The Quietus - A new rock music and pop culture website

Baker's Dozen

(13 On The) Wheels Of Steel: Biff Byford Of Saxon's Favourite LPs
Michael Hann , February 13th, 2020 10:48

Biff Byford guides Michael Hann through the 13 records of riff-heavy magic that shaped Saxon

Van_halen_1581590297_resize_460x400

Van Halen – Van Halen
For any musician – not so much vocalists, but anyone who played guitar – when this came out it changed everything. I went to see them at the Rainbow in London, because I missed them supporting Black Sabbath. We were making our first album in London at the time and they were unbelievable: it was a West Coast rock & roll party and a new era in guitar playing. I had never seen anything like it before. Then all the glam metal bands copied Van Halen, because they were the first of the hair metal bands, selling sex. That’s really how they looked. ‘Running WIth The Devil’ is a fucking fantastic rock song – not quite as good as ‘Smoke On The Water’, but not far off.