David Coverdale has really outdone himself with these Super Deluxe Editions Box Sets.  First was the ‘1987’ album, then an UnZipped Box Set, then ‘Slide It In’ and now we get the royal treatment on the 1989 album ‘Slip of the Tongue’.

This special edition consists of 6 CDs, 1 DVD, 1 Book, 1 Tour Program replica and 1 Album Cover Poster.  And it has over 100 tracks amongst all the discs.  Here is everything you get.

Now of course that 100+ tracks is misleading and this set is truly for the ultimate fan.  Why?  Because the set repeats the songs a lot.  Because the set repeats the songs a lot.  Yes, I wrote that twice on purpose and yes, I did the same joke on ‘Slide It In’…because its true.

Alright, let us jump right in and go through the discs…

Disc 1 – Original Album (2019 Remaster)

Now I won’t go through the album as I will be doing that in detail for the David Coverdale Series that I am working on. This review will be coming up in a couple months.  For this discussion, I will mention that the weird thing here is the track order is not the same as the original album.  I have it on vinyl and mine ends with Sailing Ships and not Fool For Your Loving as well as songs in between are all switched up.  No big deal, but it does give it a different flow (not better or worse, just different).

The bonus tracks are pretty good.  The best being “Sweet Lady Luck” which was the B-Side to the single, “The Deeper the Love”, I believe.  The other songs are remixes of songs on the album.  The biggest disappointment on this disc is the Vai opening on “Kittens Got Claws” which sounds like cats in heat, but seems to have disappeared from this version of the album.  Not sure why that would be removed.

Disc 2 – The Wagging Tongue Edition (Promo Album):

This album is the original album that was sent out as a promo that was interspersed between each song with interviews with David and was meant for radio intros and the like.  The songs fade in & out between the interviews so it is not really the complete original album, but as fan, I really enjoy the interviews.

Disc 3 – Evolutions: Demos/Remixes/Re-Records:

Now, here we are with the real highlight of these Coverdale box sets.  The Evolutions disc has been on the two previous album Box Sets and let me tell you they are worth the dough.  What you get is the “evolution” of the song as the title says.  The song is spliced together with different pieces of the song from the beginning of writing up to the final demo and you can hear how the song grew along the way.  It is really fantastic.

Another bonus on this disc is we get the first taste of some talked about songs but never released such as “Kill For the Cut”, “Parking Ticket” and an instrumental of “Sweet Lady Luck”.  Another cool feature is that here we get some taste of Adrian Vandenberg on guitar as he was hurt during the recording so is not on the final album.  Is there a difference between his versions and Steve Vai’s?  Uhhh…YES!!  Steve takes it to a different level and Adrian’s actually reminds me of old Whitesnake with a little more bluesy feel.  Nothing wrong with either version in my book.

Disc 4 – Monitor Mixes, April 1989:

With Disc 4 with get more mixes of the album and these are with Adrian on guitar like the previous one and is a good opportunity to get to hear the differences in style.  Another great thing on this disc is we get a solid version of “Kill for the Cut (In Desperate Search for a Melody)”, “Parking Ticket”, “Burning Heart”, “We Wish You Well” and an instrumental of “Ain’t Gonna Cry No More”.  “Burning Heart” is actually an old Vandenberg song that David enjoyed and cool to hear them do a version together.  All-in-all, really great and I hate it took 30 years to hear some of these tracks.

Disc 5 – A Trip to Granny’s House: Session Tapes, Wheezy Interludes & Jams:

Disc 5 has turned out to probably be my favorite disc. It is basically the band rehearsing in the studio, however, these guys are having a blast.  There are some funked up tunes, blues treats, instrumentals and a lot of joking around.  I believe this is before Vai had joined the band so the songs sound a little different.  There are 23 tracks on this disc alone and let me tell you it is an absolute treat.

This disc gives you the rather offensive take of “Sweet Lady Luck” called “Liquor and Poker” that tells you to “Lick Her in the Front and Poke Her in the Rear”.  Not very subtle is he.  It are treats like that that keep you listening to this disc over and over…at least I did.

Disc 6 – Live at Donington 1990:

And the last disc is the Live at Donington show from 1990.  This has been released before and the thing that puts me off is it is not the full show.  They have stripped away the solos and forced it down to fit on a single CD.  It is still a great show to listen to, but if you want the full show, this isn’t it.

Disc 7 – DVD/Video:

Lastly, we get a DVD.  Where Disc 6 was only a partial Donington Show, this disc brings the whole show on video in living color.  I really enjoyed watching this and getting to see Steve Vai shred apart his 7-String guitar.  Having the solos thrown in was great to see Adrian’s solo, Tommy Aldridge’s solo and Vai’s was awesome.  The funniest thing about the show is David.  Before a ton of the songs, he would say the same thing over and over…”Here’s a song for you”.  It was a little ridiculous by the end of the show.  And what I found funny as well was that he said the same thing a couple times in the “Live…In the Heart of the City” album I reviewed recently.

With the DVD, you also get a 20 minute + behind the scenes look at making the album with David hilariously commenting as the video plays. And if that wasn’t enough, you get about a 40 minute new interview with David and Adrian Vandenberg talking about the album.  Two old friends enjoying themselves reminiscing about good times.  And if that wasn’t even enough for you, you get 4 music videos from the album and I believe the “Sweet Lady Luck” one had not been released.

And that is all the Discs.  Quite a lot…

60-Page Book:

You also get a 60-page book full of pictures, lyrics, credits and bits from interviews in the magazines.  It is nice little hard back book and done very nicely.  David expects nothing less than the best and he delivers again.  Here a couple pictures…

Replica Tour Book:

Also thrown in is a miniature replica tour book from the Slip of the Tongue Tour.  It is small at about the size of a CD case, but it is done well and full of pictures used in the original.

POSTER:

And last, but certainly not least, you get a poster of the album cover.  Now, I opened it once and photographed it, but that will probably be the last time it is ever opened as the wife won’t let me put posters on the wall anymore.  That was supposed to stop the minutes I left high school apparently.

And that is everything you get.  I know, it is a lot.  David has done it again with another fantastic Super Deluxe Edition Box Set.  He gives me the things I want…Unreleased material, demos and a live show from the era.  Other bands need to take note!!!  There are a few flaws with it as I mentioned a few things I didn’t like, but that doesn’t ding it much. I would still give this a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars.  If you have the three other sets, this is a no-brainer.  If you don’t…WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???  You need these!!  Thanks David Coverdale for doing it again!  I can’t wait to see what is next.

Thanks for hanging around to the end.  If you want to check out my reviews of other Whitesnake, click below:

The David Coverdale Series:

1. Deep Purple – Burn
2. Deep Purple – Stormbringer
3. Deep Purple – Come Taste the Band
4. Deep Purple – Made in Europe
5. David Coverdale – Whitesnake
6. Deep Purple – Last Concert in Japan
7. David Coverdale – Northwinds
8. David Coverdale’s Whitesnake – Snakebite
9. Whitesnake – Trouble
10. Whitesnake – Lovehunter
11. Whitesnake – Ready an’ Willing
12. Whitesnake – Live…in the Heart of the City
13. Whitesnake – Come An’ Get it
14. Deep Purple – Live in London
15. Whitesnake – Saints & Sinners
16. Whitesnake – Slide It In
17. Whitesnake – “Give Me More Time” 12″ Single (Bonus Review)
18. Whitesnake – ‘The Best of Whitesnake (Bonus Review – 1982 release)
19. Whitesnake – Whitesnake (1987)
20. Whitesnake – “Is This Love” 12″ Promo (Bonus Review)
21. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue
22. David Coverdale – “The Last Note of Freedom” – Single Review
23. Coverdale/Page – Coverdale/Page
24. Coverdale/Page – “Take Me For A Little While 12” Single (Bonus Review)
25. David Coverdale & Whitesnake – Restless Heart
26. Whitesnake – Starkers in Tokyo
27. David Coverdale – Into the Night
28. Whitesnake – Live…In the Still of the Night (DVD)
29. Whitesnake – Live…In the Shadow of the Blues
30. Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad
31. Whitesnake – Forevermore
32. Whitesnake – Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock
33. Whitesnake – The Purple Album
34. Whitesnake – The Purple Tour (Live)
35. Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood
36. Whitesnake – The Rock Album
37. Whitesnake – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
38. David Coverdale – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

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

1. 1. Whitesnake – 1987 (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
   2. Whitesnake – Slide It In (35th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
   3. Whitesnake – Unzipped – Box Set
   4. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
   5. Whitesnake (Snake) – Still of the Night Live in Battle Creek, Mich. July 26, 1987 (Bootleg)