For My Sunday Song #208, we are going to discuss the Whitesnake epic classic called “Sailing Ships” off their 1989 album ‘Slip of the Tongue’. This is a deep deep cut, so deep in fact it is the last song on the album and a very popular song amongst fans even though never a single. At over 6 minutes it is epic in length and in sound. The song was written by David Coverdale and his writing partner at the time, Adrian Vandenberg.
The song seems to be about self discovery. About setting a dream, no matter the size, face down your demons and go after that dream. Don’t be afraid, throw away those fears and remember, you control your destiny. Nothing will happen to you unless you go out and make it happen. But no matter the storms you face, the trouble you find, push ahead and keep moving. It is rather inspiring.
This is not the typical Whitesnake ballad. It sounds a little like Led Zeppelin as the song seems mystical and a has a whole Page vibe to it. The song stays soft for most of the time then explodes towards the end to go out with a bang. The tone of the music and lyrics come across as one of the most serious songs I feel they have ever done and maybe the most experimental at the same time. The sounds Steve Vai can make with his guitar are nothing short of amazing. His solo is just as huge as the song. David’s vocals match the intensity of the lyrics and the music. He gives his all and it comes across as intended. This is a group that is hitting on all cylinders and at the top of their game.
It is one of my all time favorite Whitesnake songs and that is saying a lot. Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. Is it as good as I think it is…yeah it is!! Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy Sunday!!
“Sailing Ships”
Do you remember
Standing on the shore,
Head in the clouds,
Your pockets filled with dreams
Bound for glory
On the seven seas of life,
But, the ocean is deeper than it seemsThe wind was with you
When you left on the morning tide,
You set your sail for an island in the sun,
On the horizon, dark clouds up ahead,
For the storm has just begun
Take me with you,
Take me far away,
Lead me to the distant shore
Sail your ship across the water,
Spread your wings across the sky
Take the time to see
You’re the one who holds the key,
Or sailing ships will pass you by
You cry for mercy,
When you think you’ve lost your way,
You drift alone, if all your hope is gone
So find the strength and you will see
You control, your destiny,
After all is said and done
So take me with you,
Take me far away,
An’ lead me to the distant shore
Sail your ship across the water,
Spread your wings across the sky
Take the time to see
You’re the one who holds the key,
Or sailing ships will pass,
Sailing ships will pass you,
Sailing ships will pass you by…
Take me with you,
Take me far away,
We’ll ride the wind across the sky
Spread your wings and you will see
You control, your destiny,
So sailing ships don’t pass you by
So take me with you,
Take me far away,
We’ll ride the wind across the sky
Spread your wings and you will see
You control, your destiny,
So sailing ships don’t pass,
So sailing ships don’t pass you,
So sailing ships don’t pass you by…
Baby, baby, baby, baby,
You’ll find that you’re the only one
Can sail your ship across the sky
We are now in the year 2011 with Whitesnake and with that being said, let’s release a live album from 1990. Sure, why not. David seems to be out of ideas as this is the third live album in 5 years and in another 2 years, he will release 2 more. I have to admit, I am starting to get live album burnout. But since this is a 1990 Live album and I haven’t reviewed a live album from this line-up, it makes the cut.
The show is from Donington Park on August 8th, 1990 at the Monsters of Rock Festival. It is the final show in the ‘Liqour and Poker Tour’ in support of the ‘Slip of the Tongue’ album. This show was also released on the ‘Slip of the Tongue’ 30th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition box set. The CD is not the full show as it leaves out the solos, but the DVD has the full show on it. So, I would recommend getting that deluxe edition because you get this show plus a whole lot more.
The band is headlining the festival, for the second time I believe. The line-up of the band is pretty impressive…
David Coverdale
Steve Vai
Adrian Vandenberg
Rudy Sarzo
Tommy Aldridge
The show is a full set even for a festival. They play 17 songs and this being 1990, there are no early Deep Purple songs as David refused to play them back then. And if you want early Whitesnake, you only get “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City’ from the Snakebite EP (and is probably my favorite song of this show) and that is all. The songs are from the 3 big albums in the 80’s – Slide it In, 1987 and Slip of the Tongue. Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)”→
In support of Whitesnake’s ‘Restless Heart’ Tour, the band played a couple of acoustic shows. Well, not the band really, but only David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg. Their performance at the EMI Studios in Japan was recorded and ended up on this release which was recorded on July 5th, 1997 and released on September 9th of that year. A pretty quick turnaround, but honestly, not sure there was that much to fix as it is splendid.
The setting was a very intimate one with the 2 Snake members and a small studio of fans. It was David on vocals and Adrian on an acoustic, both sitting on chairs like they were sitting in your living room. The songs were of course, Whitesnake classics…but more from the later years at the time. And surprisingly a Deep Purple song which David had normally been against playing (Oh how that has changed over the years).
The songs on this album you’ve heard a thousand times, but you haven’t heard them like this. They are stripped down “to the bone” and are played in away that is new and refreshing. The opening track “Sailing Ships” feels so sad and Adrian’s playing is simply beautiful. And can we talk about David’s vocals? Well of course we can, it’s my site. David sounds better than he ever has. Not just on this song, but the whole album. Proving at the time, he was one of the best voices in rock. Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Starkers in Tokyo’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)”→
Whitesnake remained dormant for quite a while. But in 1994, the band released a greatest hits album and ended up doing a short tour that included David Coverdale, Adrian Vandenberg, Warren DeMartini (RATT), Denny Carmassi (Coverdale/Page) and Rudy Sarzo. The tour was short and the band disappeared again shortly there after.
I know I am skipping a Deep Purple live album that came out between ‘Coverdale/Page’ and ‘Restless Heart’, but I am trying to not repeat live shows with the same line up. The Purple release ‘California Jammin’ was released in 1996 and has the Mark III line-up which I covered on ‘Made in Europe’ so I don’t feel the need to cover them again. I hope you are okay with that choice…I know I am.
Now on to the next Whitesnake album. Okay, not really. This isn’t a Whitesnake album. It is a David Coverdale solo album that the record company made him add the Whitesnake name in to the title and that is why it reads David Coverdale & Whitesnake. When you hear it, you will agree, this isn’t Whitesnake.
The new album does have Adrian Vandenberg and we finally get an album that he actually plays on with David. But it is not what you expect. The dual guitars of Whitesnake are not there. The playing is very understated on most of the songs and it is not a guitar heavy album at all. No sir. It is back to the early R&B and Blues roots for this one.
Adrian and David wrote most of the album together and the band for this album included Carmassi on drums and then added Guy Pratt on bass and Brett Tuggle on keyboards. The band had a label in Europe and Japan, but the U.S. market never had an official release of this album. After the tour of this album, Whitesnake would end yet again. David decided to shelve the band one more time and it would be 10 years before we got another Studio album from the band. I don’t know what happened, but it can’t be good for David to hang it up so fast. He wasn’t happy at all with the turnout of the album and tour.
It was a very hard album for me to wrap my head around and I am not positive I am fully there yet, but it is time to write the review as I have spent the last 2-3 weeks trying to absorb this album. And on that sour note, let’s get to the music.
From the opening song, “Don’t Fade Away” you knew this was going to be different. It was soft, full of keyboards, a soft drum beat and it was a ballad. An opening track as a ballad…baffling. It is a nice song though, it is evident that the bombast of the last 3 releases is over. David is putting that behind him. This one isn’t a complete throwback to the earlier Snake sound, but is in that direction. Adrian pulls out a nice solo to keep the “Power” in power ballad and David sounds quite pleasant with his emotive vocals.
Then comes “All in the Name of Love” which has a mixture of 80’s/90’s pop soul sound. A little blues vibe as well in the guitar sound, but the song falls flat for me. It is too generic and familiar sounding and not in a good way. There is no good hook to grab you and I felt empty.
The title track, “Restless Heart”, finally brings life to the album. Great opening guitar riff and the song has some punch. David’s soulful-filled vocals on the opening lyrics turn into the David we love throughout the rest. The song is more of what we are used to hearing from the band, and honestly what I love the most. This song gave me some hope in the album.
Then it was immediately back to the ballad with “Too Many Tears”. This tune had a great blues guitar sound and harkened back to days of old with the band and is actually a welcome sound. Adrian throws these little bits throughout that really add to the song and feel and his solo helps make the song as well. And let’s not forget David as this is one of his best performances on the album. He digs deep and goes so soulful and feels right at home. The album is a little full of ballad type songs, but this one is worth it. It was the lead off single, so the band felt that way as well.
“Crying” takes us full on blues and David gets down and dirty as does Adrian’s badass riff. The grit in David’s vocals and Adrian’s playing is so gritty and sleazy that it makes me feel like I need a shower and I loved it. This song feels like it could be on Slide It In or anything earlier. A total kick ass song.
Next up is a cover of Lorraine Ellison’s song “Stay With Me” (written by Jerry Ragovoy and George David Weiss). The original is a soul song from 1966 and David captures the feel and essence of the song with the vocals and tones of the song. It starts off a little slow with a nice groove and as it builds in volume and tempo, David adds some gravelly bits to the vocals to get the emotion across. The band nails this song.
“Can’t Go On” was yet another blues and ballad song. A slow groove and nothing flamboyant, just a simple song. There is something catchy about it despite its simplicity. Maybe that is it. There isn’t much here, but a low toned guitar solo by Adrian and David’s vocals and that is enough.
We get a little pick me up with “You’re So Fine” and it is a happy tune which a few and far between on this album. Being 1997, this song feels like an 80’s track that seems to be pop and rock mixed together. Maybe a sounds a little like John Parr. A little of David’s womanizing songs that might have been a left over off any of the 3 previous Whitesnake albums. It isn’t a bad song, but not over-the-top great either. Just fun.
“Your Precious Love” slows it back down and by this time, I am tired of the ballads. This one is generic and boring and very skippable. So enough said about it.
Things don’t pick up tempo wise with “Take Me Back Again”. It is a pure blues track and David ends up screaming a few verses and Adrian’s playing is nasty at times as he shows off his blues playing. The tempo picks up a little and David is giving it his all on vocals and saves the song. I didn’t want another slow song, but this one turned out okay with Adrian’s playing and David’s vocals…mostly Adrian’s playing.
And the album is completely saved with the final track “Woman Trouble Blues”. This song sounds like it was a leftover from Coverdale Page with the Page-like guitar sound and the electric harmonica played by Elk Thunder (yes, that is his name). It feels so Zeppelin like and Adrian captures Page’s essence. Might be my favorite song on the album so what a way to go out. Even David sounds like he did on that album. Now I want to go back and hear Coverdale Page again!!
Track Listing:
Don’t Fade Away – Keeper
All in the Name of Love – Delete
Restless Heart – Keeper
Too Many Tears – Keeper
Crying – Keeper
Stay With me – Keeper
Can’t Go On – Delete
You’re So Fine – Keeper
Your Precious Love – Delete
Take Me Back Again – Keeper
Woman Trouble Blues – Keeper
The track score is 8 out of 11 tracks or 73%. The album does take me back to the early blues and R&B Whitesnake albums, but still keeps a little of the modern sound. The album had too many slow tracks which would be my biggest complaint. It won’t be one I go back to a lot, but it still has some memorable tracks that are essential to the Whitesnake family such as Woman Trouble Blues, Restless Heart and Too Many Tears to name a few. Overall my rating is going to be a 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars. Maybe not the best, but still enough on the bone to give it a try.
After coming off the tour of the band’s biggest selling album, ‘Whitesnake’, it was time to record a new album. But before that could happen, another guitarist left the fold. Vivian Campbell left the band and it was reported as “Creative Differences”…whatever that means. But it what it did mean, was more line-up issues for the band.
But that didn’t stop David from starting to write new songs. He and his now creative partner, Adrian Vandenberg, set forth with writing the new album. They actually wrote some of the album while on tour, but the bulk was crafter in David’s home in Lake Tahoe. I would think that wouldn’t be a bad place to hold up to write. The songs were all written by David and Adrian (except for one), but sadly, Adrian wouldn’t play on any of them.
Adrian hurt his wrist and could not record. He would need surgery for the issue and that put him out of commission for some time. So, David needed to find a replacement to help with the album. Now the replacement was to record, but it was also to replace Vivian. He needed someone really strong and thankfully for us, he found one of the greatest guitar players ever to hold a 6 string. It was the former Frank Zappa and former David Lee Roth guitarist Steve Vai. Steve brought a whole new style and sound to Whitesnake. Don’t expect Vai to play the blues, he had a texture and sound that was not what Whitesnake fans were used to, but we could accept it. Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Slip of the Tongue’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)”→
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.
Fans have been clamoring for some acoustic Whitesnake (at least according to David Coverdale) and boy did they deliver the goods with this set. It is a 5CD/1DVD Box set that spans the career of Whitesnake and even some Deep Purple. What all do you get? Well, let me show you…
If that isn’t enough for you to see, then read the sticker from the front of the box…
And how many songs is 96 songs? Well, the list is extensive. See if you can read this list because there is no way I am typing all this stuff out for you. I love you guys, but not that much!!
2 Loud 2 Old Music 