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Latest Features

“It’s like Brian May walked over to his tone booth and just turned it up to 11!” Kirk Hammett names his favorite Queen song – and it’s a seriously deep cut
By Jonathan Horsley published
Metallica may have covered Stone Cold Crazy, but that’s not Hammett’s no. 1…

“We did a Pepsi Challenge on the Klon!” Henry James of Robert Jon & The Wreck names his favorite pedals – and his no. 1 Klon clone
By Tom Poak published
It's the return of Pedalpocalypse, “the Desert Island Discs for pedals”, with Henry James from Robert Jon & The Wreck and King Tree & The Earth Mothers on the three pedals he would take with him in the event of a future lockdown

“I met Ritchie Blackmore during the Sepultura days. At first, he wasn’t interested in talking to anybody. But the minute I asked, ‘Do you like football?’ he said, ‘Yes – come with me!’” Max Cavalera names 10 guitarists who shaped his sound
By Amit Sharma published
The metal pioneer reveals how to score private time with Ritchie Blackmore, the reality of trying to cover Tony Iommi, what Chuck Shuldiner would be doing today – and why he’s finally playing all six strings… on a James Hetfield guitar

“George Martin wasn’t going to leave his own studio, and Jeff never gave directions or said much, so there was nobody telling us what to do”: Listen to Wilbur Bascomb’s bassline on Jeff Beck’s Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
By Chris Jisi published
New York session bassist Wilbur Bascomb Jr. recorded on Jeff Beck’s 1976 version of this Charles Mingus ballad

“Mötley Crüe was a whole different animal from what I’m doing. Writing the anthems was what the band was all about. Then it got a little sideways…” Mick Mars opens up on the highs and lows of life in Mötley Crüe – and his solo rebirth
By Joe Bosso published
The legendary Crüe guitarist looks back on the good times and bad times with the world’s most outrageous band, how he knew it was time to retire from the road (but not the group), and why his hard-hitting new solo album is and isn’t a blues record

“My being fired was premature… We’d wrapped pre-production on Killers but I never got the chance to record”: Meet Dennis Stratton, the man who brought harmony guitars to Iron Maiden
By Andrew Daly published
Armed with a Les Paul Custom copy and an obscenely heavy old combo amp, Stratton only discovered metal when he joined the future giants – and left them the legacy of harmony guitar attack

“Every band wants to have a Sgt. Pepper’s type of moment. And American Idiot was that moment for us”: Billie Joe Armstrong on the making of the magnum opus that saved Green Day
By Richard Bienstock published
The world's biggest punk band faced a crossroads in 2004 and it was a case of go big or go home. Armstrong explains how they supersized their sound – and saved the band

“I was playing a gig with Jack Bruce and one of my amps suddenly burst into flames!” Robin Trower's onstage disasters and famous firsts
By Joe Matera published
The genius behind Bridge of Sighs talks flaming amps, favorite Strats and why he still practices every day – even if he didn't do it all that much when he was younger

“Jack loved that a kid like me, with a blue mohawk and plaid guitar, was making the songs my own – playing Cream and doing divebombs in the corner”: Blues Saraceno toured with Clapton’s Cream bandmates, recorded for Cher and had a bumpy ride with Poison
By Andrew Daly published
The ‘kid who replaced Clapton’ as a teenager and landed a double-salary stint with Poison moved into TV, movies and videogame soundtracks – and doesn’t plan to come back
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