David Coverdale recording "Slide It In" to re-form Deep Purple. (Ian Paice had left Whitesnake in 1982.) In 1985, Sykes and Coverdale started working on new songs for the next album, but Coverdale soon contracted a serious sinus infection that made recording close to impossible for much of 1986 and which had doctors thinking he might never sing again. Coverdale eventually recovered, and recordings were continued. But before their upcoming album was fully recorded and released, Coverdale had dismissed Sykes from the band. The split with Sykes was, reportedly, not amicable. In many period interviews, Coverdale stated that the next album was
Into the Light (David Coverdale album) but did not chart. "Slave" reached No. 33 on the US "Billboard" Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Three additional songs were recorded for this album that did not make the final CD. Coverdale released these tracks on his official Whitesnake.com website. A number of other titles, written by Coverdale, were published around the time, which have yet to be released. The titles include "Flesh And Blood (The Milf Song)", "Heart Of Stone", "Let’s Talk It Over", "Let’s Talk It Over (Reprise)", "Lust (Baby It’s For You)", "Yours For The Asking", and "With All Of My Heart". Into the Light (David Coverdale