Whitesnake was a really good band before MTv got a hold of them and ruined them. Formed out of the ashes of Deep Purple, it featured the highly talented vocals of David Coverdale, who was the only constant member throughout the band's duration. This band has had more lineup changes than any other band I can think of! Fellow Deep Purple dudes Ian Paice and Jon Lord were on many of the early albums, as was future Black Sabbath bassist Neil Murray. After Slide It In things got even MORE complicated, until the band was changing members nearly every week! (The Whitesnake web site I visited listed something like 11 different lineups, NOT counting the ones that only went out on tour.)

"Whitesnake/Northwinds"

1. "Lady" (3:47)
2. "Blindman" (6:01)
3. "Goldies Place" (5:02)
4. "Whitesnake" (4:20)
5. "Time on My Side" (4:25)
6. "Peace Lovin' Man" (4:52)
7. "Sunny Days" (3:29)
8. "Hole in the Sky" (3:20)
9. "Celebration" (4:06)
10. "Northwinds" (6:09)
11. "Give Me Kindness" (4:34)
12. "Time and Again" (4:02)
13. "Say You Love Me" (4:21)

Well, this is actually a David Coverdale solo album, but since I've already got a gallery for Coverdale/Page, like hell I'm gonna make a THIRD one... A nice, bluesy album, very pleasant. Only four tracks from Northwinds are included here, but since the other four are on Snakebite, there's nothing to worry about.

"Snakebite"

1. "Come On" (3:31)
2. "Bloody Mary" (3:18)
3. "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" (5:07)
4. "Steal Away" (4:16)
5. "Keep on Giving Me Love" (5:13)
6. "Queen of Hearts" (5:15)
7. "Only My Soul" (4:33)
8. "Breakdown" (5:12)

The first "official" Whitesnake album, although it's really more of an EP -- only the first four tracks are Whitesnake songs, while tracks 5-8 are taken from Coverdale's second solo LP. Some great bluesy material here. (And no, "Queen of Hearts" is NOT the Juice Newton song!!)

"Trouble"

1. "Take Me With You" (4:44)
2. "Love to Keep You Warm" (3:43)
3. "Lie Down (A Modern Love Song)" (3:14)
4. "Day Tripper" (3:47)
5. "Nighthawk (Vampire Blues)" (3:40)
6. "The Time is Right for Love" (3:27)
7. "Trouble" (4:48)
8. "Belgian Tom's Hat Trick"--instrumental (3:25)
9. "Free Flight" (4:05)
10. "Don't Mess with Me" (3:18)

Whoa, this one gave me a real scare. Long out of print, this CD normally sold on eBay in the $20-25 range, but lots of copies went through so I figured I'd just pick it up eventually. Then, suddenly, a copy sold for the unreal price of $150!!! Followed by several months of NOTHING (during which time, someone offered to sell me his copy at that price...and I gotta admit, I was tempted...NOT!) Thankfully, another copy finally resurfaced, which I was able to pick up at the reasonably low price of $13.99 incl. shipping. Whew!!

Now, about the music...well, this is a spectacular blues-rock debut, featuring some great songs. My favorite is "Nighthawk (Vampire Blues)", of course. :) "Day Tripper" is a cover of the Beatles song.

"Ready an' Willing"

1. "Fool for Your Loving" (4:14)
2. "Sweet Talker" (3:36)
3. "Ready an' Willing" (3:42)
4. "Carry Your Load" (4:04)
5. "Blindman" (5:05)
6. "Ain't Gonna Cry No More" (5:48)
7. "Love Man" (5:01)
8. "Black and Blue" (4:03)
9. "She's a Woman" (4:05)

One of my favorites, particularly for the "Fool for Your Loving" song. (And I'm NOT talking about the shameless Slip of the Tongue remake, that version's okay but this one is FAR superior!) I found this import for something like $18 (brand new) and bought it without blinking an eye.

"Love Hunter"

1. "Long Way from Home" (4:55)
2. "Walking in the Shadow of the Blues" (4:23)
3. "Help Me Thro' the Day" (4:39)
4. "Medicine Man" (4:00)
5. "You 'N' Me" (3:28)
6. "Mean Business" (3:45)
7. "Love Hunter" (5:36)
8. "Outlaw" (4:02)
9. "Rock 'N' Roll Women" (4:45)
10. "We Wish You Well" (1:36)

One of the COOLEST album covers made in Whitesnake's career, I do believe. I also like the short closing anthem "We Wish You Well" -- maybe it won't ever become "Auld Land Syne" but it does have that sort of feeling to it.

"Live in the Heart of the City"

1. "Come On" (3:38)
2. "Sweet Talker" (4:16)
3. "Walking in the Shadow of the Blues" (5:00)
4. "Love Hunter" (10:41)
5. "Fool for Your Loving" (4:58)
6. "Ain't Gonna Cry No More" (6:21)
7. "Ready an' Willing" (4:46)
8. "Take Me with You" (6:28)
9. "Might Just Take Your Life" (5:35)
10. "Lie Down" (4:41)
11. "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" (6:03)
12. "Trouble" (4:51)
13. "Mistreated" (10:49)

A compilation of 2 concerts, recorded in 1980 (tracks 1-8) and 1978 (tracks 9-13). This one was sort of a tough call -- you see, a second version of "Come On" (from the 1978 concert) was cut to fit this on one CD, although a 2CD version with both complete concerts WAS issued a long time ago...but what chance to I have of finding THAT one?? On the bright side, the out-of-print domestic version only has the first concert, and while the second concert is available as an expensive Japanese import called "Live at Hammersmith", it's best to consolidate as much as possible...don't you agree?

In any case...this is a GREAT live CD, a bit expensive but worth every penny. "Mistreated" and "Might Just Take Your Life" are Deep Purple songs, but since Jon Lord & Ian Paice were still with the band, it's essentially Deep Purple anyway, right?

"Come an' Get It"

1. "Come an' Get It" (3:58)
2. "Hot Stuff" (3:22)
3. "Don't Break My Heart Again" (4:03)
4. "Lonely Days, Lonely Nights" (4:16)
5. "Wine, Women an' Song" (3:44)
6. "Child of Babylon" (4:48)
7. "Would I Lie to You" (4:28)
8. "Girl" (3:55)
9. "Hit an' Run" (3:23)
10. "Till the Day I Die" (4:26)

Compared to Whitesnake's other early works, this one sounds rather tired and worn-out. It does contain some really good music, though, especially the song "Child of Babylon". They would certainly do worse in the future...

"Saints An' Sinners"

1. "Young Blood" (3:30)
2. "Rough an' Ready" (2:50)
3. "Bloody Luxury" (3:24)
4. "Victim of Love" (3:34)
5. "Crying in the Rain" (5:58)
6. "Here I Go Again" (5:08)
7. "Love an' Affection" (3:08)
8. "Rock an' Roll Angels" (4:07)
9. "Dancing Girls" (3:09)
10. "Saints an' Sinners" (4:22)

Admittedly, this is not a good album (David Coverdale referred to it as being recorded "solely to fulfill record contract obligations.") Of interest are early versions of "Crying in the Rain" and "Here I Go Again", which were later rerecorded for their Whitesnake album (and done better, I think.) It turns out this one isn't as rare as I originally thought; in fact, it's part of the "Price Savers" series (meaning you can get it at CDNow for only $6.49.)

"Slide It In"

1. "Slide it In" (3:20)
2. "Slow an' Easy" (6:08)
3. "Love Ain't No Stranger" (4:18)
4. "All or Nothing" (3:40)
5. "Gambler" (3:58)
6. "Guilty of Love" (3:24)
7. "Hungry for Love" (3:28)
8. "Give Me More Time" (3:42)
9. "Spit it Out" (4:26)
10. "Standing in the Shadow" (3:42)

My introduction to this band was with this album (and so it was with everyone else, apparently!) Great music, from the sultry "Slow an' Easy" to the outlaw-ish "Gambler" ("I stand on the outside, looking at love/I wanna get inside...") Jon Lord still played keyboards here, but drumming duties were taken over by Cozy Powell, whose impressive resume includes Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Emerson, Lake & Powell and Phenomena. John Sykes first appears on this album too (what the hell ever happened to him, anyway?)

"Whitesnake"

1. "Crying in the Rain" (5:35)
2. "Bad Boys" (4:07)
3. "Still of the Night" (6:38)
4. "Here I Go Again" (4:36)
5. "Give Me All Your Love" (3:30)
6. "Is This Love" (4:42)
7. "Children of the Night" (4:22)
8. "Straight for the Heart" (3:37)
9. "Don't Turn Away" (5:08)

I was going to hold out for the English import which features two extra tracks (and really should have bought when I was in England!) but finally caved in and picked up the domestic release. Some excellent songs here, particularly "Crying in the Rain" and "Still of the Night", although radio & MTv overplayed and utterly destroyed the otherwise pleasant "Here I Go Again" (and every time I see the video with that slut hanging out the car window I keep praying for her to fall out and get crushed under the wheels!)

...and as for lineup changes, here is where it hits the fever pitch! Guitar & bass duties were still performed by John Sykes & Neil Murray, but the drummer was Aynsley Dunbar of Journey fame! Then for the concert tour, Dave fired the whole band and formed something of a "supergroup" which featured (drum roll please) Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell, Quiet Riot bassist Rudy Sarzo (on stage Dave introduced Rudy as "A man who will fuck ANYTHING"), and that big tall Vandenberg guitar dude. Drum duties were handled by Tommy Aldrige, who used to play with Ozzy Osbourne. Then, for the next horrible album Slip of the Tongue, Dave hooked up with Steve Vai for guitar duties! Of course, by that time, the band's sound had been completely watered down by MTv overexposure, and they essentially broke up for a long time...although there's a new Whitesnake album out called Restless Heart, available only as Japanese import. I shudder to think what it sounds like, though.

"Back in Donnington 1990" (2CDR; 8/18/90, Monsters of Rock Festival, UK)

I got this from one of those innumerable Petrucci/Satriani/Vai fans who've been pestering me for Dream Theater bootlegs lately. :) For some reason, this guy offered me a 2:1 trade, but as he had only one DT boot that I didn't have already, I had to peruse his list carefully and finally chose this one. (The rest were Satch, G3, etc...you know, the regular "shred guitar" stuff that I have absolutely no interest in.) It's an A+ soundboard recording from the 1990 Monsters of Rock festival, and yes it features Steve Vai on guitar, but that doesn't matter much to me. At least they did play some "classic" 'Snake songs, sprinkled in with all the crapola from their MTv-era albums. That's all I have to say about it, really.

"Whitesnake's Greatest Hits"

1. "Still of the Night" (6:38)
2. "Here I Go Again"--"radio mix" (3:53)
3. "Is This Love" (4:42)
4. "Love Ain't No Stranger" (4:17)
5. "Looking for Love" (6:31)
6. "Now You're Gone" (4:12)
7. "Slide it In" (3:20)
8. "Slow an' Easy" (6:09)
9. "Judgement Day" (5:16)
10. "You're Gonna Break My Heart Again" (4:10)
11. "The Deeper the Love" (4:22)
12. "Crying in the Rain" (5:36)
13. "Fool for Your Loving" (4:11)
14. "Sweet Lady Luck" (4:35)

A compendium of the band's 80's music, from Slide it In to the atrocious Slip of the Tongue, with some unreleased tracks thrown in: "You're Gonna Break My Heart Again", "Looking for Love", "Sweet Lady Luck", and a completely remixed version of "Here I Go Again" (but wait...where's "Need Your Love So Bad"??) It's also got the one good song from Slip, the rerecording of "Fool for Your Loving". And why the hell can't these guys spell "Judgment" correctly?

Previous Band Back to Index Next Band