With Coverdale and Vandenberg combining to begin writing for the follow up album, Campbell was given his marching orders, ostensibly being fired by Coverdale because Campbell’s wife and Coverdale’s partner did not get on. Vandenberg was set on being the sole guitarist of the band in the same way John Sykes had been previously, but with writing well underway it became obvious that due to a worsening wrist injury that required surgery he would be unable to perform on the album. In order to get the album recorded, Coverdale came up with a winner in being able to convince guitar prodigy Steve Vai to leave his gig with David Lee Roth and instead record with, and eventually tour with Whitesnake. Vandenberg, in retrospective interviews, has claimed that Vai’s interpretation of the songs that Vandenberg wrote was too flamboyant, and that he felt they required a more bluesy approach, perhaps more like a traditional sounding Whitesnake album. That was never going to be the case with Vai’s guitaring style. What it did was bring a more modern sound to the guitars on this album that had been the case in the past, and actually make it stand out from the pack of what was being released in the commercial hard rock and glam metal market at the time of its release. Perhaps Vandenberg just felt jipped, because he had come along after the recording of the “1987” album, and now missed out on playing on the new album as well.
What you will get here today is a more personalised review of the songs on this album. And a fair bit of fanboying over the guitaring od Steve Vai as a result. Because to me this album does not get anywhere near the respect and love that it deserves, so I am going to offer a little bit up for it here on my podcast. Because I can. Because there is too much to like here in Steve's guitaring.
Take the brilliant start and then furious picking on the main riff under the verse to "Wings of the Storm" as just one example. It electrifies the album, lighting it up with a joyful kind of excitement, and along with the brilliant enthusiasm of David's vocals it makes this one of the many highlights of the album. And I'm not sure this could have been achieved if it had been played in the way that Adrian Vandenberg envisioned that it should be. Listen to the layered guitar solos playing off against each other in the break, and then the feverish end of the solo with Vai's fingers flying across that fretboard. Stunning and amazing.
The album is a mix of those brilliant fast paced hard rock anthems, the bluesy slower thought pieces, radio friendly love-and-anguish based tracks and the soulful ballad-based lyrical songs that have a slightly harder edge on the guitars and drums, all of which Vandenberg deserves credit for being a co-writer of. "Fool For Your Loving 89" is another re-recording of one of the band's songs from a previous album, this one originally from “Ready an' Willing”. I love both versions, and it's funny how both versions were released as singles. This version’s single of course was the lead single released from the album and did good business in getting fans to buy the album. "The Deeper the Love" is very bluesy, and Steve's guitaring throughout is very circumspect in keeping with the mood of the song. This is a throwback to the late 70’s early 80’s style of the band and is a great reminder of the strength of the songs from that era as well. "Now You're Gone" is in this mood too, a ballad like song that has that harder edge, making it into more of a rock ballad than a blues ballad, which I prefer and enjoy more because of this. It echoes “Is This Love?” from the previous album. Perhaps the only real disappointment of the album is the penultimate song "Slow Poke Music". While it isn't a bad song as such, its averageness tends to be noticed much more given the two songs it is sandwiched between.
How about that start to the album though? From the get-go, Tommy Aldridge pumps those drums, Rudy Sarzo who has also come on board to record this album hammers that bass guitar, Steve Vai flies his fingers up and down the neck of his guitar, and David Coverdale takes hold of the microphone and gets those vocal chords vibrating. "Slip of the Tongue" careers out of the speakers and sets the tone for the whole album to come. What a top notch song to kick off the album. Not only is Vai’s guitaring incredible, but it also drives Coverdale's vocals to the top of his range which is just incredible. An amazing start. This is followed by the tongue in cheek "Cheap an' Nasty" which is right up Coverdale's alley in regard to lyric writing. I love Tommy's drumming in this song, breaking out the cowbell and emphasising every beat. Great stuff. “Kittens Got Claws” emphasises that speed element once again, and also Coverdale’s ability to write lyrics with that double meaning that can be interpreted however you would like to.
Then we come to the back of the album. Coverdale's vocals are spectacular in "Judgement Day", driving a punch in that song over the moody rhythm that makes up the basis of the track. While each member has their part in creating the scene of the song, the amazing atmosphere created by the vocals here is magnificent in showcasing his undoubted talent. This song gets lost a little bit in a live setting, but on the studio recording it is almost the star showing of this album. I still get shivers listening to it, especially that final push of vocals into the final bridge and chorus, and then Vai’s guitar playing out the track. Amazing stuff. To finish it all off comes "Sailing Ships", which builds slowly throughout from the serene to an amazing climax with Coverdale again front and centre with an amazing vocal performance and Steve Vai complementing it perfectly. It truly closes out the album on a high, with amazing power and energy from each member of the band.
Want to know how to polarise opinion? Get together with a bunch of Whitesnake fans, and pose the question, "When did the band release their best material, pre-1983 or post 1983?" That's a debate that will get emotional and passionate, divide the room and create a heated discussion. Nothing will be resolved of course, because the majority of people who grew up with the immediate post-Deep Purple era Whitesnake will insist those first albums are far superior to anything that was released later on. I came along just a little later, and took my Whitesnake apprenticeship on albums such as “Whitesnake [aka 1987]” and “Slip of the Tongue”. I still think those early albums are awesome, but for me, “Slip of the Tongue” is the top of the tree. There is no doubt many will see this as an overblown late-80's hair metal pop-fest with a guitarist on an ego trip and a lead singer in a similar vein. I think those people are only hearing what's on the surface, and not allowing the music to move through them. I am also aware that I have had this album since the first day it was released, and have worn out my vinyl copy, my CD copy, and now my digital copy. It has been ingrained in me since that first day, and it grows with me as I grow older. Any flaws that someone may find with this album I will probably see with rose tinted glasses. And let's face it, isn't that the way you SHOULD approach the music you love? Because it doesn't matter what anyone else says about albums that affect you the way this always has with me, because music speaks differently to everyone. And this for me will always be one of my favourites.
After having lived off “1987” for a good 18 months, I was champing at the bit for a new album by the time this came to our record stores in late 1989. John Sykes had gone, as had his replacement Vivian Campbell, who I had been dying to hear play on a new Whitesnake album. Then bugger me, Steve Vai gets drafted in! Incredible! And then it got even better when it was announced that Vai had in fact played ALL of the guitars on the album! Wow. Pinch me. How can this not be a triumph?
I can see why some fans of Whitesnake may not like this album. The early albums, and even the latter day albums with Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra on guitar, all have that very bluesy rock feel about the songs. It was a trademark of the music. Some of that was acid-washed away on 1987, and it has almost completely gone here on this album, no doubt mainly through Steve Vai's influence on guitar. To be honest, I believe this is why I love this album so much, because Steve has infused so much energy into these songs with his flairs and flails on his guitar, which may not have been the case if the guitar duties had been shared in the recording process or only been played by Vandenberg.
So yes, I love this album, and have from the moment I bought it. And this is one of those albums that comes out consistently to be played again. So having had my CD copy out again for the past three weeks, it has been like a walk back in time. And each and every listen has been like reliving great memories from the past, and still marvelling at the brilliance of Aldridge, Sarzo, Vai and Coverdale. It’s a shame that they couldn’t all remain solid following the tour to support this album. I’d have loved to have heard if Coverdale and Vandenberg could have pulled it off again with Vai not running the whole show musically. At least, for a short shining moment in time, they were able to do so to get this album done.
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