WHITESNAKE - Whitesnake

Unlike other bands that in the mid-80s were showering people catchy chords, ballads, naughty covers in the hope to get more fans, sales, women, sports cars and other such, Whitesnake had a bit of a past. A past with blues, boogie, hard rock and all that. The eponymous album was a rather strong change for what people knew about Coverdale’s band. I’ve no idea where they would have ended up had they followed along the same lines, but I’m glad they switched. Nature’s best medicine!

The 1987 album has two different versions, the American one with nine tracks and the European one with eleven (merci mucho, mein gospodin David!), with Still of the Night and Looking for Love as extras. And it’s so good you feel like taking a few step backs not to jinx it. Or, in other words, not every band can pride themselves with Greatest hits on the same level with this album. Coverdale’s voice… one of the best if not the best in rock, guitars filling everything, thanks to John Sykes and Adrian Vandenberg, which seems to have been a guest on this album (and would later become a full member), and for the rhythm, precision and metronome section, Neil Murray – who did some work with Black Sabbath, MSG or Gary Moore – and the drums of Aynsley Dunbar (UFO, Jeff Beck Group). 

Speaking about the past. The album has had its fill of beating from critics and fans that seemed to believe that there was too much shampoo, hairspray and glitter in it, that the new versions of Here I Go Again and Crying in the Rain sucked, that they’d lost their initial feeling and so on. (I myself I’m crying with one eye and laughing with the other thinking how Painkiller killed all the feeling from Turbo Lover, not to mention Load, Reload and other indignities.) Seriously speaking, I understand the old-schoolers but, to be honest, I’m happy for me. Commercial or not, 1987 is a milestone for Whitesnake, and Whitesnake is a big name with a big history. 

So… love it or leave it!

Cristake Nota: 10