11. Van Halen1984

Sebastian Thomson: When this album came out I was more into solo Ozzy Osbourne and Manowar… I thought that Van Halen were sell-outs. Kids can be very tribal when it comes to music. I remember arguments about who was better, Randy Rhoads or Eddie Van Halen, and I was firmly in the Randy camp.

After high school I began to revisit VH and began to realise what a truly unique combination of songwriting, showmanship and virtuosity this band was. Specifically Van Halen was an influence on us with respect to the idea of combining synths and drums in a rock format. Alex also managed to play technical drums while never losing sex appeal. But most importantly I was struck by how celebratory this music is – it sounds like a distillation of adrenaline, youth, cocaine, sex, sunshine and beer. 1984 in particular is pretty much perfect from beginning to end.