Simon Neil leads a back on top Biffy ...

In 2001, the suicide of Big Country ’s Stuart Adamson shocked music fans all over the world. How had the man once lauded by DJ John Peel as ‘Scotland’s answer to Jimi Hendrix’ ended up taking his own life? In an exclusive extract from a new book, we look at the inside story of their debut album The Crossing .

IT WAS ONCE written of the Wedding Present that they are a band “whose world you either buy into fully or not at all.” Founder-frontman David Gedge takes a beat to consider this, then smiles at the id

Following Richey Edwards’ disappearance and the “commercial disaster” of The Holy Bible , the MANIC STREET PREACHERS were told that this is the end. Instead, they roared back with an unassailable anthem heralding one of the biggest British albums of the ’90s. Sam Richards celebrates 30 years of Everything Must Go : “It was the most spectacular feeling,” says Nicky Wire. “That period when you go over the top...”

Marcus Mumford hasn’t had running water at his West Country home for a couple of days when we meet. He’s considering checking into a budget hotel just to get a proper wash. “We’ve had storms. There’s

A choir on one of Germany’s Big Four thrash bands’ new album? “We always did our own thing.”