In 2015 Prog asked Yes guitarist Steve Howe to name his five favourite songs from his band’s catalogue. As it turned out, all but one of them originated in the 70s. He explained why that was.
Turn Of The Century
From Going For The One (1977)
We went through a real vortex to find a way of presenting that song the way it is now, and it’s so magical. It was really deep, the music had to work. It draws on the soft side of Yes, like And You And I and Wonderous Stories, and it was astounding.
Jon had written lyrics about a sculptor [Roan] and so there was a furthering of the connection in there. It was really interesting project, and that song really did feel like a project. Turn Of The Century is central to Going For The One.
Siberian Khatru
From Close To The Edge (1972)
Well, I can’t choose the title track because that’s got so much in it! But …Khatru’s got a lot of elements that I think are really archetypal of the band at that time. Over the years when we were working on material we could have looked back and ask, “What would we have done with this in the days of Close To The Edge?” Maybe sometimes we didn’t ask that question enough.
My mind flashes to that album. I remember us playing Tempus Fugit before we actually met Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, but they added to that immensely. Trevor wrote all the words, as far as I remember, and Geoff helped orchestrate it, and Chris Squire, Alan White and I invented an awful lot of the structure of the song.
But the dynamic way we pulled it off, the speed was frightening. Songs often speed up on stage, but we always agree to play this one slower. There was a real drive to keep Yes going and Trevor and Geoff gave us a way to do it with relative ease. The direction was great on that album.
Ask me about Yes, and I’m only looking at the 70s. Not that I dislike the albums we made after that – some of them are very good. But there was a wonderful innocence about the 70s albums. South Side Of The Sky is like Starship Trooper in that it has three different sections, and three different senses of development.
It kind of rocks, and then it doesn’t. Then it’s light, partly down to the influences on the others – groups like the Fifth Dimension. It wasn’t what I brought to the party, but it’s a nice section.
For the guitar solo section at the end we weren’t content with a Leslie speaker so Mickey Tait – who went on to be a big sound and lighting guy – was spinning a microphone around his head to get that whooshing live sound. I can see him now with this microphone! There was a lot of fun experimentation.
Topographic Oceans was such a challenge – the construction, the rehearsal, then the studio. Jon and I were pushing this project along; the others were saying, ‘Are you sure? A double album and this is the first track?’ It needed Jon and me to say, ‘No no, it’s going to work!’ Side One and Four Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil) would be so playable now, like an album in themselves.
Those two sum up the project – the beginning and the end – and I choose the beginning. The Revealing Science Of God is about where you put yourself: if you put yourself where people are saying, ‘Wait, I’m not sure about this,’ it might actually be a good thing. Then after the record came out the press slagged it, and Rick left. But then, everybody loved it…
Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi is set to take the stage at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on Thursday, Sept. 17, for a rare evening dedicated entirely to his life story. The Birmingham date marks a one-night-only engagement built around Iommi‘s career and his lasting ties to the city that shaped him.
The timing lines up with a busy stretch for the guitarist. Iommi has more than 45 albums under his belt and is gearing up to release a new solo record, From The Dark, this October. That follows an MBE appointment he received back in June, adding to an already stacked list of honors and making this fall a fitting moment to hear the stories straight from the source.
Sports broadcaster and journalist Gary Newbon MBE, a fellow Midlands native, will lead the conversation on stage. Expect the night to move through tour tales, gig stories and a look at how Iommi built music that traveled far beyond Birmingham.
Few guitarists have shaped modern music the way Iommi has. As Black Sabbath‘s founding member and chief songwriter, he’s widely credited with laying the groundwork for heavy metal as a genre.
The recognition has piled up over the decades. Iommi holds multiple Grammy wins, a spot in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, an honorary doctorate from Coventry University, a Lord Mayor’s Award and the Freedom Of The City Of Birmingham. The MBE, awarded this past June, ranks among the highest honors available in British public life.
Iommi‘s signature sound traces back to a workplace accident in his youth that cost him the tips of two fingers. Rather than end his playing career, it pushed him toward a new technique and a heavier, darker tone that would go on to define Black Sabbath‘s music. He formed the band alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, and their run of albums through the 1970s turned them into one of Britain’s most significant musical exports of that decade.
Iommi‘s output hasn’t slowed much across six decades. He collaborated extensively with the late Ronnie James Dio, built out a solo catalog and reunited with Black Sabbath‘s original lineup for 2013’s chart-topping 13. That reunion carried through to “The End,” the band’s 2016-2017 farewell run that drew 1.6 million fans worldwide.
His recent work has stretched well past the standard rock circuit. In 2023, he partnered with the Birmingham Royal Ballet on “Black Sabbath – The Ballet,” a production built from his earliest compositions. Then in 2025, Black Sabbath headlined “Back To The Beginning” in Birmingham, a massive show that revisited the band’s roots and doubled as an emotional send-off for fans, arriving just weeks before Osbourne‘s death.
We’ve been waiting for this one for a while. Erykah Badu, one of our greatest living artists, hasn’t released a proper album since 2010’s New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh), and she hasn’t put out a full-length since her 2015 mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone. Some time back, though, Badu revealed that she was working on a new collaborative album with the Alchemist, the great and prolific psychedelic rap producer. A few months later, Badu and Alchemist shared their single “Next To You.” That was more than a year ago. Now, the album is finally on the way.
The Stray Cats, all three original members Brian Setzer on guitar and vocals, Lee Rocker on upright bass and vocals, and Slim Jim Phantom on drums and vocals; will wrap the summer leg of their 2026 tour with an August 18 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing one of the legendary group’s iconic hits. This marks the group’s first live late-night television performance in more than 35 years. Their last performance was in 1990 on The Late Show with David Letterman.
Later this year the band will return to the road with a month of fall dates kicking off November 9 in Grand Prairie, TX with stops in Nashville, Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta and more, before wrapping December 6 at Foxwoods in CT. The group’s setlists will be highlighted by some of the iconic multi-million selling band’s massive hits including “Stray Cat Strut,” “Rock This Town,” “Runaway Boys,” “(She’s) Sexy + 17,” and much more. The group’s ongoing 2026 tour dates and tickets are available here.
Last year, the iconic multi-million-selling band released two new tracks via Surfdog Records. The loud, upbeat “Stampede”, which is unmistakably The Stray Cats and their cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Teenage Heaven.” These songs mark the first new music in six years. Pre-order the 7-inch “old school” 45 RPM vinyl record here, available on July 24. Both “Stampede” and “Teenage Heaven” were produced by The Stray Cats, mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, and recorded at The Terrarium in Minneapolis, MN & Laguna Sound in Laguna Beach, CA. “Stampede” was written by Brian Setzer, Peter B. Antonio, Wally Zober, Bert Salmirs, and Mike Himelstein, while “Teenage Heaven” was penned by Jerry Capehart and Eddie Cochran.
The Stray Cats, the band that put Rockabilly music back on the record charts in the early ’80s, scored several big hits on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to a striking visual 1950’s style brought “up to date” with exaggerated pompadours and colorful tattoos and as well as genuine musical chops that evoked the best players of rockabilly’s original heyday. Formed by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer, upright bass player Lee Rocker and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, NY, in 1979, the trio shared a love for Rockabilly music. After banging around New York for a few months, in the summer of 1980, and seeing a pompadoured kid on the cover of UK magazine NME, they hopped a plane to London where a rockabilly revival movement was just beginning to emerge. Their massive hits and videos include “Runaway Boys,” “Rock This Town,” “Stray Cat Strut” “(She’s) Sexy + 17,” and “I Won’t Stand in Your Way.”
(Andy Synn tries to beat the heat with three more home-grown recommendations) It’s another hot one here in the UK right now, and people are definitely looking for something to take their minds off the oppressive heat. And in the absence of any particularly icy Black Metal to cool us down, I thought I’d instead […]
Renowned drummer, vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Brian Tichy is stepping into the spotlight with his latest musical venture, Led By Vultures, an explosive new band blending raw intensity, arena-sized hooks, uncompromising musicianship, and a fresh vision for modern hard rock.
Known for his powerhouse performances alongside some of rock’s most legendary artists, Tichy now takes center stage as the driving creative force and frontman behind Led By Vultures. The project marks a bold evolution in his career, fusing crushing riffs, thunderous rhythms, melodic aggression, and emotionally charged songwriting into a sound that is both timeless and urgent.
Drawing inspiration from the spirit of classic hard rock while pushing into fresh sonic territory, Led By Vultures delivers music built on unapologetic energy, powerful storytelling, and the electrifying chemistry that comes from decades of experience at the highest levels of rock performance.
The band’s latest single, “Waves,” showcases a more melodic and reflective side of Tichy’s songwriting. As he states, “Waves” is a song I’ve had for a long time. It’s a metaphorical idea about trying to find contentment as we travel through life. I had this “Floydian / Zeppish” chord progression I was messing with on an acoustic guitar tuned to open C. My bud Derek Sherinian, who co-wrote and played keyboards on it, heard me messing with it, dug it, and said, “That needs The Pipes of Pan!” He immediately came up with the first flute lines. I answered that with the arpeggiated guitar line and a rotary effect. From there we knew the chorus should get big and anthemic.”
Tichy continues: “We wrote the bridge for the guitar solo with the intent of taking you on a little majestic trip, away from the repetitive, hypnotic nature of the rest of the song. When I started making the Led By Vultures record, Derek brought Waves up as a contender. I instantly agreed and re-recorded it. It’s nice to have seen this song through! The video was shot at El Matador Beach in Malibu by Keita Hagiwara, who also shot the second Led By Vultures video, “Massivity.” We ended up with an overcast day, but I think in the end it worked out.”
The self-titled debut album from Led By Vultures arrives on August 28, 2026, delivering a dynamic collection of songs that capture the grit and fire of rock’s golden era while maintaining a distinctly modern edge. Fans can expect soaring vocals, blistering musicianship, and a relentless sonic attack designed to resonate with both longtime rock devotees and a new generation of listeners.
The album will be available on limited-edition purple vinyl, CD, and digital formats. A special bundle featuring a personally signed 10″ x 10″ album flat by Brian Tichy will also be available in limited quantities.
Pre-order the CD, vinyl, and exclusive bundles while supplies last here.
It has been about a decade since the world heard from the mathy Oxford indie rockers TTNG. The band, formerly known as This Town Needs Guns, started in 2002, establishing a tricky but passionate sound that drew clear inspiration from Midwest bands like American Football. Original singer/guitarist Stuart Smith left the band after the release of their 2009 debut Animals, and they went on to release two more albums, the more recent of which was 2016’s Disappointment Island. Now, TTNG are suddenly back, and Smith is in the band again.
“The best description of Mr. Bungle I’ve ever heard is from Warren Entner,” says Mike Patton. “He says, ‘I couldn’t really relate to it because it was like you were having an inside joke among yourselves.'”
Entner managed Faith No More throughout their commercial peak. By the summer of 1991, their third album The Real Thing had been awarded platinum status in North America. This was largely thanks to the single Epic, whose Ralph Ziman-directed video was a near permanent fixture on MTV. And, in a canny piece of self-promotion, Patton wore a Mr. Bungle T-shirt during the song’s climax. Thanks to the band’s flash of mainstream success, Warner Brothers were quick to pick up their vocalist’s high school band.
But Entner may have had a point. Those people who bought The Real Thing on the strength of Epic may have been caught off guard when it came to Mr. Bungle’s 10-track debut album.
But first, a little back story. Mr. Bungle formed in 1985 in the isolated port city of Eureka, California, while they were still at Eureka High School.
“We were in rival death metal bands,” guitarist Trey Spruance told writer Kim Edwards. “Jed [Watts, drummer] and I were rivals with Mike and Trevor [Dunn, bassist]. Trevor and Mike got kicked out of their death metal band because they wanted to shave their heads and call it Turd. So we just sort of merged into this one band and we called it Mr. Bungle. We came really close to calling the band Summer Breeze.”
Another co-founder was saxophone, clarinet and keyboard player Theo Lengyel, who’d play on the band’s first two albums, Mr Bungle and 1995’s Disco Volante, before leaving in ’96. The once-respected musician was disgraced 28 years later, when he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend.
Taking their name from a 1960s educational film, Beginning Responsibility: Lunchroom Manners – later incorporated into a HBO Pee-Wee Herman special – Mr Bungle recorded a demo titled The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny.
The Humboldt County band began to experiment with different genres and moved away from their death metal beginnings and incorporated elements of funk, ska, jazz and just about anything else which caught their attention.
“After about a year we got tired of playing speed metal and wanted to do something a little more creative. So we just stopped and started writing our own style of music, which was influenced by bands like Camper Van Beethoven, Oingo Boingo, Bad Manners and kind of funky, ska-oriented stuff. Then we added a two-piece horn section and a new drummer, so now we don’t really have any kind of limit on the music we play.”
By 1988, Patton had joined Faith No More as a replacement for their vocalist Chuck Moseley, yet continued to record demos with Mr. Bungle when time would allow. Then following the success of The Real Thing, the band relocated to San Francisco and joined Warner Brothers.
“We felt… why stifle his passion for that band, because if you try to stifle things, they just explode,” Entner told Los Angeles Times. “It is an unusual situation – and Mike is biting off a lot by doing two separate projects at the same time. But he’s totally committed to Faith No More.
“I think everyone wanted Mike to realize that this is an unusual juncture in a band’s career — just when Faith No More is establishing its overall identity — for the lead singer to commit himself to another group,” he continued. “But if Mr. Bungle can establish its identity while Mike stays committed to Faith No More, we’re hopeful it will all work out.”
In an early interview with Sounds, Patton appeared rankled when asked whether he could continue fronting both bands in tandem.
“Why the fuck not?” he replied. “It’s all the traditions people have in their heads. You can’t do this, you can’t do that. These things can be arranged. It hasn’t reached that stage yet, and I’m not the type to worry about it before it happens. I’m not going to say I’m not serious about Mr. Bungle, because I am. If I wasn’t serious about it I wouldn’t be doing this interview, or insist on still playing with them – because that in itself gets people riled up. It’s a totally separate thing, it’s nothing to do with Faith No More. It’s not my goddamn art project.”
Faith No More took some time off following the Real Thing tour, which allowed Patton to focus on Mr. Bungle until it was time to write what would be their 1992 album Angel Dust.
Mr. Bungle at the Marquee Club, New York City in 1992 (Image credit: Steve Eichner/WireImage)
Between 1990 and 1991, Mr. Bungle recruited avant-garde saxophonist John Zorn to produce the sessions recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco’s Mission District.
“I think it was Danny and Trey who approached Zorn when he was in SF and handed him a cassette tape of some songs and improv sessions we had made in Eureka,” remembers Dunn. “He tried to convince us that he wasn’t ‘commercial’ and we might find a more apt producer somewhere else, but we were persistent as we felt that – due to his understanding of many genres – that he would understand us.
“In essence, he helped us mix the album. Scheduling meant he couldn’t make the actual recording sessions. Later, he had us re-do some things and gave us a general guidance. Essentially he put the brakes on a bunch of hyper and overly-excited small town kids who tried, almost successfully to fill up every nano-second of space will some kind of sound. He kept us true to our spirit, however, always deferring to our desires, which was encouraging.”
The frenzied self-titled debut is a melting pot of myriad styles and allowed Patton to explore the furthest reaches of the human condition across the 10 songs.
There’s a song on there called Love Is a Fist that’s fucking crushing – that set the tone for us and what we went on to do creatively.
Munky, Korn
Squeeze Me Macaroni, The Girls of Porn and Dead Goon have strong sexual and often comedic themes. Quote Unquote – previously named Travolta before some nervous lawyers ordered the change of title – imagines what it might like to be someone robbed of their limbs and their senses – bar smell – and thrown onto a trampoline. Sprinkled throughout the 75-minute album were samples from adverts, porn and video games. There was a lot going on, to be fair.
Some critics didn’t know what to make of this hellish ska carnival – skarnival, if you will – soundtrack, which was advertised by Warner Brothers as Mike Patton’s “seriously weird new project”. Entertainment Weekly seemed positively irritated by the whole recording, noting, ‘adjectives like puerile and unlistenable take on entirely new dimensions when applied to Mr. Bungle.”
Kerrang!’s Don Kaye gave it a glowing review, saying ‘the entire album crackles with weird electricity and the air of a rock ‘n’ roll circus gone insane’. And its influence can still be keenly felt 35 years later, with members of Korn and Avenged Sevenfold praising its sheer ambition and scope.
“Their self-titled debut had the biggest impact on me,” says Korn guitarist James ‘Munky’ Shaffer. “There’s a song on there called Love Is a Fist that’s fucking crushing. That set the tone for us and what we went on to do creatively. They were completely outside the box and just didn’t care – they satisfied only themselves.”
