The festive season means different things for different people. Whether it's decking out your gaff with all the bells and whistles, suicidal shopping frenzies or obligatory family get-togethers made bearable with binge drinking, one thing that you can rely on - year in and year out - is the Hot Press Annual, on sale now.

Full of high quality reading to get you through the frosty winter days, this year's Annual is bigger and better than ever. What with bands like The Darkness and Kings of Leon descending upon popular culture in all their backwards-looking glory, we thought it no time like the present to ditch all the Next Big Thing considerations and honour the true legends of rock.

We've got interviews with Jimmy Page, Fleetwood Mac and Sting, as well as Irish trailblazers The Undertones and Kila. There's also the gospel according to Frank Black, who talks about the hotly contested Pixies reunion being mooted for 2004. Acclaimed rock photographer, Jill Furmanovsky selects some of her favourite female subjects, in the Girls on Film photo feature. And we've also caught up with some of our favourite contemporary artists talking about their biggest influences: Blondie, The Strokes, Ash, Interpol, Electric 6 and many more. And let's not forget our Annual cover story, The Thrills, who've had arguably the biggest year of them all.

As well as the bumper music features, we've also wrapped up the year in politics, film, books, comedy and games. Plus there's all the usual Annual stuff: Hot Press contributors and leading personalities talking about their 2003, quotes of the year, the year's top 30 singles and albums (as voted by the HP critics), The Border Fascist, a super-challenging music quiz, giveaways and more.

Of course for all our dear hotpress.com members we'll be progressively posting some of the best articles onto the web, but for all the pictorial and tactile glory you can't go past this 122-page full colour Annual. Priced at just €6.95 it provides essential reading material for the holiday season. Don't leave home – or enter 2004 - without it!