“It changed what we thought was possible for electric guitars”: How a $20 box designed for cheap speakers became the secret weapon behind Metallica’s massive Black Album guitar sounds
“Frank who? They were like, ‘Frank Ocean!’ He listened halfway through, took a picture, and posted it”: How Cashier’s DIY alt-rock sound is winning them fans in high places
“We wanted people to say, ‘Wow, that’s Cypress Hill?’”: Cypress Hill’s beat-master Eric Bobo tells us why the band recorded their new album entirely in Spanish
“One of the most impressive designs we’ve encountered in quite a while”: Valiant Mercury Distressed review
“Ever since seeing Kiki Wong play it at Lollapalooza we want one bad”: My pick of the best new guitar gear launched this week – featuring a Dimebag-approved classic, Bonamassa signature acoustics and quite possibly the future of the S-style
“When Kraftwerk became an institution we stopped being contemporary. Instead we became salesmen of nostalgia”: Karl Bartos reflects on the end of Kraftwerk’s golden era
How Pete Townshend’s drunken night with two Sex Pistols inspired The Who’s last classic song with Keith Moon: “I used to go to clubs and get insulted. Just stand there and endure these snotty little kids saying, ‘Boring old fart!’”
Suno’s Studio 2.0 adds an AI chatbot that can control your project, transform sounds and generate custom plugins
“At this price point, there is no room for anything other than excellence, and despite a few niggles, that is what this guitar delivers”: Gibson ES-335 ‘50s review
“One of the secrets that they will deny to this day was that they could not come up with the sound that I wanted”: Why Ritchie Blackmore’s iconic Marshall stacks were actually Vox amps in disguise
“I asked what the artist’s name was. He said, ‘Meat Loaf.’ I thought he was joking. He said, ‘Just show up at the studio tomorrow…’” Bass journeyman Kasim Sulton on Meat Loaf, Todd Rundgren, Joan Jett, the New Cars, and the hand he never got to shake
“When I saw he was the one buying it, it made selling it feel a little better”: Country star surprises seller as he personally shows up to buy Facebook Marketplace find
“We were opening for ZZ Top at Madison Square Garden. I told the guys, ‘I’ll go out there and blow for 60 seconds, then we’ll go into the first tune.’ I hit the first chord and my Marshall blew up”: Richie Sambora on Bon Jovi’s nightmare arena debut
How many keys are there on a piano? – and why are some keyboards bigger than others? Here’s everything you need to know about keyboard sizes but were afraid to ask
“When I heard Anna play, I thought, ‘How the hell is that sound coming out of a 22-year-old’s fingers?’” Alice Cooper’s guitar trio on how a wunderkind from England replaced Nita Strauss – and tackled the Godfather of Shock Rock’s most challenging tracks
“He stopped me after 15 seconds, visibly irritated, before grabbing my hand and filing down my nails to a good angle”: How Angine de Poitrine’s eccentric guitar teacher shaped their oddball sound
“Larry started playing that beat, while Edge was playing something else entirely. Bono said, ‘Whatever you’re doing, don’t stop!’ So we kept playing and he improvised that melody”: How a spontaneous studio jam sparked an unexpected moment of U2 magic
