Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong has spoken about the hard rock albums that helped lay the foundations for his musical career, and revealed the Van Halen song that blew his mind as a nine-year-old... and continues to do so today.
Speaking on the WTF with Marc Maron Podcast, Armstrong says, "Two of the first records that I ever bought was For Those About To Rock by AC/DC, and Fair Warning by Van Halen. It's crazy, because people always thought of AC/DC... I guess because of the cover of Highway To Hell... like, AC/DC was more of the 'devil' band, and Van Halen was more of like, the pop, happy band... but when I heard the beginning of Mean Streets, and the way that he [Eddie Van Halen] plays that guitar solo at the beginning, I was like, that sounds like... the demons from hell are rising right now, and I felt like I was being possessed or something, I had a crazy reaction to it. To this day, still, when I listen to that solo, it just blows my mind."
