Hipgnosis is the Gift that Keeps Giving
Sean MurphyThe image above --no matter how immediately recognizable or important it happens to be to you-- is more significant than you may realize. If you don't know it, or understand…
Roll the Stone Away: Jethro Tull’s ‘A Passion Play’ at 50
During the years between my senior year in high school and my sophomore year of college Jethro Tull went from being an important band in my life to, by far,…
I’ll See You on the Dark Side of the Moon: Rock Music’s Apex at 50
It doesn't matter whether Pink Floyd's masterpiece is the best rock album of all time (just as we can agree that there are other worthy contenders for the imaginary throne,…
Jeff Beck: The Guitar Grandmaster
As impossible at it is to believe Jeff Beck has died (aged 78), it’s just as difficult to fathom that he was with us in the first place. If you’re…
Yes: Close to the Edge at 50
Listening to Yes is like listening to opera: the words are, or may as well be, in a different language. It’s all about the sounds: that voice, those instruments, that…
Roger Waters: Shining On
There are so many musicians I admire, a smaller circle I adore, a smaller one still I revere, and a relative handful I’m grateful for. Artists whose work has changed…
RIP Ian McDonald: MVP of the Best Prog Album Ever
If Ian McDonald had done nothing other than be a crucial (arguably the crucial) member of the band that, in 1969, recorded the album that launched a thousand pretentious, proggy,…
Graeme Edge: The Right Guy for the Era
Prog rock (in general) and the Moody Blues (in particular) needed that guy, and Graeme Edge was that guy. His spoken word was exactly what that era demanded, distilling the…
Robert Fripp at 75: The King of the Court
Happy 75th to an artist who has not merely helped shape and define whatever it is, exactly, prog rock has managed to encompass, but as a positive force for music:…