1. Wishbone AshArgus

Most of the albums I’ve chosen are from the 1970s – they are ones that moulded my style. So, Wishbone Ash invented twin harmony guitars in heavy rock [they were also a huge influence on Iron Maiden]. I used to go and see them when they played in Leeds or Sheffield or Barnsley – they were on circuit a lot in the early 70s. I was a bass player then, and they had a great bass player [Martin Turner] with a good style, with really cool vocal harmonies. Argus felt groundbreaking – it was a big explosion of rock and Wishbone Ash were a pretty loud band. It was a good grounding for me to learn their songs – this particular album is a concept album so you learned the whole thing. That’s how songs get into your psyche. In Saxon we used the twin guitar harmonies occasionally – we don’t want to copy anybody, but it is a theme, it is in there.