Classic Rock

ALONG WITH HIS fellow members of the Bay City Rollers, Les McKeown was among the most popular figures in the music of the 1970s. And yet when called upon to replace founding lead singer Gordon ‘Nobby’ Clark in 1973, McKeown later admitted that the Ro

Siân Llewellyn Now playing: Nancy Wilson, You And Me Darrell Mayhew Monster Magnet, A Better Dystopia Polly Glass Blackberry Smoke, You Hear Georgia Paul Henderson Cream, The Goodbye Tour - Live At The Forum 196 Ian Fortnam Heartbreakers, LAMF: The F

April 17, 1930 – April 26, 2021 New Yorker Al Schmitt’s production credits read like a Who’s Who of rock, including Elvis Presley, Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young, Spirit, Steely Dan, Toto and Madonna. The multiple Grammy winner recorded and mixed mor

The BBC’s Desert Island Discs is one of my all-time favourite radio shows, and over lockdown I’ve found myself raiding their archive. And I’m always delighted when I find the unexpected castaway who has a secret penchant for rock. It also gets me thi

June 19, 1947 – April 29, 2021 Rob Halford and KK Downing have paid tribute to John Hinch, who has died at the age of 73. The drummer played on Judas Priest’s debut album Rocka Rolla. Halford praised the technique of Hinch as “strong, direct and uniq

NORMAN RUSSELL YOUNG, better known as Rusty, was the pedal steel guitarist, keyboard player and also a vocalist and songwriter for the influential American country rock band Poco. The songs Rose Of Cimarron and Crazy Love, both written by Young, were

THE GUITARIST WITH The Kingsmen, the garage rockers from Portland who souped up Richard Berry’s ballad Louie Louie, transforming it into a global smash, passed away on his 77th birthday. No cause of death was disclosed. The Kingsmen recorded Louie Lo

Just after the release of Led Zep IV (about which he writes this issue), Dave was lucky enough to be in attendance at Zep’s Empire Pool Wembley show – the first of 15 occasions he saw them play live. The effect has been a lasting one. Evenings With L

KEEP YOUR HIPSTER hubs of New York, Nashville and Los Angeles. Pop Evil founder Leigh Kakaty wouldn’t trade his home turf of Michigan, crediting the Midwest state’s dizzying list of musicians – from Kid Rock to Eminem – for a sound on his band’s sixt

FOLLOWING THEIR 2020 Deap Lips collaboration with the Flaming Lips, LA-based alt.rock duo Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards return with Deap Vally’s new four-track EP. American Cockroach, on which they collaborated with Jennie Vee of Eagles Of Death Met

Describe your sound in a sentence. It’s very unorthodox. A lot of people say it don’t make any sense… They’re probably right. It’s different from anything you’ve ever heard. When did you first realise you wanted to be a musician? Music has been a par

Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd takes on the most intimidating quiz known to man. Beatles or Stones? The Stones, for sure. They’re just edgier, a little more sex. AC/DC or Zeppelin? AC/DC, easy. For me they’re the best hard rock band that ever lived. H

The late Suicide frontman’s second posthumous set is no mere cutting-room-floor sweep, but a hitherto unreleased album from the ever-edgy electro pioneer’s prolific nineties peak. Dark, bleak, challenging, unique. 7/10 The third EP from the preposter

The Who Sell Out UMC/POLYDOR Five-CD Super Deluxe edition of ’67 album, plus unreleased tracks, demos and other goodies. The Pop Art structure of The Who Sell Out was born out of necessity. Pete Townshend didn’t think he had enough songs for a full a

First in a series of hit-free snapshots capturing the ever-influential German improvisers in full flow. Each of its five segments finds nascent chaos metamorphosing into funk-fuelled crescendo as if by inspired osmosis. 7/10 The most striking conclus

Paradise By The Dashboard Light Bat Out of Hell I’d Lie For You (And That’s The Truth) Welcome To The Neighborhood Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad Bat Out Of Hell Dead Ringer For Love Dead Ringer I’d Do Anything For Love Bat Out Of Hell II Rock N Roll Dre

Kevin Parker and co. present a new view of their debut album. As home-working environments go, an anniversary live performance of Tame Impala’s Innerspeaker in full, at the residential coastal studio where it was recorded (now owned by mainman Kevin

Never mind the songs, feel the spectacle. With the normal album and touring cycle disrupted, Korn have decided to ignore the up-close and intimate livestream option favoured by many bands over the past year, and instead go big – very big indeed. Easi

Stray Cats bass man soundtracks rocka-ballet dance collaboration. With Gather Round, a collaboration with ballet company Complexions, rockabilly veteran Lee Rocker dips his patent leather winkle-picker into the contemporary dance world. Sharing a tit

“I hope that’s helped to ease the pain, d’you know what I mean?” Segs Jennings says at the end of this show styled as an ElectrAcoustiC Live Stream. And in an hour and a bit more the largely acoustic trio storm through a collection of songs old and o

Brooklyn grunge-folk quartet revisit their pre-pandemic peak. “I feel like we’re in a barn,” grinning Big Thief singer Adrienne Lenker says in this enjoyably raw livestream show, “but a barn on another planet.” Little did they know back in November 2