Winds of change

SEEMINGLY OUT OF nowhere, the Darkness swooped out of Suffolk, England, and onto the international music scene in 2003 with their high-voltage debut, Permission to Land. At a time when hipster bands i

Few guitarists are loved as equally for their acoustic work as their electric playing but such is the unique talent of Richard Thompson . We meet him to find out how he’s preparing to go head-to-head with Tommy Emmanuel, chat about the end of his touring days, and talk alternative tunings

He’s a musician who never plans for anything, but Tangerine Dream fans can rejoice in not just the 50th-anniversary reissue of Phaedra , but also a new album from one of its creators. Synth maestro Peter Baumann makes a welcome return with Nightfall , which continues his ongoing exploration of the human condition. He tells Prog why he prefers to do things in a haphazard way and why he wishes he’d had the chance to work with Edgar Froese again.

PROLIFIC SONGWRITER BOB Mould is a reluctant generational icon. Sure, he’s proud of his musical accomplishments and realizes he has been a major inspiration for a wide range of mainstream acts, includ

Eleven years after his first ambitious homage to Mike Oldfield, Robert Reed is back with the long-awaited fourth instalment in his Sanctuary series. With a little help from Oldfield collaborators Les Penning, Tom Newman and drummer Simon Phillips, the Magenta and Cyan mastermind tells Prog about his mission to keep long-form music alive.

Amid the mayhem of his European tour, Joe takes time out to give us a guided tour around his 2025 live gear, delivers the lowdown on some of his more storied guitars, and tells us why his mighty multi-amp rig has to run at breaking point in order to make the earth move and those riffs resonate…