Steve Wright
Since 1997, Steve has written about music, theatre, and visual art for a range of magazines and newspapers including BBC Music Magazine, Venue Magazine and The Guardian. His musical passions include psychedelia, prog rock, krautrock, postpunk... anything a little bit off-centre, basically.
Recent articles by Steve Wright
What if? 13 moments that could have changed rock history forever
What if rock's biggest turning points had unfolded differently? These 13 alternate histories could have changed the music you love forever
False start: 13 poor debut albums from future rock icons
From tentative experiments to full-blown misfires, these debut albums prove even rock’s greatest heroes didn’t always start their journeys in style.
The Beatles Story is getting a huge new home in Liverpool – with a Yellow Submarine twist
The Beatles’ Liverpool story is about to get much bigger, with a fourfold expansion, cinematic sets and a Yellow Submarine theme
These 13 rock legends all discovered the darker side of fame
Success opened doors, but also brought scrutiny, pressure and easy access to excess. These 13 rock legends reveal the personal costs of life in the spotlight
The dark conspiracy theory linking California’s 1960s hippie music scene to a secret military experiment
Was California’s hippie music scene secretly engineered to discredit anti-war protesters? The strange Laurel Canyon theory linking rock, the military and Manson
'This will ruin your career': 10 classic albums that record labels didn't want you to hear
Today they are hailed as groundbreaking masterpieces, but these 10 albums were originally viewed by record labels as disasters-in-waiting
Nothing to see here – just 19 rock icons and their classic cars
From custom Ferraris to psychedelic Rolls-Royces, these legendary machines fueled the high-speed decadence and mythmaking of the greatest icons in rock
13 musicians who transformed great bands (for better or worse)
Some personnel changes looked inspired on paper. In reality, they changed great bands forever – and not always for the better
So, we ranked the 21 greatest Irish bands of all time (no. 4's 1991 album is still worshipped to this day)
From the raw energy of punk to stadium-filling anthems, these 21 artists define the defiant, melodic soul of Irish music
These 15 American bands got more love abroad than at home
Japan, Britain and beyond embraced these American bands with extraordinary passion, often long before their homeland caught on
The Led Zeppelin song that borrowed its lyrics from a blues classic – and ended up in court
One of Led Zeppelin’s most famous songs has a surprising blues ancestry, a missing songwriting credit and a legal battle that took years to resolve
The worst days in rock history: 11 nightmare moments that changed bands forever
Riots, tragedies, walkouts and meltdowns: the catastrophic moments that defined – and sometimes destroyed – rock’s greatest bands
These 11 music legends shone brightly... then vanished from the spotlight
From Syd Barrett to Bobbie Gentry, these 11 musicians reached extraordinary heights – then retreated from the spotlight, some never to return.
The Rolling Stones’ all-star 'rock circus' film lay unseen for 28 years. Here's why
John Lennon, Eric Clapton and The Who all turned up. So why did the Rolling Stones hide their extraordinary rock circus for decades?
Myths, monsters and musical odysseys: prog rock’s 31 greatest songs
From cosmic suites to apocalyptic epics, these 15 prog rock masterpieces reveal the genre’s wild ambition and transcendent imagination
1972 was rock's wildest, strangest year. Here are its 25 greatest albums
These 15 seminal albums from 1972 defined rock’s golden era - and shaped the music landscape forever
Out now: our November issue, featuring Phantom of the Opera, the Four Seasons... and how NOT to behave at a classical concert
The promising punk band who left a California gig in 2003 – and never made it home
They had the songs, the energy and a brilliant debut. Then a tragic road accident cut short one of punk’s brightest futures
These 11 classic albums were, frankly, a bit of a nightmare to make
From Fleetwood Mac to Pink Floyd, 11 classic rock albums that cost blood, sweat and tears to put together
The 16 minutes of music that launched the 1970s
How a prodigiously inventive suite of orchestral polish and studio wit provided the definitive blueprint for Seventies rock
So, we ranked rock's 31 greatest guitarists of all time – no. 12 owes his unique style to a factory accident
From Hendrix’s feedback to Tom Verlaine’s angular lines, these 15 iconic guitarists crafted unique tones, phrasing, and textures
The forgotten classic album with the notorious cover... that sank a legendary supergroup
The supergroup that burned bright, fell apart, and left one iconic album, leaving a legacy equal parts tension and brilliance
'You have no reason to live': the Pink Floyd song Roger Waters and David Gilmour fought hardest over
Two Pink Floyd legends fought bitterly over this song – yet their arguments helped create one of rock’s greatest moments
'A mistake': 11 rock reunions that didn't work
Not every reunion rocks. 13 legendary bands tried to recapture the magic – and proved some breakups should stay permanent
