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

This month’s contributors

Classic Rock

DAVE MASON • Classic Rock’s David Sinclair looks back at the life and music of the singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer best known as a co-founder of Traffic.

DEAR MR FANTASY • STARS PAY TRIBUTE

RIP • Thank you… and good night.

Andy Kershaw • November 9, 1959 – April 16, 2026

Greg Elmore • September 4, 1946 – March 29, 2026

Donn Landee • February 26, 1947 – April 2026

Moya Brennan • August 4, 1952 – April 13, 2026

Mick Devonport • April 21, 1950 – April 12, 2026

Alan Osmond • June 22, 1949 – April 20, 2026

Sabbath Demos To Be Released? • Possible album of recordings from their early Earth days.

Tongue-tied • The Rolling Stones announce studio album number 25.

NEWS

Geoff Tate • Almost 40 years on, the singer of Queensrÿche’s signature album releases his own third instalment.

Jayler • Big in Brazil, gigs with Deep Purple and Skynyrd, and their debut album isn’t even out yet.

Not Any Woman From Tokyo • Deep Purple fan-girl moment for Japan’s Prime Minister.

Kiss Avatar Show To Launch In Vegas In 2028 • “This will be a true immersive experience,” says Paul Stanley.

NEWS

Failure • After one member’s real near-death experience, the band have come alive again with album number seven.

The Scratch • Somewhere between The Dubliners and Metallica, they’ve found their “weird little sound”.

Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine • A song about child abuse, with a ‘stolen’ hook-line that gifted Jagger and Richards writer credits, it brought them fame for the wrong reason: a live-on-TV ruck with presenter Phillip Schofield.

Crown Lands • The prog duo talk 19-minute songs, hanging out with Gollum, and why they’d rather be killed by robots than by zombies.

ON A DARK DESERT HIGHWAY… • Mexican reggae! Gunslinger duels! Chainsaws! Fifty years after it was recorded and released, Don Henley and producer Bill Szymczyk revisit the making of the Eagles’ 1976 masterpiece Hotel California.

CHECKING IN • A guided tour of the Hotel California, room by room.

RELEASE THE BEAST • Having almost called it quits a couple of years ago, All Them Witches cast an excellent spell with their new album House Of Mirrors – and there’s more magic brewing for the future.

ALL THAT GLITTERS • Shinedown’s charmed career belies a band that has rolled with the punches. Frontman Brent Smith opens up about the loss, addiction and rebirth that led to new album EI8HT.

HEY! HO! LET’S GO! • Few bands shook the UK music scene like NYC punks the Ramones did in 1976. Fewer still can claim they actually built one. Welcome to a revolution.

ANARCHY IN THE UK • How Ramones fired up Britain’s punks and its wider rock scene.

CLEAR BLUE SKIES • As US alt.rockers Blue October hit the UK to play their 2006 album Foiled in full, Anglophile frontman Justin Furstenfeld reflects on a period of runaway creativity – and personal train wrecks.

PARK LIFE • Songwriter, singer and keyboard player Bruce Hornsby could easily just rest on his laurels, but with his new album Indigo Park exploring memory and aging, he’s...