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Categories | Music magazine |
---|---|
Frequency | Monthly |
Circulation | 14,057 [1] |
First issue | 1999 |
Company | Syon Group |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Website | www.rocksound.tv |
ISSN | 1465-0185 |
Rock Sound is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, emo, hardcore, heavy metal and extreme metal genres of rock music, rarely covering indie rock music at all. The tag-line "For those who like their music loud, extreme and non-conformist" is sometimes used. Although primarily aimed at the British market, the magazine is also sold in Australia, Canada and the United States.
The British edition of Rock Sound was launched in March 1999 by the French publisher Editions Freeway. The magazine was bought out by its director, Patrick Napier, in December 2004. The magazines offices are in London. Separate titles with the same name have been published under the same umbrella company in France since 1993, [2] [3] [4] and in Spain since 1998. [5] [6]
The magazine is known for including a free CD in most issues, which has tracks from bands' new albums that have not been released as singles. These are now normally called '100% Volume' or 'The Volumes', but in the past compilations were also called 'Music With Attitude', 'Bugging Your Ears!', 'Sound Check' and 'Punk Rawk Explosion'. [7] Sometimes whole albums are included with the magazine, particularly from bands wanting to gain exposure, including Futures' debut album The Holiday in March 2010, and Burn The Fleet's debut album The Modern Shape in May 2012. [8]
The first issue was published in April 1999. Issue 2 featured British band Reef on the front cover, and later issues 3 and 8 featured Terrorvision and Foo Fighters respectively. In July 2011 a host of "Through The Years" articles were written to celebrate the 150th issue of the magazine. [9] 2017 witnessed the first annual Rock Sound Awards where £1 from every magazine bundle sold was donated to the One More Light Fund in memory of Chester Bennington. [10]
Year | Circulation |
---|---|
2009 | 16,374 [11] |
2010 | 15,005 [12] |
2011 | 14,227 [13] |
2013 | 13,220 [14] |
2015 | 13,924 [15] |
2016 | 14,057 [16] |
The magazine had a circulation figure of 15,005 from January to December 2010 auditored by ABC. This includes 10,162 sales in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and 4,843 from Other Countries. [12] The same auditing body said the magazine had a slightly lower circulation figure of 14,227 from January to December 2011, with sales of 10,053 from the United Kingdom and Ireland, and 4,174 from Other Countries. [13] The majority of sales come from newstrade, with some coming from subscriptions.
The main rival to the magazine in Britain is Kerrang! because of the similar types of music both magazines cover.[ citation needed ]
At the end of every year the magazine lists their favourite 75 albums released in the previous twelve months.
Rock Sound inducted numerous albums into its Hall of Fame, as part of a long-running feature. The main criterion for inclusion was thought to be influence – even within a particular genre – and for that reason many of the albums have been commercially successful as well as critically successful because they have then gone on to influence large numbers of bands or the music scene. Thus this differs from the Yearly Top Albums lists which do not take influence into account. In each article there was normally an interview with band members, a commentary on the album's release, a look at its initial success, and reaction from other musicians or participants in the album's creation - such as producers, engineers, and music video directors. Towards the end of this section's run it was renamed to "Throwback".
Album | Artist | Nationality | Year | Issue | Guest Writer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Shape of Punk to Come | Refused | ![]() | 27 October 1998 | #136, June 2010 [27] | |
Jupiter | Cave In | ![]() | 8 August 2000 | #138, August 2010 [28] | Jacob Bannon of Converge |
Weezer | Weezer | ![]() | 10 May 1994 | #139, September 2010 [29] [30] | Gustav Woods of Young Guns |
Smash | The Offspring | ![]() | 8 April 1994 | #140, October 2010 [31] | Frank Turner |
White Pony | Deftones | ![]() | 20 June 2000 | #142, December 2010 [32] | |
Jane Doe | Converge | ![]() | 4 September 2001 | #145, March 2011 [33] [34] | Winston McCall of Parkway Drive |
Queens of the Stone Age | Queens of the Stone Age | ![]() | 22 September 1998 | #146, April 2011 [35] | |
Hello Rockview | Less Than Jake | ![]() | 6 October 1998 | #149, July 2011 [36] | |
Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation | Funeral for a Friend | ![]() | 20 October 2003 | #151, Summer 2011 [37] | |
Tell All Your Friends | Taking Back Sunday | ![]() | 26 March 2002 | #152, September 2011 [38] | |
Relationship of Command | At the Drive-In | ![]() | 12 September 2000 | #153, October 2011 [39] | |
From Under the Cork Tree | Fall Out Boy | ![]() | 3 May 2005 | #155, December 2011 [40] | |
New Found Glory | New Found Glory | ![]() | 26 September 2000 | #158, March 2012 [41] | |
The Artist in the Ambulance | Thrice | ![]() | 22 July 2003 | #159, April 2012 [42] | |
Good Mourning | Alkaline Trio | ![]() | 13 May 2003 | #160, May 2012 [43] | |
Start Something | Lostprophets | ![]() | 2 February 2004 | #161, June 2012 [44] [45] | Aled Phillips of Kids In Glass Houses |
Ideas Above Our Station | Hundred Reasons | ![]() | 20 May 2002 | #162, July 2012 [46] [47] | Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari, Frank Turner |
Suicide Season | Bring Me the Horizon | ![]() | 29 September 2008 | #164, Summer 2012 [48] | Sam Carter of Architects |
A Fever You Can't Sweat Out | Panic! at the Disco | ![]() | 27 September 2005 | #165, September 2012 [49] | Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy Mike Ferri of We Are the In Crowd |
The Used | The Used | ![]() | 25 June 2002 | #166, October 2012 [50] | Chris Pennells of Deaf Havana |
The Young and the Hopeless | Good Charlotte | ![]() | 30 September 2002 | #167, November 2012 [51] | |
Alive or Just Breathing | Killswitch Engage | ![]() | 21 May 2002 | #168, December 2012 [52] | Matt Heafy of Trivium |
Ascendancy | Trivium | ![]() | 15 March 2005 | #171, March 2013 [53] | |
What It Is to Burn | Finch | ![]() | 12 March 2002 | #172, April 2013 [54] | |
The Bronx | The Bronx | ![]() | 26 August 2003 | #173, May 2013 [55] | |
Love Metal | HIM | ![]() | 14 April 2003 | #174, June 2013 [56] | |
Infest | Papa Roach | ![]() | 25 April 2000 | #175, July 2013 [57] | |
Tomorrow Come Today | Boysetsfire | ![]() | 1 April 2003 | #176, August 2013 [58] | |
As the Palaces Burn | Lamb of God | ![]() | 6 May 2003 | #177, Summer 2013 [59] | |
Bleed American | Jimmy Eat World | ![]() | 24 July 2001 | #178, September 2013 [60] | |
Take to the Skies | Enter Shikari | ![]() | 19 March 2007 | #179, October 2013 [61] | |
Miss Machine | The Dillinger Escape Plan | ![]() | 20 July 2004 | #180, November 2013 [62] | |
Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness | Coheed and Cambria | ![]() | 20 September 2005 | #181, December 2013 [63] | |
Gutter Phenomenon | Every Time I Die | ![]() | 23 August 2005 | #184, March 2014 [64] | |
Perseverance | Hatebreed | ![]() | 12 March 2002 | #185, April 2014 [65] | |
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water | Limp Bizkit | ![]() | 17 October 2000 | #186, May 2014 [66] | |
A Place in the Sun | Lit | ![]() | 23 February 1999 | #187, June 2014 [67] | |
The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild | Sikth | ![]() | 18 August 2003 | #188, July 2014 [68] | |
Superunknown | Soundgarden | ![]() | 8 March 1994 | #189, August 2014 [69] | |
Punk in Drublic | NOFX | ![]() | 19 July 1994 | #191, September 2014 [70] | |
Hollow Crown | Architects | ![]() | 26 January 2009 | #192, October 2014 [71] | |
Slaughter of the Soul | At the Gates | ![]() | 14 November 1995 | #193, November 2014 [72] | |
Get Some | Snot | ![]() | 27 May 1997 | #197, March 2015 [73] | |
Follow the Leader | KoЯn | ![]() | 18 August 1998 | #198, April 2015 [74] | |
Crisis | Alexisonfire | ![]() | 22 August 2006 | #202, August 2015 [75] | |
Nothing Personal | All Time Low | ![]() | 7 July 2009 | #203, Summer 2015 | |
The Gift of Game | Crazy Town | ![]() | 9 November 1999 | #204, September 2015 | |
Menace to Sobriety | OPM | ![]() | 15 August 2000 | #205, October 2015 | |
This War Is Ours | Escape the Fate | ![]() | 21 October 2008 | #206, November 2015 | |
Anthology | Alien Ant Farm | ![]() | 6 March 2001 | #207, December 2015 | |
The Best in Town | The Blackout | ![]() | 25 May 2009 | #210, March 2016 | |
Nightmare Anatomy | Aiden | ![]() | 4 October 2005 | #211, April 2016 | |
Saosin | Saosin | ![]() | 26 September 2006 | #212, May 2016 | |
Ocean Avenue | Yellowcard | ![]() | 22 July 2003 | #213, June 2016 | |
Billy Talent | Billy Talent | ![]() | 16 September 2003 | #214, July 2016 |
In 2019, Rock Sound introduced a new venture titled Rock Sound Records, a sub-brand of Rock Sound offering and distributing music in limited physical formats, such as cassette tapes and vinyl records. Generally, this involves the exclusive physical release of a record released by a band that's signed to a different (major) record label. For instance, the first Rock Sound Records release was a cassette tape version of Simple Creatures′ debut EP Strange Love, while the band is currently signed to BMG. [76]
# | Artist | Title | Release date | Format |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Simple Creatures | Strange Love | 22 March 2019 [76] | Cassette tape |
2. | PUP | Morbid Stuff | 27 March 2019 [77] | Cassette tape |
3. | Boston Manor | Welcome to the Neighbourhood | 10 May 2019 [78] | Cassette tape |
4. | Real Friends | Even More Acoustic Songs | 17 May 2019 [79] | Vinyl record |
5. | Sum 41 | Order in Decline | 31 May 2019 [80] | Cassette tape |
6. | Crown the Empire | Sudden Sky | 24 June 2019 [81] | Vinyl record + magazine |
7. | Knocked Loose | A Different Shade Of Blue | 7 August 2019 [82] | Cassette tape |
8. | Issues | Beautiful Oblivion | 12 August 2019 [83] | Vinyl record |
9. | Waterparks | Fandom | 30 August 2019 | Vinyl record + cassette tape |
10. | Grayscale | Nella Vita | 3 September 2019 | Cassette tape |
Nirvana was an American rock band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Founded by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic, the band went through a succession of drummers, most notably Chad Channing, before recruiting Dave Grohl in 1990. Nirvana's success popularized alternative rock, and they were often referenced as the figurehead band of Generation X. Their music maintains a popular following and continues to influence modern rock culture.
New Musical Express (NME) is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a free publication, before becoming an online brand which includes its website and radio stations.
London Calling is the third studio album by English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records.
After the Gold Rush is the third studio album by the Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released in September 1970 on Reprise Records, catalogue number RS 6383. It is one of four high-profile albums released by each of the members of folk rock collective Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their chart-topping 1970 album Déjà Vu, along with Stephen Stills, If I Could Only Remember My Name and Songs for Beginners. The album consists mainly of country folk music, along with the rocking "Southern Man", inspired by the unproduced Dean Stockwell-Herb Bermann screenplay After the Gold Rush.
"Born to Be Wild" is a song written by Mars Bonfire and first performed by the band Steppenwolf. The song is often invoked in both popular and counter culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is most notably featured in the 1969 film Easy Rider. It is sometimes described as the first heavy metal song, and the second verse lyric "heavy metal thunder" marks the first use of this term in rock music.
Beggars Banquet is the 7th British and 9th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first Rolling Stones album produced by Jimmy Miller, whose production work formed a key aspect of the group's sound throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s.
"Roxanne" is a song by English rock band The Police. The song was written by lead singer and bassist Sting and was released 7 April 1978 as a single in advance of the November 2 release of their debut album Outlandos d'Amour. It was written from the point of view of a man who falls in love with a prostitute. On re-release on 12 April 1979, the song peaked at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
Music Week is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
Bring Me the Horizon are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They are signed to RCA Records globally and Columbia Records exclusively in the United States.
"Are You Gonna Go My Way" is the first single to be released by American musician Lenny Kravitz from his third studio album, Are You Gonna Go My Way (1993). It was written by Lenny Kravitz and Craig Ross. The single has been covered by numerous artists, such as Metallica, in a medley for "MTV Hits" at the 2003 MTV Music Video Awards, Tom Jones for the Jerky Boys OST, Robbie Williams on Jones' 1999 album Reload and Mel B in her solo section of the Spice Girls 2007 Reunion Tour. Serbian hard rock band Cactus Jack recorded a version on their live cover album DisCover in 2002. A remixed version is played as the opening theme song in Gran Turismo 3: A-spec. Adam Lambert covered the song in November 2012 in his swing through South Africa.
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, generating several hit ballads. The group had a steady stream of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Second only to The Beach Boys in Billboard singles and albums chart success among American bands, Chicago is one of the longest-running and most successful rock groups, and one of the world's best-selling groups of all time, having sold more than 100 million records.
Suicide Season is the second studio album by British rock band Bring Me the Horizon. It was released on 29 September 2008 in the United Kingdom and Europe through Visible Noise. The band signed a licensing deal with Epitaph Records on 11 September 2008, with the label releasing the album on 18 November 2008 in the United States.
Don Broco are a British rock band formed in Bedford, England, in 2008. The band consists of Rob Damiani, Simon Delaney (guitar), Tom Doyle and Matt Donnelly. The band have released four studio albums, including Priorities (2012), Automatic (2015) and Technology (2018). Their most recent album Amazing Things (2021) was their first to reach No.1 in the UK Album Charts.
A Flash Flood of Colour is the third studio album by English rock band Enter Shikari, and was produced by Dan Weller. The album was recorded in May and June 2011 at Karma Sound Studios in Bang Saray, Thailand, and at the Fortress in London, United Kingdom. It was released internationally on 16 January 2012 by Ambush Reality, the band's record label in the United Kingdom, and Hopeless Records in North America.
Of Monsters and Men is an Icelandic indie folk/rock band formed in Reykjavík in 2010. The members are lead singer and guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, singer and guitarist Ragnar "Raggi" Þórhallsson, lead guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson and bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson. The band won the Músíktilraunir in 2010, an annual battle of the bands competition in Iceland. In 2011, Of Monsters and Men released an EP titled Into the Woods. The band's 2011 debut album My Head Is an Animal, reached the No.1 position in Australia, Iceland, Ireland and the US Rock and Alternative charts, while peaking at No. 6 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, No. 3 in the UK, and Top 20 of most European charts and Canada. Its lead single "Little Talks" was an international success, reaching the Top 10 in most music charts in Europe, including No. 1 in Ireland and Iceland, and No. 1 on US Alternative Songs.
Generation Freakshow is the eighth studio album by Welsh rock band Feeder. It was released on 23 April 2012. It was due to be the second in a series of two albums released in 2010 by the band, following up previous album Renegades. However, the band decided to hold more recording sessions for the album, leading them to delay the album until 2012.
Basement are an English rock band formed in 2009 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Their first studio album, I Wish I Could Stay Here, was released in 2011. The next year, Colourmeinkindness was released, charting on the Billboard Top 200.
Hookworms were an English five-piece neo-psychedelic rock band from Leeds/Halifax that formed in 2010. Between 2010 and 2018 the band released 3 studio albums and became known for their live shows.
Seaway is a Canadian rock band from Oakville, Ontario signed to Pure Noise Records and Dine Alone Records. The band has released three EPs and four studio albums.