The Doors: Many Happy Returns To 'The Doors'

As 1967’s Summer of Love swirled around Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, the free spirits of the hippie movement reached their zenith in a cocktail of sex, drugs, music and anti- Vietnam war sentiment.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 06 January 2017

Stereoboard's Staff Picks 2016

With Stereoboard’s top 50 albums of 2016 now out in the world, it’s time to get up close and personal. Head below to check out individual lists from our staff and contributors. Happy listening.

Written by: Stereoboard | Date: Wednesday, 21 December 2016

50 From 2016: Stereoboard's Albums Of The Year

td#right {display:none !important;} It’s the most wonderful time of the year...list time. It might seem like a lot to take in, but here are some solid gold picks from 12 months of reviews at Stereoboard. They’re not in any order, so think of this as a digital vinyl bin.  Happy discovering/reminiscing/listening. We'll see you in 2017.

Written by: Stereoboard | Date: Monday, 19 December 2016

Reigning Champion: Why Freddie Mercury Is Still The Greatest

You could spend a billion dollars, use all the futuristic technology at your disposal and have a crack team of scientists working around the clock, but attempts to custom build the perfect rock ‘n’ roll frontman will always be futile. Why? Well, because the results will always pale in comparison to Queen’s Freddie Mercury.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 19 December 2016

David Bowie: Many Happy Returns To 'Hunky Dory'

This year will be remembered in future as one of great loss. Legend is a term loosely applied these days but the late Merle Haggard, Prince and Leonard Cohen all comfortably fell into the category. It was David Bowie, though, whose passing was perhaps widest felt.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 15 December 2016

Creative Outlet: Black Foxxes Talk 'I'm Not Well' And Future Plans

Last summer, Modern Baseball had plans. The Philadelphia pop-punk band were set to play Reading and Leeds festivals and tour Australia, both big events for a group still in its relative infancy, but scratched them from the calendar at short notice. Brendan Lukens, one of their two guitarist-vocalists, needed to take some time out to deal with long-standing anxiety and depression. “After the last few months it's evident that it's time to put everything else aside to focus on making steps towards positive mental health,” he wrote at the time.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Smash The Status Quo: Gojira's Unstoppable Rise Through The Metal Ranks

“We are Gojira and this song is called Back. Fucking. Bone.”

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 06 December 2016

Keeping It Honest: The Shires Talk 'My Universe' And The Rise Of Country Music In The UK

When it comes to British country duo The Shires, the word remarkable seems apt. After only three years as a band the achievements and accolades they’ve accrued are impressive enough, but considering they’ve done it playing a style of music that, not so long ago, was about as welcome on this side of the Atlantic as a fox in a hen house, their story is all the more interesting.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 05 December 2016

Still Standing: Billy Talent Talk Longevity And 'Afraid Of Heights'

I can’t remember what I was doing 25 years ago, but that’s probably because I was a six-year-old maniac who spent most days running around/into the dining room table. Billy Talent frontman Ben Kowalewicz remembers the early ‘90s well. Back then, his life revolved around garage bands in Mississauga, Ontario. And from where he was sitting, Ian D’Sa was the best guitarist in town.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 28 November 2016

Pick Up The Pen: Fliptrix On The Thriving UK Hip Hop Scene And 'Patterns Of Escapism'

Photo: AboveGround Fliptrix isn’t "just a rapper". In many ways, he’s carried the UK hip hop scene on his shoulders for over half a decade. Since setting up High Focus Records in 2010 he’s helped launch the careers of artists who are now considered innovators: Jam Baxter, Ocean Wisdom, Dirty Dike. The list goes on.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Wednesday, 23 November 2016

Alter Bridge: Mark Tremonti Talks Creative Partnerships, 'The Last Hero' And Future Goals

With song titles like Show Me A leader, Writing On The Wall and Island of Fools, Alter Bridge’s ‘The Last Hero’ seemed incredibly timely when it was released in October. A month later, following the outcome of the US election, the anger and bewilderment contained within its bombastic, angst-ridden tracks now appear terrifyingly prophetic.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 21 November 2016

For Better Or Worse: The Legacy of Bon Jovi's 'Slippery When Wet'

Beyond the sales numbers that run well into eight figures. Beyond the way it catapulted its creators to superstardom. And beyond the pin-up good looks of the band’s frontman, Bon Jovi’s 1986 breakthrough ‘Slippery When Wet’ was a game-changing release with far-reaching consequences. It reinvigorated the ‘80s rock scene, only to play an unwitting part in its demise.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 17 November 2016

Knowledge Transfer: My Chemical Romance's Ray Toro Returns With Solo Bow 'Remember The Laughter'

Changing nappies might not get the blood pumping like headlining Reading Festival with Brian May at your side, but having a baby puts all that stuff into perspective. The awards, the sold-out crowds, the adoration and disdain...it’s all disposable. It’s all gone if you want it to be.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 15 November 2016

Life Moves Pretty Fast: Brian Fallon On Going Solo With 'Painkillers' And His Next Step

Brian Fallon fronted the Gaslight Anthem for 10 years; long enough for his name to become synonymous with a brand of from-the-heart punk songs cut from classic American rock cloth. Last summer, though, he went it alone.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 14 November 2016

Crazy, Shreddy, Raw: Less Than Jake's 'Losing Streak' Turns 20

Photos: Less Than Jake at Fest 15 by Gaëlle​ Pitrel History will show that ska-punk’s time under the mainstream spotlight was as short as it was goofy and weird. Most people filed it away in a box alongside a battered pair of check Vans a long time ago. But not Less Than Jake. Nor, it’s fair to say, the thousands who packed out Brixton Academy a few weeks ago to sweat away a Thursday night with them.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 10 November 2016

All About The South: Jaren Johnston On The Cadillac Three And Writing For Country's Big Names

It must be great being Jaren Johnston right about now. Not only have his band, the Cadillac Three, released a strong contender for album of the year with ‘Bury Me In My Boots’, he’s also one of Nashville’s most sought after songwriters and is set to become a father for the first time in the spring.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 04 November 2016

Yourself or Someone Like You: The Polarising Power of Matchbox Twenty

The old superhero maxim states that with great power comes great responsibility. But it’s an adage that can often be retooled and applied to successful bands: “With great acclaim and sales comes great hatred and derision.” In the case of Matchbox Twenty that was certainly true after the group’s mega-selling debut album, ‘Yourself or Someone Like You’, helped forge their reputation as one of the most adored and loathed American rock outfits of the post-grunge era. With the record currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, a reappraisal is long overdue.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 02 November 2016

The Personal Is Political: Kevin Devine Navigates Good Times And Bad On 'Instigator'

Leafing through photographs at his mother’s house, Kevin Devine found a picture that would help his new record, ‘Instigator’, make sense. In it, a Christmas tree shimmers in the background of his childhood apartment on Bay Ridge Parkway in Brooklyn. On one side, Kevin shouts his heart out. On the other his younger brother, Dan, raises a wrestling championship over his head like a post-flying elbow Randy Savage. “I was back there when I saw it,” Devine said.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 27 October 2016

Still Unique After All These Years: DJ Shadow's 'Endtroducing.....' Turns 20

‘Endtroducing.....’ is the record that broke DJ Shadow, the Californian turntablist, in the US and UK, while simultaneously helping to define trip-hop; a uniquely ambient hip-hop subgenre. It’s an album that influenced a generation of producers and one that has been described as “trip-hop’s crowning achievement”. At 20, it remains in rude health.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 26 October 2016

The Human League: Many Happy Returns To 'Dare'

In 1981, the Human League saw their career hit the stratosphere. But to get there, the previously arty Sheffield electro band had to endure a severing of ties. Their first two albums, ‘Reproduction’ and ‘Travelogue’, were  made by the original line-up - singer Philip Oakey and keyboard wizards Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware alongside visual artist Philip Adrian Wright - and amounted to a creatively intriguing but commercially indifferent start.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 24 October 2016