(Image credit: Poster: Pride Rock / Flag: Getty Images)
Imagine a world without the charismatic stage presence and vocals of Freddie Mercury, the piercing scream and Harley-riding antics of Rob Halford, the electrifyingly powerful vocals of Lzzy Hale or the punk rock anthems of Billy Joe Armstrong. These are all queer artists who have defined generations with their music, so why is rock and metal music not given more of a spotlight during Pride celebrations? We started Pride Rock to change this.
The idea for Pride Rock came from one fateful evening in 2019 over a pint in a beer garden. A friend of mine asked me if I would ever be interested in putting on a rock and metal event for the Brighton Pride weekend as I was the only person he knew that worked in the music industry. He explained to me that while he absolutely loved the Pride weekend and all its celebrations, he never felt truly represented because he would rather wear a black Rammstein T-shirt, headbanging to his favourite rock and metal anthems.
Unfortunately, the pandemic struck a few short months after that drink; while everyone was stuck in their houses, it gave us a good amount of time to ponder the notion of Pride Rock and how it could fit within the main Pride celebrations.
During this time, we came across a case study by Luminate entitled Power of LGBTQ+ Music, highlighting that 46% of the people surveyed listened to rock music on a weekly basis – that dwarfed pop, which was listened to weekly by 34%. It further begged the question: why do we not hear more rock, punk, and metal at Pride?
We knew we had to change this: on August 4, 2023, we launched our first Pride Rock event, featuring Hot Milk as headliners, with main support from InMe and my band Stone Angels kickstarting the celebrations.
It was a fantastic night, a near sell-out, and in the run-up to the show, Hot Milk frontwoman Han Mee, who identifies as bisexual, really captured the spirit and importance of our event when she said: “I never really felt like I fit in at Pride. Always felt like I was too alternative or wasn’t like… ‘queer enough’, I guess? I dunno. I have always struggled with my place in everything. But this year we’re saying ‘fuck it’ and we’re helping bring the first-ever Brighton Pride Rock to life.”
Since our launch, we’ve had an outpouring of support from members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and our event has not only been able to give a platform to highlight queer artists but also allies within the alternative music scene. We feel it’s important for us to be able to provide a safe space for members of the Pride community who want to rock out.
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This year marks our third event in Brighton, and we’re ecstatic that we have the incredible Sophie Lloyd headlining the show, with fiery DIY punk artist BEX as main support. The opening slot on the bill is being decided by public vote and out of the hundreds of bands that applied, we narrowed it down to nine acts. In under a week, we received over 1,000 votes!
It’s important to remember that Pride at its heart is a protest and that rock, metal and punk music have a rich history in embracing the same rebellious, counter-culture spirit. Given the recent ruling by the UK Supreme Court affecting the Trans community and the anti-trans rhetoric it has emboldened, it feels more important than ever to stand up and advocate for the queer community. Pride Rock will be doing just that.
Pride Rock 2025 takes place Friday August 1 at Chalk in Brighton. You can buy tickets HERE. For more information on Pride Rock, follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
(Image credit: Pride Rock)
James Innes is the founder of Pride Rock as well as White Lightning PR. He is also the co-founder and lead guitarist of grunge-heavy hard rockers Stone Angels
Scottish post-rock quartet Mogwai have announced that they will release the soundtrack to The Bombing Of Pan Am 103, the BBC series which began on Sunday night, through their Rock Action label, to stream or download now.
The six-part series is based on the true story of the bombing of a passenger flight over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988 and the quest to bring its perpetrators to justice.
Featuring actors Eddie Marsan, Peter Mullan, Connor Swindells, Patrick J. Adams, Merritt Wever and more, the series debuted on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Sunday May 18, with new episodes premiering at 9pm every Sunday and Monday for three weeks. You can watch a trailer for the series below.
Mogwai recorded the original soundtrack to the series with long-time collaborator Tony Doogan at the band’s Castle of Doom studio.
Mogwai released their first film soundtrack to Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait in 2006 and continue to score for both film and television, including the celebrated French TV series Les Revenants in 2013, Zero Zero Zero (2020), Black Bird (2022) and more.
Mogwai: The Bombing Of Pan Am 103 1. Calling All Units 2. JFK 3. No Survivors 4. Luqa Airport 5. Swiss Timers 6. A little piece of Scotland 7. The Frankfurt Cell 8. Indian Head 9. Bad intelligence 10. Are you ahead of them 11. Closure 12. Three Judges 13. Back home to Giffnock 14 Reconstruction 15. We let you down
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The list of June 2025 new music releases includes a signature reunion, the debut of one classic rock star’s new band, and an impressive array of expanded reissues and live concert packages.
The Doobie Brothers have reunited for a studio LP with former frontman Michael McDonald for the first time in decades. Tom Johnston, John McFee and Patrick Simmons are again working with John Shanks, who also produced 2021’s Liberte. The 10-song Talkin to the Trees is Neil Young‘s first album with his new band. The Chrome Hearts also include organist Spooner Oldham and guitarist Micah Nelson, among others.
The month’s live offerings include Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s Celebrating 50 Years: Live at the Ryman, which commemorates their star-studded last show with stalwart guitarist Gary Rossington from 2022 in Nashville. The new 17-track Live: Kick ‘Em Where It Hurts! was recorded on the Pretenders‘ 2024 theater tour. Ann Wilson‘s Live in Concert film showcases her own 2023 performance in Nashville.
Topping the list of pending reissue packages is Bruce Springsteen‘s 80-plus-song Tracks II: The Lost Albums, which includes seven unreleased LPs recorded between 1983 through 2018. Metallica is releasing a massive box set focusing on their chart-topping 1996 album Load, featuring previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, videos, live recordings and more.
The Cure‘s 24-track Mixes of a Lost World is a remixed and expanded version of 2024’s Songs of a Lost World. War has also expanded 1975’s Why Can’t We Be Friends? for the album’s 50th anniversary with seven unearthed bonus tracks, jam sessions and unedited mixes. Christopher Cross‘ multiple Grammy Award-winning 1979 self-titled debut has likewise been expanded with 11 rare and previously unreleased tracks.
More information on these and other pending rock albums can be found below. Remember to follow our continuously updated list of scheduled new music for details on records issued throughout the year.
June 6 Ann Wilson and Tripsitter, Live in Concert (Blu-Ray and digital video) The Babys, Silver Dreams: Complete Albums 1975-1980 (6CD box) Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe, Lateral; Luminal Deborah Harry, Def, Dumb and Blonde (double vinyl reissue) Doobie Brothers, Walk This Road (with Mick Fleetwood, Mavis Staples, others) Isaac Hayes, The Best of Isaac Hayes Kim Wilde, Select (clear white splatter vinyl reissue) Marianne Faithfull, Burning Moonlight (EP and digital release) Mick Ronson [David Bowie], Only After Dark: The Complete Mainman Recordings (4CD box set) Pulp, More (multi-format release, including green vinyl) Ratt, The Atlantic Years 1984-1990 (5CD box set) Sixx: A.M., Prayers for the Damned and Blessed: Deluxe Edition (3LP smoked-colored vinyl reissue) Steely Dan, The Royal Scam (remastered vinyl reissue) Tangerine Dream, The Pink Years Albums, 1970-73 (remastered 4CD box set) Various artists, High in the Morning: British Progressive Pop Sounds of 1973 (3CD set with Kinks, Mott the Hoople, Manfred Mann’s Earthband, Faces, Thin Lizzy, Procol Harum, others) Various artists, I’m a Freak Baby: A Journey Through the British Heavy Psych and Hard Rock Underground Scene 1968-72 (3CD set with Yardbirds, Move, Fleetwood Mac, Hawkwind, others) War, Why Can’t We Be Friends?: 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition
June 13 The Cure, Mixes of a Lost World Faces, Ooh La La (vinyl reissue) Grateful Dead, Gratest Hits John Mayall, Second Generation: Live Magic 1968-1993 (30CD box) Lee “Scratch” Perry, On the Wire (expanded 2CD 25th anniversary reissue) Metallica, Load: Remastered (2LP, CD, cassette or digital releases); Load Remastered Limited Edition (15CD/4DVD box set) Neil Young, Talkin to the Trees Norman Greenbaum, “Spirit in the Sky” (single with new Dolby Atmos mix); Spirit in the Sky (vinyl reissue) Ozzy Osbourne, Scream (sea-blue 2LP reissue) Pretenders, Live: Kick ‘Em Where It Hurts! Queen, Queen I (Blu-ray Dolby Atmos Mix) Small Faces, The Hit Singles Collection (vinyl reissue) Ultravox, Lament (expanded 8CD deluxe edition reissue) Van Morrison, Remembering Now
June 20 The B-52’s, The Warner and Reprise Years (8CD or 9LP box) Christopher Cross, Christopher Cross: Expanded Edition Gregg Allman Band, One Night In DC, May 15, 1984 John Mellencamp, A Biography (import reissue) Lukas Nelson [Neil Young], American Romance (multi-format including translucent green with gold LP) Nad Sylvan [Steve Hackett], Monumentata Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Junk Culture (black vinyl reissue) Various artists, Feelin’ Alright?: Mod, Rock, Funky Prog & Heavy Jazz 1967-1972 (3CD set with Deep Purple, Faces, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Beck, Traffic, others) Various artists, Shining On: Pink Floyd Tribute Collection (3CD set with Todd Rundgren, Rick Wakeman, Tommy Shaw, Martin Barre, Ian Paice, Geoff Downes, John Wetton, others)
June 27 Anthony Phillips [Genesis], Radio Clyde 1978 (expanded and remastered reissue) Barbra Streisand, The Secret of Life: Partners Vol. 2 (CD or blush vinyl with Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Sting, James Taylor and others) Bruce Springsteen, Tracks II: The Lost Albums (7CD, 9LP and digital release); Lost and Found: Selections From ‘The Lost Albums’ (1CD and 2LP) The Fall, Middle Class Revolt (expanded 6CD reissue) Greg Lake, Live (2CD/DVD digipack) Jack Bruce, Harmony Row (expanded 2CD/2Blu-ray and remastered LP reissues) Jakko Jakszyk [King Crimson], Son of Glen Judy Dyble [Fairport Convention], Darkness to Light: The Recordings 2004-2006 (remastered 3CD box with Robert Fripp, others) Lynyrd Skynyrd, Celebrating 50 Years: Live at the Ryman Motorhead, The Manticore Tapes Robin Trower [Procol Harum], Come and Find Me (2LP vinyl edition); For Earth Below (4CD/2LP 50th anniversary edition box set) Rod Stewart, Ultimate Hits (2CD or green 2LP) Various artists, A Tribute to the King of Zydeco (with the Rolling Stones, John Haitt, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, others) White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan (20th anniversary vinyl reissue)
July and Beyond Steve Hackett, The Lamb Stands Up Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2CD/Blu-ray) Alice Cooper, The Revenge of Alice Cooper Various artists, I Shall Be Released: Covers of Bob Dylan 1963-1970 (3CD box with the Byrds, Hollies, Leon Russell, Janis Joplin, Harry Nilsson, the Faces, others) Eric Clapton, Clapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton (black and white splatter 2LP reissue) Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (4CD/Dolby Atmos mix Blu-ray or 5LPs/Dolby Atmos mix Blu-ray) The Who, Live at the Oval 1971 (CD, 2LP, Atmos and digital releases)
Top 25 Rock Albums of 2024
Once again, reports of the genre’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
The Eagles knew how to pick an opening song. Six of their eight albums began with a hit single, including two consecutive chart-topping songs on 1975’s One of These Nights and then 1976’s Hotel California.
They began 1979’s The Long Run with a Top 10 single and 1972’s Eagles with one that almost reached the Top 10. Both 1974’s On the Border and 1994’s Hell Freezes Over featured Top 40 hits as their first tracks.
This band was the model of sales consistency: Even the two Eagles albums that didn’t kick off with a smash song, 1973’s Desperado and 2007’s Long Road Out of Eden, went multi-platinum. That million-plus-selling streak began with Desperado and continued through seven more albums, including 1980’s Eagles Live.
Glenn Frey, who co-wrote six of these eight songs, earned unlikely recognition for his knack for composing – and not just from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He helped lead a songwriting class in the 2010s at New York University’s Steinhardt Department of Music. The self-taught Frey never took this kind of college course. Instead, he told the students, “We just said, ‘I wonder if they’d like this?'”
Millions and millions of listeners did – first on radios and stereos and then in sold-out concert venues from coast to coast and around the world.
Don Henley, also credited with six co-writing credits from the following list, continued to lead the Eagles on a series of celebrated tours after Frey’s sudden death in 2016. No new albums followed in Frey’s absence and others took over singing his songs. But three of these album-openers were so beloved that they remained among the Top 5 most-played Eagles songs.
Can there be a better argument for placing them at No. 1 in the track listing? Here’s a ranked look back at every Eagles album opening song:
No. 8. “Get Over It” From: Hell Freezes Over (1994)
Seemingly prone to bad moods, Don Henley returned to the Eagles with a glum song that draws out the worst of those tendencies. Even a scalding turn on the slide from Joe Walsh can’t get things back on track as Henley un-ironically calls out others for “all this bitching, moaning, pitching a fit.” Still, it had been almost 15 years since the Eagles had last released a single, so “Get Over It” reached the Top 40 anyway.
No. 7. “No More Walks in the Wood” From: Long Road Out of Eden (2007)
A vocal showcase in the style of “Seven Bridges Road,” the Eagles Live single that just missed the Top 20, but this innocuous cousin lacks Steve Young’s distinctive lyrical imagery.
No. 6. “Doolin-Dalton” From: Desperado (1973)
“Doolin-Dalton” was a great scene-setter. Maybe too great. The Eagles ended up taking the iffy Old West subject too far, while returning to this song’s musical theme an utterly unneeded number of times – including both an instrumental version and an album-closing reprise.
No. 5. “Already Gone” From: On the Border (1974)
You could partly blame “Locomotive Breath” for the Eagles’ split with Glyn Johns while recording this album. “We’re taking a beating opening for Jethro Tull,” Frey said in 1973: Rock at the Crossroads, “and our feeling was, ‘We gotta have some kick-ass songs.'” They started with “Already Gone,” as the Eagles and new producer Bill Szymczyk shifted to the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Just-added guitarist Don Felder also brought a sharp new edge. “The great thing for me about [“Already Gone”] is that I left England behind,” Frey said in the liner notes for Eagles: The Very Best, “and had a much more positive energy in the studio.”
No. 4. “The Long Run” From: The Long Run (1979)
The Eagles had scaled the mountain top, reaching an era-defining plateau with Hotel California. There was, really, nowhere to go but down. Still, as the title track from the band’s final classic-era album makes clear, they intended to go down swinging. “We were beginning to see press articles about how we were passe,” Henley later told Rolling Stone. “Those kinds of jabs were part of the inspiration for the song ‘The Long Run’: Who is gonna make it? We’ll find out in the long run.'” Of course, the group promptly imploded. But their legacy only grew, eventually leading the Eagles back for an improbable ’90s-era reunion.
No. 3. “One of These Nights” From: One of These Nights (1975)
The goal was to break the ballad template, stirring in contemporary R&B sounds and a sneaky lyric that pulls no punches. Everything was coming together for Frey and Henley, who were quickly emerging as the group’s undisputed co-leaders. Still, newcomer Don Felder played a huge role in helping the Eagles shed their country-rock pretensions. He arranged the unforgettable bass and guitar signature for “One of These Nights,” and his searing solo then neatly underscores this chart-topping song’s bitter sense of missed opportunities.
No. 2. “Take It Easy” From: Eagles (1972)
This career-opening track perfectly sums up their early country-rock aesthetic, so much so that Glenn Frey said its first few jangly guitar strums “felt like an announcement, ‘And now … the Eagles.'” The impetus for “Take It Easy,” however, came from elsewhere: Jackson Browne, a then-unknown singer-songwriter who lived next door to Frey, couldn’t finish a new song. “Take It Easy” kept stopping cold on the second verse after “Well, I’m a-standin’ on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.” Then Frey had an idea. A statue commemorating the next line has since been erected in Winslow, paired with a painting of a girl in a flatbed Ford.
No. 1. “Hotel California” From: Hotel California (1976)
Turns out this song’s off-the-cuff brilliance wasn’t so off-the-cuff. The concluding twin-guitar solo has moved into classic-rock lore, representing the most famous in a series of fiery collaborations between Felder and the recently installed Joe Walsh. But it wasn’t improvised at all. Instead, the completed Eagles song mirrors — almost note for note, at Henley’s insistence — the original instrumental demo that Felder created at home. A call to Felder’s housekeeper led to a frantic search through his cassettes. She then put the found tape into a boombox and played it through the phone so Walsh and Felder could learn the original twin solos.
Eagles Albums Ranked
The Eagles have been rightly praised for their canny combining of Glenn Frey’s city-slicker R&B with Don Henley’s country-fried rockabilly. But which LP goes this distance?
During the encore of Pearl Jam‘s concert on Friday night in Pittsburgh, Eddie Vedder performed an acoustic cover of Bruce Springsteen‘s “My City of Ruins.”
Though Vedder did not address the matter directly, the cover came on the same day President Donald Trump harshly condemned Springsteen’s recent onstage criticism of him and his policies, describing the Boss in a Truth Social post as “highly overrated,” “dumb as a rock” and a “dried out prune of a rocker.”
You can watch Vedder’s cover below, which was met with chants of “Bruuuuuuce!” when it ended.
Did Bruce Springsteen Respond to President Trump?
Springsteen, who is currently on tour in Europe, has not specifically acknowledged President Trump’s post, which vaguely implied that Springsteen’s re-entry into the United States could be hindered if he does not “keep his mouth shut.”
Instead, while playing a show on Saturday night in Manchester, England, Springsteen repeated similar sentiments he expressed at the beginning of his tour.
“In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent,” he said. “In my country, they are taking sadistic pleasure in the pain that they inflict on loyal American workers, they are rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and moral society. They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom.They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands. They are removing residents off American streets and without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons. This is all happening now.”
“I mean, we got invited to the White House. It’s like, ‘Why the **** do you want to talk to us?!'” Sharon Osbourne on how The Osbournes show grew too big and ridiculous, even for rock’s first family
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Sharon Osbourne has discussed the phenomenal impact of trailblazing 2000s reality TV show The Osbournes, admitting that the show got so popular that even rock’s first family began to feel a little out of their depth. Speaking to Metal Hammer in their latest issue, Sharon says that while the show was a blast to film, it just wasn’t built to last forever.
“It was a great experience,” she tells Metal Hammer editor Eleanor Goodman. “It was something that we could all do as a family. Apart from my eldest daughter [Aimee], who didn’t want to be a part of it. It was a great experience, but it had to end. It was something that you couldn’t keep going on and on and on because it wasn’t the real world, you know?
“It’s the bullshit world where people you don’t even know will invite you to Russia for a party and fly you there, and they want to show you off that you came to their party in Russia,” she explains when pressed on why the show didn’t feel like the real world. “I mean, we got invited to the White House. It’s like, ‘Why the fuck do you want to talk to us? It’s nice for you to invite us, but what the fuck do you want to talk to us about?’ It’s not the real world. It was time to get back to reality.”
Despite being diagnosed with cancer in 2002, Sharon chose to continue filming the show, even documenting her recovery during season two. When asked why she decided to continue with the show, Sharon responds:
“Because I didn’t want my kids and my husband to know how sick I was. When you say ‘cancer’, everybody always thinks ‘death’. And you’ve got to remember it was 23 years ago. At that point, cancer wasn’t the same as it is now. So everybody always thought it was a death sentence and I didn’t want my kids to have fear constantly surrounding them. I didn’t want it. And I thought, ‘Fuck it.’”
Read more from Sharon in the new issue of Metal Hammer, out now. Order your copy online.
The Osbournes would ultimately run for four seasons and conclude in 2005. This summer, Ozzy Osbourne will play his final ever show alongside his Black Sabbath bandmates at a historic farewell event taking place at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham. The star-studded show, titled Back To The Beginning, takes place on Saturday July 5 and will also feature appearances from Metallica, Pantera, Gojira, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Halestorm and many more.
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(Image credit: Future)
Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N’ Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.
Drummer Josh Freese has announced his departure from Foo Fighters, almost exactly two years after joining the band.
“The Foo Fighters called me Monday night to let me know they’ve decided ‘to go in a different direction with their drummer.’ No reason was given,” Freese wrote in an Instagram statement, which you can see below. “Regardless, I enjoyed the past two years with them, both on and off stage, and I support whatever they feel is best for the band.”
The dismissal marks a first for Freese, whose drumming resume includes Devo, Guns N’ Roses, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails and many more. “In my 40 years of drumming professionally, I’ve never been let go from a band, so while I’m not angry — just a bit shocked and disappointed,” he continued. “But as most of you know, I’ve always worked freelance and bounced between bands, so I’m fine.”
Freese ended his statement on a humorous note: “Stay tuned for my ‘Top 10 possible reasons Josh got booted from the Foo Fighters’ list.”
Josh Freese’s History With Foo Fighters and Band’s Upcoming Plans
Foo Fighters announced Freese as their new drummer in May 2023 during a Veeps livestream performance. In 2022 he joined the band onstage for a pair of tribute concerts dedicated to late drummer Taylor Hawkins, along with several other high-profile drummers including including Pearl Jam‘s Matt Cameron, Blink-182‘s Travis Barker, the Darkness‘ Rufus Taylor, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith.
Foo Fighters have not yet publicly commented on Freese’s dismissal or offered any information about a new drummer. Dave Grohl and Co. just announced their first show of 2025, with plans to perform at the Singapore Grand Prix on Oct. 4. It will mark their first public performance since August 2024, and their first since Grohl revealed he’d fathered a child out of wedlock.
Foo Fighters Albums Ranked
From the one-man-band debut to their sprawling, chart-topping classics, a look at the studio releases by Dave Grohl and band.
Feature Photo: Christian Bertrand / Shutterstock.com
Complete List Of Songs From A to Z
From the rural hills of Dorset, England, PJ Harvey emerged with a creative force that would redefine the limits of rock, alternative, and avant-garde music over the next three decades. Born Polly Jean Harvey on October 9, 1969, she was raised in the village of Corscombe, where she was immersed in music from a young age. Her early exposure to blues, folk, and punk came through her parents’ record collection and her own curiosity. By the time she joined the local band Automatic Dlamini in 1988, Harvey was already skilled on multiple instruments, including guitar, saxophone, and vocals—an early indication of the multi-instrumentalist depth she would later bring to her own recordings.
Her professional career took a major leap forward in 1991 when she formed the PJ Harvey Trio alongside drummer Rob Ellis and bassist Steve Vaughan. That same year, the band released their debut single “Dress,” which garnered immediate attention from the British music press. In 1992, they released the debut album Dry, a raw, confrontational record that drew acclaim for its stripped-back arrangements and Harvey’s emotional intensity. The album introduced her as an artist unafraid to explore discomfort and vulnerability, a trait that would remain central to her identity. Just one year later, she followed it with Rid of Me, produced by Steve Albini, a louder and more abrasive record that cracked the UK Top 10 and intensified her growing legend.
After disbanding the trio, Harvey transitioned into a solo career with the release of To Bring You My Love in 1995. The album was a pivotal shift, layering blues, gothic folk, and theatrical arrangements into a more expansive sound. It featured the haunting single “Down by the Water,” which became one of her signature tracks and broke into alternative charts in the U.S. The album received critical praise and established Harvey as a formidable creative force, capable of reinventing her sound without losing its emotional core. This phase of her career also marked the beginning of her longtime collaboration with producer Flood and guitarist John Parish.
In the late 1990s, Harvey continued her artistic evolution with Is This Desire? (1998), a moodier and more electronically textured album, and Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000), which blended a more accessible rock sound with literary lyricism. The latter was written during a period of time spent living in New York City and reflected both personal introspection and urban romanticism. It included standout tracks such as “Good Fortune,” “This Is Love,” and “A Place Called Home.” The album won the 2001 Mercury Prize, and years later, it was hailed by many critics as a defining work of her career.
Rather than settle into the acclaim, Harvey pivoted again with Uh Huh Her (2004), a lo-fi, self-produced project in which she played nearly every instrument herself. The album was raw and deliberately unpolished, rejecting the mainstream embrace she had received for Stories from the City. In 2007, she veered once more with White Chalk, a piano-based album that stripped her sound down to its most delicate, ghostly form. The album emphasized her interest in atmosphere and storytelling, demonstrating her refusal to conform to expectations or repeat past successes.
Harvey’s ability to embed political and historical themes into her music reached new heights with the 2011 release of Let England Shake, an album recorded in a church in Dorset and built around themes of war, nationalism, and British identity. The project included standout tracks like “The Words That Maketh Murder” and “The Glorious Land.” The album received widespread critical acclaim and earned Harvey a second Mercury Prize, making her the only artist in history to win the award twice. It also won Album of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards and was shortlisted for several others, including the Brit Awards and NME Awards.
In 2016, she released The Hope Six Demolition Project, a politically charged album inspired by Harvey’s travels to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Washington, D.C., where she observed social and urban decay firsthand. The recording sessions were held at Somerset House as part of a public art installation titled Recording in Progress, allowing fans to witness the process through one-way glass. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and featured the single “The Community of Hope,” which stirred controversy and debate over its lyrics about poverty and urban neglect.
Her most recent album, I Inside the Old Year Dying, arrived in 2023 and marked a return to more abstract, poetic songwriting. Inspired by the Dorset dialect and her own 2022 verse novel Orlam, the record wove pastoral imagery with eerie, minimalist arrangements. The project continued her collaboration with Flood and John Parish and reflected her ongoing commitment to experimenting with language, form, and emotional tone.
In total, PJ Harvey has released ten studio albums, each one reflecting a distinct chapter of her artistic development. Her discography includes Dry (1992), Rid of Me (1993), To Bring You My Love (1995), Is This Desire? (1998), Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000), Uh Huh Her (2004), White Chalk (2007), Let England Shake (2011), The Hope Six Demolition Project (2016), and I Inside the Old Year Dying (2023).
Her recognition from the music industry spans well beyond the Mercury Prizes. She has earned eight Brit Award nominations, eight Grammy nominations, and the 2011 NME Award for Best Solo Artist. In 2013, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music. These accolades reflect her enduring cultural impact and her importance in shaping modern alternative and experimental rock music.
Outside of music, Harvey has made significant contributions to literature and the performing arts. She composed scores for stage productions, including a 2019 musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend at the National Theatre. She also contributed original music to TV series such as Peaky Blinders and Bad Sisters, expanding her presence into cinematic and theatrical composition. Her literary work includes The Hollow of the Hand (2015), a poetry collection written in collaboration with photographer Seamus Murphy, and Orlam (2022), a narrative poem written in the Dorset dialect.
Throughout her career, Harvey has maintained a fiercely independent artistic voice, one that resists easy categorization and demands full engagement from her audience. Her songs explore complex emotional and political terrain, drawing from history, literature, and lived experience to craft works of both intimacy and scale. Her ability to reinvent herself while maintaining artistic integrity has earned her the respect of peers, critics, and fans alike.
What makes PJ Harvey so beloved in the music industry is not just her body of work, but the uncompromising path she has taken to build it. She has never chased trends or chart positions. Instead, she has followed the arc of her own evolution—collaborating, reflecting, and experimenting along the way. For over thirty years, she has stood as a rare artist who challenges herself with every release, continuing to inspire audiences who crave music that dares to be as thoughtful as it is powerful.
Complete List Of PJ Harvey Songs From A to Z
Age of the Dollar – The Hope Six Demolition Project (Non-album) – 2016
All and Everyone – Let England Shake – 2011
All Souls – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
Angelene – Is This Desire? – 1998
August – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
Autumn Term – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
Beautiful Feeling – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
Before Departure – White Chalk – 2007
Big Exit – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
Bitter Branches – Let England Shake – 2011
Broken Harp – White Chalk – 2007
The Camp – The Hope Six Demolition Project (Non-album) – 2016
Cat on the Wall – Uh Huh Her – 2004
Chain of Keys – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
A Child’s Question, August – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
A Child’s Question, July – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
C’mon Billy – To Bring You My Love – 1995
The Colour of the Earth – Let England Shake – 2011
The Community of Hope – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
Catherine – Is This Desire? – 1998
Daddy – To Bring You My Love (B-sides) – 1995
Dance on the Mountain – The Hope Six Demolition Project (Non-album) – 2016
The Darker Days of Me & Him – Uh Huh Her – 2004
Darling Be There – To Bring You My Love (B-sides) – 1995
Dear Darkness – White Chalk – 2007
The Desperate Kingdom of Love – Uh Huh Her – 2004
The Devil – White Chalk – 2007
A Dog Called Money – The Hope Six Demolition Project (Non-album) – 2016
Dollar, Dollar – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
Down by the Water – To Bring You My Love – 1995
Dress – Dry – 1992
Dry – Rid of Me – 1993
Ecstasy – Rid of Me – 1993
Electric Light – Is This Desire? – 1998
England – Let England Shake – 2011
The End – Uh Huh Her – 2004
Fountain – Dry – 1992
The Garden – Is This Desire? – 1998
The Glorious Land – Let England Shake – 2011
Good Fortune – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
Goodnight (demo version) – To Bring You My Love (B-sides) – 1995
Grow Grow Grow – White Chalk – 2007
Guilty – The Hope Six Demolition Project (Non-album) – 2016
The Guns Called Me Back Again – Let England Shake (iTunes Pre-order Bonus) – 2011
Hair – Dry – 1992
Hanging in the Wire – Let England Shake – 2011
Happy and Bleeding – Dry – 1992
Harder – To Bring You My Love (B-sides) – 1995
Highway 61 Revisited – Rid of Me – 1993
Hook – Rid of Me – 1993
Horses in My Dreams – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
I Inside the Old I Dying – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
I Inside the Old Year Dying – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
I Think I’m a Mother – To Bring You My Love – 1995
I’ll Be Waiting – The Hope Six Demolition Project (Non-album) – 2016
In the Dark Places – Let England Shake – 2011
Is This Desire? – Is This Desire? – 1998
It’s You – Uh Huh Her – 2004
Joe – Dry – 1992
Joy – Is This Desire? – 1998
Kamikaze – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
The Last Living Rose – Let England Shake – 2011
Legs – Rid of Me – 1993
Let England Shake – Let England Shake – 2011
The Letter – Uh Huh Her – 2004
The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth – Uh Huh Her – 2004
A Line in the Sand – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
Long Snake Moan – To Bring You My Love – 1995
Lwonesome Tonight – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
Lying in the Sun – To Bring You My Love (B-sides) – 1995
Man-Size – Rid of Me – 1993
Man-Size Sextet – Rid of Me – 1993
Maniac – To Bring You My Love (B-sides) – 1995
Me-Jane – Rid of Me – 1993
Medicinals – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
Meet Ze Monsta – To Bring You My Love – 1995
Missed – Rid of Me – 1993
The Ministry of Defence – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
The Ministry of Social Affairs – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
The Mountain – White Chalk – 2007
My Beautiful Leah – Is This Desire? – 1998
Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
The Nether-edge – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
The Nightingale – Let England Shake (iTunes Bonus) – 2011
No Child of Mine – Uh Huh Her – 2004
No Girl So Sweet – Is This Desire? – 1998
A Noiseless Noise – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
O Stella – Dry – 1992
Oh My Lover – Dry – 1992
On Battleship Hill – Let England Shake – 2011
One Line – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
One Time Too Many – To Bring You My Love (B-sides) – 1995
The Orange Monkey – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
A Perfect Day Elise – Is This Desire? – 1998
The Piano – White Chalk – 2007
A Place Called Home – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
Plants and Rags – Dry – 1992
Pocket Knife – Uh Huh Her – 2004
Prayer at the Gate – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
Reeling (demo version) – To Bring You My Love (B-sides) – 1995
Rid of Me – Rid of Me – 1993
River Anacostia – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
The River – Is This Desire? – 1998
Rub ’til It Bleeds – Rid of Me – 1993
Seagulls – Uh Huh Her – 2004
Seem an I – I Inside the Old Year Dying – 2023
Send His Love to Me – To Bring You My Love – 1995
Shame – Uh Huh Her – 2004
Sheela-Na-Gig – Dry – 1992
Silence – White Chalk – 2007
The Sky Lit Up – Is This Desire? – 1998
The Slow Drug – Uh Huh Her – 2004
50ft Queenie – Rid of Me – 1993
Snake – Rid of Me – 1993
Somebody’s Down, Somebody’s Name – To Bring You My Love (B-sides) – 1995
Teclo – To Bring You My Love – 1995
The Dancer – To Bring You My Love – 1995
This Is Love – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
This Mess We’re In – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
This Wicked Tongue – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (Bonus) – 2000
To Bring You My Love – To Bring You My Love – 1995
To Talk to You – White Chalk – 2007
Victory – Dry – 1992
Wait – White Chalk (iTunes Bonus) – 2007
Water – Dry – 1992
We Float – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
The Wheel – The Hope Six Demolition Project – 2016
When Under Ether – White Chalk – 2007
The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
White Chalk – White Chalk – 2007
Who the Fuck? – Uh Huh Her – 2004
The Wind – Is This Desire? – 1998
The Words That Maketh Murder – Let England Shake – 2011
Working for the Man – To Bring You My Love – 1995
Written on the Forehead – Let England Shake – 2011
You Come Through – Uh Huh Her – 2004
You Said Something – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – 2000
Yuri-G – Rid of Me – 1993
Albums
Dry (1992): 11 songs
Rid of Me (1993): 14 songs
To Bring You My Love (1995): 10 songs
Is This Desire? (1998): 12 songs
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000): 12 songs
Uh Huh Her (2004): 14 songs
White Chalk (2007): 11 songs
Let England Shake (2011): 12 songs
The Hope Six Demolition Project (2016): 11 songs
I Inside the Old Year Dying (2023): 12 songs
Check out our fantastic and entertaining PJ Harvey articles, detailing in-depth the band’s albums, songs, band members, and more…all on ClassicRockHistory.com
“The whole world of rap-metal is just pathetically ridiculous. It makes me wanna throw up. It’s a horrible place to be”: How Incubus fought back against nu metal with Morning View
(Image credit: Mick Hutson/Redferns)
Incubus’ rise in the late 1990s found them lumped in with nu metal. But as Metal Hammer discovered when we met up with Brandon Boyd and co in their native LA shortly after the release of 2001’s Morning View album, it was a scene that were at great pains to distance themselves from.
“We don’t want to be part of anyone’s bullshit little scene,” spits Mike Einziger, guitarist of SoCal heroes Incubus. “I’ve been quoted on this before and you’re welcome to do it again, but the whole world of rap-metal is just pathetically ridiculous. It makes me wanna throw up. It’s a horrible place to be and we’ve turned our backs on it completely.”
Gazing out of the window from a plush tour bus on a buzzing Los Angeles highway on the way to a sold‑out venue, with two million and counting copies of his band’s previous album under his belt he can say this safe in the knowledge that he already has it made.
It’s a suitably mild November Friday afternoon in California and Mike and his bandmates are preparing for the final three dates of a lengthy West Coast tour in support of their recently unleashed album, Morning View. Incubus’s fourth long-play release and follow-up to breakthrough third album – ’99s Make Yourself – not only fortifies their vocation as the sensitive metal alternative to acts such as Limp Bizkit, Slipknot and Korn, but allows them as artists to stand completely on their own ground.
Harbingers of new 21st-century optimism (being angry is so last year), not least in light of recent worldwide events, the uplifting sentiment of Incubus has really struck a chord. Could this be the end of teenage angst in music? Try a smile for size. Don’t worry – a change will do you good.
It’s a slick and suited chauffeur named Pedro who picks up Hammer en route to meet the band. He’s had Lenny Kravitz, among other luminaries, in the back of his limousine recently, so today must be a defining moment in his career as he gets to ship a lowly jet-lagged English music hack to a remote car park in Calabasas.
A small suburban LA community near Malibu, said town is where Mike and three fellow Incubus cohorts– Brandon Boyd (vocals), Dirk Lance (bass) and Jose Pasillas (drums) – attended high school together. It also happens to be where Hammer joins the quintet for a bus ride along the West Coast to Santa Barbara’s UCSB Events Center, the venue for the evening’s show.
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“They sure are good kids – I hope I’ll get to go out on the road with them next year,” raves Bobby, the band’s bearded bus driver. An amiable Father Christmas doppelgänger who only once parted company prematurely with a band (that’ll be Motörhead – incessant alcohol-induced chundering on a new bus eventually tried the old fella’s patience), he’s the first to confirm that yes, the rumours are true. Incubus, bless their little cotton socks, are the nicest sorts in rock.
Incubus in 2001: (from left) Brandon Boyd, José Pasillas, Mike Einziger, Chris Kilmore, Alex ‘Dirk Lance’ Katunich (Image credit: KMazur/WireImage)
But bassist Dirk Lance (real name Alex Katunich), the first band member to arrive, won’t hear of such allegations. Proud of his “cruel streak” and self-appointed role of counteracting the beautiful, positive energy in the band, he retreats straight to his bunk for 40 winks. (Fair enough, it is 2.30 in the afternoon after all.) Sarcastic and moody (during the Hammer photo shoot later that day, he turns Incredible Hulk on his bandmates for “fucking around”) yet impressively intelligent (Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov has been recent bedtime reading), he’s more akin with the concept of irony than being American usually allows.
Next to arrive are the terrible twosome: drummer Jose and resident turntablist DJ Chris Kilmore, the latter having joined the band in ’97 following the departure of original member DJ Lyfe. Jose – who can pull off wearing a sideways cap without looking like a complete chump, and brandishing a permanent shit-eating grin like a cat who’s got the cream – brings a necessary dose of impudence to Incubus. He even goes so far as to tell Erika, the MTV camerawoman shadowing the band’s every move for a forthcoming video diary, that he is in fact the backbone of the group.
“What can I say?” he shrugs. ‘I am Incubus. Without me there is no band. I have to stay for the sake of the other guys because they’d all be out of a job and I couldn’t have that on my conscience.”
Conclusive proof, then, that drummers should be seen and not heard.
Competing for how many close-up shots of eating with his mouth open he can hog, googly-eyed Kilmore is the Buddha of the band, telling MTV in his best Barry White brogue that the cameras need to be switched off if he’s “getting busy with a girlie girlie”. Imperturbable and soft-spoken, he’s so laid-back he’s horizontal – until, that is, Jose drops a bomb. “I have pictures of you when you’re asleep. Naked,” the drummer taunts.
It doesn’t matter how mellow your mojo is – when someone claims to be harbouring a pic of your meat and two veg, it’s time to lose your cool.
Amid the calamity enters Mike Einziger. Diminutive, instantly likeable but at times distant, he bears all the hallmarks of one of the finest musicians of an era. Finally it’s frontman Brandon Boyd, who flies in fashionably late. His good-natured sensitive New Age guy appeal and hippyish good looks set him apart from the proprietors of testosterone rock. And his charisma is overwhelming.
The son of a 70s model/actor (his father’s appearance in a Julio Iglesias video is a source of much pride for Boyd Jr) and a spiritual mother (she’s currently writing a book about her remembrance of her past incarnations – her metaphysical pursuit having rubbed off on a yoga-loving Brandon), he speaks thoughtfully and more often than not philosophically.
Though desperately trying to escape the resident heart-throb image (not even the orange tank top he’s wearing is likely to affect his pin-up appeal), he seems well adjusted to the fame game and remains humble. “Incubus selling out Wembley Arena – that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard,” he smiles, sweeping back his floppy mop.
“It’s spectacular, in fact, seeing we never had a radio hit in Britain or any real television coverage. To sell out a venue like that through bona fide hard work, the grass-roots motion of touring and popularity by word of mouth has gotta be the coolest way to do things – it’s certainly the most gratifying.”
(Image credit: Mick Hutson/Redferns)
Jose is somewhat less modest on the matter. “We’ve been together over 10 years now. We’re not the overnight success that people think – we’ve worked out asses off.”
However, Jose is less defensive about the suggestion that Incubus are the ‘Backstreet Boys of rock’. “Hey – we’re a good looking band, one of us in particular,” he says preening his eyebrows, presumably referring to himself. “Yeah – that’s right, we’re a boy band and proud of it.”
Brandon opts for the more astute answer. “To be honest, I don’t care,” he shrugs. “I don’t mind being called pop music because we’re very self-aware of what we are. We’re secure enough in ourselves as musicians; we write out own music. We don’t cater our music for the radio or TV to the popular demographic as it were.”
Being put in the pop bracket is one thing but nu metal? Despite stints on both the Ozzfest and Family Values tours, and emerging from a scene that harvested many of nu metal’s top rankers, this is how to get Incubus’s backs up.
“The term nu metal is ridiculous in itself – we were even called that at a time and secretly it always made us cringe,” says Brandon. “We never identified with anyone in that particular scene. The whole business of being angry at the world has been so overplayed, so to be called the antidote to that is right on.
“To an extent I agree with Mike – music is in a shit state. Take Korn as an analogy. It happens in all genres. There’s some really good stuff that dominates for a second, then you get a whole bunch of imitators who trivialise the original idea. But then if you look to the underground there’s a whole heap of great new ideas that come out as a backlash. But now we’re in dire need of a backlash.”
So they’re not pop, they’re not metal – hell, how would Incubus like to be perceived? “Perception is a very fickle thing and it’s a fascinating thing as well because it’s constantly shifting,” philosophises Brandon. “But if I could control it, I would want us to be perceived as neophytes, which is the opposite of a neophobe – a neophobe being someone who is afraid of change and a neophyte embraces change and is into ideas that are changing and evolving. I like to think of us as a band that’s on the move. Hopefully people will see us as a living example that anyone can pursue the things that really excite them.
“When we formed as kids, we didn’t know how to play our instruments, but we stuck to our guns, we persevered and it’s continued to reward us in many different ways. People have the tendency to underestimate themselves – but as human beings, we have the potential to do anything we want. Fly, transcend, levitate… At the end of the day, we just make music that makes us happy, and I know at heart we are all nice guys too. But we have bad days – I mean, I can be a dick. Stick around, you’ll see it.”
He doesn’t have us fooled for a second, though. “No, really – if this tour lasts much longer I’ll turn into a complete dick.”
Mike, on what turns into a desperate campaign to convince Hammer that Brandon can indeed be a dick, offers his two-penneth worth. “I swear if for one week you don’t give him coffee for breakfast in the morning, he’ll turn into the biggest dick you ever saw. You’ll see his bad side.”
But although the other band members deny him ever acting vindictively (“Fucking liars!” Brandon chides), it’s the frontman who’s proud to recall a ‘vengeful’ incident from his school days.
“When I was very young and I rode on the school bus, there was this older girl who used to just pick on me, literally just eat at me, and I never knew why. So eventually I started picking on her back,” he titters mischievously. “And one day, I was like, ‘You know what? That’s it!’ and I wrote her a letter that said, ‘I think I love you – you have the nicest boobies in fifth grade and I wanna marry you’ – being a jerk, a smart-ass kinda thing. And the next day I was called into the principal’s office and he read it back to me, and I was so embarrassed.”
(Image credit: KMazur/WireImage)
It’s a sorry attempt to prove us wrong, and Brandon knows it. “I’d like to sleep with six women at the same time but it would never happen,” he offers in a last-ditch attempt to sabotage the band’s holier-than-thou facade.
“Oh, I’m sure we might be able to find six girls who’ll comply,” deadpans Mike, rolling his eyes to the heavens.
“We met Cindy Crawford last night and she kissed me on the cheek,” the guitarist continues. “I was stoked about that. I turned around and she just started talking to me.”
Brandon recollects the meeting somewhat differently. “Dream on – she had eyes for me. I was like, ‘Cindy – I know we’ve only just met each other, but I think we’re at a point in our relationship where you should move into my place.’ Then security wrestle me to the floor. Anyway, I don’t really want to sleep with six women… I wanna sleep with 10 women!” he guffaws.
“You wanna be careful what you wish for too,” warns Mike. “But yeah, you should go for the bad boy image now – like totally.”
Concerned that he may have tarnished his reputation, Brandon backtracks. “I grew up watching Superman movies and reading books with my parents which all say you shouldn’t use your powers for evil because that would make you the bad guy,” he grins wryly. “Although I root for the bad guy sometimes in movies, I think that people should never use their gifts for anything other than good. There are particular ways you can do that, whether they be sexual conquests, your opportunity to ingest substances that will take you away from the world… I’m more interested in developing my powers so they will benefit mankind.”
Any attempts to incite a reaction from the band are duly abandoned, as they claim they’re indifferent to such endeavours. “We don’t take ourselves seriously enough that would warrant a journalist getting nasty with us,” Mike explains flippantly. “German journalists, for instance, try and get weird with us and one even sat down and was like, ‘So how does it feel to be a Faith No More rip-off band?’ and we just said, ‘Great!’ That was the answer – ‘Great!’”
Predictably, intrusive personal questions are out of bounds, with Mike in particular, who veers purposefully away from questions about a car crash in which he was seriously injured at the age of 14, leaving one of his best friends dead.
Though the uplifting nature and often euphoric mood of Incubus’s music would have us believe that life in the band is all hearts and flowers, this hasn’t always been the case. Tension was even running so high during the recording of breakthrough album Make Yourself that in true Smashing Pumpkins form, the band resorted to group therapy.
“Making music is the five of us making love – in a platonic sense, of course,” Brandon reveals. “It’s funny, the therapist didn’t really talk that much – I think it was just the idea that there was someone there to mediate and it was mostly us just talking, which was pretty damn stupid because we could’ve done that without paying this guy.
(Image credit: Mick Hutson/Redferns)
“It did a lot of good for the band in the end though, as far as being able to really communicate with each other. It gets difficult when one of us gets under the weather, but we all realise that we get to go out and make music for ourselves and each other and circumvent the banality of normal everyday life on a nightly basis. But do you know what?” he ponders. “I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me if I’m happy.
Well, put us out of our misery…
“Thanks for asking. For the most part I am, yeah. People always dance around the question about whether they’re being fulfilled with the path they’ve chosen in any profession – especially music. I read in so many interviews that bands are tormented, that they’ve retreated to drugs and shady women to quell that torment. Maybe I’m young and naïve, but I think we all pursued this because it made us happy. It’s not always peachy, but how on earth can we complain?
“Besides, I think it’s kind of ridiculous when bands focus on the ‘Woe is me – how hard my life is in a band,’ and, ‘Which T-shirt should I wear today to look cool?’ or, ‘There’s no beer in my dressing room…’ The ‘woes’ of being in a rock band. It is a difficult job to have, but it’s still in my opinion the most fulfilling job I know.”
Blissfully unaware of the current line of conversation, Mike bounds back to the front section of the bus, “I’m going to explode! I’m wounded… I’m wounded,” disparagingly flattening his impressively bouffant Afro, much to Brandon’s amusement. The timing is perfect. “Playing shows in LA is really hectic. I feel like a puppet,” he sighs. “Plus I’m having a really bad hair day.”
Mike has come to take refuge from unsavoury events at the back of the bus. With him he brings the news that there’s a “cornhole-kissing contest” going on at the moment. If Kilmore wins the task, then the band’s tour manager Adam has to kiss his butt right on the hole. Nice.
Arriving at their destination, the band’s tour bus is greeted by a throng of rabid fans. It would appear that because of this unexpected turnout, a planned photo shoot by Hammer snapper Mick Hutson at the back of the venue, which would capture the band against a breathtaking backdrop of the Santa Barbara sky, has been shelved on the band’s personal request for fear of their safety. A brief moment of prima donna self-importance or genuine safety fears? The jury’s still out. A pungent yellow locker room is the other option.
“Wouldn’t it be great if you could capture the putrid smell of this place? How about Hammer’s first scratch’n’sniff cover?” says Brandon.
“Maybe they can capture this,” announces Jose before breaking wind loudly.
Visibly relieved the photo session is over and readying themselves for the night’s show, the band do admit to not being entirely comfortable with the much-coveted rock-star roles, citing anonymity, if they had the chance, as a preference. The little fibbers.
“I go back and forth on that one every once in a while,” admits Brandon. “I’m alright with it right now. Fame does have its drawbacks, but it would be lovely to be the new Pink Floyd of the world, where you could turn into that faceless band who continue to make music. To me, that would be the ideal because then we could concentrate solely on the music. But maybe I’m being naïve.”
(Image credit: KMazur/WireImage)
Maybe, but as the size of the swelling crowd out front attests, there’s no turning back now.
It’s a special night for Dirk. “I went to college here,” the bassist reminisces of the venue’s significance. “But I dropped out to be in the band.”
Mike – who also reluctantly bypassed further education for the love of music – recalls a time when the band was in limbo. “There was a show following us around at the time called Hollywood Lives, documenting young artists/musicians/actors struggling in LA,” he says.
“It was actually quite an interesting show,” continues Brandon, “but we were all like 17 years old, right out of high school, and they made out the drama of our band as [distressed urgent voice] ‘The guys might be going to college – but will the band stay together?’” He sniggers. “There were shots of me on the beach in Santa Barbara, all introspective, sad music in the background.”
And who has had the last laugh? Mike recalls, “They interviewed all these pseudo record executives who had no affiliation with the band whatsoever and they were like, ‘Incubus? Those guys are never gonna make it.’ Well, look at us now.”
Originally published in Metal Hammer in January 2002
In 2015 Prog looked back to the short-lived neo-prog era, selecting five albums from the 80s that illustrate the power, energy and lasting influence of the British second-wave movement.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. According to the official, BBC‐approved version of rock history – you know, the one featuring footage of Rick Wakeman in a wizard’s outfit and the Emerson Lake & Palmer trucks rolling down the motorway – progressive rock was consigned to the dustbin five minutes after the Sex Pistols swore on live telly. Anyone who was remotely cool immediately binned every prog album they owned, cut their hair and got with the programme. Year Zero had arrived, and nothing that went before could ever dare to show its face again.
Nonsense, of course. But all the same, by the turn of the 1980s, there had unquestionably been a seismic shift in the UK musical landscape. All of which meant, ironically, that what had been dismissed a few years previously as the bland, complacent music of the establishment was now the ultimate outsider music. In the early 80s, if you wanted to be a true rebel, you came out of the closet as a prog fan.
In many ways, it shouldn’t be surprising that a new generation of prog bands should have come to prominence at that time. It fits in with the usual decade‐long cycle that sees those people who are fans at 13 or 14 soon pick up instruments and form bands of their own, and by the time they’re in their early 20s, they’re writing their own music informed by those teenage influences.
They soon found that there were plenty of people who wanted to hear it. Unfortunately, the neo‐prog scene’s time in the spotlight was a relatively brief one. And for that we can put the blame pretty squarely at the doors of Britain’s major labels.
Pallas, Twelfth Night and IQ all signed major deals after Marillion proved that prog could still prove a commercial force to be reckoned with – but attempts by the industry to build interest in the neo‐prog scene were half‐hearted at best. As the 80s turned into the 90s, the big deals were no longer on the table, and progressive rock’s great second wave had completely lost momentum.
But in many ways, that wave gave progressive music a lift with which to build itself back up. Later on, the rise of the internet helped bands forge more effective links with its audience and sell records and gig tickets directly to fans – a process pioneered by the neo‐prog bands. The revitalising spirit they injected into the genre is still being felt.
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We present Prog’s selection of the top five essential neo-prog albums.
Marillion: Script For A Jester’s Tear (EMI, 1983)
Undoubtedly the record that put the Second Wave of British Prog on the map. Long-form songwriting and ear-catching musicianship (Steve Rothery’s guitar lines and Mark Kelly’s keyboard hooks have rarely been more sublime) were shot through with a charisma and lyrical bite not seen since the prime of a certain band beginning with ‘G’ to whom Marillion were incessantly compared.
The melancholic melodramatics shot through these six compositions were repeatedly offset by Fish’s intense, angst-ridden vocals, touching on heartbreak, heroin addiction, urban isolation and the troubles in Northern Ireland en route.
Marillion – Garden Party – Official Music Promo Video – YouTube
The Aberdeen outfit’s initial intention to make a concept album out of their Atlantis Suite song cycle was scuppered by their label switching the running order and including more commercial tunes. Yet this is still a fine record, even if the central conceptual narrative is somewhat disjointed by the rearranged tracklisting.
The driving synth-rock of Arrive Alive (Eyes In The Night) grabs your lapels with its instant hook and jumpy tempo, then Cut And Run and Shock Treatment reinforce the dystopian sci-fi theme with some gusto. But more lasting pleasures can be found in the sweeping symphonic pomp of final track Atlantis.
Pendragon: The Jewel (Elusive, 1985)
Neo-prog had gone fully overground by the time Pendragon released their first full-length album. The upbeat prog-pop of Higher Circles that opens the set reflects the distinctly radio-friendly style it was now adopting, but the plot thickens considerably on the trippy, windswept Alaska and the staccato rhythms of Circus.
Yet throughout, the stirring, heart-on-sleeve romanticism that has characterised their best work since this album is already high in the mix, courtesy of Nick Barrett’s distinctly English, folk-influenced vocals, the Moog-heavy melody patterns and piercing guitar excursions.
IQ: The Wake (GEP, 1985)
The Southampton neo-prog survivors’ second album is widely regarded as their defining early statement, and the 1985 long-player manages to marry a distinctive, soaring synth sound with a punky, agitated tempo and some seriously dizzying time signatures.
Peter Nicholls’ fragile, uneasy vocal has a drowning-not-waving quality to it that’s strangely magnetic, even if his years listening to Peter Gabriel have obviously rubbed off heavily. What really stands out, all these years later, is the sheer strength of the melodies – something that has helped IQ endure as a band to this day.
From the eerie, childlike singing that fills the opening bars of We Are Sane, it’s clear that this first studio album release from the neo-prog pack was taking a distinctly different tack to the Tolkien-esque textures associated with the original prog movement. The use of samples on that track and This City add spooky atmospherics to the sonic stew, and there are strong hints of Peter Hammill in Geoff Mann’s malevolent, theatrical vocals.
Mann would leave the band soon afterwards, and the group would pursue a broader, more accessible style on subsequent albums. But as a startling statement of how the new breed could shake up a supposedly moribund genre, this takes some beating.
![Rid Of Me [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XL-aL2diL._SL500_.jpg)
![I Inside the Old Year Dying[LP]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31Fa46CDQKL._SL500_.jpg)
