“Yes showed you could write rocky prog, but UK took that further. They made complex music sound so easy, which makes me very envious”: Whitesnake ex Adrian Vandenberg’s prog inspirations

In 2019 acclaimed rock guitarist Adrian Vandenberg – best known for his stint in Whitesnake – explained why British prog band UK remain a powerful source of inspiration for him.

“My love of prog started with Focus and Jan Akkerman when I was about 16. Akkerman was in his mid-20s at the time and he was already blowing people away. Being from Holland, they were heroes for me.

We all watched them explode in England and America – it was inspiring. Then I discovered early Yes, who were a little rockier with Roundabout. I actually remember trying to figure out some of their classical guitar parts back then.

UK always had such great musicians – guys who other musicians wanted to see perform. Allan Holdsworth was extremely gifted, but he was also underrated as an influence, because of the techniques that he pioneered and his way of playing.

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Guys like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani wouldn’t sound like they do if it wasn’t for him. And he was very understated: he just stood there with his battered Stratocaster, looking more like an accountant than a rock player! But when you heard his playing you got really intimidated. He was on a different level.

John Wetton was the gel in the band, I thought. He wasn’t a virtuosic bass player, but he had a really attractive way of singing, which made their sophisticated music a bit more accessible. He let the others blow you away – Bill Bruford, Terry Bozzio, Eddie Jobson – you couldn’t take your eyes off them.

A while ago I used the first UK record to test some new speakers in my house and I realised just how ahead of its time it was. They made complex music sound so easy, which makes me very envious as a guitar player. It still sounds very relevant today.

I’ve always tried to incorporate a progressive approach into my writing. On songs like This Is War and Fighting Against The World I wanted to incorporate interesting harmonic structures to solo over – that was greatly influenced by my love of UK and Yes.

I think Yes showed that you could write quite rocky prog, but UK took that a little further. They took everything that bit further. They explored every avenue alongside the road that they were travelling on, and I think that’s why they left such a great legacy behind them.”