Re: Reb Beach in Whitesnake?
I would agree with this, if Van Halen III was their best selling album. Saying Steve Vai = Whitesnake is like saying Gary Cherone = Van Halen. Whitesnake is obviously Coverdale's band, but Sykes was the musician that gave him his biggest success.
Listen, I'm a huge John Sykes fan...so the last thing I want to do is not give him the credit where credit is due. John's work on s/t is really what I use to measure up all other rock music...but, read up on John's comments regarding the recording of the album. When he started, he was searching for a different sound...and he enlisted the help of Bob Rock (who was recording someone else in the same studio) to achieve the sound. John didn't do it all on his own...The production of the album has alot to do with how it sounds...
Also, The keep in mind that the only major hit penned by Sykes was In The Still Of the Night....but it wasn't the hit that broke s/t completely loose. That was Here I Go Again....which was *not* written by Sykes and is a remake of a previous Whitesnake recording. Here I Go Again doesn't get released, and Is This Love doesn't get released....same for Give Me All Your Love Tonight....
Whitesnake has existed FAR before Sykes and long after Sykes. You're viewing the s/t album as the be all end all of Whitesnake....and only in the US was Whitesnake a huge success surrounding the s/t album. In europe, especially england, Whitesnake enjoyed large success prior to Sykes joining the band.
Today, the Aldrich/beech Whitesnake is in massive demand in europe and asia...and I suspect if the dreadful musical climate that was started by a Seatle heroin addict finally shifts back towards riff-based guitar work...you will see Whitesnake enjoy large success here again.
Keep in mind that Sykes was fired before significant recording of s/t actually started. His mindset was that if he didn't finish the album, someone else would have...so he stayed and did so anyway.
