Big Big Train cofounder Gregory Spawton on the records, artists and gigs that are of lasting significance to him.

Metallica ’s 1984 began with a gear heist and a cancelled UK tour; it ended with them being heavy metal’s Next Big Thing. Then came Master Of Puppets. This is the inside story of the making of that album and the two year whirlwind that took four “alcoholica” outcasts from the El Cerrito garage to the big time.

…For Randy’s friends to ask him whatever they hell they want. We sat the Lamb Of God frontman down for an all-star grilling

Musical chameleons Ulver have reinvented themselves yet again. With their 14th album, they’ve turned away from the progressive synthpop of their recent releases and delivered something more atmospheric. Mainman Kristoffer Rygg looks back on the personal strife and decades of deviation that have paved the way for Neverland.

Oh boy, at age 16 I can almost divvy my interests up as a 70/30 focus on the world. Seventy per cent was music. I was playing in a punk rock band, while also playing in a Joy Division-inspired new wav

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