After a rapid, turbulent rise in which the Brighton two-piece released a pair of No.1 albums, bass-wielding frontman Mike Kerr takes stock on a confessional yet colourful third.
The Jurassic giants team up with Kurt Vile for a fifth studio album since reuniting in 2005, and this time J Mascis is inspired by Thin Lizzy’s duelling guitars.
Demonstrating gigantic ambition and a musical finesse that would lead the trio to global ascendancy, Origin of Symmetry was a compelling mission statement, and one which brought Matt Bellamy’s ingenious guitar approach to the fore.
After a debut album that introduced some stellar guitar work while dividing opinion for its overt classic-rock influences, Greta Van Fleet return older, wiser and more expansive.
Achtung Baby is now acclaimed as U2’s finest achievement, but the 1991 album nearly didn’t get made. In fact, its beginnings nearly split the Irish band apart.
Reverend And The Makers’ guitarist goes it alone on a debut solo album that pays homage to two of his esteemed Sheffield peers yet achieves a charming elegance all of its own.
Ryley Walker puts down his Guild acoustic and goes prog on album five, although dragons and magical mushrooms are mercifully conspicuous by their absence.
R.E.M. were exhausted when they started writing the follow-up to 1989’s Green. By the time they’d finished, they had their first No. 1 record – and a pair of unforgettable hit singles – on their hands.
