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Top Guns

Chapman's new factory move coincides with a bit of a rethink. We track down the key players all around the world

"I JUST WANTED TO BE RESPECTED FOR BEING IN A KICKASS BAND."

1976 was a pivotal year for Thin Lizzy. Guitarist Scott Gorham, one half of the band's classic twin-guitar sound, takes a trip down memory lane to the year that was...

GOLDEN AGE GRETSCH DUO JETS

As solid-bodied models began taking the guitar world by storm in the early 50s, Gretsch joined the party with the revolutionary single-cut 6128 Duo Jet and its twangsome DeArmond 'Dynasonic' single coils

DON'T FENCE US IN

Embracing their roots on record for the first time, Don't call us southern” band The Cold Stares’ seventh album is both a love letter to Kentucky and a Call for unity in volatile times.

Monster Magnet

“It's all-energy. It's rock excitement, psychedelic glory and space-rock hooks.” Sounds good to us!

JOE SATRIANI

As Sammy Hagar's The Best Of All Worlds Tour scales the globe, Joe Satriani joins us to explain how he set about honouring the magic of Eddie Van Halen's style, what gear he's bringing along for the ride, and how the experience has shaped his own playing

HIGH FLYER

Adrian Thorpe of ThorpyFX remembers the flight path - and turbulence behind Chris Buck's Electric Lightning overdrive/boost, named after a fighter jet and packing a bona fide valve

LET'S DANCE

Dialling back on the aggressive approach that has helped bring Idles this far, and putting swing to the stomp, their new album is intended to make you shake a leg rather than a fist

Spellbinding

Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jo Beth Young is back with a third album, which she describes as art-pop or experimental folk. Prog catches up with Young to learn more about the inspiration and process behind the thought-provoking Broken Spells.

SIMONE SIMONS

Epica's vocalist on working with Arjen Lucassen on her solo debut and exploring the symbolism of the colour red.

Life, Death And The Decemberists

Death, Billy Joel and angelic visitations are just three of the ingredients that shaped The Decemberists' latest album As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again. Vocalist Colin Meloy talks to Prog about creativity as a form of hallucination, sneaking progressive music into the record collections of unsuspecting listeners, and why you have to earn the long songs.

The Bottom Line

The experimental Aussies have turned heads with their dual bass player set-up, but chief songwriter Matt Fack says The Omnific are no mere gimmick. Having honed their craft to its sharpest point with' second album The Law Of Augmenting Returns, he sits down with Prog to discuss their desire to redefine what bass guitars can do.

Goodbye Blue Sky

When Pure Reason Revolution made an unexpected but very welcome return with 2020's Eupnea, all eyes were on them to see what they'd do next. However, internal changes, personal grief and a case of writer's block made the future seem less certain. New album Coming Up To Consciousness allays those fears with a selection of powerful new material and a modified line-up. Frontman Jon Courtney chats to Prog about finding inspiration during dark times, working with Guy Pratt and his renewed vigour for the band he founded at university.

Still Life

\"I like to mix things that don't belong together and see what happens,\" says Eivør Pálsdóttir. The singer-songwriter talks to Prog about channelling the folk traditions of her Faroese home, the power of solitude, and the inspiring magic of the natural world into her transformative new album ENN.

UNFADING MEMORIES

Experimental Norwegian jazz-rock trio Elephant9 return with eight new tracks that make up the exploratory Mythical River. The band's co-founders, bassist Nikolai Hængsle and keyboard player Ståle Storløkken, reveal the appeal of long coffee breaks, collabs with Led Zep bassist John Paul Jones, and why three really is the magic number.

True Messenger

Hot on the heels of a series of successful live shows, Jon Anderson has released his 16th solo album, True. Along with The Band Geeks, the former Yes frontman has created a work that celebrates the spirit of his best-known band, but also fits perfectly with his own solo catalogue. Prog catches up with the singer to find out more, and to discover which of his long-awaited side-projects is finally tipped for release in 2025.

Prog, Pop and Progress

By stripping back their instrumentation, Norway's art-rock sensations Leprous have found a different beast lurking below. Heavier and catchier than ever, they hope it can help them reach new frontiers. Prog catches up with vocalist Einar Solberg and guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke to uncover the story behind their new album, Melodies Of Atonement.

COME BACK STRONGER

Tears For Fears, an A-grade solo from Steve Rothery and, erm, whalesong have all made their mark on the current release from Dave Foster Band. The guitarist and vocalist Dinet Poortman discuss their more relaxed approach to Maybe They'll Come Back For Us, and Foster opens up about his recent departure from Big Big Train.

A Family Affair

Norwegian chamber proggers Meer are back with their hotlyanticipated third album, Wheels Within Wheels. Prog catches up with co-vocalist Johanne Kippersund Nesdal and guitarist Eivind Strømstad to discuss the writing process, running their own festival and the challenges of being part of an octet.

PYRAMANIA

Egypt's pyramids have long captivated our imagination, with some even believing the magnificent structures harness magical or healing powers. In 1978, masters of the concept album The Alan Parsons Project explored themes of pyramid power and ancient magic on their third studio album, Pyramid. Prog and Parsons step back in time to uncover the story behind the group's Grammynominated and recently reissued record.

Paperback Blighters - The books every record collector should read.

The books every record collector should read. Vinyl, you may have heard, has made a big comeback. In 2022, sales of vinyl albums surpassed compact discs (CDs) for the first time in more than three decades in terms of global revenue, racking up more than $1.2bn.

"Beware the Savage Lure/of 1984..." - David Bowie is one of the most venerated musicians ever. But even he had his bad periods.

David Bowie is one of the most venerated musicians ever. But even he had his bad periods. For many, 1984 remains the nadir of his Phil Collins” phase; an artistic/sartonial/tonsorial disaster area. But was it really that awful? Forty years on, Matt Phillips explores Bowie's so-called annus horribilis.

7" Heaven & Hell the Story of the 45 - The 45 turns 75 this year. Matthew Quinlan charts its history, recalling the RPM wars and two belligerent titans who went into battle over the speed of spinning sound

Someone needs to come and empty the bins behind the Lloyds Bank branch in Kingston-upon-Thames. It’s been raining and flattened cardboard slumps next to a flytipped air conditioning unit and a rusting clothes rack. There are two signs at head height on the red brick wall. One warns that you’ll be clamped if you park here; the other, a stainless-steel plaque, marks Nipper’s 100th birthday. Nipper, the dog at the heart of the HMV and RCA Victor logos, was a white terrier with chocolate brown ears, maybe a Jack Russell, Smooth Fox, or Bull Terrier, more likely a mix. This is his final resting place. He was buried under a mulberry tree but, you know, urban sprawl, progress, etc. The plaque was unveiled by the Chairman of HMV Stores on 15 August 1984, while Captain Sensible, Janice Long, and a Nipper doppelganger looked on. Round the corner, at HMV and Our Price, George Michael’s Careless Whisper was flying off the shelves, and every copy turned at 45 RPM.

The boy with the thorn in his side

David Cassidy was arguably the biggest solo star of the immediate post-Beatles era, yet his fame as well as his boyish good looks and extracurricular excessesovershadow the excellence of his breathily intimate, musically accomplished records. Simon Goddard, RC contributor and author of an acclaimed series of books on David Bowie, hails the work of the tortured pop idol

"I COULD JUST THROW MUD AT THE WALL"

There's little sign of slowing down from the 19-year-old Pete Townshend. Currently on the go: multi-media project The Age Of Anxiety; a dance production of Quadrophenia; and Pete Townshend Live In Concert 1985-2001, a 14-disc boxset of his solo in-concert recordings. Not, he admits, that his every whim and fancy are worth deeper exploration. \"Some of them are good ideas, some of them are pretty dumb,\"

THE TORTURED SHOPPER'S DEPARTMENT

John Coleman celebrates the great art of vinyl collecting on the 45th Anniversary of Record Collector and finds out, in an exhausting series of anxietyinducing sprees, how much vinyl you can buy today, ina variety of outlets, with 45.

STARS ON 45s

A BUNCH OF MUSICIANS - 45, COUNT 'EM! RHAPSODISE ABOUT THEIR FAVOURITE SINGLE

ANARCHISTS IN THE UK

EXACTLY 45 YEARS AGO, CRASS, THE ANARCHIST ACTIVIST COLLECTIVE, WERE FINISHING PIVOTAL SECOND ALBUM, STATIONS OF THE CRASS.

MOD ALMIGHTY

Steve Ellis began his career as a mod in flower-power clobber as frontman of chart-toppers Love Affair. Quitting in 1970, he worked with The Who's Roger Daltrey then gave up music to become a docker before a near-death experience. Interest in his work was rekindled after hooking up with long-time fan Paul Weller. Lois Wilson hears how his romance with music endures.

Young American

A serendipitous collaboration with David Bowie in 1974 kick-started Luther Vandross' recording career. But he still faced an uphill struggle to succeed as a solo artist. Charles Waring talks to some of the singer's most trusted collaborators about his early years and how he battled to be heard....