Steve Vai Reflects On Joining Whitesnake To Record Another Album

Iconic guitarist Steve Vai recently gave an interview to Dawn Osborne of Total Rock, during which he shared his thoughts on collaborating with Whitesnake and recording another album with them.

Back in 1989, Whitesnake began recording their eighth album. During the recording, guitarist Adrian Vandenberg injured his wrists while exercising and could not play the guitar properly. So, his injury caused delays in the album-making process, and David Coverdale eventually started searching for another guitarist to finish the record. He then recruited Steve Vai in March 1989.

With Vai’s addition, the band recorded the album ‘Slip Of The Tongue’ and released it on November 7, 1989, in the U.S, and on November 13 worldwide. Following the release, the record reached No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart and Billboard 200. However, the album ended up being a commercial disappointment, and it made the fans criticize the collaboration of Vai and Whitesnake.

In February 1990, Whitesnake embarked on their Liquor & Poker World Tour and headlined the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. During the tour, Steve Vai accompanied the band with his guitar talents. Following that tour, Whitesnake disbanded, and Steve Vai pursued his solo career, having already released his second solo album, ‘Passion And Warfare’ while on tour with the band.

In a recent interview with Total Rock’s Dawn Osborne, Steve Vai talked about making another collaboration with Whitesnake. He implied that it could be possible as he would like to join them, but he doesn’t know whether they want him to. Moreover, the guitarist added that starting a band and making a record is an extraordinary situation as all people want to do something different during the process, and he doesn’t know anybody to the extent where that would be comfortable.

During the interview, Steve Vai said the following about collaborating with Whitesnake:

“Well, you never know. I’ve had opportunities and requests. If Whitesnake played, I would like to join them or if Dave Roth played, I would maybe join him. But to start a band and make a record, that would have to be an extraordinary situation where all the people involved wanted to do something different, intense, and accessible. I just don’t know anybody like that.”

You can watch the full interview below.