In 1970, rock entered a new decade of endings and explosive beginnings. The Beatles split, Hendrix declared one era over, and tragic losses soon followed. Yet new forces rose – Black Sabbath’s dark power, Free’s blues-rock energy, Elton John’s breakthrough, and CSNY’s supergroup dynamics. This issue revisits landmark voices like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Pink Floyd and The Kinks, through the words of NME and Melody Maker.