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.
History 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 and Paris. Separate titles with the same name have been published under the same umbrella company in France since 1993,Rock Sound France – Marilyn MansonRock Sound France – Choix Des Critiques and in Spain since 1998.
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.Rock Sound – Covers 150 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.
The magazine was known for including a free CD in most issues, which had tracks from bands' new albums that have not been released as singles. These were called '100% Volume' or 'The Volumes', with other past compilations named 'Music With Attitude', 'Bugging Your Ears!', 'Sound Check' and 'Punk Rawk Explosion'.Discogs – Rock Sound Sometimes whole albums were 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.Rock Sound – Digital Compilation
In more recent years, exclusive artist merchandise including t-shirts have been sold alongside the magazine via the Rock Sound web store.
In 2023, Rock Sound became part of WhyNow media group and a special edition magazine was published in partnership with Slam Dunk Festival featuring headliners Enter Shikari and The Offspring on the cover. A weekly digital cover feature, The Album Story, was also launched on ROCKSOUND.TV.
Rock Sound's 300th issue was published in September 2023 with Fall Out Boy, Corey Taylor and Motionless In White appearing on the cover. The magazine will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2024.
Audience Year Circulation200916,374201015,005201114,227201313,220201513,924201614,057
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. 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. 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.
Album of the Year
At the end of every year the magazine lists their favourite 75 albums released in the previous twelve months.
1999 – Filter – Title of Record 2000 – A Perfect Circle – Mer de Noms 2001 – System of a Down – Toxicity 2002 – Isis – Oceanic 2003 – Hell Is for Heroes – The Neon Handshake 2004 – Isis – Panopticon 2005 – Coheed and Cambria – Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness 2006 – The Bronx – The BronxRS MySpace Top 75 2006 2007 – Biffy Clyro – PuzzleReuben Forum RS Top 75 2007 2008 – Genghis Tron – Board Up the HouseRS Top 75 2008 2009 – Mastodon – Crack the SkyeRS Top 75 2009 2010 – Bring Me the Horizon – There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a SecretRS Top 75 2010 2011 – Mastodon – The HunterRS Album of the Year Countdown 2011 2012 – The Menzingers – On the Impossible Past 2013 – letlive – The Blackest Beautiful 2014 – Lower Than Atlantis – Lower Than AtlantisBird, ed. 2015, p. 30 2015 – Bring Me the Horizon – That's the Spirit 2016 – Panic! at the Disco – Death of a Bachelor 2017 – All Time Low – Last Young Renegade 2018 – Twenty One Pilots – Trench 2023 – Sleep Token – Take Me Back to Eden 2024 – Twenty One Pilots – Clancy 2025 – Sleep Token – Even In Arcadia
Hall of Fame/Throwback
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 2010Rock Sound – June 2010 Jupiter Cave In 8 August 2000 #138, August 2010Jupiter Inducted Into Hall Of Fame Jacob Bannon of Converge Weezer Weezer 10 May 1994 #139, September 2010Rock Sound – September 2010Rock Sound – Blue Album Indicted Into Hall Of Fame Gustav Woods of Young Guns Smash The Offspring 8 April 1994 #140, October 2010Rock Sound – Smash Inducted Into Hall Of Fame Frank Turner White Pony Deftones 20 June 2000 #142, December 2010Rock Sound – December 2010 Jane Doe Converge 4 September 2001 #145, March 2011Rock Sound – March 2011Rock Sound – Jane Doe Inducted Into Hall Of Fame Winston McCall of Parkway Drive Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age 22 September 1998 #146, April 2011Rock Sound – April 2011 Hello Rockview Less Than Jake 6 October 1998 #149, July 2011Rock Sound – July 2011 Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation Funeral for a Friend 20 October 2003 #151, Summer 2011Rock Sound – Summer 2011 Tell All Your Friends Taking Back Sunday 26 March 2002 #152, September 2011Rock Sound – September 2011 Relationship of Command At the Drive-In 12 September 2000 #153, October 2011Rock Sound – October 2011 From Under the Cork Tree Fall Out Boy 3 May 2005 #155, December 2011Rock Sound – December 2011 New Found Glory New Found Glory 26 September 2000 #158, March 2012Rock Sound – March 2012 The Artist in the Ambulance Thrice 22 July 2003 #159, April 2012Rock Sound – April 2012 Good Mourning Alkaline Trio 13 May 2003 #160, May 2012Rock Sound – May 2012 Start Something Lostprophets 2 February 2004 #161, June 2012Rock Sound Issue 161Rock Sound – June 2012 Aled Phillips of Kids In Glass Houses Ideas Above Our Station Hundred Reasons 20 May 2002 #162, July 2012Rock Sound Issue 162Rock Sound – July 2012 Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari, Frank Turner Suicide Season Bring Me the Horizon 29 September 2008 #164, Summer 2012Rock Sound Issue 164, p.54-57 Sam Carter of Architects A Fever You Can't Sweat Out Panic! at the Disco 27 September 2005 #165, September 2012Rock Sound Issue 165, p.54-57 Pete Wentz of Fall Out BoyMike Ferri of We Are the In Crowd The Used The Used 25 June 2002 #166, October 2012Rock Sound Issue 166, p.48-51 Chris Pennells of Deaf Havana The Young and the Hopeless Good Charlotte 30 September 2002 #167, November 2012Rock Sound Issue 167, p.54-56 Alive or Just Breathing Killswitch Engage 21 May 2002 #168, December 2012Rock Sound Issue 168, p.46-49 Matt Heafy of Trivium Ascendancy Trivium 15 March 2005 #171, March 2013Rock Sound – March 2013 What It Is to Burn Finch 12 March 2002 #172, April 2013Rock Sound – April 2013 The Bronx The Bronx 26 August 2003 #173, May 2013Rock Sound – May 2013 Love Metal HIM 14 April 2003 #174, June 2013Rock Sound – June 2013 Infest Papa Roach 25 April 2000 #175, July 2013Rock Sound – July 2013 Tomorrow Come Today Boysetsfire 1 April 2003 #176, August 2013Rock Sound – August 2013 As the Palaces Burn Lamb of God 6 May 2003 #177, Summer 2013Rock Sound – Summer 2013 Bleed American Jimmy Eat World 24 July 2001 #178, September 2013Rock Sound – September 2013 Take to the Skies Enter Shikari 19 March 2007 #179, October 2013Rock Sound – October 2013 Miss Machine The Dillinger Escape Plan 20 July 2004 #180, November 2013Rock Sound – November 2013 Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness Coheed and Cambria 20 September 2005 #181, December 2013Rock Sound – December 2013 Gutter Phenomenon Every Time I Die 23 August 2005 #184, March 2014Rock Sound – March 2014 Perseverance Hatebreed 12 March 2002 #185, April 2014Rock Sound – April 2014 Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water Limp Bizkit 17 October 2000 #186, May 2014Rock Sound – May 2014 A Place in the Sun Lit 23 February 1999 #187, June 2014Rock Sound – June 2014 The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild Sikth 18 August 2003 #188, July 2014Rock Sound – July 2014 Superunknown Soundgarden 8 March 1994 #189, August 2014Rock Sound – August 2014 Punk in Drublic NOFX 19 July 1994 #191, September 2014Rock Sound – September 2014 Hollow Crown Architects 26 January 2009 #192, October 2014Rock Sound – October 2014 Slaughter of the Soul At the Gates 14 November 1995 #193, November 2014Rock Sound – November 2014 Get Some Snot 27 May 1997 #197, March 2015Rock Sound – March 2015 Follow the Leader KoЯn 18 August 1998 #198, April 2015Rock Sound – April 2015 Crisis Alexisonfire 22 August 2006 #202, August 2015Rock Sound – August 2015 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
Rock Sound Records 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 is 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.GET YOUR WORLD EXCLUSIVE CASSETTE COPY OF SIMPLE CREATURES' DEBUT EP FROM ROCK SOUND RECORDS
Discography