The house that Sykes built. His playing on this album has made it possible for the snakes to still be touring, and keeping a huge roster of musicians employed.
You just don’t know whitesnake . The previous album was Whitesnake big breakthrough with love ain’t no stranger , guilty of love and slide it in . This album is the top 40 one the mainstream pop fans know .
@@humanactivated1017 That album started the momentum, but on its own terms was only a modest hit, and nothing compared to the success of the '87 album. Slide it In only reached #40 on the US charts (gold certification) and had no charting singles. '87 was 8x platinum in the US alone, had a #1 and #2 hit on the Hot 100 singles chart. That is the album that created their commercial legacy, and Sykes co-writing the whole album was the difference.
His playing and writing - he co-wrote the album with Coverdale. Listening to the brilliant Blue Murder album, it's clear where that Whitesnake '87 sound came from.
Coverdale was writing great songs long before Sykes joined and his discography from Burn to the present day is testament to his writing talent. 1987 in my opinion was a step away from what I loved in the early years. No doubting Sykes talent on this record but Coverdale wrote great songs before and after.
Yes - and the reverb of the room , whether it’s a rehearsal space or isolated, not sure , but those amps/amp is cranked!! I love to hear the ambiance and little nuances Isolated tracks are always interesting to listen to
@@hazor777 And that tiny bit of feedback in the first bit of riffing around 22 seconds in. That kind of stuff really makes these isolated tracks feel like you're in the room listening to him play.
One of the only players alive that you know its John Sykes playing when you hear him, his passion is heard and felt and it made this one of the greatest guitar songs ever written. This band hired the best guitarists on the planet for 35 years even to this day and they still don't have his mojo.....
John Sykes is in my top 5 greatest guitarists ever, but what really sets him apart imo is that fucking tone. This imo, is the greatest guitar tone ever recorded. It's like thunder. Absolutely monstrous.
I understand they doubled the amp and/or the track for this one. They made it sound even more massive. Just an all-around great song. Brings back lots of memories for me. I remember when it hit the radio back in 87 and stopped me in my tracks.
That killer tone and the sustain! Not only can the man shred, he’s a hell of a singer, as well. 2:45 that clarity is ridiculous. Sounds like some Gallien Krueger 250 ML magic
What’s crazy about this is Bob Rock recorded Jason Becker on the DLR A Little Ain’t Enough Record. Truly a testament to how great Sykes was. I’d put this track up against any
Bob Rock was basically the one who got this tone. He was working in the same studio at the time and they asked him to come in and help get the tone because they were having trouble. He did.
1st saw John with Lizzy live in 1983 & was instantly blown away by his playing & Greatness just like the main man Gary we want Moore!!!! To my ears Whitesnake cud have 100 Guitarists & still would not sound as good as Sykesy!!!
He got a lot of credit from the right people. Joe Public don’t care. Most of them who liked the hits probably don’t even know coverdales name. We are still talking about his guitar playing almost 25 years later and rightly so. I wore this album out when I was in my teens and still play it
The chord progressions at the 4:00 mark are epic. Just brilliant. A lot of people would like for John Sykes to come out of retirement and record and tour again. I say he’s earned his quiet life in the San Fernando Valley for this one epic track alone. The man has left his mark.
All of these tracks on this album are genius guitar riffs and vocal melodies. When you look back all these years later you thank god this music and this album was created. What would we hard rockers do without this music??? Thank god for it!!!! Great stuff. Classic mid to late 80s!!!!
That vibrato just after the fast run in the solo. John had great soulfull vibrato. Foolishly it took me years to realize that rhythm and vibrato are of mega importance rather than just fast lead.
The guitar playing on this album is soooo good it's a master piece,love how John uses vibrato on chords,sounds absolute killer.been my fav guitarist for years.
I’ve been researching this as much as possible, so for anybody interested, this is what I’ve come across - Basics first, it’s a Les Paul Custom, and a vintage Strat for the clean parts. The LP originally had a Dirty Fingers pickup in the bridge, but at some point Sykes exchanged it for a more “vintage” PAF style Gibson pickup - it’s not clear if that was before or after this record. Bob Rock was brought in to engineer the guitar sound, because they couldn’t get something they were satisfied with. For the main riffs, he split the signal to two separate Mesa/Boogie Mark III Coliseum heads, and gave one a very slight delay. The parts were then double tracked, split left and right, possibly with some very light chorus, and a lot of (small room) reverb. The reverb may have been an AMS RMX 16, which is what Sykes used in his live rig. So it ends up almost sounding like four guitars - two takes of Sykes playing through two heads at the same time, with effects on top. The clean parts clearly have a lot of chorus, but I’m not sure which unit was used. I also haven’t found any info on what mics were used, but there are likely SM57s in the mix. I’m pretty sure the above information is accurate. It sounds like it. It also probably can be seen as a precursor to the sound of Metallica’s black album, which Rock produced.
Any thoughts on the set up for the solo? He must’ve had used a separate guitar with a Floyd tremolo for the dive bombs in the beginning right ? There is 2 tracks and it sounds like they punched in the fast run with Les paul directly afterwards
Mesa Boogie Mark 3, split into 2 amps, and recorded with separate mics, creating small chorus effect, then trouble tracked, so that's 4 in total. Dirty fingers pickup sitting in a Les Paul late 70's Custom. Then you add that aggressive playing style and you get that. One of the greatest guitar recordings ...EVER!
a mesa mark III coliseum i herd...160 watts...and yes, one of the greatest tones ever!!! and i'm a die-hard metal guy...mesa amps rule, pure n simple...have a mark IV and a badlander...cheers all!!!
i have a MKIII simul-class blue stripe frmo the 80s...that thing will outlive me i think, and it sounds absolutely killer on every type of music@@geraldrauch1701
Ironically, for a BRITISH guitarist, John Sykes was the foundation of the "American" sounding Whitesnake. He truly pioneered that sound and IMHO was the real reason why 1987 was such a success. The power, mystery and atmosphere in this particular song was a big factor in the magic of the album, leading to it's success. A much under-rated track. Just a shame DC treated Sykes (allegedly) so poorly. Sykes did so much to establish the re-invigorated band, and got so little out of it personally.
Blues and R&B influenced many British legends, Clapton, Beck, et al. Then came Hendrix. You could say the same about Eddie... he was doing this high speed bullet stule guitar since late 70s.
In the mix only for my taste. It sounds like shit isolated. I thought something was wrong with my speakers. Not the first time it happens in many songs though. In the mix it works.
think he's using 2 guitars for that solo. The first one that does the whammy bar gymnastics and the second one that has the neck pickup sound. His neck pickup sound is such a big influence on me. His aggression and speed are just unreal.
Same for me, it's that neck pickup tone I always go for! The trick really is to turn the tone knob on your Les Paul down to exactly 8, gets you that extra sustain from shaving a hair of top end off - making it slightly more fuzzy, smooth and singing 😉
SYKES LE DIO IDENTIDAD A WHITESNAKE SIN DUDAS , Y POR MAS GUITARRISTAS COMO STEVE VAI , DOUG ALDRICH, JOEL HOEKSTRA Y OTROS QUE TOCARON NUNCA PUDIERON REEMPLAZAR AL GRAN JOHN SYKES
Mesa/Boogie tube amp overdrive on the F-major chord has the major 5th (C) harmonic singing So good, it brought a tear to my eye when I first heard it at the age of 7. This effect apparently caused by playing the open G in the middle of the chord (FCFGXX). I probably listened to this track 1,000 times a month in '87 when this tape first hit. Sykes' tone was simply unbeatable that year.
Imagine having this sound and melody in your head and trying to make it a reality for others to hear your secret language. The last rist in this masterpiece is very old English and medieval.
LOVE this!!!! Delicious tone with just the perfect nasty little raunch...GOD I miss this!!!! So grateful I was in the 80s...with REAL music and no AI. the FEEL is so wonderful. Blue Murder anyone?
He’s a BAAAAAAD MAN! Loved this time since it came out. Now this isolation of his playing has taken it to an elevated notch. The tone is aggressive and expressive … Damn - love it!
Hands down the Phattest Tone from that era.. Thanks very much for posting this.. Its super helpful in learning all the finer nuiances on his parts before a live performance
Wow, that actually held my attention the entire time. I actually managed not to reach for my guitar until the very end when I hit replay. What a great player! It’s too bad they had such a falling out. The man’s contribution to this song was massive. I need to get my hands on a pedal that produces that lovely chorus. Absolutely beautiful in the bridge.
Simply grateful I got to be in high school when this song and album came out. The first time I heard this was when a student literally brought a ghetto blaster on the school bus and started the tape on the song (yes it was allowed to have stereos on the bus). It was mond blowing, he cranked it so loud . It gave you the courage to go ask that girl out that you had a crush on for 3 years but could never talk to. You could take a chick to 'lookout point' by the lake and make out to this record. I found $300 on the floor at my job and rather than turning it in I took it and bought an electric guitar at the local music store because I wanted to become a rock musician just from this song. 35 years later I still am. Thank you John Sykes, you da man.
Class Guitarist he is had the pleasure of meeting him back in 1981 @ the city hall Newcastle @ a Def Leppard gig(High n Dry Tour)Also seen Him Play For The Tygers of Pang Tang @ The City Hall Newcastle too.
I looked at some guitar teachings on RU-vid and nobody is close that I can find for the last parts of the songs chord shapes. Awesome playing very awesome.
John Sykes and Greg Howe were the biggest influences. It wasn’t until I could play the entire 1987 album in my bedroom when I was 16 did I realize what a monster of the guitar John Sykes was and is ❤️🙌👍 legend!
ok for Beck, Page, Hendrix but to put Schenker who is a B leager, there are quantities to name before including Blackmore, Lee, West, Kaukonen, Vaughan, Roeser etc
Loved him on this entire album. Damn shame he didn't take his victory lap by being the face of this group. Coverdale missed the mark to pair with this genius on the guitar for decades. I had to follow him over to Blue Murder where he managed to be unappreciated yet again. Hes definitely in my top 5 shredders of all time. I loathe that i never saw him live.
I love all the multi-picking in the rhythm and chord progression parts! I was never a Whitesnake fan, mainly because I didn’t like Coverdale.. but this song was always a standout. Just a perfect composition. Sykes’ playing is unreal.
