Tag: whitesnake

Long before Mr. Coverdale bought huge amounts of shares in various hair spray companies and sold his soul to a scantily clad lady on the hood of a car, Whitesanke were purveyors of the finest blues rock to be heard anywhere.

This is where I really started to pay attention to them, mainly due to the awesome Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues and the title track, which Cloverdale co-wrote with the delightful Bernie Marsden. And, let’s not forget the awesome Medicine Man. These two tracks alone are the very definition of what the real Whitesnake was all about. Superb hooks and melodies, coupled with simple grab you by the throat riffs, and a driving groove.

I know 1987 sold in its squillions but to me, this is the real Whitesnake and always will be. My favourite track is Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues, it’s one of the best things they ever did. I know there’s not much chance of it ever happening, seeing as DC has blown out his voice, but I would like to see him team up with Bernie for a farewell album. One can dream.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

This is the 35th anniversary remix edition. Depending on what version you had at the time (whether the UK or the US version), you had either Mickey Moody or John Sykes on guitar. Coverdale’s ego was out of control at the time. He belittled Moody in front of Sykes after some show in Germany, and it wasn’t long after that Sykes was in the band. Coverdale was going for the pretty boy approach for the American market. As we all know, it worked wonders for him and the band as the 1987 album sold squillions, but you have to feel for Mickey Moody, Mel Galley and Bernie Marsden.

This is the last British sounding album with the heavy blues thing still very prevalent in all the songs. I’m not sure Coverdale would get away with it today, but the lyrics are very suspect and overloaded with double entendres and sexual references. Musically, the first three tracks are all classics with Slide It In, Slow An Easy, and Love Ain’t No Stranger – all crowd favourites that are killer live. Guilty Of Love is another great track that really grooves along, and Coverdale has a perfect voice for the heavy blues vibe that this band did so well.

I am used to hearing the UK version of this album, so hearing Sykes’ guitar parts and the slightly different bass lines is an odd experience. Anyway, good songs are good songs no matter how you tinker with them to rewrite history.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

Other than the two solo albums by Coverdale, this is the third album by Whitesnake – by this album they were flying. To me, this is what Whitesnake were all about, not the the big hair ensemble that Coverdale and the record company turned them into when they sacked nearly all the band because they weren’t pretty enough. This is a great classic British blues rock record. It’s well written, well played, and has a great production. It helps if you have a killer band with Paice and Lord from Deep Purple on drums and keys, Neil Murray on bass, and the twin guitars of Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody. Bernie was a great foil and song writing partner for Coverdale and doesn’t get enough credit for his contribution to the band.

Fool For Your Loving opens the album and what a great track to open with. This was a hit all around Europe and is such a great song. Sweet Talker is the next track and the groove keeps flowing. Ready And Willing is next and is another superb blues rock tune that this band could write in their sleep. Carry Your Load shows Coverdale’s love for all things Free. Blindman closes out Side 1 and, again, the Free vibes are strong as it’s a beefed up version of Heavy Load – at least it sounds like that to my ears.

Side 2 kicks off with Ain’t Gonna Cry No More, and it sums up what this version of Whitesnake were all about, a heavy deep blues rock groove with a great vocal and melody. Love Man is next and this is Coverdale’s attempt at writing a true blues tune – it works really well and has a nice riff and groove. Black And Blue is more of the same but with more of a Faces vibe going down. She’s A Woman is a nice up-tempo rocker and is another co write with Bernie. It really highlights how good they were as a writing partnership.

There is a bonus track on this version that wasn’t on the original, Love For Sale, and is a rocked up classic boogie woogie and it reminds me a bit of Bad Company. So there we have it. I think you’ll agree this is a great album. I still think it’s really shitty what Coverdale did to Bernie. He almost tried to ignore the fact that Bernie was a huge part of Whitesnake’s early success.

9/10 from The Grooveman.