"Murmur is the album that launched 10,000 indie bands. It had a vibe and a sound unlike anything that was out there. I'm a huge R.E.M. fan and I like a lot of their records but this one was something completely different and unique. It had a sixties sorta influence, the lyrics were elliptical - you really couldn't make out at all what Michael Stipe was singing. There's always touch and mystery and beautiful harmonies; there are churning guitars; it's psychedelic - all these things make it kinda hard to pin point what exactly the record sounds like. I don't know how they managed to pull it off. When I listen to this record I realise that this doesn't sound like any record ever. It really has its own sound. I don't think it had any commercial success but everybody who is a serious musician loved this record."

"It was kind of weird because I had forgotten how much I listened to that album. I was introduced to Ronnie [James Dio] at an early stage, loved his voice and Ritchie [Blackmore], as a guitar player, was someone who was just beyond the grasp of my little mind at the time. He was so unique. When you go through all the different eras and songs, there's such variety. Songs like 'Kill The King' were interesting, but by far my favourite was 'Gates Of Babylon'. It has such a hypnotic, dancing gypsy riff. The singing and all the production is just tremendous and if you can copy Blackmore and master what he's doing, it'll take your playing to a whole new level. Not many people have done it either. Yngwie [Malmsteen] did it very well of course, but Yngwie is the master and was influenced by not just Ritchie."

"It's another strange thing; you had to keep some records as secrets on the punk scene, but John Lydon was into [founding member of Van der Graaf Generator] Peter Hammill. There's an idea that people would hide their Genesis records and get out The Damned ones if people came round. I didn't hide mine, although I didn't play them to Ian when he came round. They're a funny band, Van der Graaf Generator. At the time, with Pawn Hearts, all of your mates would say: "Ooh, there's a track that's three days long… it's pixie stuff". But 'A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers' is completely overblown, like a nightmare with saxophones. I suppose it's the ultimate prog-rock album: it's really overblown, but still of the terrifying. I really like Peter Hammill. He's another guy who's really unique - he has a really individual way of singing, and it's very raw."