Guides

a broken down tour bus led to a band's breakthrough album

Few albums in rock history were born from disaster, but the story of one band's record begins with a sickening clunk on a regional highway west of Melbourne.…

The best albums to listen to while camping in the mountains

There's something inherently rebellious about dragging a record collection into the wilderness. Mountain camping strips life down to the essentials — a swag, a…

How the Rock Ballad Became the Sound of Prom Nights

The slow dance has long belonged to the rock ballad. From leather-jacketed crooners in the late seventies to the polished arena acts of today, the genre has…

How the 1990s saw women storm the drum kit in rock

The early 1990s felt like a charged moment for anyone paying attention to alternative music. Subgenres collided, zines circulated hand to hand, and a…

When leather jackets met Marshall stacks

The rumble of a V-twin has always carried its own soundtrack, a mechanical growl that drifts naturally into the world of rock and roll. Motorcycle clubs, with…

The Best Rock Songs About Getting Lost and Finding Your Way

Getting lost is one of rock’s oldest emotional engines. Sometimes it means missing the turn, leaving town with no plan, or staring through a windscreen while…

Hammered strings and howling wind: an ambitious EP reviewed

From the first distorted chord, Field Voltage's new EP announces its intentions with the subtlety of a lightning strike. Across six tracks and just under…

Why Some Rock Bands Refuse to Play Their Greatest Hits Live

A quiet rebellion is happening on stages from Sydney's Hordern Pavilion to Melbourne's Forum, with nothing to do with pyrotechnics or encore rituals. Some of…

Bonham's Drum Break That Echoed Across Music History

Some sounds are so powerful that they escape their original context entirely. Six seconds of a drum solo, captured in an English country house in late 1970,…

When The Slide Found Its Blues-Rock Voice

Few sounds in guitar music are as instantly recognisable as a metal or glass slide gliding across the strings. It can sound mournful, dangerous, celebratory or…