Jeff beck

SEPTEMBER 2025 TAKE 342

In 1974, Mike Oldfield defied the critics and hit the top of the UK charts with Hergest Ridge, the ambitious follow-up to his unexpectedly successful debut Tubular Bells . To coincide with the release of the 50th-anniversary edition, the musician, his siblings and collaborators recount the story of an album created by an overwhelmed 21-year-old taking refuge near the Welsh borders.

Will we ever know the true story of this fabled guitar? For some it’s iconic, for others it was simply a cobbled together working tool for a master…

The month’s best guitar music – a hand-picked selection of the finest fretwork on wax

John Lennon called them “sons of The Beatles”. Axl Rose said there was nothing like them. But how did a trio of Brummies create the progressive orchestral pop rock band who eventually became a global phenomenon following 1975’s breakthrough album Face The Music ?

Alexander Larman on Theatre FOR ROCK FANS ...