The art of war

WE WERE THE first band of our generation that started to grow up,” Billy Corgan says, reflecting on the making of the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1995 grand opus, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. “The b

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.

Forty years ago this September, Kate Bush released Hounds Of Love . Her fifth studio record reinstated her position as one of the most innovative and creative artists of all time and yielded the (future) chart-topper Running Up That Hill . But its creation wasn’t always smooth. Here’s the story behind one of Bush’s best-loved albums.

Kate Bush ’s fifth album combines hit singles with a seven-song conceptual suite, all expressing the unmistakable style of one of progressive music’s most uncompromising visionaries. To mark 40 years of inspiration, The Anchoress, Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel, Auri’s Johanna Kurkela, The Blackheart Orchestra’s Chrissy Mostyn and Exploring Birdsong’s Lynsey Ward celebrate the enduring magic and influence of Hounds Of Love .

Sarah Ditum on Pop IN NOVEMBER 1995, ...

As Dolly Parton once remarked, it takes a lot of money to look this cheap. The same might be said of Blur’s fifth, self-titled record, whose lo-fi aesthetic belies the sophistication of the artistry a