"For the Love of God" is an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

piece by

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

. It is the seventh song on Vai's 1990 album, ''

Passion and Warfare ''Passion and Warfare'' is the second studio album by guitarist Steve Vai, released on May 22, 1990 through Relativity and Epic Records. It has been certified Gold by the RIAA. Background ''Passion and Warfare'' was written based on a series ...

''. The piece runs for six minutes and features a number of techniques including pitch bends,

legato In music performance and notation, legato (; Italian for "tied together"; French ''lié''; German ''gebunden'') indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, the player makes a transition from note to note wit ...

, and

sweep picking Sweep picking is a guitar playing technique. When sweep picking, the guitarist plays single notes on consecutive strings with a 'sweeping' motion of the pick, while using the fretting hand to produce a specific series of notes that are fast a ...

. Vai recorded the track on the fourth day of a ten-day fast. During an interview, he explained, "I do try to push myself into relatively altered states of consciousness. Because in those states you can come up with things that are unique even for yourself". David Coverdale of

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own en ...

provides a spoken word at the end of the song. He speaks the phrase, "Walking the fine line between Pagan and Christian." Vai recorded the song on an early prototype of the Ibanez Universe 7-string guitar. He eventually gave the guitar to

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

in 1996. Steve Vai debuted the song in Seville, Spain, during the "Leyendas de la Guitarra" (Guitar Legends) festival in 1991. One of its most acclaimed performances was with the

Metropole Orchestra The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, which is featured on the ''

Sound Theories ''Sound Theories Vol. I & II'' is a 2007 album by American guitarist Steve Vai. The album was recorded with the Metropole Orchestra in Netherlands in mid-2004/2005 and released on June 26, 2007. Volume I features Vai playing guitar with the orche ...

'' album. For the Love of God was voted #29 in a readers' poll of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time for the magazine, '' Guitar World''.Guitar World magazine 100 Greatest Guitar Solos: 29) "For the Love of God" (Steve Vai)
For the Love of God has also been featured on numerous video games such as, '' Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock'' and '' Rock Band''.

References

{{authority control 1990 songs Rock instrumentals Songs written by Steve Vai