Excellent issue. The interviews with Paddy MacAloon and Robert Wyatt are absolutely superb.

Was trying to save it for a train journey this weekend, but managed to resist it's lure for about two hours last night. I shouldn't have taken the plastic off.

Glad to hear it's a good issue as I'm saving it for a looooong flight to Vancouver at the end of the month. Should help relieve the tedium and discomfort. (I've also got bunch of librivox short stories on the old pod as backup).

One great (admittedly long) article in Cult Heroes but the increasingly usual alarming amount of filler. Rob Fitzpatrick continues his descent into pointlessness with Woodstock: who cares?, the latest in a series that includes Kanye West: everyone else is wrong and I'm right and Jo Whiley: you're rubbish, Andrew "Mr Bland" Collins conducts a two page love-in with Ian Brown, columnists with nothing to say but a page to say it, etcetera etcetera...

Enjoyed the cult hero section but....
Did anyone else think that Roy Harper's interview was unbelievably self-important pompous claptrap?

is stunning. It's the best cover I've seen on Word, I think. I loved the Cult Hero interviews: Robert Wyatt, Carl Craig, Alex Patterson and Nigel Blackwell particularly, possibly because they're also my favourite artists of those featured. I also really liked the Ian Brown interview. His feelings on Squire, in particular, were very poignant. To JeremyRS above, there's nothing bland about asking good, open questions that elicit revealing answers. It's good journalism.

Gripes: Enough with the festivals already. Every bleedin' page, it felt like. And the reviews section, of course. I guess I'm just going to have to get over the no-stars policy (none the wiser as to whether or not the Arctic Monkeys album is any good, by the way), but that thing of reviewing two unrelated albums/films in the same piece grinds my nads: the transition is always so tortuous, and the Torchwood / In the Loop piece was virtually incomprehensible. Also, why give a whole page to simply reinforcing the prevailing view of Age of Chance?

These are minor gripes, though, and overall I thought it was a great issue. What Word continues to do so successfully is bring you into its world, and make you want to stay.

Totally agreed, I've had a brief look through and it looks great after the last two issues which although weren't poor, seemed a bit off the boil. Nice to see a feature on Lost (at last)

mentions of personal favourites like The Jayhawks, Edwyn, HMHB, Paddy, The Blue Nile and Ian McNabb. But a little disappointed that with the exception of Paddy and HMHB the exposure is pretty small. I would have thought all involved in the Cult Hero section would be worthy of far bigger articles, as they all have interesting stories to tell.

I rather enjoyed the Cult Heroes things - although, as always, would have liked more on those I like, and less on those I don't. Ian McNabb may not have made a decent record for a while, but he is worth hearing - or reading about. "Merseybeast" - his autobiography - is one of the greatest rock tomes of recent years. And excellent to see Robyn Hitchcock in there too.

Agree about the Festivals. Less, please! It's like looking at a friend's holiday snaps.