Adrian Vandenberg Says He Had A Disagreement With David Coverdale About Whitesnake’s ‘Restless Heart’

It’s pretty common for bandmates to have creative differences with one another. When one musician wants to lead the act with their artistic perspective, the other members may struggle to get on board. While chatting with EonMusic, former Whitesnake guitarist Adrian Vandenberg discussed his creative disputes with the frontman, David Coverdale, on the reissued take of ‘Restless Heart.’

The 25th anniversary of ‘Restless Heart’ was celebrated with a remastered version of the record. However, it seems like not everyone was content with the direction the new edition took. For instance, the former guitarist Adrian Vandenberg recently revealed his disagreements with David Coverdale and his former bandmates while noting that he was only a ‘little bit’ pleased with the new take.

Vandenberg disclosed that he initially wasn’t content with the new edition of the record, and it seems like he refused to take a step back. Thus, the band had to retake some of Adrian’s guitar parts to fulfill his wishes. Whitesnake’s current guitarist, Joel Hoekstra, worked to double Adrian’s guitar rhythms to add more layer to the new edition.

The guitarist said the following when asked if he was pleased with the new edition of ‘Restless Heart’:

“Yeah, a little bit. The thing was, we ended up in a disagreement about the direction of it. So Joel doubled the rhythms that I did on the album to beef it up a little bit.”

To Vandenberg, the original version of the album had a more bluesy tune. The musician expressed that he had always been a Whitesnake fan and was familiar with the band’s cult sound. Whitesnake always had blues-inspired roots, which was the tone Vandenberg and Coverdale agreed to capture inRestless Heart.’ Adrian discussed that the pair wanted to bring back Whitesnake’s original sound.

Here’s what Adrian Vandenberg revealed about the creative process of the record:

“The demos that we made for ‘Restless Heart’ were also more back to Whitesnake being a blues rock band. I’ve always been a Whitesnake fan, so I know exactly what Whitesnake is supposed to be about, and that’s what I discussed with David at the time. We both decided, ‘You know what? It’s a weird period, and it’s the ’90s. Let’s bring Whitesnake back to what it originally is.'”

It’s apparent that the former Whitesnake guitarist had several disputes during the making of the new edition of ‘Restless Heart.’ The initial tone Vandenberg and Coverdale agreed on would intensify the band’s blues roots. Yet, it can be said that Adrian Vandenberg felt that the reissued project couldn’t capture that initially.