Jason Isbell is alone. Alone on this record and alone, it seems, in his life. Foxes in the Snow was recorded without his usual backing band, the 400 Unit, and outside of a marriage that turned into a muse. There’s introspection about what it all means, even what his own old songs now mean, but he’s also become angrier and more lyrically impulsive. Isbell has been stripped bare, and you hear it everywhere on this new album. He’s never had more main-character energy.
But Foxes in the Snow, like its mostly heartbroken protagonist, struggles to find purpose in the wreckage. In “Eileen,” Isbell makes a melancholy return to a former lover’s note: “It said ‘forever is a dead man’s joke’ – and that’s the only thing it said.” In “Gravelweed,” he’s bluntly honest: “Now that I live to see my melodies betray me, I’m sorry the love songs all mean different things today.”
There are moments when the clouds part around Isbell. “Bury Me,” the lead single, unfolded like a dusty Old West adventure. “Ride to Robert’s” pokes good fun at Nashville’s tourist-trap present. But “Open and Close,” despite the appearance of a comfortably snoozing doorman, is really all about things that come and go. The title track hints at new love but then “True Believer” dives into deep well of resentment over the past, as a strikingly raw Isbell grumbles about how “all your girlfriends say I broke your fucking heart, and I don’t like it.”
Set during an insomniac’s endless night, “Good While It Lasted” attempts to put things in perspective – but only in its own broken way. “You’re like sleep, take what I can get, but I’ve got to make some sense of this so here the fuck I sit,” Isbell sings, again with just a 1940 Martin acoustic to answer back. He confronts the difficulty of facing heartbreak without a return to the bottle (“last time I tried this sober, I was 17“), before finding some solace in aphorism: “All that I needed was all that I had – and it was good while it lasted.”
It was all undoubtedly cathartic for Isbell, but sometimes there’s not much more. So Foxes in the Snow never answers its own central question. His 2013 breakthrough album Southeastern was anchored by “Cover Me Up” and “Traveling Alone,” both inspired by a love now lost. Isbell’s best-known solo song remains 2020’s “If We Were Vampires,” about a (literally) timeless romance. Even his most recent release, 2023’s Weathervanes, often found emotional purchase in discussions about his faltering relationship. What’s to become of Isbell’s career without that spark? We’ll have to wait until he refocuses on other characters to find out.
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Their path to becoming one of the best rock bands of the new century was paved the old-fashioned way: though lots and lots of touring.
Despite some acrimony that’s divided the members of Supertramp in recent years, the group’s John Helliwell is happy that what was arguably the band’s peak moment has been revisited with the new Live in Paris ’79.
“It’s always been, like, a cornerstone of our career,” Helliwell tells UCR via Zoom from his home in England. Not a strict reissue of the 1980 concert album Paris, the new release features recordings from different nights of Supertramp’s stand at the 8,000-seat Pavillion de Paris — Dec. 1-2 rather than the Nov. 29 concert on Paris — and represents the entire concerts, with two songs, “Downstream” and “Child of Vision,” that were not on Paris.
The shows came towards the end of Supertramp’s world tour in support of 1979’s Breakfast In America, a four-times platinum, chat-topping smash whose hits — “The Logical Song,” “Goodbye Stranger” and “Take the Long Way Home” — vaulted the group’s status.
“I think this new version is maybe a bit more refined, in a way,” says Helliwell, who keeps a framed proof of artist Cindy Marsh’s Paris cover illustration on the wall of his office. “It was near the end of the tour and we were really well-oiled by that time and playing well, and we made a good recordings. We’d had a really interesting time in Paris over about six or seven years; we’d gone from playing to about five people (at the Bataclan) to doing four nights at the Pavillion de Paris. We enjoyed ourselves there. It was a good, excitable crowd, and they got us going, and we made some good tapes.”
Released Sept. 26, 1980, Paris followed Breakfast in America‘s No. 1 showing by hitting No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and going gold. It’s one of only three Supertramp albums to reach the Top 10 in America.
Hear Supertramp Perform ‘You Started Laughing’
The Paris stand also represents the last stand for Supertramp’s classic quintet lineup, which also included singer-keyboardist Rick Davies, singer-guitarist-keyboardist Roger Hodgson, bassist Dougie Thomson and drummer Bob Siebenberg. The band toured with two additional musicians in support of 1982’s …Famous Last Words, and Hodgson departed in 1983 due to creative differences, primarily with Davies.
“As Rick and Roger were growing older there was a bit more of a rift between their outlooks,” Helliwell explains, adding that, “at the time we thought Roger’s leaving was a bit silly. He could’ve done his solo stuff and still done stuff with the group. It was kind of…I wouldn’t say bloody minded, but maybe he was misdirected. I don’t know, really, but he just went off and did his own thing, with no heed for the consequences of that.”
Supertramp, meanwhile, continued for another four studio albums after that and came to a halt in 2015, when Davies’ battle with multiple myeloma caused the cancellation of a planned tour.
Lawsuits Have Fractured Supertramp in Recent Years
Then in 2018 Helliwell, Thomson and Siebenberg sued Hodgson and Davies over publishing royalties. Davis settled out of court while Hodgson prevailed last year in his separate case, and Helliwell acknowledges that there are still hard feelings over the issue.
“There’s kind of a difference between Rick and Roger as songwriters, and a difference now between the rest of the band and the songwriters — particularly with the rest of the band and Roger,” Helliwell explains. “It’s a shame because it’s a great legacy that we all were involved with. But that’s life in the end, maybe.”
Helliwell does not expect that Supertramp’s vaults will yield much more in the future. “We’re very sparse on extras that crop up from other people during recording. We made very few of those,” he notes, adding that live recordings — such as the ones that popped up on reissues of 1974’s Crime of the Century and Breakfast in America, which included songs from Paris, London and Miami — are the most likely material available.
Davies, who lives on Long Island, has resurfaced to play occasionally gigs, while Helliwell — who served as Supertramp’s onstage emcee “because nobody else wanted to” — remains the most active of the Supertramp gang. He’s released a solo album, Ever Open Door, during 2020 and has also recorded with onetime Pat Metheny Group drummer Paul Wertico and Leslie Mandoki’s Soulmates. Helliwell also leads the Super Big Tramp Band, an 18-piece ensemble that will be releasing a self-titled album in April featuring instrumental arrangements of Supertramp songs.
“I do bits and pieces,” says Helliwell, who’s also expecting to do some live performing this year. At 80, however, he adds that “I might retire this year. I want to stop at the top of my playing ability. I haven’t gone over the crest of the hill yet, but I don’t want g over the crest and be on the downward slope and have people who come to see me play, in whatever context, say, ‘Oh, he used to be good.’ I’d rather stop at the top.”
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“I don’t think about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” Cummings told Cleveland.com in a recent interview. “It’s not a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Madonna is in there. It’s not rock ‘n’ roll. So I don’t lose any sleep. I’m not concerned about it, believe me. I don’t lose any sleep about it.”
The Guess Who, which also featured future Bachman Turner Overdrive star Randy Bachman, were one of the most successful Canadian bands of the early ’70s thanks to hits such as “American Woman,” “These Eyes” an “No Time.”
The Guess Who has been eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1991 but have yet to have even been nominated.
Cummings is currently focused on his solo career, touring behind his most recent album, 2024’s A Few Good Moments. You can get information on his concert schedule at his official website.
Burton Cummings Celebrates the End of the Guess Who Legal Battle
He also ended a long legal battle against a former bandmate who was using the Guess Who name. Cummings took the drastic legal act of terminating the rights agreements to the band’s biggest songs, preventing anyone from performing them live without risking legal trouble for the venue. He and Bachman were triumphant and now control the Guess Who name.
“The bad times are over,” Cumming enthuses. “The songs have never gone away, but now there’s no more fake Guess Who. People in the States realize I’m the guy that sang the songs and wrote most of them. So now I’m back in America, singing my own songs, and the reaction has been tremendous so far. I’m very happy with the way things are going.”
Even if the Rock Hall never beckons, Cummings has received plenty of honors from his home country, including the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba, plus a theater and community center in his hometown of Winnipeg that is named after him.
“Y’know, I have people coming to see me and emailing me from all over the world,” he concludes. “So why would I be worried about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?”
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At the time of this writing, Bob Dylan has released 40 studio albums, 10 of which have arrived in the 21st century.
It’s true that most of Dylan’s most popular and commercially successful songs come from albums released decades ago — tracks like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Tangled Up in Blue” — but from the year 2000 to present day, Dylan has written dozens upon dozens of songs, not to mention covered a variety of Great American Songbook standards and reinterpreted his own material.
And people are still very much listening. In 2020, Dylan landed his first ever No. 1 song on any Billboard chart with the 17-minute “Murder Most Foul.”
Below, we’ve ranked The 20 Best Bob Dylan Songs From the 21st Century. For the purposes of this list, we’re sticking to studio albums only, though there is also plenty of good stuff to be found on Dylan’s live albums and bootleg releases.
20. “I Can’t Get You Off of My Mind” From: Timeless: Tribute to Hank Williams (2001)
Dylan had several early musical influences, and Hank Williams was most certainly one of them. “I became aware that in Hank’s recorded songs were the archetype rules of poetic songwriting,” he wrote in his memoir Chronicles: Volume One. “The architectural forms are like marble pillars.” In 2001, Dylan’s cover of “I Can’t Get You Off of My Mind” served as the leading track to Timeless: Tribute to Hank Williams.
Dylan singularly wrote every song on 2012’s Tempest with the exception of “Duquesne Whistle,” which he co-wrote with Robert Hunter, who was best known for his collaborations with the Grateful Dead. “Hunter is an old buddy,” Dylan told Rolling Stone back in 2009. “We could probably write a hundred songs together if we thought it was important or the right reasons were there. He’s got a way with words and I do too. We both write a different type of song than what passes today for songwriting.”
Dylan was not the first major rock artist to dip backward into the Great American Songbook, but one could argue he was one of the most dedicated to covering its material. Fallen Angels was the second of these releases, and it earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. “Melancholy Mood” is a strong vocal performance on top of a polished arrangement.
Bob Dylan and Christmas music are not exactly phrases that go together — especially considering Dylan was born and raised Jewish — but one need only hear the song and watch the music video for “Must Be Santa” to hear the joy and whimsy of this project. Who’s got a beard that’s long and white? Santa Claus. Who’s got a top hat and a strange gray wig? Dylan in the below video.
Robert Hunter co-wrote most of the songs on Dylan’s 2009 album Together Through Life, a partnership that clearly worked well for both men. “When writing for Dylan, I hear Dylan’s voice,” Hunter explained to Highway 81 Revisited in 2014. “I write words that I can hear coming out of his mouth. Maybe not what he thinks, but things that would sound good with a Dylan voice on them.” David Hildago added accordion to “Beyond Here Lies Nothin,'” a part that’s both subtle and totally necessary.
15. “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” From: Shadow Kingdom (2023)
As Dylan once famously said of his songs, “it used to go like that, and now it goes like this.” He said that in 1966, but it was an artistic sentiment that has continued for decades — Dylan is constantly reimagining his own work. One of the strongest displays of this was in 2023’s Shadow Kingdom, a collection of re-recordings of songs from the first half of Dylan’s career. The below version of “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” is much more rambunctious than the 1967 original.
We understand that not everyone is keen on hearing three album’s worth of standard covers by Dylan, which comes out to around 95 minutes of listening time. (To be fair though, Triplicate did earn a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and it went to No. 37 in the U.S.) But there are undoubtedly some worthy tracks, such as the classic “P.S. I Love You.”
13. “High Water (For Charley Patton) From: Love and Theft(2001)
As its title suggests, “High Water (For Charley Patton)” is a tribute to the late bluesman, though its not exactly a blues song itself. It leans on a jangly banjo part, courtesy of Larry Campbell, and some strong percussion work by David Kemper. “High Water” is ultimately a song about American history, the good, bad and ugly parts of it. “The album deals with power, wealth, knowledge and salvation,” Dylan said to Rolling Stone in 2001, themes that still carry a great deal of relevance and resonance 20 years later.
12. “Pay in Blood” From: Tempest (2012)
Plenty of jokes have been made about Dylan’s singing voice over the years, and Tempest is certainly not his clearest or easiest to listen to in that vein. But the lyrical content of “Pay in Blood” makes up for it. Take Elvis Costello‘s word for it, too. Back in 2011, Dylan showed Costello the lyrics to the song at a festival they were both playing at. Each chorus line, Costello later recalled (“I pay in blood, but not my own“), “was delivered with a different flourish: a swashbuckler’s panache, a black comical riposte, held with a steady gaze, tossed away with a wicked laugh or a ghost of a smile.”
11. “I Feel a Change Comin’ On” From: Together Through Life (2009)
That’s Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers playing the guitar solos on “I Feel a Change Comin’ On.” “He is Mr. Contraire Dylan,” Campbell said of working with the legend to Noise11.com in 2020. “I can tell you stories of how quirky and beautifully genius he is and how he interacts with people. … He is also a twitchy, goofy little kid with music. He gets into it on a high school level in a garage band. He is Bob Dylan, but he is one of us.”
Countless people have recorded covers of “Autumn Leaves,” but it was Frank Sinatra’s version that stuck in Dylan’s thoughts when he put his own spin on it for 2015’s Shadows in the Night, an album that included lots of songs Sinatra sang over the years. “When you start doing these songs, Frank’s got to be on your mind. Because he is the mountain. That’s the mountain you have to climb, even if you only get part of the way there,” Dylan explained to AARP: The Magazine then. “He had this ability to get inside of the song in a sort of a conversational way. Frank sang to you — not at you.”
9. “Mississippi” From: Love and Theft (2001)
If “Mississippi” sounds a bit like it belongs on 1997’s Time Out of Mind, that’s because it was recorded during those sessions, but did not find a place until Love and Theft. The version below was re-recorded specifically for the 2001 album. “I would love to put certain things on [an album], I just don’t think they were recorded right,” Dylan said at a press conference in 2001. “[‘Mississippi’] wasn’t recorded particularly well, and thank God it never got out, so we went and re-recorded it again. But something like that would never have happened 10 years ago. You’d have probably all heard the trashed version of it and I would have never re-recorded it.”
8. “Thunder on the Mountain” From: Modern Times (2006)
Bob Dylan namedropping Alicia Keys in the opening track to one of his albums? It’s more likely than you’d think. The opening few bars of “Thunder on the Mountain,” the leadoff song to 2006’s Modern Times, sets the tone for the rest of the LP, and yes, mentions Ms. Keys. It’s a strange yet fitting instance of Dylan being quite aware of contemporary figures in music, placed against a backdrop of blues and rockabilly.
7. “Pledging My Time” From: Shadow Kingdom (2023)
The 1966 version of “Pledging My Time” from Blonde on Blonde has similarities with the 2023 version Dylan recorded of it for Shadow Kingdom — a harmonica part, the 12-bar blues structure. And yet, it’s an entirely different song, sung by a man many decades older and presumably wiser. Lines like “Everybody’s gone but me and you / And I can’t be the last to leave” strike differently.
Only Bob Dylan would randomly drop an astounding 17-minute song about the assassination of JFK in the middle of a global pandemic: “Murder Most Foul.” “Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty across the years,” he said on social media on March 27, 2020. “This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Stay safe, stay observant and may God be with you.”
5. “All or Nothing at All” From: Fallen Angels (2016)
Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, the same year he released his second album of standard covers, Fallen Angels. For someone so lauded for his writing, it’s interesting to hear Dylan tackle songs that did not bear the fruit of his own pen. It was freeing for him, in a way. “There’s enough of my personality written into the lyrics so that I could just focus on the melodies within the arrangements,” he told Bill Flanagan in a 2017 interview.
4. “He’s Funny That Way” From: Universal Love – Wedding Songs Reimagined (2018)
In 2018, Dylan contributed to an album called Universal Love – Wedding Songs Reimagined, in which gender-specific lyrics were adjusted so that they became same-sex love songs. So, for example, Dylan’s beautifully tender version of “She’s Funny That Way” became “He’s Funny That Way.” Dylan does not speak often about sexuality, his own or anyone else’s, but it’s not something he hasn’t considered. “Sex and love have nothing to do with female and male,” he said in 1966. “It is just whatever two souls happen to be.”
3. “Things Have Changed” From: 2000 Single
With “Things Have Changed,” Dylan snagged both an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. (It appeared in the 2000 film Wonder Boys, starring Michael Douglas.) It’s ominous and yet waggish, sinister and seductive “All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie,” Dylan sings. If that ain’t the truth…
2. “Beyond the Horizon” From: Modern Times (2006)
“I didn’t feel limited this time,” Dylan said to Rolling Stone in 2006, referring to his album Modern Times, “or I felt limited in the way that you want to narrow your scope down, you don’t want to muddle things up, you want every line to be clear and every line to be purposeful. … I just let the lyrics go, and when I was singing them, they seemed to have an ancient presence.” This is brilliantly displayed in “Beyond the Horizon,” with lines like “Beyond the horizon o’er the treacherous sea / I still can’t believe that you have set aside your love for me.”
1. “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” From: Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020)
There is much to like about 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways, but if there is one song from the album that perhaps best embodies Dylan’s puckish yet meaningful style of lyricism, it’s “Goodbye Jimmy Reed,” a fitting tribute to the blues legend. Here, sex and sin live on the same street as fame, God and “old time religion.” Former president Barack Obama named it one of his favorite songs of the entire year.
Bob Dylan Albums Ranked
Through ups and downs, and more comebacks than just about anyone in rock history, the singer-songwriter’s catalog has something for just about everyone.
Our picks for the Heaviest Song by 11 Big Hair Metal Bands proves that the genre, which relied so heavily on simple pop sensibilities, packed a harder punch than its detractors were willing to admit.
The term “hair metal” was coined as a pejorative catch-all for the sex- and party-obsessed hard rock bands that emerged predominantly from the Sunset Strip and conquered the world in the ’80s. It was often written off by critics as shallow, lightweight fluff.
But those who did so failed to account for the hard rock and metal origins of many of hair metal’s biggest purveyors. These artists grew up worshipping the hard rock and metal bands of the ’70s and they wore those influences on their tattered sleeves.
Hair metal disparagers also ignored the fact that as grunge overtook pop-metal in the early ’90s, some of these ’80s hard rock acts managed to successfully update their sound for a new decade, embracing heavier compositional styles and textures. These experiments didn’t always resonate with the record-buying public, but some of them were musically excellent nonetheless.
Keep reading to see our picks for the Heaviest Song by 11 Big Hair Metal Bands.
Bon Jovi, “Hey God” (These Days, 1995)
Bon Jovi continued adapting to the shifting musical climate on 1995’s These Days, which ran the gamut from country to adult-contemporary to thundering hard rock. Album opener “Hey God” best represents the latter category, built around a titanic groove and Richie Sambora‘s fiery riffs. Jon Bon Jovi beseeches God to make sense of the world’s suffering and injustice, delivering one of his most furiously urgent vocal performances.
Def Leppard, “No No No” (High ‘n’ Dry, 1981)
Before they embraced the glam metal zeitgeist on Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard made a name for themselves as New Wave of British Heavy Metal-adjacent hard rockers. They were still operating in that mode on their sophomore album, High ‘n’ Dry, and its closing track, “No No No,” features some of their most blistering riffs, a relentless punk drive and larynx-shredding vocals from Joe Elliott.
Yet even here, Def Leppard’s pop smarts and boundless crossover potential shine through the metallic onslaught.
Dokken, “Tooth and Nail” (Tooth and Nail, 1984)
Dokken‘s sophomore album, Tooth and Nail, took its name from the band’s desperate struggle to produce a hit record before Elektra Records dropped them. The album marked their shift toward a more commercial pop-metal sound, but several remnants of their heavier style remained.
The title track opens the LP on a speed metal note, with Don Dokken‘s snarling vocals and George Lynch‘s dizzying solos serving as perfect counterpoints — despite (or perhaps because of) the band members nearly killing each other in the studio.
When Motley Crue replaced Vince Neil with John Corabi for their 1994 self-titled album, they shed the last of their glam-metal trappings and became a bonafide heavy metal band.
Pot-smoking anthem “Smoke the Sky” epitomizes that shift with its gnarled down-tuned riffs, thunderous drumming and Corabi’s raspy howl. The breakdown at 2:12 is the single heaviest moment in Motley’s catalog and one of the toughest performances captured by any Sunset Strip band.
Light ’em up!
Poison, “Look What the Cat Dragged In” (Look What the Cat Dragged In, 1986)
Poison were never at risk of being mistaken for Slayer, but the title track off their debut album painted a convincing portrait of hard-partying rockers living on the edge. C.C. DeVille‘s steely riffs and Bret Michaels‘ devil-may-care vocals push “Look What the Cat Dragged In” past the harmless hedonism that pervades the rest of the album and into genuinely harrowing territory. “Half alive or half dead, I just can’t tell!” Michaels shouts, sounding closer to the latter than the former.
Quiet Riot, “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)” (Metal Health, 1983)
Quiet Riot‘s Metal Health became the first metal album to top the Billboard 200 thanks primarily to their smash cover of Slade‘s “Cum On Feel the Noize,” but its title track and second single solidified the band’s ethos.
“Bang Your Head (Metal Health)” is a full-throated exhortation to surrender to the power of rock ‘n’ roll, charged by Kevin DuBrow‘s in-your-face vocals, lighter-waving hooks and a sizzling guitar solo. “Metal health will drive you mad” — does it get more metal than that?
Ratt, “Sweet Cheater” (Ratt EP, 1983)
Much like their big-haired brethren Motley Crue, Ratt started off as a scrappy punk-metal outfit and independently released their self-titled debut EP in 1983. The sparsely produced collection features many of their most raw and heaviest songs, including the pummeling glam-thrash hybrid “Sweet Cheater.”
Double-bass drumming, metallic riffs and adenoidal screams abound on this Robbin Crosby composition, bridging the gap between Ratt’s Metal Massacre origins and their star-making debut album, Out of the Cellar.
Skid Row, “Slave to the Grind” (Slave to the Grind, 1991)
Following the world-conquering success of their self-titled debut, Skid Row abandoned all pop-metal pretenses for their pulverizing sophomore album Slave to the Grind. The title track is an anti-authoritarian tour de force of thrash riffing, speed metal tempos and Sebastian Bach‘s skyscraping, melodic roar.
The version of “Slave to the Grind” that appears on the album is the original pre-production demo, as the band failed to match its intensity in future sessions. It was a wise move, as the song explodes with righteous, unadulterated fury.
Warrant, “Inside Out” (Dog Eat Dog, 1992)
It’s a crying shame that right when Warrant made their best and heaviest album, Dog Eat Dog, the music-buying public disavowed anything remotely associated with hair metal. Dog Eat Dog flew tragically under the radar as a result, selling barely a quarter of its predecessors. But those who took a chance on the album were rewarded with a maelstrom of muscular riffs and soaring hooks.
Penultimate track “Inside Out” dials the intensity up to “11” with its ceaseless double-bass drumming, Jani Lane‘s savage vocals and a scorched-earth guitar solo. When Lane screams, “Get this mic outta my fuckin’ face!” at the end of the song, it might be an affectation, but the preceding performance is so vicious it feels authentic.
Whitesnake, “Bad Boys” (Whitesnake, 1987)
Whitesnake‘s self-titled 1987 album turned the David Coverdale-fronted outfit into superstars thanks to mega-ballads “Here I Go Again” and “Is This Love,” but its album cuts are diametrically opposed to those lovesick hits.
“Bad Boys” is the toughest of the bunch: a hard-rocking outlaw anthem anchored by Coverdale’s gravelly vocals and John Sykes‘ speedy, tremolo-picked riffing. Sykes’ diabolically fast solo threatens to enter power metal territory and Whitesnake make a clean break from their blues-rock roots.
Winger, “Junkyard Dog (Tears on Stone)” (Pull, 1993)
Poor Winger — doomed to permanent hair metal punchline status at the hands of an ill-timed Beavis and Butt-Head sketch, just as they released their heaviest and most focused album to date.
Although few self-respecting rock fans would have admitted it at the time, Pull bore virtually no resemblance to Winger’s glammy first two albums or schmaltzy AOR ballads. “Junkyard Dog (Tears on Stone)” cut a bold new path with its chunky, down-tuned riffs and towering groove. Kip Winger‘s bluesy, dexterous vocals supply the melody and a chilling acoustic passage turns the nearly seven-minute track into a heavy and progressive epic.
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Joe Cocker’s unmistakable voice and deeply emotive delivery made him one of the most distinctive vocalists in rock and blues history. Hailing from Sheffield, England, he first found his footing in the music world during the early 1960s, performing in local pubs with his band The Cavaliers. After experimenting with different musical projects, including performing under the name Vance Arnold & The Avengers, Cocker gained traction when his band opened for The Rolling Stones in 1963. This led to a recording contract with Decca Records, though his first solo release—a cover of The Beatles’ “I’ll Cry Instead”—failed to chart. However, his breakthrough was just around the corner, and by the late 1960s, Cocker would establish himself as a formidable presence in the industry.
The defining moment of Cocker’s early career came in 1968 when he released his rendition of The Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Featuring guitar work by Jimmy Page, the song became a massive success, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart and earning Cocker international recognition. His raw, impassioned vocal delivery transformed the track into something entirely his own. The song’s popularity skyrocketed further when he delivered a powerful performance of it at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, solidifying his reputation as one of rock’s most electrifying live performers. His debut album, With a Little Help from My Friends, introduced audiences to his unique blend of rock, blues, and soul, setting the stage for an illustrious career.
Over the decades, Cocker released a total of 22 studio albums, each marked by his signature vocal intensity and heartfelt interpretations of classic songs. His second album, Joe Cocker!, included another Beatles cover, “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” showcasing his ability to rework familiar songs into something fresh and deeply moving. In the years that followed, Cocker delivered hits such as “The Letter,” “Cry Me a River,” and “Feelin’ Alright.” His chart success continued into the 1970s and 1980s with songs like “You Are So Beautiful,” a ballad that became one of his most beloved recordings. However, it was his 1982 duet with Jennifer Warnes, “Up Where We Belong,” from An Officer and a Gentleman, that became one of the biggest commercial successes of his career, earning him a Grammy Award and an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Cocker’s accolades reflected both his influence and his staying power in the music industry. In addition to winning a Grammy, he was honored with a Brit Award for Best British Male Artist in 1993 and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2007 for his contributions to music. His impact was also recognized by Rolling Stone, which ranked him among the 100 greatest singers of all time. Despite facing personal struggles, including battles with substance abuse in the 1970s, Cocker overcame these challenges and remained a respected figure in rock and blues until the end of his life.
His career was built on the strength of his live performances, where he connected with audiences through his passionate stage presence and emotionally charged vocals. Whether delivering soul-stirring renditions of ballads or energetic blues-rock anthems, Cocker had an uncanny ability to inject raw feeling into every lyric he sang. His later albums, including Unchain My Heart and Hard Knocks, demonstrated that even in his later years, he maintained his vocal power and interpretive brilliance. His final studio album, Fire It Up, released in 2012, was a testament to his enduring artistry.
Beyond music, Cocker was dedicated to philanthropic efforts, particularly through the Cocker Kids’ Foundation, which he and his wife, Pam, established to support underprivileged youth in Crawford, Colorado, where they lived. His generosity and commitment to giving back underscored the same emotional depth that made his music so moving. Though his songs often dealt with themes of love, loss, and perseverance, his real-life actions reflected an artist who cared deeply about making a positive impact.
Joe Cocker passed away on December 22, 2014, after a battle with lung cancer, leaving behind a legacy that continues to resonate. His voice, filled with grit and soul, turned familiar songs into unforgettable anthems, and his performances left audiences spellbound for more than five decades. Whether through his stirring ballads or his raucous blues-rock interpretations, he remains one of the most respected and influential vocalists in music history.
Sevendials, a new alt.rock supergroup featuring vocalist Chris Connelly (Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Murder, Inc), guitarist/keyboardist Mark Gemini Thwaite (The Mission, Tricky, Peter Murphy) and drummer Paul Ferguson (Killing Joke), have shared their debut single Zodiac Morals as a preview of their forthcoming debut album, A Crash Course In Catastrophe.
The band, named after an area of central London regarded as dangerous and disreputable in the 18th century, promise to bring us “a staggering monolith of melody and malady, volume and velocity and a brace of brilliant songs, reflecting all the tension, angst and spiritual bankruptcy of the times.”
Recorded by Gemini Thwaite, A Crash Course In Catastrophe will be released on April 11 via Cadiz Music / CreationYouth, a newly formed record label from Killing Joke bassist and noted producer Martin ‘Youth’ Glover, and Creation Records head honcho Alan McGee, who signed Oasis, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream and more.
Talking about their debut single, the band say: “Using the stars to guide you because the terrain is always too dark: are the stars twinkling with hope? Or are they spent and dead infernos? The word Zodiac began to have negative implications when the Zodiac Killer became part of the collective zeitgeist, anti-morals, zodiac morals.”
Watch the video for the single below:
SEVENDIALS – ‘Zodiac Morals’ Official Lyric Video – YouTube
The trio’s ten-track album includes covers of Sparks‘ 1979 single The Number One Song In Heaven, and Animotion’s 1984 hit Obsession (written by Michael Des Barres and Holly Knight).
The track-listing is:
1. Number One Song In Heaven 2. Wolves 3. Knife Without Asking 4. Zodiac Morals 5. Obsession (feat. Ashley Bad) 6. Whispering Wand 7. Before you Make Your Distance 8. Corrupted Verse 9. Too High To Live 10. Weathervane Days
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A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne’s private jet, played Angus Young’s Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.
Glastonbury Festival has unveiled its lineup for 2025, and it’s looking like another stacked bill that’s set to take over Worthy Farm this June. Joining previously announced headliner Neil Young and Sunday Legend Rod Stewart are Pyramid Stage headliners the 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo, plus a wealth of rock artists including Biffy Clyro, Deftones, Weezer, Amyl And The Sniffers, Bob Vylan, The Libertines, Wet Leg, Nova Twins, St Vincent and Turnstile.
Pop is well represented with Charli XCX, Raye, Nile Rogers and Chic and Jade announced so far, while The Prodigy, Leftfield, Maribou State, Fatboy Slim (of course), Four Tet and Overmono are amongst the numerous EDM names on the bill.
Hip hop icon Busta Rhymes makes his Glastonbury debut, while modern rap superstars on the lineup include AJ Tracey, Doechii and Denzel Curry.
Other artists announced so far include Alanis Morissette Gracie Adams, Ezra Collective, John Fogerty, Beabadoobee, Gary Numan, Caribou, Black Uhuru, Franz Ferdinand, Goat, Inhaler and Kae Tempest.
While day splits have been announced, it is unclear how the stages will shape up, with many more artists set to be announced over the coming months.
See the full Glastonbury 2025 lineup so far below. Glastonbury 2025 takes place June 25-29 at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset. Tickets have long sold out but a resale of returned tickets is expected at some point in the next few weeks. Hit the official Glastonbury website for more information.
(Image credit: Glastonbury Festival)
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“I was unusually nervous… You may be doing exactly the same set, but it can have a completely different vibe.” When David Gilmour revisited Pompeii and faced the ghosts of Pink Floyd
(Image credit: Getty Images)
In 2017 David Gilmour released Live At Pompeii, a movie that documented his return to the scene of Pink Floyd’s 1970s triumph the previous year. In a conversation with Matt Everett, he reflected on the experience of returning to a place full of ghosts.
David Gilmour has long been known to conclude a tour with a flourish, be it playing in the middle of the lagoon in front of St Mark’s Square in Venice with Pink Floyd in 1989, or at the historic shipyards of Gdansk in 2006. However, in 2016, he surpassed himself by bringing his show to a place firmly etched in world history, and Floyd history: the amphitheatre in Pompeii, the site buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
In 1971, of course, his old group, under the direction of Adrian Maben, shot their legendary Live At Pompeiifilm, which captured them playing in the amphitheatre, empty, save for the crew and a few local kids. In 2016, it couldn’t have been more different – Gilmour brought his entire touring operation along to perform a spectacular show in front of a paying audience. It was to be a time when ghosts were laid to rest.
Gilmour first had the idea of returning to Pompeii in 2015 as he was touring Europe and then South America. “I don’t get out on tour very often and I like to create a special occasion for people, so it’s nice to play in beautiful old places that have a special vibe to them,” he says. “We started at Pula in Croatia in an absolutely spectacular amphitheatre, a place I’d never been to before. We continued that idea all over Europe. In these beautiful places. There’s a whole added element of specialness that the building gives to it. Hopefully the audience will remember it forever.”
Playing venues such as this is not without enormous logistical issues. “Luckily I don’t get to hear about most of them,” he laughs. Production manager Roger Searle and lighting man Marc Brickman scope each location out,months in advance. “Roger is brilliant and completely unflappable,” Gilmour reveals. “He gets everything done and if you ask him to do something, he always says ‘yes,’ never ‘no’. We need people like him.”
David Gilmour – Rattle That Lock (Live At Pompeii) – YouTube
The South American leg of the Rattle That Locktour was a key experience for Gilmour. The continent has a reputation for audience intensity and complex logistics, with tales of missing payments and concert cancellations. “Through all those years of our Pink Floyd touring, no one ever managed to convince us it was worth going through all that, so we never did,” the guitarist says.
“But times have changed and things are now far more professional. We were playing to up to 50,000 people a night, which for me as a solo artist was quite a surprise, but the audiences are so fantastically enthusiastic, polite and welcoming. There’s a more even split between men and women, which is refreshing. Many people had told me over the years how great the South American audiences are and I would go, ‘Yeah, sure – it’s just the same as everywhere else really.’ But they were right. It really was a treat.”
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The Rattle That Lock tour lent itself to extraordinary venues and, as it progressed, it seemed to lead to one in particular. “I don’t want to get completely stuck only in amphitheatres, but someone suggested we try for Pompeii again. The minute the idea was mooted I said, ‘Go for it. Absolutely.’ I said, ‘We’ll never get it.’ I didn’t think they’d allow it.
“So we sent our trusty team off to negotiate with the town of Pompeii. It turned out that the mayor and the townspeople were thrilled with the idea and were very keen to expedite it. They all made it work fantastically well.”
David Gilmour – A Boat Lies Waiting (Live At Pompeii) – YouTube
Playing the venue was a huge statement. Although Gilmour did not watch the fabled 1972 film again, he was aware that by revisiting, and adding an audience, it would become a full-blown spectacle. “The statement element came along a little bit later. I don’t think we originally were that concerned – it was just one of a number of places we were playing. We thought, ‘We did okay with it back in ’71 without an audience – maybe it would be fun to do the DVD there.’ We recorded and filmed shows all over the world, but we thought this one would be something extra special, which indeed it was. The two shows went really well.”
We thought, “It’ll be just like Wallace & Gromit when the rocket takes off and all the mice put their sunglasses on!”
The Avis trucks that had trundled round back in 1971 were replaced with fleets of equipment, all of which had to be wheeled carefully down aged paths so as not to damage the legendary structure. “All of that had to be negotiated,” Gilmour says. “Things like the fireworks and pyro are designed to look exciting and haphazard. You want it to look dangerous, but it’s very carefully controlled and our people know exactly what they’re doing. It’s a highly professional system, and so no damage was done to the site. You have to convince people that you are that sort of organisation.
“We’ve been through that in the 70s. That stuff was, in fact, highly dangerous in those days. Health and safety didn’t exist, pretty much, and there were a lot of very shaky moments on major tours. But these days it’s very slick.”
The spectacular concerts in July 2016 obviously opened doors in the minds of the media to a Pink Floyd reunion again, but Gilmour wasn’t concerned. “You can’t worry about the media – they’re going to find something to obsess about. The story of ‘will we, won’t we’ comes up time and time again, and it will never go away, I suspect, however convincing I try to make the argument.”
David Gilmour – Wish You Were Here (Live At Pompeii) – YouTube
For Gilmour, walking back into that amphitheatre after a gap of 45 years was unforgettable. “It brought back all sorts of memories of the time we had there, and the Heath Robinson sort of setup. We had a Brenell 8-track tape machine sitting at the back and hundreds of little wires and a little mixing desk. It’s amazing we got anything as good sound-wise out of it as we did, doing take after take in the blazing sun. There are a lot of memories and ghosts in that place.”
Adrian Maben was there, as well as historian Mary Beard. “Entirely coincidentally, Adrian was there with an exhibition of photos from 1971. It was not connected to our visit. It was booked to be there anyway. We had talked about getting someone there to talk about the place itself. Mary was mentioned. It turned out that she was coming to the concert anyway. Things serendipitously just fell into place. Mary paints it as rather more prosaic than our idea of what it might have been like. Somehow that makes it feel even more real and more alive than watching Spartacus or something. The audience would have been sitting there with no beers, no refreshments and no loos.”
As the original performance and film has had an indelible impact on a whole generation, Gilmour had to go through the modern-day duties of meeting local dignitaries, being whisked off into the modern town and given the freedom of the city by the mayor. “There are a number of people there who had been kids when we did the 1971 show, who had managed to wheedle their way into the amphitheatre to watch. They said what a significant memory in their childhood that was, and for me to come back was such a thrill and a treat for them.”
The strict capacity limit in the amphitheatre gave the show a special resonance, one that translates well to the film. “I was unusually nervous, but we got to the end of the first night and thought we’d cracked it. It was really good; and the second night was even better. You may be doing exactly the same set, but it can have a completely different vibe. It’s one of those weird, magical things when you really don’t know what you’re going to get.”
David Gilmour – High Hopes (Live At Pompeii) – YouTube
The show – as anyone who caught the tour would testify – was outstanding: the balance of new and old, of supporting players and the star wrapped in a major league son et lumière. “Putting it all together and fitting everything into that venue was a challenge for Marc Brickman. We had drones filming from about a mile away and you see a tiny little circle in the distance with light and smoke sort of pouring out and pulsing. It’s spectacular, and beautifully shot.”
Of course, being a Gilmour show, there are some bombastic moments. “I haven’t managed to grow out of those yet!” he laughs. “I keep thinking that bombast is a thing of the past, but it still sneaks back in.” One such moment is when the band don sunglasses during Run Like Hell. But as with a great deal of Gilmour’s work, it’s borne out of practicality.
I’m dying to watch and hear it in a cinem… the sound and the occasion, having a lot of people together enjoying that moment
“There are the strobes that Marc is using at that moment and you actually cannot see a thing. With the flashing, it makes your brain do strange things and it’s easy to forget where you are. Someone wanted to wear sunglasses and we thought, ‘Yeah, let’s get everyone to do it and it’ll be just like Wallace & Gromit when the rocket takes off to go to the moon and all the mice put their sunglasses on!”
With a show in two halves that builds to a climactic finish, Gilmour added The Great Gig In The Sky to the set for Pompeii. “And of course, we did One Of These Days, which we hadn’t been playing on the tour. That’s the only song that we played there back in 1971.”
Pompeii is a place of ghosts, and it would have been impossible for Gilmour not to be touched by their presence. “There are songs that Rick Wright wrote [The Great Gig In The Sky], and there’s A Boat Lies Waiting, which is about Rick, for which I wrote the music and Polly [Samson, Gilmour’s wife] wrote the words, which we put into a sequence.
David Gilmour – Run Like Hell (Live At Pompeii) – YouTube
“Wish You Were Here always reminds me of Syd when we play it. And in a place like Pompeii, those things are heightened because of the time we spent there all those years ago, and because of the special occasion. These things all come on to you while you’re performing and hopefully heighten the emotion of the occasion for the audience as well.”
Gilmour had around six shows before Pompeii to break in his new touring band, which he introduced after the first leg of the tour, with only himself, bassist Guy Pratt and vocalist Lucita Jules remaining constant. The group gelled well.
This article first appeared in Prog 80 (Image credit: Future)
“There are a number of songs that have moments for improvisation. I get to do most of it, of course, but Chuck [Leavell], Greg [Phillinganes], João [Mello] and Chester [Kamen] are the new people on this leg of the tour and they all get their moments to stretch out.
“I’m into perfection in a way, but at the same time, I don’t want the songs played perfectly as on the record. I want it to be live music. I want people who play with me to have some autonomy to be able to change something that suits them and suits the mood of the moment. And, of course, if that goes wrong, we discuss it afterwards! But I would rather that we go for something and enjoy actually playing, rather than holding them tight to a format.”
One of the highlights of the tour was the sax playing of young Brazilian Mello, who handled Dick Parry’s legendary parts with great elan. “He’s a beautiful player, really good. He had his 21st birthday when we were in Brazil, playing in his home town, and it’s kind of special to think of all the different ages playing in a band and feeling like you are part of something together.”
David Gilmour – Coming Back To Life (Live At Pompeii) – YouTube
He thoroughly enjoyed shooting the film, and it shows. It’s directed by Gavin Elder, who helmed the capture of his 2006 show in Gdansk.“It looks fantastic,” Gilmour enthuses. “I’m dying to go in and watch and hear it in a cinema, with those big bass speakers that make sound travel through a room in a way that speakers in a small room don’t quite have the wavelength for. It’s very special.
“I’ll be sitting there in September watching it in that proper way for the first time myself. A cinema release is the best way of putting it out there – the sound and the occasion, having a lot of people together enjoying that moment. I can’t wait.”
So with the magic of Pompeii captured on film, what’s next for David Gilmour? He’s stated that he won’t tour without new music, and as we know, that takes him a while to make. “There are several songs that are close to being complete that didn’t make it onto this album for one reason or another. You never know what you’re going to do until you start; and when you do, you find that something you absolutely loved before doesn’t fit quite into what you’re trying to do now.
“You just have to wait and see what comes up. It took 10 years last time. I’m really hoping, without making any promises, that it won’t take 10 years this time, but that I will get back in soon and start working again. Then, following that, I’ll be out again.”
David Gilmour – On An Island (Live At Pompeii) – YouTube
And will Gilmour ever return to Pompeii? “Of course. Most of the places I played I’d go back to. Verona is such a lovely place, we played both times in 2015 and 2016; Orange; Pula; and the great places in America. We did a couple of nights at the Hollywood Bowl – it has a magic to it. Marc Brickman did some new films to project. Usually we project onto the circular screen but you can project film onto the whole of the inside of the Hollywood Bowl’s dome.
“The Chicago Auditorium is a beautiful old theatre that I’d played with Pink Floyd in the early 70s. I had a half-memory of doing it. You think, ‘God, oh I hope I was right, it wasn’t just a fantasy.’ Thankfully, it truly is a beautiful venue. Radio City Music Hall in New York, which we’d also played with Pink Floyd, is one of those special places. Madison Square Garden is always a favourite. It has a great sound and a great atmosphere.”
So, David Gilmour: Live At Pompeii claims Gilmour’s share of his old group’s legacy in the way that Roger Waters did with his live show of his portion, The Wall, several years earlier. However, ironically, the performance, in such heightened nostalgic surroundings, serves to underline the greatness of Gilmour’s music now, more than merely being frozen in time.
With the concert, film, the DVD and audio, does David Gilmour think, in a way, that doing Pompeii again was a nice way of drawing a line under that one part of his legacy?
“Let’s hope so!” he says.
David Gilmour – Comfortably Numb (Live At Pompeii) – YouTube
Daryl Easlea has contributed to Prog since its first edition, and has written cover features on Pink Floyd, Genesis, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel and Gentle Giant. After 20 years in music retail, when Daryl worked full-time at Record Collector, his broad tastes and knowledge led to him being deemed a ‘generalist.’ DJ, compere, and consultant to record companies, his books explore prog, populist African-American music and pop eccentrics. Currently writing Whatever Happened To Slade?, Daryl broadcasts Easlea Like A Sunday Morning on Ship Full Of Bombs, can be seen on Channel 5 talking about pop and hosts the M Means Music podcast.
“Michael, come out and sing one with me please.” Watch American icons Bruce Springsteen and Michael Stipe collaborate on a cover of Patti Smith’s Because The Night and perform R.E.M. deep cut Bad Day together back in 2004
(Image credit: Theo Wargo/WireImage)
In October 2004, some of the biggest names in music – Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Neil Young, John Fogerty, Dixie Chicks, John Mellencamp and the Dave Matthews Band among them – came together for a unique undertaking, a tour designed to encourage American citizens in to register and vote in the upcoming presidential election.
The Vote For Change tour was deliberately routed across eight ‘swing’ states – Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – in the hope that new and first-time voters could have the opportunity to help decide whether incumbent Republican President George W. Bush or his Democratic Party opponent Senator Johny Kerry would be elected on November 2, 2004.
“What is the only institution more powerful than the United States government – one that can move things in a different direction?” Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder asked in Rolling Stone magazine. “It’s the American people. It’s the voters. That’s what I feel most strongly about: encouraging people who don’t normally vote to understand their responsibility.”
Vedder was among a number of vocalists on the tour who urged voters to get behind Massachusetts Senator Kerry on election day, but ultimately George W. Bush was returned to the Oval Office, capturing 50.7% of the votes cast, and claiming 286 electoral votes compared to Kerry’s 251 votes. It was subsequently reported that each of the swing states voted in a manner consistent with pre-election (and pre-tour) polls – four for Bush, and four for Kerry – so exactly how much impact the Vote For Change concerts had upon the outcome is difficult to ascertain.
However, if nothing else, the tour did throw up some historic onstage collaborations, not least when uniting Bruce Springsteen and Michael Stipe/R.E.M.
On October 2, at the end of R.E.M.’s set at the Gund Arena, in Cleveland, Ohio, Springsteen joined the Athens, Georgia quartet onstage to play two songs, Automatic For The People-era single Man On The Moon, and deep cut Bad Day, originally recorded for 1986’s Lifes Rich Pageant, but unreleased until 2003, when it was released as the lead single from the band’s second compilation collection In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003.
You can watch that performance below: Springsteen also performed the song with R.E.M. on October 3 at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, and two days later at the Xcel Energy Center, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Throughout the tour, members of R.E.M. also joined Bruce Springsteen onstage nightly, with Michael Stipe singing Because The Night, originally written by Springsteen and recorded by Patti Smith, and Peter Buck and Mike Mills sitting in on Born To Run.
“One of the thrills we had on this tour, was getting the chance to do a week of shows with R.E.M.” Springsteen told the 16,000+ crowd attending the tour’s penultimate night, at the MCI Center in the nation’s capital, Washington, DC. “We had a great time. Michael, come out and sing one with me please.”
Watch Stipe fronting the E Street Band for Because The Night below:
The latest news, features and interviews direct to your inbox, from the global home of alternative music.
A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne’s private jet, played Angus Young’s Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.
