December issue on sale tomorrow

Welcome to the December issue
The sad passing of Eddie Van Halen brought to mind a day in 1984 when I interviewed him for Melody Maker. We were backstage in Buffalo and, while the band indulged in a food fight, he was sat in a small room, crying.

He was convinced the others were jealous of the attention he’d gained guesting on Michael Jackson’s Beat It and that they all hated him. At this point a minder entered and informed us it was time to leave for the hotel. Eddie sank to his knees by a bucket full of bottles of booze and began collecting them into his arms. The minder shook his head. “You know the rules Eddie, only one.” Eddie gazed at the cognac, the JD, the vodka, the Wild Turkey and whined. Could he take two? The minder said no, just the one…

All of which brings me to this month’s cover. On the one hand there’s Rotel’s CD11/A11 Tribute setup. On the other, there’s the Auralic Aries G2.1. Decisions... Decisions...

Both are such high achievers that choosing between them proved challenging. Convinced you can’t have too much of a good thing, we settled for both.

Oh yeah, Eddie chose the vodka...

Enjoy the issue

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