Bon Jovi Forever (Legendary Edition) ISLAND Jon Bon ...

Brett Anderson and Mat Osman guide us through 30 years plus of catchy, dramatic alternative rock

Welcome to the second of our special Review Of The Year joint interviews. Here, indie provocateur BAXTER DURY and Sleaford Mods’ splenetic frontman JASON WILLIAMSON turn their attentions to the landscape, musical or otherwise, of 2025. Stand by for a bleak, brash, honest and often humorous assessment of the year just gone. Their conclusions? “We’re just flogging this dead horse, aren’t we?” they tell Mark Beaumont

After releasing four solo albums under his own name, Riverside frontman Mariusz Duda has turned his attention back to Lunatic Soul . He’s rightly proud of The World Under Unsun , an ambitious new double album that he refers to as his “calling card”, but could it spell the end of this particular outlet? He tells Prog why he’s gone big and bold on his eighth release under the LS banner and reveals his plans for the future.

Prog’s favourite dog whisperer Rick Wakeman has taken an unexpected path on his latest release, Melancholia . The virtuoso musician explains the inspiration behind his new piano album of originals and reveals his exciting plans for the English Rock Ensemble, which include a “full-on” prog record with a tribute to his old friend David Bowie.

Barclay James Harvest ’s co-founding singer and guitarist John Lees has been leading his iteration of the prog overlords since the band split into two separate entities in 1998. With a new studio album – their first in 12 years – having recently landed, Lees joins Prog to chew over the band’s legacy, the perils of playing to 250,000 fans by the Berlin Wall, and why the door has seemingly been left ajar for future live dates and, whisper it, even a reunion.