Happy trails

Bringing a hard-rock swagger and the majesty of metal to their own brand of prog rock, Magic Pie break a six-year studio silence with Maestro . Frontman Eiríkur Hauksson tells Prog about being a metalhead in a prog world, writing songs at bus stops, and feeling the heat on Cruise To The Edge.

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.

The great and good of progressive music give us a glimpse into their prog worlds. As told to Grant Moon.

Singer-songwriter and the voice of the Genesis Revisited shows, Nad Sylvan has moved further away from his onstage persona with his latest solo album, Monumentata . He reveals the story behind the intimate record that pays homage to his late father and finds him mixing up influences – from Pink Floyd and Keith Emerson to The Addams Family !

PETER GILES