David Coverdale’s Whitesnake – ‘Snakebite’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

Published on October 16, 2019August 2, 2020 by 2loud2oldmusic61 Comments

After David Coverdale finished recording his last solo album, ‘Northwinds’, he found that his touring band was already trying out new songs and ‘Northwinds’ hadn’t even come out yet. The album finally came out in March of 1978, but by this time, David had already figured that his current touring line-up was already a band and needed to record its own album, which it did in March and April of 1978. By June 1978, the band released a four song E.P. titled ‘Snakebite’. It was listed as David Coverdale’s Whitesnake and it was the start of something amazing.

By September 1978, the album was released as an 8 song double E.P.. That is the copy I have and I will be reviewing. If I ever find an original ‘Snakebite’, you can bet your ass I will be grabbing it.

The 8 song double E.P. has the 4 original songs plus it steals 4 tracks from David’s last solo album ‘Northwinds’. It took the 4 best and now we have a pretty smokin’ album.

Since this was now a band, let’s see who was in it at this time.

David Coverdale – vocals
Micky Moody – guitar
Bernie Marsden – guitar
Neil Murray – bass guitar
Dave Dowle – drums
Pete Solley – keyboards

Yes, it is a quite a lethal combo on guitars with Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden. That double guitar work is what makes Whitesnake so incredible. This line-up changes again for the next album, but by only one person and that person makes a huge difference. That is a little teaser on what is to come with the next review.

The insert I have for the vinyl sleeve is still in tact and has the lyrics to all the songs and writing credits. And I think my album might have been a promo or on a cut-out sell as the bottom right corner has a nice slice out of it.

Okay, enough chit chat, let’s get to the heart of the matter…the music.

SIDE ONE:

The first song is “Come On” written by David Coverdale and Bernie Marsden and right away you can hear how big the guitar sound is. The song is a pure rock song with a great groove and a blistering solo. A great opener and I love the fact that David has two Deep Purple references in the song…“Soldier of Fortune” and “Gypsy”.

Then we get into the Coverdale penned “Bloody Mary” which opens with a piano and Pete slamming the keys. Jump up and dance and feel the music. It is pure joy and magic and two songs in and I am already loving every minute of it.

David goes back to his blues roots as he covers Bobby Bland’s “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” written by Michael Price and Dan Wise. This love song is down and dirty, a blues rock song slowed down into a beautiful ballad. Oh, and the solo…wow! It fit the song so well and pulled out even more emotion. Not even an original, this song is a signature Whitesnake classic as they are still known to pull this one out and play it live.

The last song from the original E.P. is “Steal Away”. The writing credits on this one are for everyone in the band which is nice to see. The opening riff on the slide guitar is nothing short of spectacular. The song is gritty and a dirty and I love the blues rock feel. David’s vocals are spot on and for me this is my highlight on the whole album.

SIDE TWO:

Side two has 4 songs from ‘Northwinds’ as I mentioned earlier. The first one up is “Keep on Giving Me Love”. It has a funkalicious guitar riff by Moody that could have come from Glenn Hughes playbook. “Keep on Giving Me Love” has a great groove and is a rocking opening track and excites me as what is to come. Coverdale’s vocals have an edginess to it and Moody rips through a nice solo.

“Queen of Hearts” is full of pianos and there is a nice bass thump before the song slams into gear and really gets going. A groovy and bluesy song that becomes a banging good time.

“Only My Soul” is a fantastic rock ballad with a great soulful feel to it in the guitars playing. This has Whitesnake all over it. Alan Spenner, on bass, lays down a nice groove with the keyboards playing along with it during the musical interlude before David comes back and brings it home.

The final track is the most rocking song, “Breakdown”. It is pure Whitesnake. Moody & Coverdale hit it out of the park with this one and they rock it out like nothing else. The song is about the downfall of Deep Purple. The 4 songs pulled off ‘Northwinds’ were the most rocking tracks and 3 of the 4 were written by Moody and Coverdale. When he writes with the guitarists, we tend to get the most kick ass tracks.

Track Listing:

Come On – Keeper
Bloody Mary – Keeper
Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City – Keeper
Steal Away – Keeper
Keep On Giving Me Love – Keeper
Queen of Hearts – Keeper
Only My Soul – Keeper
Breakdown – Keeper

Track score is easily a 100% with 8 out of 8 tracks being keepers. As far as the albums overall score, I will break it down in to two scores. As a 4 song E.P., this is easily a 5 out of 5 Stars as those 4 songs on Side One are spectacular. What a slamming introduction to the band. Now, as an 8 song double E.P., I will ding it a little as I think only two of the extra 4 songs are Whitesnake contenders and the other two are just good songs, but not necessarily Whitesnake material. For that, I give the version I have a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars which is still pretty freaking great!! This is a an absolute must have for any Whitesnake fan.

Up next…Whitesnake – ‘Trouble’.

The David Coverdale Series:

Other David Coverdale Albums reviewed – (Box Sets and Bootlegs):

Shinedown – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Published on October 14, 2019September 29, 2019 by 2loud2oldmusic16 Comments

Shinedown was formed in Jacksonville, Florida back in 2001 and it only took two years to get a record deal and release their debut album ‘Leave a Whisper’. Their post-grunge, hard rock sound garnered them fast attention and they have since become one of the biggest acts in the business. Their music could be really heavy and it can be soft with a touching ballad, but whichever way you get it, it is going to be melodic and catchy as hell which has brought them great success.

Now, how did I get in to Shinedown. Believe it or not, it was Chris Daughtry from American Idol. I was watching the show and Chris came out and did a fantastic cover of “I Dare You” by Shinedown. At the time, I was not familiar with the band and as a result of him singing it, I went out and listened to the album and the rest is history. I have been a fan of Shinedown ever since.

They have 6 studio albums, one live album and numerous E.P.’s. We are only going to focus on the studio albums to keep it simple. So, why don’t we get started.

THE WORST – ‘THREAT TO SURVIVAL’ (2015):

Shinedown doesn’t really have a worst album, but one album has to be my least favorite and this one is it for me. I felt this one had too much filler and a little too soft overall when compared to the rest. Yes, you had some heavy songs, I only think they weren’t as strong as other albums. A little too soft. The back half of the album was weaker and it started to lose me until you get to the last song “Misfits” which was pretty awesome.

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My Sunday Song – “Maybe They’re on to Us” by Needtobreathe

Published on October 13, 2019September 22, 2019 by 2loud2oldmusic4 Comments

For My Sunday Song #165, we are talking about the song “Maybe They’re On To Us” by Needtobreathe. The song is off their wildly successful album “The Reckoning” which came out in 2011. The song was not a single, but still a favorite of mine. The album did really well and went to #6 on the Billboard charts thanks in part to this song and all the great songs on this album.

The song is about paranoia. For the band, that paranoia is a wondering if the fans know too much about the them and will figure out who they really are and not like them. Maybe the will stop listening and it will all just go away. They were starting to get successful and they had a fear of it disappearing in a flash. That is an honest fear.

I think people feel that way in everyday life as well. You walk around in life wondering if people will realize you are just faking it trying to get by day-to-day. Maybe they will discover you really don’t have your stuff together after-all…but honestly who really does? I don’t think anyone. We are all faking it a little each and every day.

Musically, I really love Bear’s vocals. His delivery of the lyrics, his pacing and everything he sings is so purposely and perfectly placed. There is a smooth, driving groove that takes you through the song. Then throw in the backing vocals on the bridge/chorus that help give it that church-like/choir feel.

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Friday New Releases – October 8th

Published on October 11, 2019September 27, 2019 by 2loud2oldmusic22 Comments

Another great Friday of new releases this week. I’m telling you this is shaping up to be a great month. I have another item this week on order that will hopefully be there when I get home from work. We have lot of Rock this week which is always good, but so much so that there is no way I will get to it all…ever! My choices are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what I missed and what you might be interested in hearing. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful music weekend. I know I will!!

Michael Sweet – Ten – (Frontiers Records): Lead singer of Stryper is here with his 10th solo release…10 is hard to believe, but it is true. I just did a Michael Sweet album ranking and can’t wait to see where this falls on the list. I am hoping for some hard and heavy stuff. Check out the song below and go gran this one.

Eclipse – Paradigm – (Frontiers Records): I love this band. This Swedish rock band is now on their 8th album and it is pure melodic rock, glam rock, hair metal bliss. They seem to be getting better with age kind of like a fine wine. Give them a try.

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Kiss – ‘Hotter Than Hell: Radio Broadcast 1976’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review

Published on October 10, 2019November 21, 2020 by 2loud2oldmusic125 Comments

We are on the final Bootleg in the series. Okay, at the least the final for now. This is the last of what I have currently in my Kiss collection. I will get more and when I do, I will come back and add to the collection so fear not, it isn’t really over…just slowed down immensely.

This release is on CD and is called ‘Hotter Than Hell’ and is labeled as a Radio Broadcast from 1976. No other information on the insert or anywhere to really give you any more tidbits. So, I had to dig and the internet is a wonderful thing.

The setlist is not from 1976. The setlist is from the Rock & Roll Over Tour in 1977 and they are in Detroit so this in Cabo Hall as Paul mentions Detroit and it being the last night. Well, in 1977, they played 3 shows at Cabo so this is the January 29, 1977 show and the setlist matches exactly…almost as the 3 encore songs are missing.

Now that isn’t the only error on the disc. There is another glaring one. Take a look at the line-up on the back cover. The line-up is right, but when did Peter and Ace change instruments. This has Peter on guitar and Ace on drums…awesome!!!

There are no more pictures of the insert because the back cover and the insert are the same picture so nothing new to show. For that, it is time to get to the music and the sound.

The sound of the show is actually pretty great. It is a radio broadcast, so you know it is going to be decent. It is the band live and untouched so there are issues but it is how you would have heard it if you were there and for that it is fantastic.

There are three things wrong with the disc. One, the opening track Detroit Rock City does not start at the beginning of the song. The song is already in full gear when the disc starts as if someone forgot to hit the record button when they were supposed to hit it. The second thing is that when the track # changes, there is a pause between each track which disrupts the flow of the show. And the final thing is the album is missing the three encore songs that were played at the show so it is not a full set. It is missing “Shout It Out Loud”, “Beth” and “Black Diamond”.

What did they get right? Well, look at that set list. It is pretty fantastic. I am digging “Take Me”, “Ladies Room”, “Makin’ Love”, “I Want You” and “Do You Love Me”. The rest are normal songs on almost every set list so it is these songs that I enjoy the most. Another thing is Paul’s vocals and his banter is awesome. He is so much better at this point in the band. He has found his comfort zone and he shows why he is one of the greatest frontman of any band.

What else is great? Well, the solos. All of them. Peter’s is great, Ace’s is even better! Ace’s solo at the end of “Cold Gin” was one of the best I have heard from him. Back when he could play. I don’t think there was anything shooting from the guitar. It was his fingers moving 100mph and it sounded like nothing I had heard on any of the other bootlegs. He just played his ass off and he was stunning!! (or was it Peter, haha).

Peter’s drum solo comes at the end of “God of Thunder” and Peter drives it home with some tremendous kick drumming and beating the hell out of the Toms, snare and cymbals. He was on the prowl that night and the Cat Man was feasting on those drums. It was a great way to go in to “Rock & Roll All Nite” and end the show. This was Kiss in their prime and it shows. You can’t go wrong with this one at all!!

Yes, there are some problems with it, but the good outweigh the bad on this one and for that it gets a 4.0 out 5.0 Stars. Hell, the Ace solo alone is worth it. This is another one that will get played quite often. It is a great set list and the sound is pretty great as well. Definitely worth grabbing if you see this one out.

Check out the rest of the series if you have time!! Thanks for stopping by!!

David Coverdale – ‘Northwinds’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

Published on October 9, 2019August 2, 2020 by 2loud2oldmusic65 Comments

After ‘Whitesnake’, David went in a recorded his follow-up solo release, ‘Northwinds’. This was around March / April of 1977; however, the album wouldn’t be released until a year later in March of 1978. I am not sure why the long delay in release, but the bad news for the release was by the time it did come out, Coverdale was done as a solo artist. He had already pieced a band together that would go on to become WHITESNAKE! I will save that for the next release which came out in June of 1978 just 3 months later.

The album did a little better than the debut and sound wise is more of the same. Okay, maybe the production is a little better and the sound starts to get some of the Whitesnake sounds, but not entirely. David is still finding himself with this record which doesn’t mean its bad, it is far from that. It is an interesting look at early David, pre-Whitesnake, and a glimpse into his musical tastes.

I have this on vinyl and it is part of a 2LP set including both David’s early solo albums, ‘Whitesnake’ and ‘Northwinds’. It is a sweet set released in 1988 at the height of the band Whitesnake and they were trying to capitalize on Coverdale’s popularity. I like having this set as these two albums really should be played together to get the full impact of his early songs and to see a young Coverdale growing into a fantastic songwriter.

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Tuesday’s Memes – The Cure

Published on October 8, 2019September 14, 2019 by 2loud2oldmusic10 Comments

Who doesn’t like Robert Smith and The Cure? Let me see those hands…keep them up, I’m still counting. I can’t count that high, okay put them down, let’s move on. Today we are going to celebrate all things The Cure in this collection of memes. I have been all around the internet gathering memes for the band. And it took all of like 10 minutes as there are so many. I hope you enjoy them!

Friday, I’m In Love…

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Tom Keifer – ‘Rise’ – Album Review

Published on October 7, 2019October 6, 2019 by 2loud2oldmusic15 Comments

Tom Keifer brings us his second solo album and pretty much let’s you know that he means business. Now known as the Keifer Band, the album has that band feel. They are tight and solid and they blow your freaking ears off. This album is loud, it is raucous, it is dirty, it is gritty, it is out and out nasty at times and all in a good way. The band is Tony Higbee (lead guitar), Billy Mercer (bass), Jarred Pope (drums), Kory Myers (keyboards) and Kendra Chantelle and his wife Savannah Keifer (backing vocals).

The thing I noticed most about this release is the guitar sound. Tony Higbee is a beast and tears it up song after song. His guitar has that dirty blues rock guitar sound that hits you in the gut in a way that knocks your breathe away and is satisfying all at the same time. That gut wrenching, distorted sound is the masterpiece of this release next to Keifer’s songwriting and vocals which is why we are in the first place.

Tom Keifer puts to rest any thoughts of a Cinderella reunion because after you hear this you realize you could care less to go back and revisit after such an outstanding release. You get two opening tracks that are heavy and badass with “Touching the Devine” and “The Death In Me” and then he slows it down with the well-written “Waiting on the Demons” before getting slapped in the face again with “Hype” and Higbee’s killer guitar sound.

The coolest and best song for me on this album is “Untitled” as it has this eerie guitar opening riff that turns in to a nasty blues riff and Keifer comes in with a deeper vocal before hitting that signature high pitch vocal we all know and love. Tom slows it down again with the epic sounding “Rise” which is exactly what he has done. He has had vocal issues, legal issues and health issues and like the phoenix, Tom has risen to give us one of the best albums he has ever done.

“All Amped Up” is exactly as it sounds. A return to the heavy and the good times. And then we get to the only two songs I wasn’t overly thrilled with “Breaking Down” and “Taste for the Pain” as they both were a little dull and felt like filler. But don’t be disheartened as “Life Was Here” brings the energy back and Tom delivers another great track. The album closes with the acoustic track “You Believe in Me” which is only a guitar and Tom’s vocals. It is quite beautiful and a nice way to go out.

I have loved this album and has been on almost non-stop since its release. Tom Keifer brings his roots and influences full force with one of the best Hard Rock Blues album I have heard in a long time. Like a fine wine, Tom keeps getting better with age and shows no signs of slowing down. The production and songwriting were top-notch and that guitar sound was the most killer part of the whole package. For all of those things, I give it a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars with a Track Score of 82% (9 out of 11) since there were only 2 out of 11 songs I didn’t care for. An incredible release that will certainly make my Top Rock Albums of 2019 list at the end of the year.

My Sunday Song – “Difference Maker” by Needtobreathe

Published on October 6, 2019September 15, 2019 by 2loud2oldmusic4 Comments

For My Sunday Song # 164, we are talking about “Difference Maker” by Needtobreathe. The song was the debut single off their album ‘Rivers in the Wasteland’ from 2014. The song reached #16 on the Christian charts and might be one of the most powerful song they have ever written lyrically.

The song is best described by Bear Rinehart himself. I found this on the Newreleasetoday.com website. It is an article written by Kevin Davis when he interviewed Bear about the song. Bear states the following…

This song is my story of trying to understand my role in God’s plan. We were on tour with a secular artist, Taylor Swift, playing to 20,000 and even 50,000 people per night. We felt like we were doing what we were supposed to be doing. Despite our efforts, I didn’t feel like we were having the impact we are called to have.

I think God was asking us at this time, “What are you doing this for? Are you doing it for Me?” And, I think that’s where this song was birthed. That confusion is almost a good thing. The bridge says “I am on the fence about nearly everything I’ve seen.” I meant that in how the whole band was going through a “we surrender to God” kind of way.

We don’t need to be concerned about what happens after we’ve given up this gift we have to God. That was really powerful for us. We had ambition and let that take too much of a priority in things that led us down a road that wasn’t good. I think that in trying to re-prioritize, God wants us to sacrifice those things, those idols in our lives. Some idols for us were wondering what the outcome was going to be, that we had the upper hand or maybe we were the best band out there, or we thought we were the most clever at it.

I feel like the beginning of the song is us asking ourselves are we really difference makers. How valuable are we, really? Towards the end of the song it comes around that God makes us a part of what He does, which is so crazy. It starts with us realizing that we don’t get to make the rules. We don’t control it, and we don’t get to say what the timing is. It’s not because of our talents. He doesn’t need that. He needs our willing hearts.

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Friday New Releases – October 4th

Published on October 4, 2019October 2, 2019 by 2loud2oldmusic16 Comments

Welcome to October and the first Friday of new releases for the month. And what a month this will be. I already have something on order for every Friday of the month so it will be my favorite day of the week. Who are we kidding, it already is my favorite day. Now even more so. There are only 2 releases I really care about this week and they are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what has your interest peaked this week or if I missed anything. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!!

The Darkness – Easter is Cancelled – (Canary Dwarf LTD): The Darkness returns with their sixth studio album and if you love that whole retro glam rock feel, then this will be right up your alley. No one does Glam today like these guys do. From the ear-piercing falsettos to the screeching guitars, it is all a blast and this should be no different. Check them out.

Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) – (Rhino Records): Whitesnake brings us yet another box set celebrating one of their big albums. This is the 3rd and the 30th Anniversary Edition of ‘Slip of the Tongue’. The other two were ‘Slide it In’ and ‘1987’ and the were fantastic. Full of live songs, rare songs and remixes and remasters and everything you could want and this one is no different. This is on order but it will NOT be home when I get there as for some reason Amazon isn’t giving me release day delivery. I’m a little pissed, but I guess I will get over it. Check out David’s unboxing video below…

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	Billy Idol –… on Billy Idol – ‘Drea…
	Billy Idol –… on The Collection: Ep. 19 –…
	Billy Idol –… on Generation Sex – ‘…
	Billy Idol –… on The Collection: EP. 15 –…
	Billy Idol –… on Billy Idol – The Best an…

	Billy Idol –… on Billy Idol – ‘Drea…
	Billy Idol –… on The Collection: Ep. 19 –…
	Billy Idol –… on Generation Sex – ‘…
	Billy Idol –… on The Collection: EP. 15 –…
	Billy Idol –… on Billy Idol – The Best an…

	Billy Idol –… on Billy Idol – ‘Drea…
	Billy Idol –… on The Collection: Ep. 19 –…
	Billy Idol –… on Generation Sex – ‘…
	Billy Idol –… on The Collection: EP. 15 –…
	Billy Idol –… on Billy Idol – The Best an…

	Billy Idol –… on Billy Idol – ‘Drea…
	Billy Idol –… on The Collection: Ep. 19 –…
	Billy Idol –… on Generation Sex – ‘…
	Billy Idol –… on The Collection: EP. 15 –…
	Billy Idol –… on Billy Idol – The Best an…

SIDE ONE:

SIDE TWO:

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THE WORST – ‘THREAT TO SURVIVAL’ (2015):

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