Steve Vai's notes on 'Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch':

"Much of this material was recorded on the 1981 tour, then some overdubs were done in the studio. On the song "Envelopes," my live guitar track had some hairy sounds on it, and, by accident, Frank erased it. He put his head in his hands and said, "Boy, sometimes I'm such a dumb guy." I said, "Don't worry. I'll run around in the studio and create a live ambient sound like an audience and play the part." He chuckled, we re-recorded it, and it came out better. Guess you can't fool fate."