Category: Album Review

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

SIDE ONE:

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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:

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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:

  1. Come On – Keeper
  2. Bloody Mary – Keeper
  3. Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City – Keeper
  4. Steal Away – Keeper
  5. Keep On Giving Me Love – Keeper
  6. Queen of Hearts – Keeper
  7. Only My Soul – Keeper
  8. 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:

  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. 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)

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

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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.

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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.

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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!!

  1. Kiss – ‘Accept No Imitations’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ASYLUM TOUR)
  2. Kiss – Look Wot You Dun to Me (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (CRAZY NIGHTS TOUR)
  3. Kiss – The Summer of Satan: The Devils Ride Out! (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DESTROYER TOUR)
  4. Kiss – Return to Capital Center (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DYNASTY TOUR)
  5. Kiss – With Fire & Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (HOTTER THAN HELL TOUR)
  6. Kiss – Northhampton PA March 19th, 1975 (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DRESSED TO KILL TOUR)
  7. Kiss – The Hottest Show On Earth (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (THE HOTTEST SHOW ON EARTH TOUR 2010)
  8. Kiss – All the Way to the Ball Room (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (Australian Tour 1995)
  9. Kiss – Kiss of Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (The Rising Sun Tour 2006)
  10. Kiss – Agora Ballroom 1974: The Cleveland Broadcast plus Bonus Cuts (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (THE KISS TOUR)
  11. Kiss – Hotter Than Hell: Radio Broadcast 1976 (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ROCK & ROLL OVER TOUR)

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

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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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Tom Keifer – ‘Rise’ – Album Review

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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.

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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.

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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.

David Hasselhoff – ‘Open Your Eyes’ – Album Review

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When I head David Hasselhoff (or The Hoff) was putting out a new album of cover songs, I told myself that I have to listen to this for the train wreck that it is going to be.  I mean The Hoff has never been popular in the States for his vocal talent and yet, I was intrigued.

David has put together an eclectic list of covers and the most interesting part is the line-up of musicians he was able to get to assist with these covers.  Let’s look at the cover songs and those individuals who helped out.

Track List:

  1. Open Your Eyes (Feat. James Williamson of The Stooges) – Lords of the New Church Cover
  2. Head On (Feat. Elliot Easton of The Cars) – The Jesus & Mary Chain Cover
  3. I Melt With You (Feat. Steve Stevens) – Modern English Cover
  4. Lips Like Sugar (Feat. A Flock of Seagulls) – Echo & The Bunnymen Cover
  5. Heroes (Feat. Composer Tyler Bates) – David Bowie Cover
  6. Here I Go Again (Feat. Tracii Guns) – Whitesnake Cover
  7. Jump in My Car (Feat. Todd Rundgren) – Ted Murley Gang Cover
  8. Rhinestone Cowboy (Feat. Charlie Daniels) – Glen Campbell Cover
  9. If You Could Read My Mind (Feat. Ava Cherry) – Gordon Lightfoot Cover
  10. Sugar Sugar (Feat. Steve Cropper) – The Archies Cover
  11. Mit 66 Jahren (Feat. Patrick Moraz of Yes and the Moody Blues) – Udo Jurgens Cover
  12. Sweet Caroline (Feat. Ministry’s Al Jourgensen) – Neil Diamond Cover
  13. That’s Life – Frank Sinatra Cover

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Foo Fighters – ‘Greatest Hits’ – Album Review

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I am not sure how you review a greatest hits album.  The songs are supposed to be all good because it is…well…a greatest hits compilation.  The term “great” is already applying to all the songs.  With that being said, this is more of a review of the whole package as I picked this up on vinyl recently and thought it was spectacular.

PACKAGING:

The cover was the first thing I noticed.  The red color was so bright and shiny, the metal of the aircraft looked like real metal and the the rivets were raised and you could run your finger over them and feel each bump.

The package was a gatefold like all good 2LP sets should be.  Although not a single picture of the band to expand both sides, it is still a great set of pictures to feel up the space.  Let me tell you, having the LP release, these pictures are really large and so crisp and clear.  Excellent work was put in to the release.

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There was an insert included that all the writing credits of the songs used on one side and a letter from Dave Grohl from September 18, 2009 about the band.

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Deep Purple – ‘Last Concert in Japan’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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‘Last Concert in Japan’ only saw a release due to the death of guitarist Tommy Bolin who died in December of 1976.  The album was released shortly after in March of 1977 in Japan.  The record company was in a rush to capitalize on his death is all I can think why this was released. The band was done, all parties had moved on and the record company thought it would be an easy cash grab.  Now I have no proof, this is pure speculation but it is what record companies do.

This album captures the Mark IV line-ups last show in Japan as the title says at the Budokan Hall which I believe they set a record for attendance at that time.  The release is not a full show and it was streamlined down to fit on only one LP.

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There are a lot of problems with this album.  First off, the mix. It is pretty crappy as the release was done in such a hurry that the master tracking really suffered and let me tell you it shows.  And if that wasn’t enough, let me just say the guitar playing is less then stellar and I believe Jon Lord was used a lot more in places that there should have been more guitar.  The reason being is Tommy Bolin had been doing drugs quite heavily the night before and according to Glenn Hughes, he feel asleep on his arm for 8 hours and couldn’t play.  And based on what I hear, I believe he might be telling the truth.

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

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The Deep Purple tour for the album, ‘Come Taste the Band’ ended in March of 1976.  After that tour, we saw the end of Deep Purple as the band called it quits (at least until the early 80’s).  David Coverdale was now without a band, but music was still in his blood and new music was ready to come out.  In August of that year, David entered the studio and recorded his debut solo album called ‘White Snake’.

Hmmm…that name rings a bell.  Where have we heard that before?  Oh yeah, the album name would become the inspiration for his band name which would come a couple years later.  For now, we will focus on the album, ‘Whitesnake’.

The album was released on February 9, 1977 and the album cover featured David on the cover with a “white” snake curled up behind him ready to strike.  The album I have is actually a 1988 release consisting of a 2LP set with both ‘Whitesnake’ and David’s follow-up solo album ‘Northwinds’ which we will discuss later.  The package was a gatefold and consisted of commentary by Mark Rutherford.

The album was produced by ex-Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover which is a cool Purple connection.  But as we know with David, he likes to attract great guitarists and use them to help him write the songs.  On this album, that guitarists was Micky Moody formerly of the band Juicy Lucy.  Moody and Coverdale wrote 4 of the 9 songs together and this pattern of finding great guitarists would continue on until today (2019).

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Kiss – Agora Ballroom 1974: The Cleveland Broadcast – Plus Bonus Cuts (Bootleg Series) – Album Review

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On April 1st, 1974, Kiss played at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio.  It was broadcast live on the radio and we have that show captured right here on another in the Bootleg Series.  This is probably one of the most famous of the bootlegs and one the band seems to like as well.

Kiss was signed only 6 months earlier on November 1st, 1973 to Casablanca records and Casablanca was heavily promoting them and this bootleg contains 3 such promotions.  The Agora Ballroom show, 3 songs from the ABC In Concert performance from March 29th, 1974 and their appearance on the Mike Douglas Show on April 29th, 1974.  It is Kiss at their infancy.

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The recording is from a broadcast and it is sounds really great.  Now do remember that this is a bootleg and so the sound isn’t perfect, but I think it is a true representation of the band’s live show and how cool to have such an early show. The sound is a little flat as the bass is a little understated (okay, a lot understated) and only one strong guitar sound (Ace).  The guys are eager, they are hungry and they are tearing it up.  There are no explosions, no one is breathing fire, it is straight up Rock & Roll. Well, there is the siren for “Firehouse”, but that is it.

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The Defiants – ‘Zokusho’ – Album Review

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Recently, I looked up the definition of the word “fun” in the Oxturd Dictionary and it told me the definition was “to be Defiant”.  I thought that sounded about right.  So, how could I be defiant.  Well, the quickest and easiest way was to pick up the latest release by the band The Defiants.  I figured that fit the bill of “fun” quite nicely.

And I was right!

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The band consists of three members all stemming from the band Danger Danger.  They are Bruno Ravel on bass, Rob Marcello on guitar and Paul Laine on vocals.  And to make the Danger Danger connection even stronger, drummer Steve West filled in on the kit for this recording.  Since Danger Danger still exists with lead singer Ted Poley, they couldn’t use that name so they came up with their own.

 

‘Zokusho’ is the band’s second album and the word actually means “sequel” or “next chapter” in Japanese which is actually what this record is.  The band picks up right where they left off on their debut.  If you liked 80’s rock and the whole melodic rock scene, let me tell you that it doesn’t get much better than this.

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