Mike Mettler

David Crosby spoke extensively with music editor Mike Mettler just a few months before he sadly passed away at age 81 on January 18. The voice of a generation, Croz discusses his knack for recognizing the chemistry he had with certain musicians, how the song “Compass” helped recalibrate his songwriting acumen, what album of his he’d like most to be listened to a half-century into the future, and much more.

Immersive music, thy name be David Gilmour. Though Pink Floyd may be a semi-distant active memory, lead guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour has seen fit to issue some quite intriguing solo projects here and there over the past five or so decades. His fifth solo studio effort, Luck and Strange, which was released by Sony Music in multiple formats on September 6, 2024, may indeed be his best outing under his own name—most especially in its Dolby Atmos incarnation. Read Mike Mettler’s review to find out just how good that L&S Atmos mix really is. . .

Machine Head is one of those perfect storm albums. As Deep Purple entered the 1970s, they undertook a creative shift from the psychedelic blues/pop of their late-’60s origins — embodied by hits like 1968’s perpetually catchy “Hush” and their cover of Neil Diamond’s “Kentucky Woman” — to move into full-on rock overdrive with June 1970’s Deep Purple in Rock and July 1971’s Fireball. With that tableau firmly set, Deep Purple ramped it up yet another notch to construct March 1972’s truly seminal Machine Head, which features enduring hardrock staples like “Smoke on the Water” (ahh, that right-of-passage guitar riff), “Highway Star” (their 8-cylinder vehicular love letter), and “Space Truckin’” (“Come on!”) among them.