Classic Rock

Every month Classic Rock is packed with exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes features on rock’s biggest names, from Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple, from Guns N’ Roses to the Rolling Stones, from the Sex Pistols to AC/DC and beyond. Each issue plays host to the heftiest rock reviews section on the planet. In an average issue, you’ll find over 150 albums reviewed, all from the ever-varied, multi-faceted world of rock - whether it’s hard rock or heavy metal, prog or punk, goth rock or southern rock, we’ve got it covered.

Classic Rock

WELCOME

This month’s contributors

OZZY AND FRIENDS UNITE FOR HALL OF FAME • 2024 induction features Ozzy, Foreigner (finally!), Peter Frampton and more.

PAUL DI’ANNO • CR’s Dave Ling looks back at the life, times and music of the former Iron Maiden singer.

RIP • Thank you… and good night.

Phil Lesh • March 15, 1940 – October 25, 2024

Quincy Jones • March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024

New Queen Music Coming? • “We can still play. We can still sing. I don’t see why not.”

The Who To Reunite In 2025 • Townshend and Daltrey are “in good form. We love each other,” says Pete.

NEWS

“You’ll think I’m out of my mind” • Alex Van Halen on Ozzy or Robert Plant singing for Van Halen.

350 Grassroots Music Venues Could Close • Music Venue Trust paints bleak picture of the future.

Grace Bowers • Meet the teenage guitar sensation who’s getting the attention of some music A-listers.

Ice-T • The Body Count frontman on rap, acting, WWIII, and getting David Gilmour on his cover of Comfortably Numb.

ALBUMS OF 2024 • From the past 12 months’ album releases by A-listers, established artists, up-and-comers and previously unknowns, here are the 50 that Classic Rock reckons you should hear.

PETER PERRETT • A late-career starburst in his drugs-hastened twilight years, the former Only Ones frontman’s latest solo album is the best he’s ever made.

TOP 5 AOR ALBUMS

THE VIRGINMARYS • Like most bands, they’ve had to clear a few hurdles and fight a few battles. Now down to a duo, driven and doing things their own way, the road ahead looks a little smoother.

TOP 5 BLUES ALBUMS

HAWKWIND • Constantly applying their quality-control nose to what they were working on, the space-rock veterans ended up with “a totally different album from what we started”.

SLASH • The hard-rock guitar hero released an album of blues and soul standards that no one was expecting. Then he took to the road for his S.E.R.P.E.N.T tour with a multitude of guests, including Samantha Fish and Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram.

TOP 5 COUNTRY ALBUMS

THE QUIREBOYS • With Thunder’s Luke Morley on board playing guitar and producing, Wardour Street might be their best album since their debut of 1990.

MASSIVE WAGONS • The Lancaster bombers on surviving the metal festival circuit, the size of Bruce Dickinson’s gob and the great sprout debate.

TOP 5 PROG ALBUMS

BRUCE DICKINSON • The singer says his latest solo album felt like it was going to be “something really special” while they were making it, and that it didn’t turn out the way he had expected.

DAVID GILMOUR • Leading a rock group and being a solo artist were “not what I asked for”, David Gilmour says. For his latest album, Luck And Strange, he assembled a team that shared the weight of his creative efforts, and the result is “the best album I’ve made since The Dark Side Of The Moon”.

JUKEBOX HERO • Like a hit-making machine, Mick Jones steered Foreigner to instant and huge success. But with this self-confessed “bit of a control freak” at the helm it was often far from plain sailing.

TEN REASONS WHY AC/DC PLAYED THE BEST GIGS OF 2024 • To take a...