Classic Rock

A turbo-charged, rock’n’rollathon of a magazine.

Classic Rock1 min read
Welcome
THE COVER: DIDI ZILL It’s a really tough question: which is your favourite Deep Purple track? Over the past couple of years, Classic Rock has been putting that question to the great and good of the rock world, including members of Deep Purple themsel
Classic Rock1 min read
This Month’s Contributors
Ever wonder how the images in CR look so good? Meet our image manipulator Phil. He’s been a creative retoucher for over 20 years. “Rock music runs in my blood,” he says. “My dad has been a lead singer in rock bands for over forty years, and my uncle
Classic Rock4 min read
Classic Rock
Editor Siân Llewellyn Now playing: Pearl Jam, Dark Matter Art Editor Darrell Mayhew Enslaved, Heimdal (Deluxe Version) Deputy Editor Polly Glass Troy Redfern, Invocation Production Editor Paul Henderson Ferris &Sylvester, Otherness Reviews Editor I
Classic Rock5 min read
“An Album On Vinyl Is A Beautiful Thing”
KATE BUSH SAYS it was a “huge honour and a great privilege” to be invited to become the latest ambassador for Record Store Day. This year’s annual celebration of independent record stores, which began in the United States in 2007 and was initiated in
Classic Rock1 min read
Damo Suzuki
THE CELEBRATED FORMER vocalist of pioneering Krautrock group Can has died at the age of 74. Cause of death has not been announced, although in 2014 he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Japan-born Suzuki was famously discovered busking in Munich in 197
Classic Rock3 min read
Rip
May 15, 1944 – February 15, 2024 Better known as Tich from the 1960s British Invasion band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick And Tich, with that band Ian Aimy topped the UK singles chart with The Legend Of Xanadu, one of two by the band that sold more than
Classic Rock1 min read
Brit Turner
THE DRUMMER WITH Georgiabased southern rockers Blackberry Smoke has died at 57. Brit Turner had battled glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, since late 2022. Astatement from the band said: “If you had the privilege of knowing Brit on any
Classic Rock1 min read
Bobby Tench
VOCALIST, GUITARIST, SIDEMAN, songwriter and arranger Bobby Tench is best remembered for being a member of the Jeff Beck Group, Humble Pie, Streetwalkers and Van Morrison’s band, and also for his work with Freddie King, Ginger Baker, Eric Burdon, Top
Classic Rock1 min read
Paul Martinez
ABASSIST, SONGWRITER and session musician of distinction, during his lifetime Paul Martinez performed with an impressive selection of artists, most notably working on and touring Robert Plant’s first three solo albums Pictures At Eleven, The Principl
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Steve Wright
ANATION MOURNED following news of the passing of DJ and broadcaster Steve Wright – also recognised by the name of his long-running BBC radio show Steve Wright In The Afternoon. The 69-yearold died following an incident at his home. Police said his de
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Dave Myers
ONE HALF OF the much-loved Hairy Bikers, Dave Myers first found fame alongside his partner Si King as aTV chef way back in 2004. He had been diagnosed with cancer two years ago. Myers was 66 years old. Born and raised in Barrow-in-Furness, Myers was
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Alex Van Halen Breaks Silence
FORMER VAN HALEN drummer Alex Van Halen is to share the details of his relationship with late younger brother and long-time bandmate Edward in a revealing new book titled Brothers. Described by publishers HarperCollins as an “intimate and open accoun
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Foreigner’s Mick Jones Confirms Parkinson’s
MICK JONES OF Foreigner has revealed that he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease. “Fans will have become very aware that for some time now I have not been performing on stage with the band,” said the 79-year-old guitarist, songwriter and producer i
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News
Former Beatles Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are to be the subjects of four separate biopic feature films directed by Oscar-winning English director Sam Mendes. Financed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, they are expected
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Billy Morrison
BILLY MORRISON IS an ex-pat Brit living the American Dream. After leaving both his band, London industrial-punks Stimulator, and the UK at the end of the 1990s and heading to Los Angeles, he’s become a self-made success story, playing with The Cult,
Classic Rock2 min read
Ferris & Sylvester
CONSIDERING THEY HAVE a young, excitable son, Lucky, married duo Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester are bright-eyed for our morning chat, brimming with cheer when asked about their success at the UK Americana Awards, where they were nominated in three
Classic Rock1 min read
Five Day Rain
Five Day Rain were a short-lived psychedelic-tinged progressive-pop/ rock band, sadly destined for failure. But they left behind an excellent, commercially unreleased album, which featured more than several very well thought-out songs. They were form
Classic Rock1 min read
News
Phil Ehart has stepped away from live performance with Kansas as he recovers from a major heart attack. An original member of the band, Ehart is also their manager. Drum tech Eric Holmquist, who has stepped in in previous similar circumstances, is fi
Classic Rock3 min read
Dion
AT 84, DION DiMucci shows no signs of slowing down. He first came to prominence at 17 with the Belmonts, a vocal group hand-picked from the Bronx. Having racked up hits with such evergreens as The Wanderer and Runaround Sue, Dion repeatedly changed t
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Honeymoon Suite
As Johnnie Dee cheerfully admits, Honeymoon Suite were never leading lights of the 80s scene (“There are the big bands, then there’s that grey space… we’re in the grey space”). But while their peers have fallen away, the Canadian band have played an
Classic Rock1 min read
Lemmy Statue Approved
STOKE-ON-TRENT City Council have approved plans to erect a 2.2-metre-high bronze statue of former Hawkwind and Motörhead bassist and vocalist Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister in the Market Place of Burslem, the Staffordshire town where Lemmy was born on Decembe
Classic Rock1 min read
News
An expanded, multidisc version of Def Leppard’s multiplatinum-selling 1983 album Pyromania will belatedly celebrate the album’s 40th anniversary. Available on April 26, the reboot includes the previously unreleased song No You Can’t Do That, plus dem
Classic Rock1 min read
Slayer Return!
NEWS OF A Slayer reunion of has astonished – and, for the most part, delighted – the world of extreme metal. The Californian four-piece retired in 2019 following an extensive worldwide farewell tour. And that was that. Or so we thought. Now, amazingl
Classic Rock2 min read
Gen & The Degenerates
“I SEE IT as a time capsule of what it’s like to be in your twenties, during the end of the world as we know it,” says Genevieve Glynn-Reeves. The singer/lyricist laughs, but there’s a sincerity in her tone. At a time when spikily confessional voices
Classic Rock5 min read
The Waterboys
The Whole Of The Moon has inspired many cover versions over the years, but Mike Scott is especially proud of the fact that Prince performed it twice. The first time was at Ronnie Scott’s in London in February 2014, in front of just 200 people. He rev
Classic Rock4 min read
Kris Barras
If he wasn’t a musician, Kris Barras could work for the Torquay tourist board. “It’s a beautiful place to live, especially when the sun is shining,” the former MMA champion-turned-singer and guitarist says of his West Country home town. “I’ve never m
Classic Rock42 min read
Digging Deep
The dramatic tale of Deep Purple’s sixth album has rightly been etched into rock music folklore for more than half a century. Frankly, if you haven’t heard it, then you’re probably reading the wrong magazine, but here’s the gist of what happened. Fan
Classic Rock18 min read
Sheryl Crow
It’s difficult to believe we’ve had the pleasure of Sheryl Crow’s company for three decades now – not least to the singer-songwriter herself. “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know if anybody ever really feels their age,” she considers. “I mean, I’m
Classic Rock8 min read
Bad Bays Running Wild
It wasn’t easy to upstage Van Halen in their prime, but calling in the US Air Force will do the trick. It was Sunday, May 29, 1983, and Scorpions were second on the bill on the so-called Heavy Metal Day at the Us Festival, the massive music jamboree
Classic Rock7 min read
Light At The End Of The Tunnel
The river Stour meanders through the stunning Dorset countryside just 300 yards from Gregory Spawton’s door. Quietly brimming with fauna, flora and fungi, it’s one of the songwriter/ bassist’s favourite spots to meander, too; a place for rumination,
Classic Rock9 min read
On Target
Giuliano ‘Jools’ Gizzi still remembers Gun’s first time on Top Of The Pops. It was August 1989, and their debut single Better Days had charted. Young Glaswegian upstarts in ripped denim and biker jackets, Gun were in seventh heaven – especially when
Classic Rock9 min readMusic
Songs In The Key Of Life
There are several popular images of Gary Clark Jr: the hipster bluesman; the guitar prodigy who made Eric Clapton want to play again; the political firebrand who channelled his experience of the American South into 2019’s triple Grammy-winning album
Classic Rock4 min read
The HOT LiST
With 2024 very much under way, our inboxes have been brimming with music from rock’s newest voices, under-the-radar talents and returning favourites. This month we’ve dipped into all those areas – sifting through the great, the ‘fine’, the dreadful a
Classic Rock3 min read
Pearl Jam
It’s impossible to approach a new Pearl Jam album without pausing to think of the entire scene that they came from. Since their last release, 2020’s Gigaton, we’ve lost Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan, following the tragic demise of Kurt Cobain
Classic Rock33 min read
Reviews
Hand On Heart CHERRY RED Street-punk progenitors stand firm. Uncannily ageless, the most widely respected, enduringly influential yet bizarrely overlooked punk band in the genre’s history have produced an eighth album (52 years into their career) tha
Classic Rock2 min read
Hawkwind
Hawkwind aren’t normally associated with teenage trauma, but here’s a story for you. It’s 1972, and a young fan (with the initials GB) is getting ready to play the Greasy Truckers Party album on his stereo – specifically the Hawks tracks Master Of Th
Classic Rock2 min read
Round-up: Blues
Ohio Players NONESUCH Two decades after Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney stripped the blues-band format back to the bone, the Ohio duo’s twelfth album is their most sociable yet, with a guest list that includes Beck, Noel Gallagher, a brace of Memphi
Classic Rock2 min readMusic
Gary Clark Jr
From day one , it was obvious that Gary Clark Jr was never going to be boxed in by the trad confines of the blues world that he initially called home. With 2019’s This Land he spread his creative wings to spectacular effect – the fact that it bagged
Classic Rock2 min read
Round-up: Melodic Rock
The Jungle Revolution FRONTIERS With half a decade and a change of vocalist separating their selftitled debut from 2016 and follow-up Tropical Thunder, Swedish rockers Cruzh have walked something of a gradual, inconsistent path. That debut was a re
Classic Rock2 min read
Liam Gallagher John Squire
Collaborations don’t always work. When you have too many big names in a group, sometimes the result is more like standing on the toes of giants than standing on their shoulders: the combination of two or more rock legends often tends to dilute the re
Classic Rock2 min read
Best Of The Rest
Our Brand Could Be Yr Life CHRYSALIS Brooklyn’s Bodega previously released a hugely ambitious lower-fi first draft of OBCBYL in ‘15. This lusher Mk II is a culturally conscious opus, equally dripping with classic 90s alt.US indie ambition (think Wee
Classic Rock2 min read
Deep Purple
Yup, the one with Smoke On The Water. That song, and this album, broke Deep Purple in America and made them legends all over the globe to this day. This, essentially, is a three-CD version. The first disc pairs the Dweezil Zappa 2024 Remix with the 2
Classic Rock2 min read
Bon Jovi
In 1984, Kerrang! critics voted Bon Jovi’s debut the eleventh-best album of that year, a few notches below The Rejects’ – né the Cockney Rejects – Quiet Storm at No.8. Surprising? Nope. There was only ever going to be one winner in a Jon Bon Jovi-ver
Classic Rock2 min read
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers were at a crossroads after tearing down the chart-hogging This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours with a partial return to their rebellious gnarly roots in 2001’s Know Your Enemy. Rather than continuing to “destroy everything we’d built
Classic Rock2 min read
Best Of The Rest
1 Step Forward… Further Steps DETOUR You’d be forgiven for mistaking bowl-cut ’n’ Chelsea-booted 90s Salisbury garage quartet The Nuthins for an actual pep-pilled, hep-cat combo straight out of mid-60s Nuggetsville USA. This 33-track raveup’s attent
Classic Rock2 min read
Revolución To Roxy
"I hope you’ll find my family’s history as interesting as my fifty-year career in music”, Phil Manzanera offers in the preface to his lockdown-written memoir, adding realistically: “Of course, it’s no problem if you want to skip to Roxy…” Probably, m
Classic Rock6 min read
Peter Green
A uniquely soulful guitarist, singer and songwriter, Peter Green was one of the architects of British blues rock. In 1966, at the age of 19, he replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, and recorded the classic album A Hard Road which was
Classic Rock3 min read
Jethro Tull
Beginning his working day with a 9am Zoom call, Jethro Tull leader Ian Anderson is a busy man. Here we talk about a new UK tour from Tull, the vinyl release of the band’s great long-lost album from the 70s, and the likelihood of former guitarist Mart
Classic Rock2 min read
New Model Army
Since forming in Bradford in 1980, New Model Army have gained a reputation as a no-compromise, conscientious rock band drawing on punk, folk, soul and even classical themes. Co-founding frontman Justin Sullivan sets the scene for a tour to promote th
Classic Rock2 min read
The Hives
On the eve of a 12-date tour by the muchtravelled garage rockers from Fagersta, Sweden – once hailed by Spin magazine as “the best live band on the planet” – frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist discusses last year’s The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons, the gr
Classic Rock3 min read
Feeder
With a string of 25 Top 75 hits dating back to 1997’s Tangerine, Feeder have been around for three decades now. Not that you’d know it. There’s no ostentatious display of anniversary survival tonight. Feeder have never been the type of band to nostal
Classic Rock4 min read
Reviews
London Electric Ballroom Trad rockers dish the deliciously ballsy dirt. With influences not so much worn on their sleeves as tattooed across their faces, Dirty Honey aren’t reinventing any wheels. Happily, their wheels of choice are pretty great. The
Classic Rock3 min read
The Soundtrack Of My Life
When you talk about ‘dad-rock’ with Wolfgang Van Halen, it has a totally different meaning. The son of the late, legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen can still recall getting his first paternal music lesson at age of nine. “The first song I ever learn

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