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MYSTERIOUS: 2 | Mind Blowing Facts

“It’s an old-fashioned piece of conceptual rock”: Steven Wilson issues album update and promises no less than the reinvention of the “extended classic rock solo”

The prog visionary says Randy McStine's solo is one of the highlights of an album that's animated by a grand musical ambition in the vein of Mike Oldfield and Pink Floyd

MusicRadar

“What's incredible about this guitar is that it was Marc Bolan's before. That's a double whammy”: Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells Telecaster has cropped up on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow – after it was bought for $12,500

The guitar was previously owned by T. Rex's Marc Bolan, before it found its way into the hands of Oldfield, just as he had started working on what was to become Tubular Bells

Guitar World

"He was the backbone of Soft Machine." Founding member and keyboard player Mike Ratledge dead at 81

Soft Machine's longest-serving member Mike Ratledge, who also worked with Syd Barrett and Kevin Ayers, has died after a short illness

Louder

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“It’s ludicrous a song like that would go on an album at the height of our fame, but it got the most notice because it was so bizarre”: The Police’s Andy Summers on success, psychedelia and working with difficult people

The multi-faceted guitarist looks back on a career including stints with Robert Fripp, John Cale, Kevin Ayers and others

Louder

“Mike Oldfield was pushing it a bit and I was getting edgy. He said, ‘I owed you that because I auditioned with Family and you blew me out.’ Good on him!” Roger Chapman’s journey from local band stage invader to unique prog star

Vocalist with a one-off voice talked writing hits, co-founding Streetwalkers, going solo and overseeing the emotional reunion as he marked the launch of his most recent album

Louder

"Jean-Michel Jarre said he loved my music, but that I was too acoustic for him. That got me thinking": Urged on by fans, Mike Oldfield’s final album was a look back to his early years

Return To Ommadawn was a fresh exploration of the ideas on his third album – complete with a vinyl gatefold sleeve offering “hours of enjoyment”

Louder

“We were limited by venues, by the number of people in the band. We wanted to play louder. Everyone had been talking about going electric as Dylan had. None of us had the budget…” Maddy Prior’s history of Steeleye Span

From breaking out of local clubs to touring with Jethro Tull and attracting guest spots from David Bowie and Peter Sellers, the leading light of British folk looks back – and forward

Louder

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“An absolute delight… the radio sessions and live sets are completely priceless”: Kevin Ayers’ All This Crazy Gift Of Time box set

Lavish 10-disc package celebrates the Canterbury legend, with hard work done to deliver contemporary commentary and revitalize his 1970 Hyde Park show

Louder

Robert Reed shares cover of Pekka Pohjola's Mathematician's Air Display

Robert Reed will release his new covers album Sanctuary Covered in August

Louder

“We grew up with the album Crises from Mike Oldfield… The Beatles’ I Want You (She’s So Heavy) could be on of our songs”: From eco activism to maddening production values, there’s more to Gojira than you might think

Taking influence from Pink Floyd, Björk and Metallica, the French band have never been shy about wanting success – but they’ve never sacrificed any of their progressive values

Louder

“We introduced his influence and that’s the moment we found ourselves”: Mike Oldfield is a prog hero for Gojira’s Joe Duplantier

French metal guitarist-vocalist admits it’s odd – but where he grew up there was no such thing as pigeonholing artists in genres

Louder

“The punk thing happened and all I saw was this skinny guy shouting. Suddenly it was all the rage and they were calling me rude names”: Bewildered and reclusive, Mike Oldfield just wanted to make double albums

He’d recorded Tubular Bells with substandard instruments but later Richard Branson personally delivered a world-class studio to his cottage. It still took Oldfield over 40 years to make sense of his original vision

Louder

“Substantial pleasures… even if they arguably venture too far into prog indulgence”: Renaissance’s 2024 reissue of Tuscany, featuring live Japan set

Classic line-up’s 2001 reunion album is enhanced with the inclusion of In The Land Of The Rising Sun

Louder

“I would love to have been part of some of those great later pieces… But the price you pay is that some people’s lives are not happy”: What if Anthony Phillips hadn’t left Genesis?

Dispelling some of the myths surrounding his departure, the driving force of the formative days shares his theory on how the band might have collapsed anyway

Louder

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Louder

Carl Palmer to release career-spanning Fanfare For The Common Man box set in April

New triple CD, single Blu-ray set Fanfare For The Common Man also features Palmer's autobiography

Louder

“Computers crashed several times… I recorded vocals four or five times. But on the other hand, I started doing my job alone, learning many things”: Why Tarja Turunen recruited Mike Oldfield, Trevor Rabin and Steve Rothery for Outlanders

Former Nightwish singer’s new direction took nearly a decade to deliver – but she’s ready to do it all over again

Louder

Prog's ultimate Christmas Tracks Of The Week

It's your chance to choose your favourite prog Christmas song in this week's seasonal poll

Louder

Pentangle got a bit of stick and still does... but music is about putting ideas together and understanding them, not making sounds you think are trendy”: Why John Renbourn always stood up to the purists

Kicked out of art school, he embarked on an accidental career in baroque prog and folk jazz - and regarded himself as a lucky winner

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Louder

“Mike Oldfield engineered the first track Henry Cow recorded, because Tom Newman had been celebrating the end of Tubular Bells and was brainless drunk under the console”: Bassist John Greaves’ life in prog

After starting out in his dad’s dance band, the Welshman encountered Henry Cow at university, knew he had to be part of it - and he’s never looked back

Louder

10 bands who peaked with the first song on their first album

Some bands just get it right first time

Louder

Rare Genesis, Camel, Mike Oldfield test pressings up for grabs in charity auction

This year's White Label Auction in Aid of The BRIT Trust takes place on June 6

Louder

Prog's Tracks Of The Week: new music from King Gizzard, eMolecule and more...

Cool new prog music from Robert Reed, That Joe Payne, Toby Patterson-Stuart, Giant Walker and more...

Louder

Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells at 50 on the cover of the new issue of Prog, on sale now!

Plus Ray Shulman, Yes, Einar Solberg, Pendragon, Mike Batt, Amplifier, Eivor, The Ocean, David Paton and loads more...

Louder

More Tubular Bells tour dates announced

Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells celebrates its 50th anniversary later this month

Louder

Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells to be reissued for 50th anniversary

Mike Oldfield-overseen reissue coming in May 2023, which includes unreleased 2017 demo Tubular Bells 4 Intro

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