggling to light a cigarette. Outside, where ...
King Crimson: Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Island).
Review by Ian MacDonald, NME, March 1973
A NICE RECORD of pleasant, middle-of-the-road music which should prove a great favourite with everybody's mum and dad this Easter. Bill Bruford's whistling has improved ...
Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon (Harvest).
Review by Tony Stewart, NME, March 1973
SINCE THEIR performance of this work at the Brighton Dome last year, when, due to technical hitches, the piece fell apart half way through, the ...
King Crimson, Claire Hamill: King Crimson/Claire Hammill: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Ian MacDonald, NME, March 1973
ON SUNDAY night, at that big weird place in Finsbury Park, Messrs. Derek Moss, Bart Brassert, Don Wilton and Rodney Frock most certainly did not ...
Flash, Badger: Flash: Flash; Badger: One Live Badger
Review by Chris Salewicz, Let It Rock, April 1973
"DIFFERENCES in musical policy" is the standard euphemism whenever a member quits a band, or, as is more often the case, gets the boot. Yes ...
Focus: Focus And The American Hell
Interview by Tony Stewart, NME, May 1973
MIDNIGHT was our cue to quit the Swiss restaurant and return, like five Cinderellas, to our hotels. It wasn't a case of trembling at the ...
Focus: How to Make It Without Playing Top 40
Interview by Harold Bronson, Rolling Stone, May 1973
LOS ANGELES – "'Hocus Pocus' was done as a parody of rock," said Thijs van Leer, founder of Focus, commenting on his group's hit record. ...
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon
Review by Loyd Grossman, Rolling Stone, May 1973
ONE OF BRITAIN'S most successful and long lived avant-garde rock bands, Pink Floyd emerged relatively unsullied from the mire of mid-'60s British psychedelic music as ...
Genesis: What Genesis Did On Their 'Holidays'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1973
NOT MANY groups conduct their rehearsals squashed together in a Morris Mini. But if you are in the habit of strolling around the backwaters of ...
King Crimson: Latest Shade of Crimson
Interview by Ian MacDonald, NME, August 1973
SOME REPORTS from America suggested that King Crimson's recent tour had bombed completely. Others maintained that everything had gone according to plot and that audience ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1973
"YES ARE LIKE an amoeba. Now an amoeba works on the principle of..do you know, I've no idea how it f***** works!" Jon Anderson grinned, ...
Jethro Tull: Can 72,000 Fans Be Wrong?
Report by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, August 1973
I DON'T KNOW how it is in England, but in this country the minute you get too big, too powerful, people start gunning for you. ...
Genesis: The Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Andrew Tyler, NME, August 1973
IT'S A LITTLE dishonest using the same strokes to hammer Genesis as are periodically used against Yes. But there you go. Such is the nature ...
King Crimson: Robert Fripp…Super Stud?
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, August 1973
"I AM," MUSES Robert Fripp, "already a living legend."The light breeze ruffles his curly locks. He settles back in the plastic garden chair, sips his ...
Robert Fripp, King Crimson: Robert Fripp: The Sexual Athlete
Interview by Ian MacDonald, NME, September 1973
ROBERT FRIPP paused in a virtuoso display of cross-picking on Francisco Tarrega's 'Recuerdos de la Alhambra', the interlude music he'd chosen between the two parts ...
Review by Jon Tiven, Zoo World, September 1973
"WHAT IS A GREENSLADE?" asked records editor Arthur Levy when I first volunteered to review this new album, and this is a question with true ...
Focus: At The Rainbow (Polydor)
Review by Tony Stewart, NME, September 1973
LIVE ALBUMS basically attempt to recreate a concert atmosphere with favoured musical pieces by the band in question and sycophantic noises from the audience. ...
Genesis: Selling England By the Pound (Charisma)
Review by Barbara Charone, NME, September 1973
GENESIS FANS unite, stand proud and be counted; get ready to say 'I told you so' to all those people who have been doubting your ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1973
FLUSHED from their success in the MM Pop Poll, the all-star musicians of Yes held a remarkable summit conference this week. Gathered round the board ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1973
A DISTURBING night for a Yes fan at London's Rainbow, when the group unveiled their new work Tales From Topographic Oceans. For despite, the applause ...
Yes: Tales From Topographic Oceans (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1973
CHANTING VOICES lead us into 'The Revealing Science Of God', and the marathon Yes epic that has occupied so much of their time throughout the ...
Rick Wakeman: Sentimental Journey
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1974
After two years' work, RICK WAKEMAN'S Journey to the Centre of the Earth will be premiered in London tomorrow (Friday). Rick talks to CHRIS WELCH ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1974
PETER GABRIEL, man of a thouand faces, is now also a man of several voices. One at least swoops upwards into the stratosphere, gibbers madly, ...
Genesis: Drury Lane Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1974
GENESIS'S WEEK at London's Drury Lane Theatre, proved that rock and theatre can mix and have a validity outside of mere exhibitionism. The band arc ...
Rick Wakeman: Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1974
SHEER ENTERTAINMENT, that was Rick Wakeman's highly successful solo concert at London's Festival Hall on Friday last week. Rick, the keyboard whizz of Yes, brought ...
Essay by Dave Laing, Let It Rock, February 1974
IF IT HADN'T been for Sgt Pepper, Paramhansa Yogananda would never have become part of the rock tradition. ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1974
AS YES PLAY one of the most prestigious concerts in their career, at Madison Square Garden, New York, this week both their British and American ...
Profile and Interview by John Swenson, Crawdaddy!, March 1974
Genesis combines surreal songwriting with an interesting instrumental and visual approach. Lead singer Peter Gabriel notes: "We all took courses in pretentiousness." ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
Rick Wakeman said it: the MM's Yes concert at Madison Square Garden was the best yet. ...
Live Review by Chrissie Hynde, NME, March 1974
Music to build empires ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1974
FOCUS HAVE been through some changes in recent months, and happily for fans of this Dutch band with an international reputation for fine music – ...
Rick Wakeman, Yes: Rick Wakeman: British Groups Have Gone Over The Top
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1974
The American tour was the last of the long ones ...
Rick Wakeman: Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1974
IN CLASSICAL music terms, this composition might be described as "lightweight" or of "little consequence." But as far as popular music is concerned, Rick's composition ...
Genesis: Evolution & Revelation
Profile and Interview by Anne Moore, Valley Advocate, April 1974
GENESIS IS the perfect combination/blend of rock, theatrical production and intelligent literary comment. Genesis is also a five man group from London, England. Their popularity ...
Yes, 5,000 Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1974
"I HEAR we're playing the next gig in My-Rand," said Rick Wakeman, leaning heavily on the bar in the George Cinque Hotel. ...
Robert Fripp, King Crimson: King Crimson’s Robert Fripp
Interview by Steven Rosen, Guitar Player, May 1974
ROBERT FRIPP, lead guitarist with English rock King Crimson, conspicuous personality by appearing inconspicuous. Rather than stand when performing, he perches himself on a stool, ...
Interview by Stephen Demorest, Circus, June 1974
After years of drumming in a variety of hard rocking bands, Carl Palmer decided there had to be more to playing than simply marking time. ...
Stomu Yamashta: Stomu Yamash'ta: He Say "Not Really"
Interview by Chris Salewicz, NME, June 1974
A VERY CURIOUS thing happened to me about 15 months ago. There I was, coming on home about two o'clock one Saturday morning feeling a ...
Rick Wakeman, Yes: Rick Wakeman: Quitting Was An Obvious Move
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1974
A SQUEAL of tyres, a cloud of dust and Rick Wakeman and wife Ros, drew to a halt outside the "Valiant Trooper," an excellent boozer, ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: Emerson Lake and Palmer: England's Robbing Us!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1974
WHEN THE alarm bells ring at "Whyte Eagles," it's not a warning of imminent fire or pestilence, just a reminder to Carl Palmer to turn ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: Greg Lake: Rock Will Go Back To Its Roots
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1974
GREG LAKE'S London home is a rare and impressive sight. A light glows outside a town house in a quiet street that takes you back ...
Yes: I'm Not Jumping Into Wakeman's Boots…It Will Be Different
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1974
"THE TEXTURES are so rich...and they work so fast..." Patrick Moraz slipped a sidelong glance across the top of an amphitheatre of keyboards, a mixture ...
Mike Oldfield: High On The Ridge
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, August 1974
Toy gliders, house-hunting and a jam with a harpsichordist in a restaurant. It's all happening on the Welsh Marches where Karl Dallas meets Mike Oldfield. ...
King Crimson, Emerson Lake And Palmer: Greg Lake
Interview by Steven Rosen, Guitar Player, September 1974
GREG LAKE IS the surrounded L in ELP, the British trio which has brought to the forefront the power of classical music in a rock ...
Review by Chris Salewicz, NME, October 1974
THE PREVIOUS two albums by this final King Crimson lineup have never been as hysterically self-conscious in their obvious adventurousness as the first four studio ...
Utopia: Todd Rundgren's Utopia
Review by Ian MacDonald, NME, October 1974
OF THE presumably few people who ignored the charges of self-indulgence and pretentiousness generally levelled at Rundgren's last effort (the double-album Todd) and, despite everything, ...
Genesis: The New Face Of Gabriel
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1974
Don't lose hope, Genesis fans! Their tour may be cancelled, but there's a new album on the way. And the new-look Peter Gabriel has given ...
Pink Floyd: Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
"WELL, WE ARE here and you are here so let's get started," announced a slightly apprehensive but essentially laid back Roger Waters from the stage ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
"WELL, we are here and you are here so let's get started," announced a slightly apprehensive but essentially laid back Roger Waters from the stage ...
Greenslade: Greenslade Warming Up
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
THERE'S DEVIL'S work afoot in the world of rock (and indeed roll). Wot wiv the price of petrol and motorway chips it's a wonder there ...
Jethro Tull: Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
RISE SIR Ian of Flute, for thou hast indeed redeemed thyself. The critics have had their way, the Passion Play has been forgotten and Jethro ...
Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Charisma)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
I WISH that rock musicians would learn the importance of self-editing. A few golden, miraculous notes, and some choice pithy words are worth all the ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
ROD ARGENT is a nice chap. Not one of your violent illiterates of rock prone to throwing pints of Guinness over the heads of passers-by, ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1974
Chris Squire (bass guitar), Jon Anderson (vocals), Patrick Moraz (keyboards), Steve Howe (guitar), Alan White (drums), Produced by Yes and Eddie Offord. Recorded on Eddie ...
Todd Rundgren, Utopia: Todd Rundgren: Utopia
Review by Jon Tiven, Zoo World, December 1974
A LOT OF Todd Rundgren fans may not like this album, sad to say, for the Todd of Something/Anything is as visible as dust in ...
Review by Fred Dellar, NME, January 1975
HERE'S A NICE fresh pizza, straight from our favourite Italian baking firm, manufactured live and steaming at gigs in Toronto and New York, last August. ...
Rush, Neil Merryweather: Rush: Rush; Neil Merryweather: Space Rangers
Review by Jim Esposito, Creem, February 1975
FIRST THERE WAS English Rock 'n' Roll! Then there was Southern Blues! Now, from Mercury Records, those swell folks who brought you Bachman-Turner Overdrive, we ...
Gentle Giant: Santa Monica Civic, Los Angeles
Live Review by Anne Moore, LA Free Press, February 1975
AFTER SIX ALBUMS and three national tours, Gentle Giant has finally made it to headline concert status. Sure, they played the Whisky to sell-out crowds ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1975
Recordings between 1969-1971 including material from Yes and Time And A Word. ...
Genesis: Gabriel's Cosmic Juice
Report and Interview by Max Bell, NME, March 1975
"I believe in getting art out of the galleries and onto the streets. Status Quo are so cultural, so Wagner..." ...
Rick Wakeman: The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table
Review by Ian MacDonald, NME, April 1975
The Cadbury capers, part 1: the management requests you leave your brain at the door ...
Rick Wakeman: Next Stop – The Gods
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1975
RICK WAKEMAN on ice! It takes a cool nerve to launch a rock extravaganza in an area normally the preserve of pantomimes and hockey, but ...
Focus, Jan Akkerman: Jan Akkerman: Dutch Treat
Interview by Steven Rosen, Guitar Player, May 1975
JAN AKKERMAN, lead guitarist of Focus, represents the new breed of European guitarists so long invisible under the veil of the English players. Where the ...
Rick Wakeman: The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table
Review by Tom Nolan, Phonograph Record, May 1975
I ONCE VAGUELY planned a toney essay, to be modeled on Susan Sontag's ground-breaker, on the grotesque changes rung on the concept of Camp once ...
Report and Interview by Chris Salewicz, NME, June 1975
There is no mention of brown rice on this page. Persian rugs and health food in general? Well, OK...yeah, but not in any harmful quantity. ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: In and Out of The Box
Interview by Andrew Tyler, NME, June 1975
INTROSPECTION. THAT'S WHY your face is on the floor and you're listening... doo dee dum doo. The French are good at it. French rock crowds ...
Colosseum: Jon Hiseman: Why I've Re-formed Colosseum
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1975
DRUMS HAVE BEEN rumbling down in darkest South London, underneath the railway arches. Drums and guitars competing with the rumble of trains overhead, and grim ...
Camel, Michael Chapman: Fairfield Hall, Croydon
Live Review by Chris Salewicz, NME, August 1975
KUH-RAAAACKKK!!!! ...
Rick Wakeman: Liszten To Rick!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1975
Lisztomania is quite a movie, says Rick Wakeman. He plays Thor in the film, as well as producing the music, and he tells Chris Welch ...
Peter Gabriel, Genesis: Genesis to Revelation
Obituary by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1975
AS PETER GABRIEL QUITS GENESIS, CHRIS WELCH RECALLS A GREAT BRITISH BAND ...
Peter Gabriel, Genesis: Peter Gabriel Quits Genesis
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1975
THE MELODY MAKER last week front-paged the growing doubts about Gabriel's future in the band. Reports, denied by the management of Genesis, indicated that Gabriel ...
Pink Floyd: Walters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason RIBA
Essay by Idris Walters, Let It Rock, September 1975
99. THERE ARE only three interesting things about Stevenage New Town. One is that there is a Museum there. (!) A Museum? Another is that ...
Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down But Genesis Carries On
Interview by Barbara Charone, Sounds, September 1975
THE GATHERING was far from morose. No black clothes or sombre faces. No mourning music or dirge-like drones. No sullen postures, despondent looks or vehement ...
Jon Anderson, Yes: Yes: When We're Perfect, We'll Stop
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1975
"IT'S BEEN a marvellous year for us, and hopefully it will get even better in 1976, but although we aim for perfection, I hope we ...
Profile and Interview by Barbara Charone, ZigZag, October 1975
"I THINK SOME PEOPLE have a rip-off concept of us," Peter Gabriel remarked with a touch of cynicism as if he'd just had a revelation. ...
Genesis, Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel: Behind Peter Gabriel's Mask
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1975
PETER GABRIEL'S departure from Genesis was one of the biggest shocks of 1975 for those who admired, nay loved, the combination of perverse talent they ...
Jethro Tull: An Interview with Ian Anderson
Interview by Steven Rosen, Circus, December 1975
IAN ANDERSON is not fond of the press; in fact, he dislikes that body intensely. Interviews have misquoted him, misrepresented him and manhandled him. In ...
Report and Interview by Max Bell, NME, December 1975
WANT TO HEAR a shaggy dog story? O.K. Once upon a time there was a completely unknown band who were so exciting that ABC Records ...
Genesis: The Ghost That Haunts Genesis
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, February 1976
YES, PETER IS PAST, but the legacy remains. And Tony Banks, keyboards' player with Genesis, is finding it difficult to swallow that. Peter Gabriel has ...
Julie Driscoll: Julie Tippett (Driscoll): Sunset Glow
Review by Miles, NME, February 1976
IN 1970 Julie Driscoll married Keith Tippett, the modern composer, and entered the mysterious other world of contemporary music. ...
Alan White: Ramshackled (Atlantic) ***
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, February 1976
THIRD IN the series and I'll lay odds there's not going to be another Yes solo that sounds less like the parent band. ...
Live Review by Miles, NME, February 1976
I LIKE GOING to concerts at L.S.E. because the audiences there are such fanatics. Such was the case with National Health, the audience being exceedingly ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1976
"I'M SURE YOU were all as surprised as I was to find that Rick wasn't here, when we arrived tonight..." Brian Lane, manager, smiled uneasily ...
Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, April 1976
IT WAS A MONDAY like that. My train back to the big city was late so I was late for my interview with Patrick Moraz ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1976
IF YOU were haunted by the cry of the Snowgoose last year, and cheered by the success of Camel in the MM's Readers' Poll (they ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1976
WHEN CAMEL became the MM's Brightest Hope in last year's Poll, it caused organist Peter Bardens a wry smile because he had become "an overnight ...
Genesis, Bill Bruford: Bill Bruford: 'It's all Ringo's fault!'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1976
THERE HAS been a lot of stunning lately. I was stunned when Peter Gabriel quit Genesis. And stunned once more when Bill Bruford joined Genesis. ...
National Health: Carrying The Flag Close To The Edge
Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, April 1976
"THERE'S NO way of encapsulating higher ideas except by some kind of artistic experience," stated Mont Campbell, ex-Egg, current National Health, with fervent sobriety. ...
Rick Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble: No Earthly Connection (A&M)****
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, April 1976
HERE WE are again and I'm not at all sure that reviewing an album twice is a good idea even if first time round was ...
Genesis: Beacon Theatre, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1976
WITH THE RELEASE of A Trick Of The Tail Genesis demonstrated that, on record at least, they could carry on at the same degree of ...
Genesis, Bill Bruford: Bill Bruford
Interview by Chris Salewicz, NME, May 1976
ARE YOU quite sure that you're definitely not joining Genesis full-time? ...
Rick Wakeman: Art with a Capital F***
Report and Interview by Chris Salewicz, NME, May 1976
RICK WAKEMAN on the aesthetic of bodily functions, as applied to rock concerts. "We'll have none of that thank you, we're English." ...
Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, May 1976
Well, we've had the wheel, sliced bread, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and now Big Phil Sutcliffe's copped the newie...Yep, it's Gentle Giant's eighth ...
Jethro Tull: Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die! (Chrysalis)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1976
ROMANTICISING THE WORKING LAD as a cult hero is a popular theme with rock musicians. They have oft flirted with, or observed at close hand, ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
RETURNING HOME TO England has always been a bit of a comedown for Gentle Giant. ...
Interview by Steven Rosen, Sounds, May 1976
SUPERTRAMP HORNMAN and funnyman John Helliwell gazed longingly out the A&M Records publicity office window at the burgundy Dino Ferrari. ...
Genesis: Supper Is Definitely Ready
Report and Interview by Barbara Charone, Sounds, May 1976
Thursday April 8 ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1976
AFTER TEN years of trial and error – with eight of them spent in England drifting in and out of Spooky Tooth – Gary Wright ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
A SPACESHIP, perhaps better described as an earth ship, forms the basis of a bizarre and fantastic story that is the central theme of Jon ...
Genesis: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Miles, NME, June 1976
IF YOU take the trouble to embroider "Genesis" in fancy letters on the back of your pressed denim jacket, or if you are prepared to ...
Genesis: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
SO MUCH was happening on stage during the first sensational concert by Genesis at Odeon Hammersmith on Wednesday last week, that one needed stereoscopic earsight ...
Genesis: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, June 1976
Genesisteria sweeps city – hundreds injured in trick of the tail overdose – five night musical orgy destroys London – thousands converted to Genesis religious ...
Tangerine Dream: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Miles, NME, June 1976
T-DREAM HAVE BEEN described as everything from 'the most advanced development of progressive rock' to 'electronic muzak'. The band generates controversy probably because people are ...
Peter Frampton, Gary Wright, Yes: Yes: The Biggest Gig In The Entire History Of The World
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, June 1976
Bicentennialand and rock's favourite vegetarians take Phil Sutcliffe by storm. ...
Steve Winwood, Stomu Yamashta: Yamashta, Winwood, Shrieve: Go (Island)
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, June 1976
THE THEORY of it could be a blueprint for the grossmost excess of pretentious rock – a fusion of cultures through music yet, Japanese, German, ...
Jon Anderson: Olias Of Sunhillow (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1976
An unashamedly romantic solo album that combines grace, taste and power ...
Phil Collins, Genesis: The Trick of the Tale: Phil Collins Talks
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1976
PHIL COLLINS IS A spry, restless man with seemingly limitless amounts of energy and intense drive. It is this drive that has made him one ...
Alan Parsons: Tales Of Mystery And Imagination
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, July 1976
A bearded, disembodied head appeared in the darkness. My blood ran cold. It was PARSONS I saw... ...
Genesis: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1976
HEAT, DUST, smoke, lasers and Genesis combined to turn the Glasgow Apollo into a replica of Dante's Inferno when the band descended on the city ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1976
IT IS heartening in these disturbing times (as the poet Cedric observed in his massive volume, Away, Dull Cares), to find there are still men ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: ELP: The Show That Never Ends?
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1976
WHATEVER happened to ELP? One of Britain's most successful and popular bands has been surrounded by a wall of silence as impenetrable as the Kremlin ...
Barclay James Harvest: Barclay Bank On The Future
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1976
BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: 'If you want to be a musician and play the type of music you want – you've gotta cruise.' ...
Steve Hillage: Watch Out There's A Concept About
Interview by Mick Brown, Sounds, October 1976
IT WAS instant karma out to get me. The sound of one hand clapping – so fast you can't even hear it. We had been ...
National Health: Newcastle University
Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, October 1976
WATCHING rock and roll these last few weeks I just feel better and better. The long standing groan about the dearth of new bands and ...
Mike Oldfield: Boxed (Virgin) *****
Review by Mick Brown, Sounds, November 1976
ONE LAVISHLY illustrated and highly informative booklet, four albums, two hours 40 minutes plus of music – Boxed is the almost complete Mike Oldfield. ...
National Health Warning: Touring Can Make You Broke
Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, November 1976
AFTER National Health's soundcheck singer Amanda Parsons accosted keyboardist Dave Stewart thusly: "Have you got any money? It cost us £16 in petrol to get ...
Barclay James Harvest: Octoberon
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
I GET the impression from this new BJH album that the band were in a particularly mellow mood when they finally got around to recording ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
THIS MUST MEAN something. Driving home last week-end, I flicked on the radio, to the Alan Freeman Show, and was greeted by a piece of ...
Genesis: Wind & Wuthering (Charisma) *****
Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, December 1976
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Too much to digest on one listening. Overall album sound even better than A Trick Of The Tail. Less immediate but more substantial ...
Genesis: Wind And Wuthering (Charisma)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1976
Phil Collins (voices, drums, percussion), Steve Hackett (electric guitars, nylon classical 12-string, Kalimba, auto-harp), Mike Rutherford (basses, electric and acoustic guitars, bass pedals), Tony Banks ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1976
THE PUBLIC has a strange image of rock and roll musicians. Most imagine them to be public school educated, with a passionate dedication to the ...
Gentle Giant: Live — Playing The Fool (Chrysalis)****
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, January 1977
YES, FOR the first time on record you too can hear Gentle Giant play a bum note! In fact not one but several, together with ...
Live Review by John Swenson, Rolling Stone, February 1977
THIRTEEN YEARS after the Beatles played their first American concert at Carnegie Hall, the Electric Light Orchestra pads a headlining set at Madison Square Garden ...
Jethro Tull: City Hall, Newcastle
Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, February 1977
YOU KNOW how supergroups are supposed to open the show with the '1812 Overture' complete with real facsimile nineteenth-century Muscovite cannon and a battallion of ...
Interview by Deborah Frost, Circus, February 1977
A SUBTERRANEAN VOICE growls across the phone wires, hesitates, and growls again – this time more softly. Canadian telephone service might be different, but it's ...
Report and Interview by Barbara Charone, Sounds, March 1977
ON THE ROAD. Again. The Rainbow seems like years ago. Yesterday they had a rare day off in New Orleans, arriving at the Marie Antoinette ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Look At Me Now: The Electric Light Orchestra
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1977
ELO: MORE than a classical gas. "It’s not classical rock. It never has been, but when it started, it needed a name. It had to ...
Peter Gabriel: The Lamb Stands Up
Interview by Barbara Charone, Sounds, April 1977
'Because Genesis are now part of the English establishment I felt I'd been seen in context with them. But the better the album does the ...
Supertramp: Even In The Quietest Moments (A&M)
Review by Paul Morley, NME, April 1977
SUPERBLAND ...
Live Review by Mick Brown, Sounds, May 1977
"THIS IS our first gig for a while," joked Phil Collins, "so we celebrated by rehearsing this morning." ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: The $2m Show That Never Ends: Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Report and Interview by Barbara Charone, Sounds, July 1977
KEITH EMERSON sits in a Detroit French restaurant wearing traditional black leather trousers and a very large grin. He’s telling a reporter from Rolling Stone ...
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, July 1977
GO ON, GUESS how the first Yes album for three years begins. I tell you, you haven't got a hope. ...
Pink Floyd: Madison Square Garden, NYC
Live Review by Miles, NME, July 1977
THE FLOYD sure picked a fine week to appear in New York. Not only was it the eve of July 4th, but also it was ...
Interview by Tony Stewart, NME, August 1977
Whaaat? we hear you gasp. Supertramp? Guess you thought the punks had it all sewn up, huh? Well, you ain't heard nothin' yet. The war ...
Gentle Giant: The Missing Piece
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, August 1977
GENTLE GIANT crave recognition in their homeland with a longing which at times borders on the pathetic. For all their success in the States and ...
Pink Floyd’s Heart Of Darkness: A Crash Course in Pig Latin
Overview by Ira Robbins, Creem, October 1977
IT DIDN'T SEEM like a bad idea at the time I accepted this assignment. Just because Pink Floyd hate the press and won't be interviewed ...
Steve Hillage: Motivation Radio
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, October 1977
When a guy sings to you "we've all been born together in this special place and time to raise the world," where does your humble ...
Rick Wakeman: Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, October 1977
FOR RICK Wakeman, Criminal Record is obviously the outcome of some in-depth self-criticism. ...
Wishbone Ash: City Hall, Newcastle
Live Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, October 1977
WHATEVER YOUR tastes in music, there's one thing you can never argue about. Audience reaction. A hall full of standing rock fans, clapping their hands ...
Enid, The: Enid: Why Are These Men Facing The Wrong Way?
Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, December 1977
IT'S WELL over a year now since I last annexed a piece of this publication to warn you that the Enid, oddball neo-classical romancers, were ...
Bill Bruford: Your Friendly Neighbourhood Rock Star
Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, February 1978
"I FEEL sometimes as though they're about to stick my head on a spike and display it outside the Tower Of London for people to ...
Rush: Is Everybody Feelin' all RIGHT? (Geddit...?)
Interview by Miles, NME, March 1978
The gist of this being that H.M. tourist RUSH are all RIGHT-er than most, as MILES discovers ...
Review by Paul Morley, NME, June 1978
Power, Pomp, Purity, Pretention, Popularity... The RUSH Problem ...
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, September 1978
I UNDERSTAND it has remained OK to like Genesis (which I don't) but it's not OK to like Yes (which I do though no longer ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1978
"RELEASE, Release!" is one of the most significant chants on this happy musical event. It is the hook-line on the fastest, funkiest, piece of rock ...
Yes in New York: Swings And Roundabouts
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1978
"EXCUSE me, but what are you writing?" I'm just making notes about the concert and I'm trying to listen to the piano player. ...
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, September 1978
THIS GENTLE Giant album could present you with some difficulty and even expense. The problem is that you'll have to set your record player up ...
Patrick Moraz, Moody Blues, The: Moody Blues: Yes To The Moodies
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1978
"I THOUGHT I was God. Then I realised I was just the drummer in a rock 'n' roll band." Graeme Edge and Caligula had the ...
Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, September 1978
A CAMEL Caravan from Canterbury (two down, three across). You couldn't fit the solution into The Times crossword though. It took an hour-and-a-half to play ...
Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, September 1978
He's also lead guitarist for RUSH and writes songs about the politics of oak trees, shapeless spirits and The Real Truth. Psychiatric care by Geoff Barton ...
Review by Ian Penman, NME, October 1978
POOP GO the wizened wastrels! The starry, clammy curtain rises once again, and here they are, still waiting. ...
Review by Ian Penman, NME, November 1978
JEAN-PAUL Sartre took mescaline once, to prove to himself that he wasn't necessarily the institution people thought he was, and as a result became convinced ...
UK, King Crimson: UK: John Wetton
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, January 1979
"IT'S NOT insecurity, but I always like to I work with other people in groups. I think that's the strongest thing. When you take a ...
National Health: Of Queues And Cures (Charly)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1979
THE HEALTHY Ones have been through a whole ring-cycle of changes in recent times, with Dave Stewart out and Alan Gowen back in again. We ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1979
ONE OF Alfred Hitchcock's most memorable finales comes at the end of Strangers On A Train, when a huge carousel goes into overdrive and runs ...
Moody Blues, The: The Moody Blues: It's A Wonderful Life
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1979
The rich are not like you and me, said Fitzgerald. That's right, Hemingway replied: they have more money. Just in time for cocktails, CHRIS WELCH ...
Rick Wakeman: Rhapsodies (A&M)***½
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, June 1979
A MAN of honour is old Rick. Some three years ago when he was preparing No Earthly Connection he said he would like to do ...
Supertramp: The Philosopher and the Realist
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, June 1979
In Supertramp's first interview for two years, songwriters Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies tell HARRY DOHERTY how their immense success in America has widened the ...
Report by Paul Morley, NME, August 1979
EVENTS LIKE KNEBWORTH, the promoter Freddy Bannister had wanly predicted in Saturday's Guardian, cannot continue for much longer. The reasons for the inevitable decline and ...
Mike Oldfield: Boy Genius "Not Broke" Shock
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, December 1979
Things haven't been going smoothly for Mike Oldfield. Tours have lost money, expensive gear has been scrapped and he's had a dispute with his label ...
King Crimson, Robert Fripp: A Chat with Mr. Fripp
Interview by Cynthia Rose, Viz, 1980
ROBERT FRIPP is a musician, theoretician, theologian and, as his colleague David Bowie (referred by Fripp as "Mr. B") points out, "probably the man with ...
Pink Floyd: Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles
Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, February 1980
WELL IT figures, doesn't it? ...
Pink Floyd: Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Mark Leviton, BAM, March 1980
MONEY CAN'T buy you love, but it can buy you the most expensive, elaborately mounted rock show you've ever seen. As spectacle, there's no question ...
Rush: The Moustache That Conquered The World
Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, April 1980
SOMEWHERE in America in that black hole known as the Midwest, little bands are slogging their balls off to become big bands, and big bands ...
Discography by Jim Green, Trouser Press, May 1980
PINK FLOYD is pretty weird. And not just the band, but the way they've been viewed by the rock world. ...
Interview by Tim Oakes, International Musician, June 1980
IN MANY WAYS, Mike Oldfield is the perfect artist to officially open the IM & RW Test Bed studio. His whole career was born out ...
Yes: The Band That Punks Say Is A 'No'
Interview by John Mendelsohn, Los Angeles Times, September 1980
Question: Do you imagine it impossible to sum up in a single word all that rock's third generation, that is, the punks and their new ...
King Crimson, Robert Fripp: King Crimson: Robert Fripp's Chocolate Cake Discipline
Interview by Richard Grabel, Creem, February 1982
In The Court Of The Crimson King, Phase II ...
Report and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, December 1982
PETE MAKOWSKI finally delivers the goods on RUSH ...
Marillion: Bournemouth Winter Gardens
Live Review by Lucy O'Brien, NME, April 1983
THIS HAPPY breed came to town with Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy emblazoned on the back of their jackets. Patches, denim and undyed hair were ...
Marillion: Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back Into The Water
Interview by Paul Morley, NME, April 1984
Along comes megajaws FISH, big fry with heavy rockers Marillion in search off "a clash off the titans"...in other words, a confrontation with NME. Shy, ...
Roger Waters: The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking (Harvest)
Review by Gavin Martin, NME, May 1984
THERE IS a latent longing in many an English mega-rock star to become an intellectual seer, to splash garish helpings of philosophy and instructive comments ...
Robert Fripp, King Crimson: Robert Fripp: The 21st Century Man Sounds Off
Profile and Interview by Mark Dery, Record Magazine, November 1985
HE BEGAN, by his own admission, tone deaf and with "no sense of rhythm." He is a spit-shined, manicured man whose "best subjects at school ...
Alan Parsons: The Alan Parsons Project: Studio Rats
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, April 1986
"You know Poe has been a big influence on me and Alan," says Parsons collaborator Eric Woolfson. "And when I saw this word, 'stereotomy,' I ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: Emerson Lake: Rockin' Dudes Or Art-Rock Mofos?
Interview by Dave DiMartino, Creem, October 1986
IT'S A SPACIOUS rehearsal studio, though not the world's classiest. I am in London, behind the man running the soundboard, watching the three musicians facing ...
Pink Floyd, Roger Waters: Roger Waters: Out of Troubled Waters
Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Guardian, The, November 1987
Roger Waters now finds himself in competition with his one-time colleagues in Pink Floyd – he doesn't like it but there are compensations. Mark Cooper ...
Roger Waters: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Richard North, NME, December 1987
WELCOME TO the latest in Roger's line of grand political concepts, Radio KAOS. An ever proliferating network of seductive allusions, provocative hints, suggestive cross-references. ...
Interview by Keith Cameron, Sounds, June 1989
HEWN FROM the living rock of their native Cumbria, It Bites are an archaeologist's nightmare. ...
Moody Blues, The: Moody Blues: Step This Away…
Retrospective and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, April 1990
Two genial curators greet you in a small town record shop, ready to take you on a journey...from shiny suits and grimy clubs to "concept" ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: Where Are They Now?
Profile by Martin Aston, Q, September 1990
VAN DER GRAAF Generator, one or Britain's vaunted bands from the progressive era known for their unusual sax/organ front line. "Can you try and dig ...
Overview by Johnny Black, Q, April 1991
Concept albums...What are they? Are they: ...
Interview by Andy Gill, Q, October 1992
THE ENTRANCE to the grounds is classic old Hollywood style, with a phone you have to call from to get someone to operate the remote-controlled ...
Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells II
Review by Mat Snow, Q, October 1992
IN 1973, THE 49-minute progressive-rock classic Tubular Bells not only seeded the Virgin empire by selling 16 million copies but also set a benchmark of ...
Review by Mat Snow, Q, January 1993
IT HAD to happen. Rock's back catalogue has been repackaged so often from so many angles that sooner or later the selling point would become ...
Pink Floyd: 25 Million Gloomy Punters Can't Be Wrong
Retrospective and Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, April 1993
Right now, someone, somewhere on this planet is playing Dark Side Of The Moon. Released 20 years ago this month, its mixture of blues and ...
Pink Floyd: Earl's Court Exhibition Centre, London
Live Review by Cliff Jones, MOJO, December 1994
WE'RE THREE minutes in and the family in front of me (mother, father and two smaller facsimile editions thereof, dressed identically in Division Bell T-shirts) ...
Focus, Jan Akkerman: Phone Home: Jan Akkerman
Interview by Colin Harper, MOJO, July 1996
"AFTER FOCUS I MADE a record called Eli and toured Britain. The record was a success but the tour was a disaster. I did one ...
AUDIO: Yes' Jon Anderson (1997)
Interview by Steve Roeser, Rock's Backpages Audio, November 1997
The ethereal Voice of Prog on life pre-Yes, the changes of personnel in the band, and the various break-ups and reformations that have taken place over the years.
File format: mp3; file size: 31.2mb, interview length: 34' 07" sound quality: * (phoner)
Wishbone Ash: Empire Music Hall, Belfast
Live Review by Colin Harper, Independent, The, February 1998
THERE WAS A TIME, as schoolboys of certain vintage will doubtless recall, when knowing the line-up details of the more venerable British rock bands really ...
Wishbone Ash: Empire Music Hall, Belfast
Live Review by Colin Harper, Independent, The, February 1998
THERE WAS A TIME, as schoolboys of certain vintage will doubtless recall, when knowing the line-up details of the more venerable British rock bands really ...
Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon
Retrospective and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, March 1998
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon, aged 25 on March 23, is one of the great monuments of rock history – as overwhelming aesthetically ...
Review and Interview by Kit Aiken, Uncut, February 1999
TO ANYONE growing up through the punk era, Yes were the ultimate enemy. In those primitive cool days, laser shows, flowing locks, portentous mysticism, flamboyant ...
AUDIO: Genesis - The Phil Collins Years (2000)
Interview by Johnny Black, Rock's Backpages Audio, September 2000
Follow You, Follow Me: Johnny Black hears from Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks about Phil's joining, becoming front man, and his departure.
File format: mp3; in 4 parts, total file sizes: 81.3mb, total interview length: 1h 17' 44" sound quality: ****
Mike Oldfield: Ring Out The Old . . .
Retrospective by Joel McIver, Record Collector, Spring 2000
EVERYONE KNOWS the haunting opening melody of Tubular Bells, but it means different things to different people. If you're in your 40s or over, you ...
Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 2001
TO SOME, they were the band that would have been king. Just over a year ago, the now-defunct British music magazine Select boldly went where ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: Emerson Lake & Palmer
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, MOJO, March 2001
QUESTION: HOW DO EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER change A light bulb? A: They don't. Drummer Carl Palmer's personal karate instructor holds the bulb steady while ...
Mike Oldfield: The Making of Tubular Bells
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, August 2001
One of the most influential pieces of music in rock history – much imitated, used in movies, TV commercials and documentaries, sampled by Janet Jackson, ...
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, MOJO, November 2001
IT CAN ONLY HAVE BEEN WITH A certain sense of foreboding that Dave Gilmour officially joined Pink Floyd on the first day of January 1968. ...
Pink Floyd: Echoes: The Best Of Pink Floyd
Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, January 2002
Long-awaited greatest hits package from English progressive legends ...
Interview by Daryl Easlea, Record Collector, March 2003
ROCK HISTORIANS HAVE a problem with David Gilmour because he is, well, so very balanced. Displaying little of the madness or angst of Pink Floyds ...
Marillion: An Interview With Pete Trewavas
Interview by Steven Ward, PopMatters, June 2003
MARILLION MAY BE the best-kept secret in rock. Formed in London in 1981, Marillion started out like any other young band. The band members, including ...
Pink Floyd: No One Knew What They Looked Like: Pink Floyd and the Press
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Q, 2004
THE BOX ARRIVED in Melody Maker’s offices in December 1970, just in time for Christmas, addressed to Michael Watts. It was a sturdily constructed hardwood ...
Pink Floyd: Life After Roger: Pink Floyd
Retrospective and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 2004
UNTIL AUTUMN 1986, Pink Floyd was the invisible band. Their fame and fortune huge, their individual members anonymous. The arrangement always looked a perfect fit ...
Juicy Lucy: The Archer, Jesmond, 16 May 2005
Live Review by Rahul Shrivastava, bbc.co.uk, May 2005
HOW WOULD you describe the music of Juicy Lucy to the uninitiated? Progressive-jazzy-blues? Psychedelic-blues-rock? Or even "cheeky blues" perhaps, as some punters have ventured. ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Nick Hasted, Independent, The, May 2005
WHEN THE FOUR core members of this almost-forgotten prog-rock band start a gig for the first time in 29 years, a joyous roar bounces round ...
Moody Blues, The: The Moody Blues: Never Reaching The End
Interview by j. poet, San Francisco Chronicle, November 2005
THE MOODY Blues are a rock'n'roll band. That statement may come as a shock to fans who grew up with the lushly orchestrated psychedelic pop ...
Muse: Black Holes and Revelations
Review by Stephen Dalton, Times, The, June 2006
COMPARED TO the mighty cosmic thunder of Muse, the undernourished hipsters of the current Britrock scene sound like puny little insects. Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme ...
Retrospective and Interview by Mike Barnes, Wire, The, March 2007
"I DIDN'T HAVE white tunnels, but I did have the feeling that if I got too tired, which at a certain point might have been ...
Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt: Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt
Retrospective and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Guardian, The, October 2007
"I COULD HARDLY recognise him at first," says Kevin Ayers. "But there, under that great beard, was Robert and he hadn't changed a bit." The ...
Live Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, March 2009
TODAY IS lead singer Guy Garvey's birthday, and he's in a gaming mood. "How old do you think I am?" he asks the crowd, early ...
Review by Jude Rogers, Guardian, The, August 2009
WHEN IS MUSIC too much? I'm not talking about the torrent of songs that surround us every day – I've argued how we should work ...
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, Times, The, September 2010
NEARING THE END of an epic world tour which has transformed them into Britain 's biggest band, Muse brought their sense-swamping carnival of baroque 'n ...
Peter Gabriel: An Invasion Of Privacy
Interview by John Doran, Quietus, The, September 2011
Peter Gabriel tells John Doran about reworking his back catalogue, almost playing in space, being mistaken for a terrorist and how life might be four ...
Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, April 2013
IN 1972, JETHRO TULL released Thick As A Brick, an entire album comprised of one song. Critics hated it. "You can listen to it, but ...
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