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.
