A great solo does not make a great piece. Rather, a great solo in a great song - that's what makes a 10 out of 10. It's the combination of emotional feel and inventive ideas.
Vocally and stylistically, we'd have different kinds of songs come on the radio, and people didn't realize it was the same band. A lot of the time, a casual fan would come see us and go, 'I didn't know that you guys did that song. I didn't know that was you!' That was us!
When a new record came out, the world would stop that day, and we would sit in somebody's house - whoever had the best stereo system - and sit in the middle of the two speakers and listen and discuss and listen again and go over the album notes and get out the guitar and start playing it and discuss and play some more.
I was doing our first album when I was 19. It came out as a hit, and I blinked - then 37 years went by. There's a lot of stuff that happened in there, but once the snowball started going down the hill, I took the ride.
I just think that there is something that keeps us together, to keep doing what we're doing. I can't really put my finger on it other than each record is like a little snapshot of my life at that particular moment, the way I play, the way I sound, the way I wrote, the way I sing, I can hear it.
I ain't the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I've dedicated my life to music since I was 7 and my dad bought me a guitar and the 'Meet the Beatles' album.
