20th Century

20th Century is the record on which John Sykes put his thick, singing guitar and his own wistful vocals at the center. Released in 1997, the same year as Loveland. In his solo years Japan was his main field, and this too came out on Mercury Japan. While keeping hard rock's flashy drive, the songs have a night-like quiet and a mature shading. The setup of shouldering guitar, vocals and songwriting all himself hasn't changed from the previous record. An inward texture, different from the flamboyance of the Whitesnake years, leaves the stronger impression. Two albums in one year also speaks to how productive he was then. The solos may be sharp, but they're played to lift the emotion rather than to cut the song open. The track “Cautionary Warning” was used in the anime Black Heaven, reaching Japanese listeners in an unexpected way. Songs like “The Way You Kiss Me” convey his melodic sense well too. Sykes himself said at the time that an album is the music you want to make at that moment, overflowing. A satisfying record for savoring Sykes not only as a guitar hero but as a songwriter.