Back catalogue:

Review: In many ways the critical reception to Dave Gahan's debut solo outing is still surprising. Mainly because a good number of critics seemed surprised at the depth and assurance of the record, which kind of seems to deny the fact this is the voice of Depeche Mode, arguably one of the finest bands to ever come out of the UK and certainly a group that understand what it means to layer musical textures and meld multiple themes.

'Stay' might be the best case in point. It's patient, it's elegant, there's a real air of sorrow but also you can't help feeling loved while listening to it. Balladry in the truest sense, the fact that track is sandwiched between the soft half-house music of 'I Need You' and the epic, theatrical anthem 'Black & Blue Again' is a case in point. A real journey.

Review: In 1972, Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher was at the peak of his powers. On the back of two much-loved and critically acclaimed albums, Gallagher was named Melody Maker's Musician of the Year. Before scooping that gong, he toured Europe and, while in Switzerland, recorded a now legendary session for Radio Suisse. This CD showcases that session in full, complete with crowd noise and trademark effects aplenty, with Gallagher and his band's dazzling - if fuzzy and lo-fi, in keeping with the original recording - blues and blues-rock performances (Gallagher's squally and extended guitar solos are especially memorable) being joined by interview experts and introductions by the radio station's unnamed disc jockey.

Review: If you're over the age of 30 it's probably quite alarming to think David Gray's monumental smash hit single 'Babylon' is now almost a quarter century old. A track that appeared everywhere, from TV ads to films to the radio for the next 25 years or so, it's the sort of song that artists can find it incredibly hard to come back from. Career defining, but also limiting, its enormous success melding with the very identity of the person who made it. Dear Life, Gray's 13th studio album and his first since 2021's Skellig, proves how unfair that familiar pattern can be. Deft songwriting and first class musicianship abound, although the record is unlikely to win any new disciples - this is very much Gray doing Gray the right way, a soft rock-pop-jazz-tronica workout that's easy to get along with, and get a little lost in - it's going to be just what the therapist ordered for those already converted.

Review: It's 1997 and Green Day have just unveiled Nimrod, their fifth studio album, with the clear intention of trying different ideas, en masse. Rather than specifically looking to release an album per se, the band convinced Reprise Records to let them loose on what's effectively a series of singles. Lacking the coherency of a full record, the fact it still bagged universally positive reviews - with many rightly pointing to its rousing and invigorating qualities (surely a product of its shape-shifting nature) - is testament to the band's deft abilities.

It certainly showed off the outfit's ability to craft these huge, memorable hook lines and melodies, the sort of tracks that you instantly feel you know, even on first listen. Veering between folk, punk, ska and skate rock, what's here may not have had quite the same impact as Dookie, but many ways this is a more convincing argument for their legendary status.

Review: If Dookie was packed full of raging adolescence, last summer highs and formative experiences, Insomniac, Green Day's follow up record, marked the band moving into a new life stage, sonically and lyrically. Exploring their most punk-punk sound yet, a heavier, growlier, blood, sweat and tears-ier take on the immediately arresting, riff-focused formula that first grabbed our attention.

So it stands to reason a quarter century later things still sound powerful and pleasurable. Of course the singles 'Geek Stink Breath', 'Stuck With Me', 'Brain Stew/Jaded' and 'Walking Construction' will be more than familiar even to those who have only heard the band in passing. But the record is packed full of depth and quality elsewhere it arguably far exceeds its older, more widely remembered sibling.

Review: This exceptional collection showcases the iconic rock band Guns N Roses at the height of their energy, during the early stages of their Use Your Illusion tour, and on their second electrifying performance in Rio de Janeiro. They deliver a dynamic mix of their greatest hits to that point, alongside a variety of cover versions, topped off with the thrilling live premiere of 'Bad Apples'. Rox Vox presents the complete, unedited broadcast of G N' R, on nice orange vinyl which helps to deliver this wild and uninhibited performance at the Maracana Stadium in style.