Guitar World has published a new story featuring Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones looking back on co-producing Van Halen's landmark 5150 album, their first record with Sammy Hagar fronting the band. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Guitar World: What do you remember about your first day working with them?

Jones: "Sammy picked me up from the airport and he gave me a rundown of what to expect. It was a little scary! He said, ‘Mick, we’ve been through the wars – this goes a little bit higher and a little crazier. So buckle your seatbelt!’But when we arrived at Eddie’s place, all of the guys were very cordial, very chatty and ‘up’ and cracking David Lee Roth jokes. So it was a nice warm welcome. And I was a little nervous, but I think that tends to bring out the best in me."

Guitar World: What tracks did they have ready at that stage?

Jones: "They had demos of all the tracks that made the final cut, pretty much. The only one that wasn’t demoed was 'Dreams', and I would say that was the one I had most involvement with from an arranging point of view. I think I really brought something to that song, especially Sammy’s vocals. I worked very long and hard with him on that, and he told me it was one of his all-time favourite performances. He was singing so high that he was hyperventilating. He almost passed out! I really pushed him. But we got it."

Guitar World: With 'Dreams' and other songs such as 'Love Walks In', Eddie played the riffs on synthesizers...

Jones: "He developed his own style of keyboard synth stuff . It was a slightly different direction, but it was still rock. It really felt good when I first heard the songs. And they made it pretty easy for me. They gave me a great drawing board. Gradually as we got to know each other, things really gelled."

Read the complete interview here.

5150 is Van Halen's seventh studio album, released on March 24th, 1986 via Warner Bros. Records. It was the first of four albums to be recorded with Hagar. The album sis known for the singles "Why Can't This Be Love", "Dreams", "Best Of Both Worlds" and "Love Walks In".