Iron Maiden kicked off their Run for Your Lives tour in Budapest, Hungary Tuesday night with a show that featured six songs they haven’t played live in a decade, and another three they haven’t played in at least five years.
The tour commemorates the legendary heavy metal band’s 50th anniversary, and featured a set list chosen from their first nine studio albums, from 1980’s Iron Maiden to 1992’s Fear of the Dark.
You can see the complete set list and fan-shot videos from the show below.
The show opened with a trio of Killers songs – “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” which hadn’t been played since 2005 according to Setlist.fm, “Wrathchild” (first time since 2017) and “Killers” (first time since 1999.)
Iron Maiden‘s “Phantom of the Opera” (last played in 2014), Seventh Son of a Seventh Son‘s “The Clairvoyant” (last played in 2013) and title track (last played in 2014) and Powerslave‘s epic seafaring tale “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (last played in 2009) rounded out the tracks that haven’t been played live in over a decade, while Powerslave‘s title track (last played in 2017) and “2 Minutes to Midnight” (last played in 2019) were played live for the first time in more than five years.
This was also Maiden’s first show since the touring retirement of longtime drummer Nicko McBrain, who said farewell to the group at the conclusion of last year’s The Future Past tour. He has been replaced by Simon Dawson, who performs alongside founding bassist Steve Harris in British Lion.
Iron Maiden will play a second show at the Budapest Arena Wednesday night, and continue performing throughout Europe until the last currently scheduled date, Aug. 2 in Warsaw, Poland. No plans for a North American tour have been announced yet, but fingers crossed! You can get complete information at their official website.
Watch Iron Maiden Perform ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’ (Starts at 7:40)
Watch Iron Maiden Perform ‘The Number of the Beast’
Watch Iron Maiden Perform ‘The Trooper’
Iron Maiden May 27, 2025 Budapest, Hungary Set List
(Intro tape) “The Ides of March” (from 1981’s Killers) 1. “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (from Killers) 2. “Wrathchild” (from Killers) 3. “Killers” (from Killers) 4. “Phantom of the Opera” (from 1980’s Iron Maiden) 5. “The Number of the Beast” (From 1982’s The Number of the Beast) 6. “The Clairvoyant” (From 1988’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son) 7. “Powerslave” (From 1984’s Powerslave) 8. “2 Minutes to Midnight” (From Powerslave) 9. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (From Powerslave) 10. “Run to the Hills” (From The Number of the Beast) 11. “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” (From Seventh Son of a Seventh Son) 12. “The Trooper” (From 1983’s Piece of Mind) 13. “Hallowed Be Thy Name” (From The Number of the Beast) 14. “Iron Maiden” (from Iron Maiden)
Encore: 15. “Aces High” (From Powerslave) 16. “Fear of the Dark” (From 1992’s Fear of the Dark) 17. “Wasted Years” (From 1986’s Somewhere in Time)
(Image credit: Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty Images)
Rick Derringer, the legendary guitarist and singer behind Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo, has died aged 77.
The guitarist’s associate, Tony Wilson, confirmed the news on Facebook, writing: “Ormond Beach, FL – Renowned guitarist and entertainer Rick Derringer passed on at 8:09 PM on May 26th, surrounded by his loving wife’ Singer Songwriter and band of 28 years Jenda Derringer, his caretaker and close friend Tony Wilson.(AKA) Young James Brown.”
The news was confirmed by Derringer’s wife, Jenda, who told TMZ that the guitarist passed away “peacefully” in his sleep on Monday May 26. He had reportedly undergone a triple bypass two months ago,
Derringer was born Richard Dean Zehringer in Celina, Ohio in 1947. After moving to New York in his late teens, he rose to fame with the McCoys, who scored a hit with Hang On Sloopy., which reached Number 1 on the Billboard chart in 1965.
Derringer and the McCoys went on to become Johnny Winter’s backing band, before the guitarist joined Winter’s brother Edgar in the Edgar Winter’s White Trash (later the Edgar Winter Group), playing guitar, singing on and producing four albums between 1971 and 1974..
After launching a solo career, Derringer scored another big hit with 1973’s Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo, taken from his debut solo album All American Boy. He would go on to release 18 solo albums, as well as three albums by the band Derringer. He also played on records by the likes of Steely Dan, Kiss, Richie Havens, Joe Bonamassa and more.
Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo – Rick Derringer & The Edgar Winter Group | The Midnight Special – YouTube
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Known for a sultry fusion of blues, country, rock and folk, Bonnie Raitt has been releasing albums since 1971. Almost two decades later, her career went stellar with the multi-platinum album Nick Of Time. Its follow-up, 1991’s Luck Of The Draw, included the über ballad I Can’t Make You Love Me, later covered by George Michael, Adele and many more.
Below, the Californian-born singer, guitarist and political activist previews her upcoming European tour.
Having toured here two years ago, this is a fairly speedy return.
I wanted to play more than one city in Scotland, and other places in England that we didn’t get to last time, so I’m excited to be coming back again.
Prior to that 2023 tour you won three more Grammys in one night for your album Just Like That…, bringing your total haul of Grammys to a whopping thirteen.
The genre of Americana has gotten so big, I wasn’t surprised to get nominated in that category [for the song Made Up Mind], but I was really surprised to win Song Of The Year [with the album’s title track]. The Daily Mail had me on the cover saying: “Unknown blues singer wins Grammy”. That cracked me up.
Having success with a self-written song must have felt sweet, given that you are sometimes seen as an ‘interpreter’ rather than a writer.
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It was wonderful. I was even more thrilled by the response to that song generally as it’s about organ donation, so if it brought more attention to that subject then it was doubly sweet.
But you’re not precious about the source of your material: a good song is a good song, regardless of who wrote it.
Oh yeah. And it would be quite boring for me to have my own view only. I love mixing a Richard Thompson song with an Al Green cover or something by John Prine. That’s part of the joy of what I do and why I’ve kept it up for so long, and also hopefully some of the reason that the fans love what I do.
Your most famous recording, I Can’t Make You Love Me, was a previously uncelebrated song written by a pair of unknown songwriters.
It was great that they [Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin] sent that song to me. When I heard it I almost fell over due to its greatness. It’s a stunning, classic heartbreak song with sophisticated lyrics.
Achieving mainstream success with your tenth album, Nick Of Time, at the age of forty, did you appreciate it more?
Absolutely. I don’t regret anything that happened until that point, but it was frustrating not to have the records in the store when I had worked so hard, selling out tours and working ten months per year. Also, I had been sober for a year when I wrote the album, which is sort of what it’s about.
You were briefly signed to Paisley Park Records by Prince.
Actually, I wasn’t, though we did discuss a collaboration. I had been dropped by Warners, and he said he loved my music. I went to Minnesota to meet him, but all he played me was finished songs that were not in my key and not topics that I would sing about, whereas I had wanted to work on songs from scratch. So it never got off the ground.
What was Prince like, in your experience?
He was pretty shy. You’d have dinner with him and he wasn’t good at making eye contact. But otherwise he was like you expected.
For an artist, what’s it like to play at a church of music like London’s Royal Albert Hall?
Oh, my goodness. I was so nervous the first time. I had never felt that I would get to that place, and, incredibly, we actually sold it out.
What about the songs you’ll be playing on this tour? Do you stick rigidly to a set-list?
No. I’m always conscious of what we played the last time we were in a city. This time, with no new album to promote, I can relax and pull out some deep cuts.
Three years down the line from Just Like That…, are you prepping a follow-up?
No. We’ve been on the road for so long there hasn’t been the time.
As an extraordinarily principled and compassionate person, and also a social activist, living in the US right now, each day must bring a new and different nightmare?
You couldn’t have put it any better. It’s an unprecedented situation. Our immigrant community is being rounded up unfairly, then there are the threatened cuts in Medicaid, and now there’s no more research on vaccines for the pandemic. The climate crisis gets worse, they’re looking to drill off the California Coast. There are no firefighters for the next disaster. It’s an illegal takeover by a man who is, in my mind, a threat to our democracy.
Do you fear for the nation’s future?
I do. And also for that of the world. We need to work together, and it isn’t happening.
Bonnie Raitt’s European tour begins on June 1 in Dublin, while US dates begin in August. For full dates and tickets, visit Bonnie’s website.
Dave Ling was a co-founder of Classic Rock magazine. His words have appeared in a variety of music publications, including RAW, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Prog, Rock Candy, Fireworks and Sounds. Dave’s life was shaped in 1974 through the purchase of a copy of Sweet’s album ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’, along with early gig experiences from Status Quo, Rush, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Yes and Queen. As a lifelong season ticket holder of Crystal Palace FC, he is completely incapable of uttering the word ‘Br***ton’.
As The Cure arrived at 1987’s seventh album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Robert Smith and the ever-revolving gang were a very different proposition to the band that had started the decade. Gone was the tightly-wound, bleak intensity of their early albums, the gothic gloom replaced by a more two-pronged MO that swayed between fizzy, indelible pop songs and intricately-layered and atmospheric rock.
You could argue that the former approach reached its peak on Kiss Me…, released on 26th May, 1987, with the album’s imperious standout Just Like Heaven. A song both weighted with pop perfection and one that feels light-as-a-feather, it is the ultimate distillation of a band everything that made them such outsider heroes into a mainstream sound. Robert Smith agrees. “It’s the best pop song The Cure have ever done,” he told Blender in 2003. “All the sounds meshed, it was one take and it was perfect.”
Given the sense of blissed-out euphoria the song evokes, its creation was a little more mundane. Smith was living in a two-bedroom flat in Maida Vale, north London, at the time he came up with its warm, strummed chord sequence and yearning melodic hook, a product of forcing himself to get to work every day. “Just about the only discipline I had in my life was self-imposed,” he stated. “I set myself of writing 15 days a month; otherwise I’d have just got up in mid-afternoon and watched TV until the pubs opened then gone out drinking.”
You imagine that the Cure leader certainly gave himself a pat on the back that day, feeling satisfied he’d written a catchy little number and telling Blender he only realised later that he’d crafted a nod to The Only Ones’ wiry 1978 hit Another Girl, Another Planet.
After being something of a songwriting despot in the early years of The Cure, though, Smith was determined that Kiss Me… would be a more collaborative affair and was intrigued to see where the song might go in the hands of his band, at that point featuring Lol Tolhurst on keyboards, Simon Gallup on bass, Porl Thompson on guitar and Boris Williams on drums.
What was originally a slower, more considered composition was immediately transformed into something else by the rhythmic punchiness of drummer Williams. “He introduced a drum fill that gave me the idea of introducing the instruments one by one before the vocal comes in,” Smith explained.
Having gotten the music to the track down at Studio Miraval in the south of France, Smith decided to hand over the as-yet-wordless song (because the singer hadn’t written the lyrics yet) to French TV show Les Enfants du Rock when they asked if The Cure could provide them with a theme tune. His reasoning was sound. “It meant the music would be familiar to millions of Europeans even before it was release,” he said.
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Now Smith’s focus turned to the lyrics, the song’s meaning scattered with signposts to different parts of his adolescence. The iconic opening line – “Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick…” – refers to Smith’s love of bamboozling his pals with magic tricks as a kid, the rest of the words delving into a night he’d had as a teen when he and his friends had been drinking and decided to go for a nocturnal stroll. “It was something that happened on Beachy Head, on the south coast of England,” he told Blender. “The song is about hyper-ventilating – kissing and fainting to the floor.”
The reason that the song’s Tim Pope-video ended with Smith embracing wife Mary is because that’s what happened in real life, he said. “Mary dances with me in the video because she was the girl, so it had to be her. The idea is that one night like that it worth 1,000 hours of drudgery.”
A few months after its parent album arrived, Just Like Heaven was released as a single, in October, 1987. Its impact was modest at the time, becoming a Top 40 hit in the UK and reaching number 40 in the US but time has given Just Like Heaven the kudos it deserves, now regarded as a Cure classic. Covered by a range of artists including Dinosaur Jr. (whose version is Smith’s favourite Cure cover ever), Katie Melua, The Lumineers and LA’s Section String Quartet, it has become one of The Cure’s most well-known and best-loved songs. One a groggy winter morning in early 1987, Robert Smith had to force himself to get up and get to work on writing songs. We’ll be forever glad that he did.
Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleagues Ted Kessler and Chris Catchpole. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he’s interviewed some of the world’s biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more. Radiohead was only for eight minutes but he still counts it.
Given his free-flowing-meets-hard-charging style on guitar, it’s not hard to see that Dave Navarro, like many of his generation, was inspired by the late, great Jimi Hendrix. But beyond inspiration, Navarro got to pay homage in ways that he’d never previously imagined.
“I got invited to play with Slash, and Mitch Mitchell, the original Hendrix Experience on drums.” Navarro tells ClassicRockHistory.com. “I played ‘Fire’ with Mitch Mitchell from the original Experience—that was fucking unbelievable.”
But that’s not all, as on the same stage, Navarro got to celebrate Hendrix’s post-Experience group. “I got to play with Billy Cox and Buddy Miles,” he says. “I don’t know if you’re a Hendrix aficionado, but they were from the Band of Gypsy’s.”
“It wasn’t a long-lived band,” Navarro says. “They just had a live record, but it’s like one of the Holy Grails for guitar players, especially because of ‘Machine Gun.’ There’s a note that Hendrix holds, and if you’re a Hendrix aficionado, every guitar player knows what I’m talking about. They know exactly what note it is, and I got to play that note with those guys.”
Navarro notes that the show was “pretty fucking special,” but the Hendrix fun didn’t stop there, as he decided that he wanted his own version of Hendrix’s iconic white Strat, which he played at Woodstock, in 1969. “I decided I wanted a white Jimi Hendrix Strat,” he says.
“As a kid growing up, I watched that white guitar,” he says. “They did a limited consumer run of the Jim Andrews Isabella model, you know, the Hendrix Woodstock one. But what I wanted was the exact guitar, you know, as close as it could be.”
As for how he did that, Navarro says: “I contacted my buddy over the [Fender] Custom Shop, and said, ‘I want to have built as an exact replica of the white Jimi Hendrix Strat.”
Of course, Fender could do it, but there were roadblocks to making it happen. Navarro says that Fender told him, “We can’t just… we have to ask the Hendrix Foundation. His sister runs that, so we gotta ask her.”
Navarro says that Fender reached out to Jimi Hendrix’s sister, Janie Hendrix, with his Strat-related request. “They said, ‘Dave Navarro wants to get a relic’d reproduction of your brother’s guitar from Woodstock. Is that okay?’”
Thankfully, Janie was up for it. “She knew me,” Navarro says. “She remembered me playing with the Band of Gypsys at that tribute concert, and she was like, ‘Of course he can!’ So, we went back to the Custom Shop, and we spent months and months with pictures and details.”
“We took trips to the museum in Seattle, where it is, and got up close,” Navarro says of the process. “All of the scratches, wood chips, burns, and the fact that he had to turn it over because he was left-handed meant that there was a drilled-out hole in the bottom of the cutaway. We went down to that detail, and down to the detail of the exact serial number.”
The result was a guitar that the normally PRS-playing Navarro treasures to this day. “They made me a guitar that is so precise and exact,” he says. “The only difference is that it says ‘DN’ and then his serial number on the neck bolt.”
“It’s invaluable,” he says. “It’s the only one like it in the world—and it was signed off on by the Hendrix estate, and Jimi’s sister. It came as a result of one of my favorite gigs. When I was a kid, and that record was in constant rotation, never in my imagination did I think I would be playing with those guys, let alone playing Hendrix songs with them.
Looking back on the gig—and the guitar—Navarro says that they’re “as close to him as I could get.” He adds, “I got to meet his family and play with his band members. It’s odd to say, but some of my favorite experiences are not with my own bands. Instead, I have favorite memories and favorite moments.”
Founded in the early 1990s and originally in existence until the end of that decade, underground British black metal label Cacophonous Records helped launch the careers of Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Sigh and more. In 2016. as the reactivated label prepared to release a shelved CoF album, label founder Neil ‘Frater Nihil’ Harding, the band’s frontman Dani Filth and more looked back on how Cacophonous shaped extreme metal.
In an era when there are almost as many record labels as there are bands making records, it’s easy to forget that there was a time when labels were fewer and further between, not least in the world of extreme metal. Back in the 80s and 90s, being signed became a genuine status symbol not least because, pre-internet, having a label behind you was often the only way to get your releases into the hands of fans and your music into the ears of potential listeners. No Bandcamp, YouTube, Spotify or Facebook back then – hell, we didn’t even have MySpace.
It was against such a background that the explosion of second wave black metal took place and almost all the key releases of the 90s were scattered over just a handful of labels: Osmose, Candlelight, Deathlike Silence, Fullmoon, Misanthropy, Merciless, No Fashion and, of course, Cacophonous Records, who helped launch the likes of Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Bal-Sagoth, Gehenna, Primordial and Sigh.
The roots of Cacophonous are actually embedded in another iconic UK label, Vinyl Solution. Growing from the Portobello Road record store of the same name, it offered a diverse roster from the worlds of techno, hip hop and hardcore punk, alongside significant thrash and death metal bands such as Cancer, Macabre, Cerebral Fix and Bolt Thrower.
Initially folding lyric sheets in exchange for a few records, before eventually taking over the mail order, Frater Nihil – then known simply as Neil Harding – was pretty well-versed in the business by the time he was offered a position overseeing the label. Almost immediately he set about to separate its metal component and turn it into a new self-contained label; Cacophonous was born.
The plan at first was to just release seven-inch records and this is what he did, showcasing underground acts such as Sigh, Kawir, Psychic Pawn, Megiddo and Monolith. The latter was a homegrown thrash/death metal band perhaps most notable for featuring drummer Nick Barker, a soon-to-be member of Cradle Of Filth – as it turned out, it was a crossing of paths with Cradle in 1993, and their induction of Barker, that would set the course for both parties.
Dimmu Borgir in 1996 (Image credit: Press)
“The band left a copy of the Total Fucking Darkness demo in the shop while I was out,” Neil recalls. “I listened to it and thought it was amazing, so I called them up the next day and we went for a beer and talked about the future. They shared a similar ideology; it was Satanic music as I saw it and I thought it would fit very well into what I wanted to do with the label. Cradle were the first band that you listened to and thought, ‘This is the future,’ and really everything sprang from that. It was like, ‘OK, this is the band everyone should hear.’”
This feature originally appeared in Metal Hammer issue 281 (Mar 2016) (Image credit: Future)
“I knew about the store at Portobello because I worked at my granddad’s flower shop in London every Christmas,” remembers Dani. “At lunchtime they’d say, ‘Go for lunch, here’s 20 quid,’ and I’d jump on a train, and come back with all these records saying, ‘Oh, that was delicious.’
“Principle… was originally going to be a seven-inch,” he continues. “We’d been on tour with Cancer and Nick was their drum tech. He came down to produce the EP and in the course of one day he went on to become the drummer and the EP became an album. It all happened very quickly, which was very exciting for a young band.”
Released early in 1994 with the memorable title The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh and the historic catalogue number NIHIL1, it represented Cacophonous’s most ambitious release to date, completely redefining the nature of the label in the process. Neil abandoned the seven-inch release schedule and instead concentrated on breaking Cradle. This was a much bigger task than it might sound, for while the band would ultimately sell half a million copies of the album, in the early days they were met with considerable bemusement and even active resistance. Even a 1993 UK tour with Emperor (a thing of legend today) struggled to pull attendees. “I remember at one show there were literally two people,” Dani laughs. “We ended up saying, ‘This isn’t going anywhere’ and walked off halfway through a song.”
To De-Thrown The Witch Queen Of Mytos K’Unn – YouTube
Black metal was still a pretty unknown quantity in ’93 and ’94, particularly in the UK, and distributors baulked at this ballsy, corpsepainted six-piece. Many media outlets refused supportive coverage altogether due to the genre’s associations with desecration, arson, murder and totalitarian politics, and a ‘Satanic panic’ of sorts arose, with scare stories by UK tabloids and even the BBC. At one point both the group and Neil even had to sign a disclaimer distancing themselves from far-right politics in order to get distribution.
But while there were certainly elements of hysteria at work, there’s no doubt that both the band and particularly Cacophonous were intended as more than purely musical ventures. Here was an overtly Satanic record label that unapologetically took inspiration from some pretty extreme occult groups, a point largely reflected by Cradle themselves and evident in Principle…’s lyrics and artwork. Most telling of all was the final (unlisted) track, Imperium Tenebrarum – essentially a short statement of intent, spoken by Neil himself.
“You had various occult groups, people were talking about Satanic war and changing things from an occult sense,” says Neil. “There was a notion among people who listened to Satanic black metal that you were part of something greater. That’s why on Imperium Tenebrarum we’re talking about burning down temples and marching over dogma, because that’s what I really believed in and wanted to showcase with the label. And that’s partly why I championed Cradle.”
“There was a feeling that there was something revolutionary happening,” adds Dani. “It felt like the time was right. That was ’93. Metal had died a horrible death, grunge had killed the mainstream off, so it felt like a revolution. There were bands popping up all over the place, you had those famous magazines covers, the church burning, you didn’t know what was happening day to day and the seriousness of it just added to the excitement.”
Bal-Sagoth in the late 1990s (Image credit: Press)
A different but equally significant British band Cacophonous signed was Bal-Sagoth. Far less grave than Cradle and with fantasy literature rather than occult leanings, their blend of symphonic extreme metal and heroic atmosphere provided a musical template for future bands such as Turisas and Ensiferum, and Cacophonous would end up releasing the first half of the band’s six-album discography.
“They’ve got a very particular fanbase, but in some cases have wider appeal than Cradle,” says Neil of the Yorkshire clan. “There are more people I’ve met over the years who aren’t into metal per se who know Bal-Sagoth.”
While the albums were all larger-than-life, the band had been so disappointed by their demo that they only sent it out on request and even today vocalist Byron Roberts credits Neil’s foresight with regard to the signing.
“I sent a big letter with the tape,” he recalls, “I said, ‘If we’re ever given a decent recording budget, this is what we’d want: big symphonic keyboards, intros, extensive spoken parts. It’s basically supposed to sound very epic and orchestral.’ Neil saw the potential in those songs and offered us a three-album deal. So that was our big break because none of the other labels wanted to know.”
Irish Pagan black metallers Primordial were another early signing, the band releasing their acclaimed debut full-length Imrama in 1995. Neil was also keen to pick up some of the black metal talent coming out of Norway and, maintaining a focus on the more symphonic and ethereal side of things, he signed both Gehenna and Dimmu Borgir, the latter a tip from Emperor guitarist Samoth. Cacophonous’s release of Dimmu’s second album, Stormblåst, ultimately broke the band to a much wider audience, laying the groundwork for its follow-up, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, which ultimately propelled them toward the mainstream.
Not all the label’s signings would prove so accessible, of course. Japanese black metallers Sigh signed to Cacophonous after the death of their former label owner, Mayhem mainman Euronymous. They then proceeded to perplex both their fanbase and their new label with a series of superb but increasingly experimental works integrating elements of jazz, rock and classical. Their acclaimed Hail Horror, Hail album even prompted the label to put a disclaimer on the back of the sleeve to explain its unusual nature to the unwary.
“When we were making Hail Horror, Hail, we seriously though that nobody would like it,” says Sigh founder Mirai. “Neil actually came to Japan while we were recording it and frowned upon what we were doing. We were really happy to see that. When a lot of magazines ended up giving it a high score and it was ranked in the albums of the year, we were so surprised.”
Sigh might have represented the more challenging side of the scene, but in general by the mid-90s black and occult metal were becoming increasingly popular. The label’s sales reflected this, and the growth led to the recruitment of more staff, most notably one Julie Weir. “Suddenly I was selling 10,000 units instead of 1,000 units; it was making money and it wasn’t just a bedroom project anymore,” Neil explains. “That’s why Julie came in, to do the things I didn’t want to do. All I wanted to do was listen to demos, go to gigs, sign bands and sort out artwork and recordings. I didn’t want to publicise what I was doing.”
Despite (and in part perhaps because of) this rapid expansion, Cacophonous began facing a number of challenges. A falling out with Cradle over the proposed second album, Dusk… And Her Embrace, resulted in the group departing the label altogether and re-recording the album for Music For Nations. While their contractual compromise, 1996 opus V Empire, did prove to be the most successful Cacophonous release ever, the loss of the band was a significant blow. Some rather Cradle-esque examples of vampire-themed goth/black metal were released by bands such as Finland’s Twilight Ophera and Germany’s Ancient Ceremony, but made little real impact. Meanwhile, other big sellers such as Dimmu Borgir and Bal-Sagoth also departed, signing contracts with Nuclear Blast. This was an awkward situation as the German label had been distributing for Cacophonous and led to a split between the two parties, one that would ultimately spell disaster for the UK label.
“We found another distributor who wanted to get into the metal market – they mainly dealt with rock and punk – and made a switch,” recalls Neil. “But they had no clue, no contacts and they didn’t have the same customer base, so instead of pre-selling 5,000 in Germany we plummeted and were selling 500. Effectively we lost our place in the market and suddenly we were being leapfrogged by lesser labels and there was no money. We weren’t getting the sales and so bands weren’t coming to us.”
Gehanna in the late 1990s (Image credit: Press)
The label was more or less silent between 1999 and 2002, and during these years a sister label arose, namely Visible Noise, driven by both Julie and, initially at least, Neil. Cacophonous would make a brief resurgence with a number of distinctly different groups between 2002 and 2004 (“I decided to try something new with blackened metal and deathcore,” says Neil, “it was a rebranding”) but the writing was on the wall and Cacophonous sank into the shadows.
A decade later, a conversation between Neil and Julie regarding the possibility of making vinyl releases of some of the back catalogue quickly ignited a spark that led to the two agreeing to bring back the label as a fully fledged operation with both reissues and new signings, including The King Is Blind and The Infernal Sea. And rather poetically, two decades later, Cacophonous finally released the original, unheard recording of Dusk… And Her Embrace by Cradle of Filth, featuring a completely different lineup than the version released in 1996.
“There are only two people who had the masters, Dani and myself, so if it had ever come out beforehand it would be pretty obvious who it was,” Neil laughs. “So I was always looking for a legitimate way to put those out. I hadn’t seen Dani for five years but we always hit it off and we always lapsed back into that 90s camaraderie.”
“It was a different era of the band,” says Dani of the unreleased album, “and that’s why it’s important it comes out. At the time we were very inspired by bands like Emperor and Immortal and this version harks more to that era than the more polished bombast of the MFN version. So it literally speaks of an era that will never be again. There were legal issues in the past but it’s been 20 years and 20 years is a long time – you get less for murder!”
Originally published in Metal Hammer issue 281, March 2016
Feature Photo: Eddie Mallin, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Bob Marley grew up in the rural community of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, before moving to the Trenchtown neighborhood of Kingston, where the foundation of his musical identity took shape. His earliest forays into the music scene began in the early 1960s when he formed The Wailers with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Initially influenced by American R&B and ska, the group began recording at Studio One under producer Coxsone Dodd. Their early hits like “Simmer Down” and “Rude Boy” introduced them to Jamaican audiences and positioned them as voices of the youth during a time of cultural and political change on the island.
The Wailers evolved musically through the late 1960s and early 1970s, embracing the reggae sound that would become synonymous with their name. Marley’s songwriting matured into a powerful blend of social commentary, Rastafarian spirituality, and universal themes of struggle and unity. After briefly working with producer Lee “Scratch” Perry, Marley signed a pivotal contract with Island Records founder Chris Blackwell. This led to the international release of Catch a Fire in 1973, which presented reggae to a global rock audience with a polished studio sound. The album marked the beginning of Marley’s ascent on the world stage, followed by Burnin’ later that same year, which featured “Get Up, Stand Up” and “I Shot the Sheriff”—the latter famously covered by Eric Clapton.
After Tosh and Bunny Wailer departed to pursue solo careers, Marley rebranded the group as Bob Marley and the Wailers. He retained the Wailers band and introduced the I Threes, a trio of female backing vocalists that included his wife Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt, and Marcia Griffiths. This lineup produced a run of landmark albums beginning with Natty Dread (1974), which included the anthemic “No Woman, No Cry.” In 1976, Rastaman Vibration broke into the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, powered by tracks like “War,” which set Haile Selassie’s speech to music, and “Crazy Baldhead.”
Marley’s political influence surged in Jamaica during this period, culminating in the infamous 1976 assassination attempt at his home just days before the Smile Jamaica concert. Although wounded, Marley performed as scheduled with his arm in a sling, solidifying his status as a unifying figure in a politically divided country. He relocated to London shortly afterward, where he recorded Exodus in 1977. That album became a turning point in his career, containing classics such as “Jamming,” “Waiting in Vain,” “Three Little Birds,” and the title track. Exodus remained on the UK charts for 56 consecutive weeks and was later named Album of the Century by Time magazine.
The international impact of Marley’s music grew with Kaya (1978), a softer, more romantic album featuring “Is This Love” and “Satisfy My Soul.” In 1979, Survival returned to themes of African unity and resistance, with tracks like “Africa Unite” and “Zimbabwe.” Marley’s final studio album, Uprising (1980), included “Could You Be Loved” and “Redemption Song,” the latter a stripped-down acoustic anthem reflecting his increasing awareness of mortality amid his battle with cancer. That same year, he performed at Zimbabwe’s independence celebration and embarked on the Uprising Tour, concluding with a final performance in Pittsburgh on September 23, 1980.
Bob Marley released a total of 13 studio albums during his lifetime, including his early work with The Wailers and later solo projects. His compilation album Legend, released posthumously in 1984, became the best-selling reggae album of all time, with over 25 million copies sold globally. His signature songs—“One Love,” “Buffalo Soldier,” “Stir It Up,” and “No Woman, No Cry”—remain staples across generations, transcending language and culture with their messages of peace, justice, and love.
Awards and honors followed both in life and after death. Marley was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2001. His influence has been recognized by the United Nations and cultural institutions around the world, including a commemorative star in Ethiopia and statues in Kingston and London. His legacy was further cemented with the establishment of the Bob Marley Museum in his former Kingston home.
Marley’s impact extended far beyond music. He was a symbol of resistance, hope, and dignity for oppressed people worldwide. He used his platform to promote Pan-Africanism, Rastafarian beliefs, and human rights, often putting himself in harm’s way to advocate for peace. He donated generously to schools and hospitals in Jamaica and supported various humanitarian causes throughout Africa and the Caribbean.
Despite being diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma in 1977, Marley continued to perform and tour, spreading his message to as many people as possible. He passed away on May 11, 1981, in Miami, Florida, at the age of 36. His funeral in Jamaica was a national event attended by Prime Minister Edward Seaga and thousands of mourners. He was laid to rest in Nine Mile with his guitar, football, and a stalk of ganja—symbols of the life he lived and the messages he carried.
Bob Marley’s influence has only grown since his death. His music is used in classrooms, protests, and celebrations, continuing to inspire new generations of artists and activists. His children, including Ziggy, Damian, Stephen, and Julian Marley, have carried on the musical legacy, contributing to reggae’s evolution while honoring their father’s vision. His lyrics are quoted by world leaders, his songs featured in countless films, and his face remains one of the most recognized images in global culture.
To understand Bob Marley is to understand more than just reggae. It is to grasp how music can become a weapon of resistance, a balm for the oppressed, and a bridge between people. His voice still echoes around the world—reminding us to stand up, unite, and never give up the fight.
Complete List Of Bob Marley Songs From A to Z
(I’m Gonna) Put It On – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
400 Years – Soul Rebels – 1970
Africa Unite – Survival – 1979
All Day All Night – Catch a Fire – 1973
African Herbman – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Am-A-Do – Natty Dread – 1974
Ambush in the Night – Survival – 1979
Baby We’ve Got a Date (Rock It Baby) – Catch a Fire – 1973
Babylon System – Survival – 1979
Back Out – The Best of the Wailers – 1971
Bad Card – Uprising – 1980
Bend Down Low – Natty Dread – 1974
Blackman Redemption – Confrontation – 1983
Brain Washing – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Buffalo Soldier – Confrontation – 1983
Burnin’ and Lootin’ – Burnin’ – 1973
Can’t You See – The Best of the Wailers – 1971
Caution – The Best of the Wailers – 1971
Chant Down Babylon – Confrontation – 1983
Cheer Up – The Best of the Wailers – 1971
Coming in from the Cold – Uprising – 1980
Concrete Jungle – Catch a Fire – 1973
Corner Stone – Soul Rebels – 1970
Could You Be Loved – Uprising – 1980
Crazy Baldhead – Rastaman Vibration – 1976
Crisis – Kaya – 1978
Cry to Me – Rastaman Vibration – 1976
Do It Twice – The Best of the Wailers – 1971
Don’t Rock My Boat – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Duppy Conqueror – Burnin’ – 1973
Duppy Conqueror V/4 – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Easy Skanking – Kaya – 1978
Exodus – Exodus – 1977
Forever Loving Jah – Uprising – 1980
Fussing and Fighting – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Get Up, Stand Up – Burnin’ – 1973
Give Thanks and Praises – Confrontation – 1983
Go Tell It on the Mountain – The Best of the Wailers – 1971
Guiltiness – Exodus – 1977
Hallelujah Time – Burnin’ – 1973
High Tide or Low Tide – Catch a Fire – 1973
I Know – Confrontation – 1983
I Need You – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
I Shot the Sheriff – Burnin’ – 1973
I’m Still Waiting – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
Is This Love – Kaya – 1978
It Hurts to Be Alone – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
It’s Alright – Soul Rebels – 1970
Jamming – Exodus – 1977
Johnny Was – Rastaman Vibration – 1976
Jump Nyabinghi – Confrontation – 1983
Kaya – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Keep On Moving – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Kinky Reggae – Catch a Fire – 1973
Lively Up Yourself – Natty Dread – 1974
Lonesome Feeling – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
Love and Affection – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
Memphis – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Midnight Ravers – Catch a Fire – 1973
Misty Morning – Kaya – 1978
Mix Up, Mix Up – Confrontation – 1983
My Cup – Soul Rebels – 1970
My Sympathy – Soul Rebels – 1970
Natural Mystic – Exodus – 1977
Natty Dread – Natty Dread – 1974
Night Shift – Rastaman Vibration – 1976
No More Trouble – Catch a Fire – 1973
No Sympathy – Soul Rebels – 1970
No Water – Soul Rebels – 1970
No Woman, No Cry – Natty Dread – 1974
One Drop – Survival – 1979
One Foundation – Burnin’ – 1973
One Love – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
One Love/People Get Ready – Exodus – 1977
Pass It On – Burnin’ – 1973
Pimper’s Paradise – Uprising – 1980
Positive Vibration – Rastaman Vibration – 1976
Put It On – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Rasta Man Chant – Burnin’ – 1973
Rastaman Live Up! – Confrontation – 1983
Rat Race – Rastaman Vibration – 1976
Reaction – Soul Rebels – 1970
Real Situation – Uprising – 1980
Rebel Music (3 O’Clock Roadblock) – Natty Dread – 1974
Rebel’s Hop – Soul Rebels – 1970
Redemption Song – Uprising – 1980
Revolution – Natty Dread – 1974
Ride Natty Ride – Survival – 1979
Riding High – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Roots – Exodus – 1977
Roots, Rock, Reggae – Rastaman Vibration – 1976
Rude Boy – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
Running Away – Kaya – 1978
Satisfy My Soul – Kaya – 1978
She’s Gone – Kaya – 1978
Simmer Down – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
Slave Driver – Catch a Fire – 1973
Small Axe – Burnin’ – 1973
So Jah Seh – Natty Dread – 1974
So Much Things to Say – Exodus – 1977
So Much Trouble in the World – Survival – 1979
Soon Come – The Best of the Wailers – 1971
Soul Almighty – Soul Rebels – 1970
Soul Captives – The Best of the Wailers – 1971
Soul Rebel – Soul Rebels – 1970
Soul Shakedown Party – The Best of the Wailers – 1971
Stand Alone – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Stiff Necked Fools – Confrontation – 1983
Stir It Up – Catch a Fire – 1973
Stop That Train – Catch a Fire – 1973
Stop the Train – The Best of the Wailers – 1971
Sun Is Shining – Soul Revolution Part II – 1971
Survival – Survival – 1979
Talkin’ Blues – Natty Dread – 1974
Ten Commandments of Love – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
The Heathen – Exodus – 1977
Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) – Natty Dread – 1974
Three Little Birds – Exodus – 1977
Time Will Tell – Kaya – 1978
Top Rankin’ – Survival – 1979
Trench Town – Confrontation – 1983
Try Me – Soul Rebels – 1970
Turn Your Lights Down Low – Exodus – 1977
Waiting in Vain – Exodus – 1977
Wake Up and Live – Survival – 1979
Want More – Rastaman Vibration – 1976
War – Rastaman Vibration – 1976
We and Dem – Uprising – 1980
What’s New Pussycat? – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
When the Well Runs Dry – The Wailing Wailers – 1965
Who the Cap Fit – Rastaman Vibration – 1976
Work – Uprising – 1980
Zimbabwe – Survival – 1979
Zion Train – Uprising – 1980
Albums
The Wailing Wailers (1965): 12 songs
Soul Rebels (1970): 12 songs
Soul Revolution Part II (1971): 12 songs
The Best of the Wailers (1971): 10 songs
Catch a Fire (1973): 11 songs
Burnin’ (1973): 10 songs
Natty Dread (1974): 10 songs
Rastaman Vibration (1976): 10 songs
Exodus (1977): 11 songs
Kaya (1978): 10 songs
Survival (1979): 10 songs
Uprising (1980): 10 songs
Confrontation (1983): 10 songs
Check out our fantastic and entertaining Bob Marley articles, detailing in-depth the band’s albums, songs, band members, and more…all on ClassicRockHistory.com
Kneecap‘s Mo Chara, aka Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, has been charged with a terror offence following a Metropolitan Police investigation into allegations that he displayed a flag in support of proscribed organisation Hezbollah at a gig in London last year.
The police charge is that the rapper was displaying the flag at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London on November 21 “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation.” After being made aware of video footage from the gig, an investigation led to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorising the charge.
Ó hAnnaidh, 27, is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism, which reported the rapper to the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command have welcomed the prosecution.
Kneecap have issued a statement in response to the charge which they deny, and which they claim is “political policing” from the “British establishmemt”.
Their statement adds:
“This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is.
“As they profit from genocide, they use an ‘anti-terror law’ against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage. A charge not serious enough to even warrant their crown court, instead a court that doesn’t have a jury. What’s the objective?
“To restrict our ability to travel. To prevent us speaking to young people across the world. To silence voices of compassion. To prosecute artists who dare speak out.
“We stand proudly with the people,” the statement concludes. “You stand complicit with the war criminals. We are on the right side of history. You are not.
“We will fight you in court. We will win. Free Palestine.”
Video footage of the band’s performance at the 02 Forum circulated on social media following the West Belfast trio’s controversial performance at Coachella festival, which led to discussions about the band in the UK Parliament.
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At the Californian festival, the trio displayed messaging, stating “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. Fuck Israel, Free Palestine.”
This drew widespread condemnation and accusations of anti-semitism against the group from British MPs, and individuals within the music industry, and led to the group and their US booking agency parting company.
Sharon Osbourne was among the most vocal critics of the band, claiming that Coachella “compromised its moral and spiritual integrity” by allowing Kneecap (and Green Day and others) to criticise Israel from its stages. Osbourne suggested that Kneecap’s visas for future US gigs should be revoked.
In an unrelated incident, connected to a gig one year earlier, a band member was also accused of saying, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
This led to condemnation of the group from the families of murdered Conservative MP David Amess, and murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, and provoked calls for the band to be taken off British festival bills, including Glastonbury and TRNSMT.
In a subsequent statement, Kneecap apologised to the families of both late MPs.
Israel has been accused of carrying out genocidal acts during the ongoing war in Gaza by numerous organisations, including the UN Human Rights Council. Israel’s military campaign, sparked by the October 2023 terrorist attack by Hamas on Israeli soil that saw around 1,200 people killed and 251 people taken hostage, has resulted in the death of over 50,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel has denied any genocidal intent, which requires certain thresholds to be met in order to be legally recognised; a case brought forward by South Africa to the The International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians is ongoing.
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.
Ghost‘s new Skeletour, which launched in the UK last month, is the greatest rock show on earth at present, a stunning, striking spectacle blending classic Ghost lore with Gothic symbolism, Brutalist architecture and the light and shade dynamics of a classic 1970s or ’80s stadium rock show.
It’s Ghost’s most theatrical and cinematic production to date, a living, breathing cathedral of performance, and for that you can thank both Tobias Forge and his creative collaborator and fellow Swede Tobias Rylander, an award-winning Light, Scenic and Conceptual designer whose storied CV includes work on Beyoncé’s Renaissance and Cowboy Carter tours, in addition to The 1975’s critically-acclaimed At Their Very Best world tour, plus production work for The Strokes, Childish Gambino, FKA Twigs and more.
With phones banned from the Skeletour, an initiative which means audiences approach each night of the tour with open minds and only vague ideas as to the magic which is about to unfold, you’ll need to grab a ticket to experience the fully immersive multimedia spectacular for yourself. But speaking to Metal Hammer from Chicago, where he’s currently on tour with Beyoncé, the chilled-out, affable and supremely talented Tobias Rylander reveals how he brought Ghost’s new sanctum of darkness to life.
(Image credit: Tobias Rylander)
How did you first get involved in stage design Tobias?
“That’s a really long story, but it started in Stockholm in a club called Kafé 44, which is sort of the equivalent of CBGBs in in New York City, a small, left wing, independent music cafe. I started to do lighting there in my early 20s in down time when I wasn’t touring with my garage rock band, Sons of Cyrus, who played with bands like The Hellacopters. Working at that club brought me into touring as a lighting technician for bands like Hellacopters, Sahara Hotnights, and Millencolin in Sweden, and that’s how it all started, as an accident in between tours.”
Going from doing lights in a tiny punk rock club to designing stages for Beyoncé’s Renaissance world tour is quite the journey…
“Yeah, I’ve been really blessed. Like I said, I have no education whatsoever, so I’ve been absolutely self taught. I used to take maybe six lights and a console on the tour bus, and do everything myself: programming, setting up the lights, and running them. In 2012 I was asked to do more and more design work, for acts like The xx and The Strokes, at which point it became too much for me to do everything, myself. That’s how I started like to drift more and more into not just doing the design, but also production design. So if there was custom risers being built, or video screens, I started to design that, and decide how things looked more holistically.”
Everyone in the music industry, especially in Sweden, was very aware of Ghost, because they were so special and mythical.
Tobias Rylander
How long have been aware of Ghost, and how long have you known Tobias Forge?
“I’ve been aware of them, and been a fan, since they started: from their early years I think everyone in the music industry, especially in Sweden, was very aware of them, because they were so special and mythical. But it wasn’t until last year that I got to know Tobias [Forge]. I designed the lighting for a ballet at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, which my friend Amir Chamdin wrote and directed, and Amir is also the videographer for Tobias Forge, and Ghost, so he introduced me to Tobias, and we really liked each other, and that’s how he started working together.”
Is it important for you to like and respect the artist that you’re going to work with?
“Oh, absolutely, yeah. It’s really difficult if you don’t like the music, or believe in the artist, and if they’re true or not. I’ve tried it a couple of times, and the results have always been mediocre, but then because I don’t believe in what I’m doing.”
So what was the starting point for your creative fusion with Tobias?
“It’s really nice to work with an artist who really knows what they want, and Tobias is one of those artists. He knows more or less exactly how he wants it, so I’m just interpreting his vision, and with my experience and knowledge of the touring industry, I’m basically saying, This is probably how it could be done to look the way that you want it to. He definitely presents the conceptual ideas. There’s so much lore and and history in Ghost, with the the different Papas and the growth of Ghost, it’s almost like a cult. So I had to do a lot of research on my own, and study Ghost to know where they’ve been before, and what they’ve done before, and then sort of bring that into this new chapter, and add new layers. So that’s where we sort of started: where have they been, and where do they want to go? And I would consider Tobias a very generous artist in terms of what he gives the audience. There’s no expenses spared on the spectacle.”
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Ghost at Uber Arena, Berlin, May 7, 2025 (Image credit: Jakubaszek/Redferns)
And how do you balance budgetary concerns with creativity?
“Well, in this case, it’s actually more physical limitations. Tobias is a big dreamer and really ambitious. So in in this case, it’s actually about taking into considerations the number of trucks needed, or like, load in times and number of crew, that is the limitation.”
Was there one thing in particular that you were keen to have as the centrepiece of this production?“Absolutely, we knew that we wanted to do the Grucifix [a dynamic lighting rig inspired by their Ghost’s logo]: it’s something that Tobias had always wanted to implement into the show. So that became the centrepiece. It took a couple of different shapes and forms, but I’m really happy with how it turned out. I call it the Centipede as well, because it almost becomes organic with the way that it behaves and moves and automates. And we also knew that we wanted to go retro with it, kinda evoking an old Van Halen metal rig. So it’s an old aesthetic with new technology.”
When you’re in pre-production, watching your vision being realised on the stage, is it exciting for you? Or do you have to keep a professional head on and watch and analyse all the moving parts?
“Oh, I never hold back on the excitement. That’s why we do this. We build dreams. I’m a huge Kiss fan, so to be allowed to build basically big old Kiss shows with flames, I’m like a child in a candy shop, or a toy store.”
One of the really cool things about this tour is that, because there’s no phones allowed, people aren’t seeing the whole show on YouTube before they step into a venue, so they’re virgins to the show.
“Yeah, absolutely. I was almost shocked, really surprised, with how I felt in the room. Because I have been to phone-less shows before, but with Ghost fans, it was really special, with so many people actually sharing an experience without distractions. Without documenting it you just leave all that stress and anxiety that your phone brings behind. I was a little skeptical, but it just took one show to realise how special it was.”
When I spoke to Tobias about the Rite Here Rite Now film, he mentioned that he would love to do more acting, or directing. With your background, is that something that you might be interested in collaborating on?
“I would love that! It would be so much fun. We should make another Kiss Meets The Phantom In The Park!“
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.
Feature Photo: aliina s., CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
There was no scene in 1990s Leicester waiting for Kasabian—so they built one themselves, stitching together beats, riffs, and revolution in a city not known for spawning chart-topping rock bands. What began in 1997 as a small collective of school friends calling themselves Saracuse—Tom Meighan, Sergio Pizzorno, Chris Edwards, and Chris Karloff—quickly evolved into a force with a distinct sonic identity. Their early recordings experimented with rock structure layered over electronic textures, pointing toward a new kind of British band unafraid to fuse traditional guitar energy with synthesizers and breakbeats. With a rough edge and an obsession for pushing boundaries, they laid the groundwork for what would become one of the U.K.’s most distinctive modern rock exports.
Their debut album, Kasabian, arrived in 2004 with a fully-formed vision. The record introduced the world to the band’s fusion of psychedelia, indie rock, and electronic swagger. Fueled by singles like “Club Foot” and “L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever),” the album climbed to number four on the U.K. Albums Chart and earned platinum status. Live shows became essential to their momentum, with frontman Tom Meighan commanding crowds with ferocity while Pizzorno’s songwriting and sonic direction hinted at a far more experimental future. With the addition of Ian Matthews on drums, the band’s classic lineup was solidified just as their visibility exploded.
Their second album, Empire, released in 2006, was shaped by internal friction and a shifting creative center. Co-founder and lead guitarist Chris Karloff left the group mid-recording due to artistic differences, leaving Sergio Pizzorno as the band’s sole creative driver. The album, a darker and more bombastic follow-up, debuted at number one on the U.K. chart. Its title track “Empire” and the glam-stomp “Shoot the Runner” pushed their sound further into festival territory while sharpening their social commentary. The record solidified the band’s place in a post-Britpop landscape as serious innovators.
By the time West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum was released in 2009, Kasabian had redefined themselves again. The concept album—a bold departure into psych-rock theatrics—debuted at number one in the U.K. and earned a Mercury Prize nomination. The single “Fire” became one of their most iconic songs, widely embraced by both mainstream audiences and football stadiums across Europe. The record’s genre-defying range and cinematic ambition elevated the band from cult heroes to national headliners. This marked the beginning of their domination on the British festival circuit.
In 2011, Velociraptor! arrived with another number one debut. The album showcased Kasabian’s willingness to experiment with orchestral elements, Middle Eastern instrumentation, and classic rock textures, all while retaining their unmistakable rhythmic backbone. Singles like “Days Are Forgotten” and “Re-Wired” were met with critical praise for their fearless production choices. The band was no longer simply about anthems—they were about creating soundscapes that felt explosive yet intricately composed.
Two years later, Kasabian returned with 48:13, a minimalist album in title but not in impact. Named for its total run time, the 2014 release marked a heavier lean into electronic terrain, with tracks like “Eez-eh” showing their club-friendly instincts. The record once again topped the U.K. Albums Chart, making it their fourth consecutive number one. That same year, they headlined the Glastonbury Festival, delivering a swaggering set that proved they were not just studio auteurs but dominant live performers capable of uniting massive audiences.
2017’s For Crying Out Loud maintained the band’s chart dominance with another U.K. number one. The album balanced their signature sonic aggression with more melodic pop sensibilities. Singles such as “You’re in Love with a Psycho” and “Bless This Acid House” leaned into a looser, cheekier tone, giving fans an album that embraced absurdity while never abandoning their rhythmic roots. Critics were divided, but commercially the album cemented their status as one of the U.K.’s most reliable rock acts.
The band’s path shifted drastically in 2020 when frontman Tom Meighan departed following a highly publicized legal incident. With Meighan out, many questioned whether Kasabian could continue. Instead of folding, Sergio Pizzorno took over lead vocals and redefined the band once more. Their next album, The Alchemist’s Euphoria, released in 2022, was their first without Meighan. Debuting at number one on the U.K. Albums Chart, the record affirmed that Kasabian was more than the sum of its parts. Singles like “ALYGATYR” and “Chemicals” embraced a darker, more introspective tone while showcasing Pizzorno’s growth as both frontman and visionary.
In July 2024, Kasabian released their eighth studio album, Happenings, marking their seventh number one album in the U.K. With tracks like “Algorithms” and “Darkest Lullaby,” the album leaned into groove-driven production and art rock arrangements. The record’s success placed Kasabian in the rarefied company of British acts like Muse, Elton John, and Blur—all bands with seven or more U.K. chart-toppers. Happenings was also a statement that the band’s reinvention was not just viable—it was thriving.
Beyond their studio output, Kasabian have been a dominant force on the U.K. live scene, earning repeated accolades including NME’s Best Live Act in 2007 and 2018. Their shows are high-energy, immersive experiences that blend visuals, beats, and bombast. They’ve headlined nearly every major British festival and remain one of the most in-demand rock acts in Europe. Their 2014 homecoming concert in Leicester’s Victoria Park to celebrate Leicester City’s Premier League win drew over 50,000 fans, underscoring their cultural importance to their hometown.
In terms of awards, the band took home the 2010 Brit Award for Best British Group and have won multiple Q Awards, including Best Act in the World Today. These recognitions are the byproduct of years spent evolving, risk-taking, and refusing to become stagnant. Their career has been defined not by one sound, but by their capacity to transform and still connect with a massive audience.
Offstage, the band has stayed connected to their roots in Leicester, with Pizzorno in particular embracing local causes and artistic projects. Their involvement in community efforts and visibility in the city have made them not just celebrities, but hometown ambassadors. They’ve also participated in various benefit concerts and have used their platform for charitable initiatives.
Kasabian’s legacy lies in their refusal to follow predictable arcs. From their self-produced early demos to stadium-headlining sets, from the rise of “Club Foot” to the aftermath of a major lineup change, they have shown remarkable endurance and artistic flexibility. Their discography offers a unique chronicle of 21st-century British rock—from swagger and psychedelia to reinvention and resilience.
Complete List Of Kasabian Songs From A to Z
(Levitation) – 48:13 – 2014
(Mortis) – 48:13 – 2014
(Shiva) – 48:13 – 2014
Acid Turkish Bath (Shelter from the Storm) – Velociraptor! – 2011
Æ Sea – The Alchemist’s Euphoria – 2022
Æ Space – The Alchemist’s Euphoria – 2022
Alchemist – The Alchemist’s Euphoria – 2022
Algorithms – Happenings – 2024
All Through the Night – For Crying Out Loud – 2017
Alygatyr – The Alchemist’s Euphoria – 2022
Apnoea – Empire – 2006
Are You Looking for Action? – For Crying Out Loud – 2017
Beanz – 48:13 – 2014
Bird in a Cage – Happenings – 2024
Bless This Acid House – For Crying Out Loud – 2017
Bow – 48:13 – 2014
British Legion – Empire – 2006
Bumblebeee – 48:13 – 2014
Butcher Blues – Kasabian – 2004
By My Side – Empire – 2006
Call – Happenings – 2024
Chemicals – The Alchemist’s Euphoria – 2022
Clouds – 48:13 – 2014
Club Foot – Kasabian – 2004
Comeback Kid – For Crying Out Loud – 2017
Coming Back to Me Good – Happenings – 2024
Cunny Grope Lane – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum – 2009
Cutt Off – Kasabian – 2004
Darkest Lullaby – Happenings – 2024
Days Are Forgotten – Velociraptor! – 2011
Doomsday – 48:13 – 2014
Eez-eh – 48:13 – 2014
Empire – Empire – 2006
Explodes – 48:13 – 2014
Fast Fuse – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum – 2009
Fire – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum – 2009
G.O.A.T – Happenings – 2024
Gelfling – 48:13 – 2014
Glass – 48:13 – 2014
Good Fight – For Crying Out Loud – 2017
Goodbye Kiss – Velociraptor! – 2011
Happiness – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum – 2009
Hell of It – Happenings – 2024
Heroes – Empire – 2006
How Far Will You Go – Happenings – 2024
I Hear Voices – Velociraptor! – 2011
I.D. – Kasabian – 2004
Ill Ray (The King) – For Crying Out Loud – 2017
Italian Horror – Happenings – 2024
Ketang – Empire – 2006
L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever) – Kasabian – 2004
La Fée Verte – Velociraptor! – 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen, Roll the Dice – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum – 2009
Last Trip (In Flight) – Empire – 2006
Let’s Roll Just Like We Used To – Velociraptor! – 2011
![Catch A Fire [LP]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KNcJ9ueBL._SL500_.jpg)
![Burnin' [LP]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61gtOhKl1UL._SL500_.jpg)
![Exodus [LP]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31b80xcpcxL._SL500_.jpg)
