The Crystal Palace was originally built in Hyde Park for the first World Exposition in 1851, a structure designed to be temporary with...

I bought myself a bass guitar shortly after my 18th birthday, a Fender Precision copy with a sunburst finish and no manufacturer’s...

If we accept that the progressive rock genre started in 1969 and proto prog has been around since 1967 it’s hardly surprising that, given...

Ten years ago I was sitting in an MBA tutor group, discussing the pharmaceutical industry when I casually announced my belief that the...

I visited the You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966 - 1970 exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in November...

Machu Picchu Ever since Tales from Topographic Oceans was released in 1973, I’ve been entranced by not just the music, but also by the...

Sometime in July my wife forwarded me an Amazon recommendation, Peter Hammill and the K Group Live At Rockpalast – Hamburg 1981, a DVD...

Anti-Brexit demonstration (Photo: Wix) I remember the UK joining the EEC in 1973 better than I remember the last time the UK took part in...

Getting into music in 1972 meant that I may have missed out on records released on some of the early, innovative imprints like Decca’s...

Paul Whitehead's cover illustration for Foxtrot (1972) Though Get ‘em out by Friday (from Foxtrot by Genesis, 1972) was a piece of social...

The desire for the authentic sounds of the 70s harboured by some modern prog bands has led to a quiet revolution in digital samples. The...

Already 2016 seems to have been blighted by more high-profile musician deaths than previous years. I was still reading articles about Sir...

If musical genres were modes of transportation, prog would be some form of public transport and Italian prog would be a tram!

I’ve now set up my new Rega RP3 and have started to put on vinyl in preference to my somewhat larger collection of CDs. My first record...

(A guest blog by Mike Chavez) The scene: a dimly lit village hall around 7pm in a small town in rural Wiltshire. A group of middle-aged...

My thoughts go out to the families of the victims of Friday’s terrorist attacks in France (13/11/15). Such a cowardly and brutal attack...

I was offered, and accepted, a new job this week. My rolling post-retirement contract with the private organisation that was drafted in...

Chris Squire died on 27th June 2015. He was being treated for Acute Erythroid Leukaemia in Phoenix, Arizona. A true giant of the bass,...

The presentation of an album used to be one of the factors I took into account when I was attempting to discover new music at a time when...

It’s indisputable that progressive rock was a genre of grand concepts from the straightforward interpretation of classic novels (Camel’s...