"We liked Free – very bluesy, with a lot of soul. There was a time when there was this thing called Freemania, when they were the biggest thing since sliced bread. They were a bit Led Zeppelinish – brilliant musicians, and Paul Rodgers was a white guy who sounded black. They were all great at what they did. This album didn’t influence me so much, but it influenced the band the other guys were in, Sob. They named the band after this album. They were a very bluesy outfit before Paul Quinn and I joined the band and it became Son of a Bitch, then Saxon – our old band, Coast, was more proggy. So this album became part of my listening cycle."

"Another of my favourite bands, and they also went through a key singer change [Bruce Dickinson replaced Paul Di'Anno from this album onwards]. It also features two personal heroes of mine, [guitarists] Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, who go through a change and continue to make great music. I was a fan of Paul Di'Anno too, but that particular record where Bruce comes in, that's another one I'd say is perfect, from top to bottom. There's always that myth... that darker element, I guess, to rock & roll. I don't necessarily see it as dark. I'd say it's more human. In context of a more rigid, uptight society, rock n' roll has always been about pushing the boundaries of ...maybe what's just a little bit more natural to human beings...[laughs] A band I really fucking dug, and emulated quite a bit for a good chunk of time when I was learning how to play guitar. Like I said I was always into dual guitar bands and Maiden were great for that. Bruce actually interviewed us when Black Gives Way To Blue came out. He said one of the greatest things about it, he said: ""Black Gives Way To Blue: Have a listen! If you haven't, you're just stupid!"" [laughs]"