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These 15 iconic album covers all have strange stories behind them
From Abbey Road conspiracy theories to Joy Division’s mysterious pulsar lines, here are 11 classic album covers with stories as fascinating as the songs inside
King Crimson albums ranked: 13 fearless LPs, from worst to best
From that explosive, visionary debut onwards, King Crimson have constantly pushed at the boundaries of prog, jazz and hard rock. We assess their wildly inventive back catalogue
These 11 legendary bands nearly broke up before getting anywhere
From creative dead ends to personal turmoil, these bands were on the brink of breaking up – until something changed
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The pieces musicians love and HATE to play (one composer comes up A LOT)
Which works do orchestral players love to play? And which do they dread? We head round the sections of some of Europe’s finest ensembles to find out
These 15 albums seem to exist out of time
Timeless artefacts and sonic anomalies: 15 singular albums that abandoned the cultural conveyor belt to exist in their own dimensions
Composer Alex Ho and the Chinese diaspora in Britain
Composer Alex Ho is part of a growing community of musicians combining their British and Chinese heritage in fascinating ways, writes Richard Morgan
1975 was the Year of Orchestral Rock. These 8 albums are the pinnacle
In 1975, orchestral rock reached its majestic peak — where symphonic ambition met rock power in a series of landmark albums
These 13 bands were musical dead ends
Thirteen singular bands who were so bizarre, complex, or idiosyncratic that they left no musical heirs
Rock's 9 luckiest breaks: the freak accidents that created enduring icons
From rain-soaked concerts to last-minute substitutions and happy accidents, rock history is full of chance moments that changed everything
Jingle Hell! The famous Christmas music guaranteed to ruin the holiday season
As the Christmas season approaches, the BBC Music Magazine team share the festive tunes that make our hearts sink
These 11 legendary albums were made shockingly fast
11 classic albums that prove that the greatest rock masterpieces are often captured in a sudden, brilliant blur
These are the 19 best 1980s album covers – ranked
We count down the greatest album artworks of the 1980s, where bold visual ideas matched the groundbreaking musical statements within...
The crazy albums that nearly sank 13 rock legends
Disasters on vinyl: The expensive, career-crippling masterpieces that bankrupted rock's greatest bands and tore them apart.
Best album closers: rock's 21 greatest final tracks, ranked
The final tracks that make the perfect climaxes to some of rock's most epic albums
Best Christmas carols: the 37 greatest festive hymns of all time
Here's a list of the best-ever Christmas carols for the festive season, as voted for by 50 top choral experts from across the UK and US. Do you agree with their choices?
Your guide to the best audio gifts this Christmas 2025
Psychedelia! The 21 greatest psych albums of all time, ranked
Step into a kaleidoscopic soundworld, as we rank the 15 most mind-expanding psychedelic rock albums ever recorded
Here's an underrated classic album from each 1970s year
The 1970s were the age of the Classic Album. But it wasn't all Floyd and Zeppelin. Try these ten underrated Seventies gems for size
Live fast… die young? 15 bulletproof rock legends who cheated the cliché
15 rockers who have somehow managed to combine legendary excess and hedonism with a frankly very respectable time upon this earth
Deviations: the strangest songs by 15 rock icons
Everyone has an off day. Or even just a strange day. Here are the strange tracks that stick out like a sore thumb in the catalogues of the rock demigods
Public voting opens for the RPS Inspiration Award 2026
Awarded annually at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, the Inspiration prize recognises UK amateur music making
Peer Gynt: a guide to Edvard Grieg's popular masterpiece
When asked to write music for Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, Grieg thought he was facing an impossible challenge. But, as Terry Blain relates, the composer’s perseverance resulted in a masterpiece
of matchless character and colour
Feel the bass! Rock's 18 greatest basslines, ranked
From psychedelic grooves to minimalist pulses and stadium-shaking riffs, these are the basslines that have shaped rock music from the 1960s to today
These 13 bands should have been immortal.... but each had one fatal flaw
From Badfinger to XTC, these bands had enough magic to conquer the world - but there was always a chink in their armour