Whitesnake – Whitesnake – 1987
This is it for this part of the Listening Post. By this I mean that this corollary, this offshoot branch of the Purple Sabbath saga is ending here. There are many more Whitesnake records but my intention was never to follow them to their conclusion, just to divert for a while to see where they took us. I don’t consider Coverdale an architect of modern metal any more than I consider Brian Setzer an architect of Rockabilly. His association with Deep Purple put him on the path of exploration and we will end that with this.
This album was a monster. Despite the fact that the opener, “Crying in the Rain” might as well be a rewrite of Toto’s “Hold the Line”. The slick as a nymphomaniac’s nethers production is here in full force, as is the energy. “Bad Boys” is ready made to satisfy a legion of stadium fist pumpers.
(More Purple crossover! Guitarist Vivian Campbell was previously in Dio! He would later be introduced as Def Leppard’s new guitarist as though he had been plucked from obscurity despite the fact that he was on this album and a member of Thin Lizzy. You’ll recall that Def Leppard was the opening band for that Ozzy Osbourne concert I attended in 1980. Go ahead. Read it here)
This record was propelled by the redux of “Here I Go Again” and the ubiquitous ballad, “Is This Love”. They sound as crisp and joyous as they do nostalgic and weathered. And I think they sounded that way 23 years ago!
I think Whitesnake was the last hair band to gasp, perhaps Def Leppard has a little more to say, but soon, just 4 years away, all the acid wash would be washed away by a little band from Seattle.
Still, there should be room in your heart for some good old fashioned glam metal.
Of the three classic Whitesnake albums (can you believe I actually wrote that sentence???) I still prefer Saints and Sinners but I understand why this was a smash.
Grade: A
ASide: Here I Go Again (although the original version is better), Is This Love
BlindSide: Still of the Night, Give Me All Your Love, Children of the Night
DownSide:
