Tag: Crying in the Rain

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

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In the last few years, David Coverdale has been quite busy rehashing old material, but in a good way.  He has brought us deluxe box sets for albums such as ‘Slide It In’, ‘1987’, ‘Slip of the Tongue’ and even ‘Unzipped’ the all acoustic box set.  And thid year in 2021, we are supposed to get ‘Restless Heart’.  But for now, he is rehashing old material yet again.

This time it is a series called ‘Red, White & Blue’ Trilogy.  The Rock Album (White) was up first and then we got the Love Songs (Red) and now it is time for the The Blues Album (Blue, duh) which is our 40th Review in the David Coverdale Series. Crazy! Each album is really a glorified greatest hits album with its own theme and the titles give you those themes quite nicely. The big difference on these albums is more than just a remastering.  The songs have been tinkered with and given a little touch-up with some re-mixing and even a little touch-up on arrangements and other little surprises.  The songs aren’t completely re-imagined, thankfully it is no Bon Jovi “This Left Feels Right”.  The songs are still very much recognizable, just enhanced ever so slightly.

This time around we get 14 Tracks and because of that, we aren’t going in to full detail song by song. We will highlight them as we go. The thing about these albums is they only cover a certain period of the band from 1984’s ‘Slide it In’ up to 2011’s ‘Forevermore’. Nothing off their latest album, 2019’s ‘Flesh & Blood” and strangely, this time there is nothing off 1989’s ‘Slip of the Tongue’ which is quite baffling. We do get a song from the bonus tracks on ‘Live in the Shadow of the Blues’ which is a nice treat. The biggest difference from this release and the other two are that there are NO new tracks on this one like the others. I’m a little disappointed by that aspect. There are also two tracks that appear on the other two which is another disappoint. Granted they are still a different mix than those other albums, but still.

The theme of the album is Blues so all the songs are sonically blues in nature…some more so than others. We do get some songs that are more rock and then blues, but there are hints of it in the guitar. One of the more rocking tracks is the opening song “Steal Your Heart Away” which is a beast and completely rocks out with the exception of the guitar has hints of Jimmy Page that blues sound he had. The mix on this brings those guitar to the forefront and cleans them up nicely. “Good to Be Bad” is more metal than blues, but Dave’s vocals seem to be enhanced to give them a more blues tone. “Give Me All Your Love” seems to only have been tweaked to give John Sykes guitars a little more punch.

The one track that was tweaked the most was “Take Me Back Again” which had Whitesnake current guitarists, Joel Hoekstra, adding a solo and keyboardist Derek Sherinian adding his own flair to the song as well. This is the most blues track so far and is plain killer. Side Two kicks off with the dirtiest, most awesome song, “Slow & Easy” seems to have an improved drum sound as damn, Cozy Powell is killing it and then “Too Many Tears” which was on the Love album prior, but here now sounds like more of a country & blues track with the guitar sound. The final track on the first LP is “Lay Down Your Love” and that opening sounds cleaner and doesn’t have the annoying echo opening as the original, a vast improvement and then that guitar comes in dang near blows the roof off this joint.

The second LP kicks up the blues with the opening track “The River Song” and is really what this album is about. The blues guitar playing is exceptional throughout especially that opening picking. And then to go in to “Whipping Boy Blues” is magical especially with the brand new opening with the frog and nature sounds. Takes you down to the swamp and really makes you feel the blues. Then we get the bonus track from “In the Shadow of the Blues” called “If You Want Me” and another brutally rocking track. The vocals have been improved with added textures and flavors. And lastly on this side we get “A Fool In Love” which is David doing the Blues the best. This side of the album has been what this album is all about. Perfection filled Blues Rock!!

The final side kicks off with the foot-stomping “Woman Trouble Blues” which has added come guitar to boost the song, but I have always loved the harmonica playing in the song which really adds that extra blues flair. It is all stellar. They slow things down with 1987’s “Looking for Love” which seems to have Sykes guitar cleaned up and clearer which no one would complain about. The final track is the classic “Crying in the Rain” which seems to have a slightly new beginning, some added guitar parts and a new ending that fades out with an echo added.

And there you have it. I think I like every track on here and the changes to the mix are all subtle and yet effective. Nothing strays far from the original and it is only enhancing the flavors of the song to give us the desired taste we are salivating over. He tweaked a pinch here and a dash there and gave us the best of the three albums in the trilogy. I will give it a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars only because no new tracks and two repeated songs from the other albums (although a different mix). I know for sure that this one and the Rock one will get played again and again depending on my mood as to which one. The Love album is good, but too much on the ballad side. I still think you need to pick up all three…why not!!!

The Red, White & Blue Trilogy is now complete. The Love Album, The Rock Album and now the Blues Album. What a thing of beauty…

Now we are waiting on the announcement of The Restless Heart Super Deluxe Box Set and now rumors are running rampant that David Coverdale and Jimmy Page are working on a Deluxe Edition of Coverdale/Page…ooooh!!! That would be awesome. And in the liner notes of the Blues Album he even talks about a Box Set for Good to Be Bad!!! Some interesting stuff coming the David Coverdale world. Until next time…

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 – Love Songs
  38. Whitesnake – The Blues Album
  39. Whitesnake – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
  40. 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)

Whitesnake – ‘Whitesnake’ (1987) – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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After all the turmoil with the band around the ‘Slide it In’ album and tour, David Coverdale was almost ready to throw in the towel.  After the tour, Cozy Powell left the band and I think Davd had had enough.  However, Geffen records saw something between David and newcomer John Sykes that they somehow talked David in to hanging on and working with John.  The two went and tucked themselves away somewhere in the south of France and started writing…south of France…tough fucking life!!

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When they gathered some material, the two embarked to L.A. with bassist Neil Murray to start recording.  But before they could do that, they needed a drummer and along comes Ansley Dunbar to complete the team.  But wait, there is only 1 guitar player and usually there is two and you would be right.  John Sykes recorded all the guitar parts for the album.

Now during the recording, the band had more problems.  One was John Sykes.  John was obsessed over getting the right guitar sound almost to the detriment of the whole project.  Second, David got sick…bad sick. A major sinus infection that almost derailed his whole career.  It was so bad, that John Sykes had suggested bringing in another vocalist to finish the project…excuse me??…WTF???  John, if you didn’t know, Whitesnake is David’s band, not yours.  That did not sit well with David as is no surprise. And right when the album was set for release, David fired the band! Yep, all of them…bye, bye!!

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Okay, this is basically the second time this has happened in a row on an album release.  The new band was brought in and it consisted of Adrian Vandenberg and Vivian Campbell on guitars, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Tommy Aldridge on drums.  I have to say that is one helluva a line-up.  David has a way of getting top musicians.

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

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After the album ‘Come an’ Get It’, the band was starting to crack.  Issues were developing, tensions were rising.  They started to work on the album during 1981, but it wasn’t a smooth ride.  In December 1981, Micky Moody left the band.  Then in early 1982, David Coverdale put the band on the back burner and took some time off to be with his daughter who had become ill.

The sick daughter wasn’t the only reason Coverdale put things on hold.  The band was having financial troubles and he couldn’t understand where the money was going.  During the hiatus, he parted with his management and Coverdale started to handle the business side of things.  Also during this time, three other members left the band (or were fired). They would be Ian Paice, Bernie Marsden and Neil Murray.  Jon Lord was the only one to stay in the band with David. And of course Martin Birch still produced. He hadn’t left yet either.

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As a result, David needed a new band.  Not to finish the album because it was basically done, but to tour with.  David found guitarist Mel Galley from Trapeze and Cozy Powell on drums from Rainbow and lastly, Colin Hodgkinson on bass.  The band was complete.  However, the album still had some backing vocals needed so Micky came back briefly to finish the backing vocals along with Galley.  Galley is the only new player to appear on the album.

 

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Whitesnake (Snake) – Still Of the Night Live in Battle Creek, Mich. July 26, 1987

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On Black Friday, 16 members of my family went to Zoo Atlanta.  It was a great trip and some great times were had.  However, my mind was elsewhere.  I wanted to venture over to Criminal Records over in Little Five Points and check out this great Atlanta record store.  At 2pm, my daughter and I were going to leave are family behind and head over to the store.

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While at the Zoo, we missed the new Reptile house and we were planning on going back around to check it out before we left.  Well, being at the zoo with 16 people and a lot of those people are children, it was very slow going.  2pm started creeping up on us and I started to think, we weren’t going to make it to the reptile house and of course, we didn’t.  I was a little disappointed I didn’t get to see any of the “Snakes”.

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Whitesnake – ’87 30th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic67 Comments

It is hard to believe it has been 30 years since the release of Whitesnake’s breakthrough album.  The album was simply titled ‘Whitesnake’, but has since become known as ’87.  Whitesnake decided to celebrate this album with an exceptional Super Deluxe Edition that was a must have for my collection.  Like Def Leppard did with Hysteria, Whitesnake has done the same with ’87.  They have packed it full of songs and collectibles that are a must for the real fans.

What all does it have?  Well, check it out…

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Whitesnake definitely has delivered on the goods.  And I have to say for me, it was a bargain.  I paid only $36 for all of this.  And it was worth every dime, especially one disc which was worth that price alone, but I will get to that later.

’87 – Remastered Original Album:

First up is the remastered version of the original album.  Funny enough, I did a review on this album about 4 months ago which was probably prior to me finding out about the Anniversary release.  So, as a result, I will not do a song-by-song review of the album because you can check that out by clicking on the following – Whitesnake Album Review!

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The CD came in a nice gatefold cardboard cover.  Actually all the CDs and the DVD came in the same type of packaging.  It is not the original jewel case which is okay, but would have been nice to have that plus the booklet.

Snakeskin Boots: Live on Tour 1987-1988

The second CD was a live show from Tokyo during the tour for the album.  The track listing mostly covers the ’87 album and ‘Slide it In’.  The track listing is as follows:

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The concert is great, but as these were hired hands after the band the created the album were fired, it is lacking the punch of what you hear on the album.  John Sykes, more specifically, is missing.  I am going to repeat what Deke said on his post for the album, that Adrian Vandenberg and Vivian Campbell are both great guitarists, but can’t muster the same feel as John Sykes did.  Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled to have a live set from that era and if you release a special edition of an album, you must do just that.  It is still a great setlist and David does sound great, I just wanted to point out what was missing.

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’87 Evolutions:

If you remember earlier, I mentioned there was a disc that was worth the price of the set by itself.  This is the disc.  The third disc in the set is the demos.  The name of the disc is “Evolutions” and these songs are just that.  The songs each showcase the evolution of the song from beginning to almost the end (you have the end on the first disc).  The demos seamlessly blend different stages of the song into one long song.  It is truly an amazing way to present that songs and now is my standard of what I want when you release a demo.  It is brilliant.

The highlight of all these demos is John Sykes.  The guitar work throughout is incredible.  I especially love “Still of the Night” and “Crying in the Rain”.  It is riff after riff and not all of it ended up on the song.  I can’t for the life of me understand why he was fired because he and David Coverdale did some great things together.  Their personalities just didn’t mesh.

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’87 Versions:

The final CD in the set is my least favorite.  It is alternative remixes of the hit songs from the album.  Some are new mixes and some are the radio edits, but I like the album versions.  It is not a total loss because there is the 1987 Versions Japan Mini-Album that is worth having.

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The Videos (DVD):

The final disc in the set is a DVD featuring the classic music videos now in 5.1 Surround Sound.  The nice part of this piece was the put in a lot of behind the scenes footage between the songs which was a nice touch.  The videos themselves are really great and lets remember who the real star of these videos was…Tawny Kitaen.  She was definitely some great eye candy for a teenage boy.  In the credits for the videos, I did catch that Paula Abdul was the choreographer for one of the videos.

The disc also includes a 30 minute documentary on the making of the album.  The documentary is the plus hear as we get new interviews with David Coverdale, but sadly nothing new from John Sykes (Yes, I am going to keep bringing that up!).  Now David did speak very highly of his guitar and singing talent and never bad mouthed him…by name.  There were some interesting things that came out in the documentary, but I will only mention that Claudia Schiffer was originally cast in the role for the videos.  She wanted more money and the band said no.  The video director met Tawny, who was dating David at the time and immediately wanted her to be in the video.  I am glad he did.

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You also get a PurpleSnake Video Jam of “Here I Go Again” which contains a lot of tour footage which was cool to see and lastly some ’87 Tour Bootlegs of 2 songs and the band intros.  If they would have shown this entire show for the DVD that would have been awesome, but we will take what we can get.

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60 Page Hardbound Book:

You also get a very nice hardbound book that contains rare photos and includes interviews with David Coverdale from various sources and quotes on reviews from various magazines.  David does talk about John Sykes and the firing of the band right after completion of the album.  He does really praise Sykes guitar playing and singing, he just can’t stand him personally.  It is a very nice book with a lot of great pictures.  Even my daughter looked at it and said “This is nice!”.

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The set also includes a lyric book with all the lyrics of the songs including some handwritten lyrics by David Coverdale himself.  It is a nice little plus to have in the collection.

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POSTER:

The last item in the set is a poster of the album cover and is actually my featured picture at the top of the post.

 

And that is the set!  It is sensational and another great piece in my collection.  It is actually the 4th time I have bought this album.  I had a cassette, a CD, I bought the vinyl this past year and now this.  Crazy how much I like this album.  This set might be a lot for a casual fan, but for a super fan, this is a must have in your collection.  Christmas is coming, so ask Santa for it or run out and get it now.  Of if you need it right now, you can get the digital album by clicking on the link below.

If you want to check out all our other Whitesnake reviews, 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. 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)

“My First Time” with Whitesnake’s ‘Whitesnake’

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic30 Comments

Over the past couple weeks, I have dived deeply into Whitesnake’s early albums such as ‘Lovehunter’, ‘Ready an’ Willing’, ‘Come an’ Get It’ and “Saints & Sinners’.  And I actually picked up ‘Ready an’ Willing’ and ‘Come an’ Get It’ on vinyl last week. Those albums are so good and hate that I didn’t really know about them back in the day.  It got me thinking about the first album I bought from Whitesnake which was simply ‘Whitesnake’.

The album came out in 1987, my senior year of high school.  It quickly became one of my favorite albums of that year (behind ‘Hysteria’ by Def Leppard of course).  It was pure 80’s hair metal (or whatever label you want to give it) and pure magic.  The pounding drums, the guitar solos, the thumping bass, the synthesizers and that voice.  A combination that as a sure fire hit.  Which it was as the album actually went to #2 on the Billboard charts.

However, this album almost didn’t get made.  After 10 years of playing with little to no success, David Coverdale was ready to call it quits for Whitesnake.  The U.S. had pretty much ignored the band and the former Deep Purple singer had about had enough.  If it wasn’t for the record label, Geffen Records, Whitesnake as we know it, would be gone forever.

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