Latest articles by Amit Sharma
How Neil Young created the rock anthem that inspired Pearl Jam and started a beef with Trump
The song has more in common with hard rock than the folk scene Young had been part of
“It’s a piano chord, but I played it with my arse”: The Police’s classic breakthrough hit
“I went to my room, picked up the guitar and imagined this woman into life”
“When he sang the chorus for the first time, I said, ‘No – it sounds ridiculous!’”
“I really thought people would just laugh at us when they heard it”
The story of Soul Asylum’s classic ’90s hit Runaway Train and its amazingly powerful video
“If the vocal on it sounds world-weary, it’s because he made me sing it 100 times”
“It just sounds like me”: Why Joe Bonamassa’s tribute to Rory Gallagher didn’t turn out as expected
“Getting Rory’s Strat from the National Museum would have taken an act of government!”
“I wanted to dislike it, but I couldn’t!”: How Joe Bonamassa opened up to digital amps
“I’ve got to be honest with you and admit when I’m wrong”
“This track is very much John Deacon world. I don’t think I was on it at all to start off with!”
“Freddie absolutely adored it – he sang it until he bled!”
“It used to be, like, 25 minutes long!”: The classic Guns N’ Roses ballad inspired by Elton John
Rose called it “a song about not wanting to be in a state of unrequited love”
How Mark Knopfler combined sublime fingerpicking and Shakespearean tragedy in a Dire Straits classic
The early ’80s hit featured his iconic National Style O resonator guitar
How one of the greatest rock anthems of all time was created in the wake of a nightmare show
“It was this gigantic sound,” says super-fan Joe Bonamassa
“She sang it once. From a vocal standpoint, no one has that much courage”: How Alanis Morissette made You Oughta Know
"I thought maybe ten people would hear this song,” she said
“You can’t make music in a test tube”: How Tool created a late-’90s masterpiece
“Very seldom are we playing in unison”
“Just the quirky 7/8 time reminds me of Roger”: The story of Pink Floyd's first US hit
“We created a 4/4 progression for the guitar solo and made the poor saxophone player play in 7/4”
“The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself”: How Pearl Jam created a powerful signature song inspired by a real-life tragedy
A classic from their 1991 debut Ten
“I was working on this song which he liked, and then he died, and it turned into a tribute to him”: The tragedy behind a classic Pretenders hit
And why George Harrison claimed to have inspired the song
“As an English boy at the time, you’re encouraged not to show your emotion”: How the young Robert Smith created one of The Cure’s definitive songs
The band’s first song to pass one billion streams on Spotify
“Slacker my ass! I was working a $4-an-hour job trying to stay alive”: How the “worst rapper in the world” became an alt-rock icon
“Slacker my ass! I never had any slack. I was working a $4-an-hour job trying to stay alive”
“Prince had rented out the theatre with free popcorn for everyone”: Cory Wong on the night Prince ditched a jam session for a movie
“People never knew what they were going to get”
“On the spur of the moment I said, ‘I’m going to do the backing vocals in Spanish’”: How The Clash created their biggest hit
“It was just a good rockin’ song – our attempt at writing a classic”
“When that song came out, it changed everything”: How Stone Temple Pilots created one of the great alternative rock anthems
Singer Scott Weiland called the track “a metaphor for a lost, obsessive relationship”
Why Cory Wong needed the signature wah pedal that could do it all
The funk guitar maestro explains why he needs a wah pedal, volume pedal and expression pedal in one housing – and what he would change about it if given the chance (hint: not much)
“Undoubtedly the most versatile lunchbox amp Victory has ever made”: Victory MKX review
The British amp specialist unveils its most advanced lunchbox amp to date
