Devin Townsend has shared Episode #2 of his official podcasr featuring guitar legend Steve Vai. They look back on their 30+ year relationship and working on Vai's 1993 album, Sex & Religion.
Townsend: "For the second episode, I am attempting the process of interviewing someone else about their process and seeing how they navigate the same stumbling blocks we all do. Steve Vai was the obvious guest based on our history and my relationship with him."
Townsend and Vai first worked together on Vai's 1993 album, Sex & Religion. Vai shared the following message on the album's 30th Anniversary:
"Today (July 23rd) marks the 30th anniversary release of Sex & Religion. After the success of Passion And Warfare, I had a pull to put a type of super group together with Terry Bozzio on drums and TM Stevens on bass. I know I wanted a vibrant and powerful lead singer, and to my good future, the label (Relativity Records) passed on a tape of a young Canadian powerhouse named Devin Townsend. When I listened to his tape I felt there was an exceptional talent there. I believe Devin was still in his teen years when we first met. He was funny, dynamic, unpredictable, and an intense singer, and he agreed to take the dive into this project and I was thrilled.
Although the touring band for this record changed up a bit, Devin led the band with his magnificent voice, unpredictable antics and extraverted stage performance. He was as unique as they come and offered a dimension to the entire Sex & Religion offering that raised its bar. And I can assure you there was never a dull moment through this entire adventure.
The idea behind Sex & Religion was to create a contemporary metal record with compositional overtones and heavy vocal arrangements. It’s always been my goal to offer great diversity in the various records I release and Sex And Religion hit that mark powerfully. At the time of it’s release people became aware that it was nothing like Passion And Warfare, and its heaviness and complexity was a little ahead of the curve of the trends that followed. It was not very well received by the press at the time being that it was so unexpected and aggressive. But to date, I have discovered that it has grown into a favorite for many fans.
Was that really 30 years ago?
My deepest appreciation to all those that contributed to this record to make it what it is, and to the fans that have supported it all through these years."
Sex & Religion is Vai's third studio album, released on July 23rd, 1993 through Relativity Records. Townsend performed all lead vocals for the album and co-wrote the tracks "Pig" and "Just Cartilage", the latter of which was only released as a bonus track in Japan.
