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.

WELCOME

CLASSIC ROCK

“HAVING US ON STAMPS IS QUITE A THING FOR ME”

Terry Hall

RIP

Rick Anderson

Kim Simmonds

Vivienne Westwood

Jet Black

NEWS

Iggy/DC?

Lydon Wants PiL To Be Eurovision 2023 Entry

Wig Wam • Frontman Åge Sten Nilsen on straitjackets, cognac, and getting into character as his crazed alter-ego Glam.

Connor Selby • Meet the latest young blueser finding a future from digging into the genre’s rich past.

NEWS

The Winery Dogs • Drummer Mike Portnoy on power trios, bad band names and why these Dogs are the modern-day Who.

THE SHIVER

MY FIRST LOVE • The Shinedown frontman on the impact of Cornell and co’s modern classic.

NEWS

The Subways • Stars of the British noughties guitar wave return to form with their new album, eight years after the last one.

Dangereens • Fancy a ‘pocket symphony of hard times and gorgeous melodies’? Us too. Get in!

King’s X • A song on their 1988 debut album, about a mystery girl who drew guitarist Ty Tabor’s attention in a club, it remains a live staple and one of Tabor’s favourite songs he’s written for the band.

Steve Vai • The virtuoso’s virtuoso on his lost biker-rock record, its doomed singer, and terrifying moments on two wheels.

JEFF BECK • David Sinclair looks back on the life, times and truly extraordinary music of the man regularly described by his peers as the greatest guitarist of them all, a genius, The Guv’nor.

GOLD AFTER GOLD • His After The Gold Rush album made Neil Young a star, but it also put him at a fork in the road. Hitting a rich creative seam with the more mellow follow-up, he struck gold again with a classic that remains his finest record: Harvest.

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER; ROCK’N’ROLL IS FOREVER • They might not have achieved the status or sales of the other three bands in the unofficial Big Four of Big Rock, but Uriah Heep have stayed the course for 50-plus years and are currently enjoying a new golden era.

A HEROES' JOURNEY • Too musicianly and too old for the ‘punk’ tag to fit, The Stranglers were nevertheless its bad boys. Hugh Cornwell tells the story of their summer-of-punk-classic second album.

MAGNUM OPUS • It’s a heart-warming story: in 1972 a teenage hopeful’s many-times-rejected demo finds its way into the hands of the maverick young boss of a new label, who decides to give it a go. The eventual result is a commercial and cultural phenomenon: Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells.

Black Star Riders

ROUND-UP: SLEAZE ROCK

Those Damn Crows

ROUND-UP: MELODIC ROCK

Dinosaur Jr

S*M*A*S*H / These Animal Men

Various

Heavy Metal Kids

In The Court Of The Crimson King: King Crimson At 50

Ry Cooder • Whether reshaping roots music or making emotive soundtracks, Cooder’s records have always reflected that X factor called class.

Essential

Superior

Good Worth exploring

Avoid

Essential Playlist

HENRIK FREISCHLANCER BAND

Black Star Riders

Jesse Malin

Stone Broken

Fields Of The Nephilim

Clutch

Frank Turner

The Cure

Alter...