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Whitesnake – The Purple Album [Review]
Whitesnake – The Purple Album
2015, Frontiers Records
1. “Burn”
2. “You Fool No One” (interpolating “Itchy Fingers”)
3. “Love Child”
4. “Sail Away” (featuring “Elegy for Jon”)
5. “The Gypsy”
6. “Lady Double Dealer”
7. “Mistreated”
8. “Holy Man”
9. “Might Just Take Your Life”
10. “You Keep On Moving”
11. “Soldier of Fortune”
12. “Lay Down Stay Down”
13. “Stormbringer”
Bonus Tracks:
14. Lady Luck
15. Comin’ Home
Band:
David Coverdale – Lead Vocals
Reb Beach – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Joel Hoekstra – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Michael Devon – Bass, Harmonica, Backing Vocals
Tommy Aldridge – Drums
Derek Hilland – Keyboards
Producers: David Coverdale, Reb Beach & Michael McIntyre
After a steady stream of live releases, I was looking forward to hearing a brand-new Whitesnake studio album. I had known the band had been working on writing & recording tracks for the untitled album but I was assuming what they were going to give us would new and original Whitesnake tracks. Instead, when The Purple Album was announced, to say I was a bit deflated would be an understatement. For whatever reason, David Coverdale decided to have Whitesnake cover songs from his time in Deep Purple. Basically, the sounds have been record with a much beefier sound that’s very in line with what Whitesnake has been doing the last 10 years ago or so and some of the songs have been slightly re-worked.
In theory, I don’t have too much of a problem with any of this. I’ve read some comments online that consider it blasphemous that Whitesnake would record a bunch of Deep Purple songs and plenty of reviewers knocking this album and saying the band didn’t do a good job. Personally, I don’t care if Whitesnake releases an album of Deep Purple covers. But that’s just it. I don’t care. It just seems like a throwaway and irrelevant album to me, no more of less important than the various live albums they’ve released in the last few years. Having said that, being the Whitesnake fan that I am, I was always going to give this album at least one spin.
Now would’ve really made this album interesting is if Coverdale decided to record some songs from the Mark II line-up that featured Ian Gillan on vocals (at least as a fun bonus track). THAT would’ve made for a fascinating listen.
I’m really wondering what happened during all the time that Coverdale said they were working on the new album because I know they were at least writing material when Doug Aldrich was still in the band. What happened to that material? Was he only writing rearrangements for this album? And, oh yeah, Doug Aldrich is gone from the band. I’ve felt he was an essential part of the band since David brought Whitesnake back but the split seems amicable as Doug wanted to move on to new projects. His replacement? Night Ranger’s Joel Hoekstra. Okay. At least Tommy Aldridge has returned to the band and is still a monster on the drums.
While The Purple Album doesn’t seem all that necessary, when you get down to the music, it’s fairly enjoyable. In fact, I can digest some of these tracks much more easily now that they have been updated production-wise. Take Deep Purple songs, give them the production of Whitesnake’s last two studio efforts, Good to Be Bad and Forevermore and that’s The Purple Album. Coverdale’s voice is much more weathered by this point but I think that’s a good thing. He has more soul in his voice than he ever did and I think on some of these tracks it provides for a better vocal performance and feeling than what he could’ve provided in the 1970s.
At the end of the day, while I’m disappointed I’m not listening to new Whitesnake material, The Purple Album has turned out to be a pretty good album in it’s own right.
Highlights: “Burn”, “Love Child”, “Sail Away”, “The Gypsy”, “Lady Double Dealer”, “Mistreated”, “Might Just Take Your Life”, “You Keep On Moving”, “Soldier of Fortune”, “Stormbringer”
Various Artists – Live and Heavy [Review]
Various Artists – Live and Heavy
1981, NEMS Records
1. Deep Purple – “Smoke on the Water”
2. Nazareth – “Razamanaz”
3. Motorhead – “White Line Fever”
4. Def Leppard – “Rocks Off”
5. Rainbow – “All Night Long”
6. Status Quo – “Roll Over Lay Down”
7. Whitesnake – “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City”
8. UFO – “Lights Out in London”
9. Gillan – “Unchain Your Brain”
10. Black Sabbath – “Paranoid”
What a brutal album cover that totally screams “heavy metal”. I picked this one up on vinyl in great condition for only $1 at a local flea market annex shop called Fort Walton Beach Vintage Records. Live and Heavy is a compilation put out by the British label NEMS that, unsurprisingly, features live tracks by UK rock bands. Had this been released a year or two later, I’m sure it would’ve been full of NWOBHM bands but instead we get bands that are more closely associated with ’70s hard rock and heavy metal.
This compilation has a killer line-up: Gillan-era Deep Purple, Rainbow, Whitesnake, UFO (“Lights Out” is titled “Lights Out in London” on this release), Ozzy-era Black Sabbath, Motorhead… some of the very best heavy rock bands England has to offer. Even Def Leppard makes an appearance. Pretty good deal for such a new and young band (at the time) to get a track compiled with a number of other legendary bands.
Had this been a compilation of studio tracks, I probably would’ve passed. I’m not big on live album but for a collection of live cuts from these specific bands, I figured it was worth a buck.
The inner sleeve lists the various dates and venues these tracks were recorded. Always good to have that info. I was afraid this was going to be a super low-budget compilation that wouldn’t even bother.
This is a good pick-up for fans of hard rock from the 1970s and early 1980s.
Highlights: “Smoke on the Water”, “All Night Long”, “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City”, “Lights Out in London”
Whitesnake – Made In Britain / The World Record [Review]
Whitesnake – Made In Britain / The World Record
2013, Frontiers Records
Disc 1: Made In Britain
1. Best Years
2. Give Me All Your Love Tonight
3. Love Ain’t No Stranger
4. Is This Love
5. Steal Your Heart Away
6. Forevermore
7. Love Will Set You Free
8. My Evil Ways
9. Fare Thee Well
10. Ain’t No Love In the Heart of the City
11. Fool for Your Loving
12. Here I Go Again
13. Still of the Night
Disc 2: The World Record
1. Bad Boys
2. Slide It In
3. Lay Down Your Love
4. Pistols at Dawn
5. Snake Dance
6. Can You Heart the Wind Blow
7. Fare Thee Well
8. One of These Days
9. The Badger
10. Deeper the Love
11. Soldier of Fortune
12. Burn / Stormbringer
Band:
David Coverdale – Lead Vocals
Doug Aldrich – Guitar
Reb Beach – Guitar
Michael Devin – Bass
Brian Tichy – Drums
Michael Ruedy – Keyboads
Produced by Michael McIntyre, Doug Aldrich and David Coverdale
Whitesnake returns with another double live album! Hmm… seems like I’ve done a similar review before. Oh, yeah. I did: here, here, and here! So this is the second live album that Whitesnake has released in a matter of months. Made In Japan kind of came about as an official release by accident but Made In Britain/The World Record was actually a planned release. Like Made In Japan it too documents the band’s Forevermore tour from 2011. The difference being that album featured performances from Japan and these recordings were done in England (the Made In Britain portion) and internationally (The World Record portion… Get it? It’s a world record.).
This another one of those album titles I’m confused about. The band’s official website lists it as Made In Britain and acknowledges it is a two-disc album. Frontiers Records’ website lists it as Made In Britain – The World Record. Most other music sites refer to it as Made In Britain/The World Record. And the album art above is the only one that’s floating around and you can obviously see it is plainly called Made In Britain.
What can I say that I didn’t already say during my Made In Japan review? Whitesnake is still going strong, putting out great records and great live shows and great live albums. It’s amazing how good the Forevermore material sounds alongside the classics. This is the band’s sixth live album (four of them released in the last 7 years alone!) and while you may not need this album, it stands are as a great representation of the Forevermore era. I would recommend it over Made In Japan.
Highlights: “Steal Your Heart Away”, “Forevermore”, “Love Will Set You Free”, “My Evil Ways”, “Fare Thee Well”, “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City”, “Lay Down Your Love”, “One of These Days”
http://www.whitesnake.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Whitesnake.official
Whitesnake – Made In Japan [Review]
Whitesnake – Made In Japan
2013, Frontiers Records
Disc 1:
1. Best Years
2. Give Me All Your Love Tonight
3. Love Ain’t No Stranger
4. Is This Love
5. Steal Your Heart Away
6. Forevermore
7. Six String Showdown
8. Love Will Set You Free
9. Drum Solo
10. Fool For Your Loving
11. Here I Go Again
12. Still of the Night
Disc 2:
1. Love Will Set You Free
2. Steal Your Heart Away
3. Fare Thee Well [Acoustic Version]
4. One of These Days [Acoustic Version]
5. Lay Down Your Love
6. Evil Ways
7. Good To Be Bad [Acoustic Version]
8. Tell Me How [Acoustic Version]
Band:
David Coverdale – Vocals
Doug Aldrich – Guitar
Reb Beach – Guitar
Michael Devin – Bass
Brian Tichy – Drums
Brian Ruedy – Keyboards
Produced by: Michael McIntyre, David Coverdale & Doug Aldrich
Made In Japan is Whitesnake’s fifth live album. Now, you may say to yourself, “Didn’t they just release a live album a few years ago?” They did. The album you’re thinking of is Live at Donington 1990 but that was an archive release. A “blast from the past”, if you will. Made In Japan is much more current having been recorded in October 2011 at the Loud Park Festival in Saitama City, Japan.
The entire recording was originally meant to be aired only on TV in Japan but Coverdale, Doug Aldrich and Frontiers Records liked what they heard & saw so much, that they decided the show deserved a worldwide CD/DVD/Blu-ray release. You can buy this show in various formats but I’ll be referring to the 2 CD portion only for this review and not the DVD or Blu-ray footage.
Luckily, Coverdale has never been content to live in the past. Sure, it took him a long time to revive Whitesnake, but now that he has, the band has delivered two of their best studio albums to date (Good to Be Bad and Forevermore) in the last few years. So it’s no surprise that Disc 1 (the actual Loud Park performance) pulls a combined four tracks from those two albums. The remaining tracks on Disc 1 are the typical ’80s hits but it’s great that Coverdale does’t tour strictly with a “greatest hits” set list.
The modern Whitesnake songs are so good and sound so much more powerful than anything of old. And I really have to give credit to Doug Aldrich for helping to restore the band to greatness. Actually, the entire band is amazing and really made the mighty ‘snake powerful and muscular again (make your own jokes, please).
Disc 2 is a very good collection of songs the band played during various sound checks while on tour in Japan.
You really can’t go wrong with Whitesnake (live or in the studio), especially when it comes to this era of the band.
http://www.whitesnake.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Whitesnake.official
Snakecharmer [Review]
Snakecharmer
2013, Frontiers Records
1. My Angel
2. Accident Prone
3. To The Rescue
4. Falling Leaves
5. A Little Rock & Roll
6. Turn Of The Screw
7. Smoking Gun
8. Stand Up
9. Guilty As Charged
10. Nothing To Lose
11. Cover Me In You
Band:
Chris Ousey – Lead Vocals
Micky Moody – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Laurie Wisefield – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Neil Murray – Bass
Harry James – Drums, Backing Vocals
Adam Wakeman – Keyboards, Vocals
Produced by: Snakecharmer
Snakecharmer is next in the line in a number of groups that have been put together by small number of former members of Whitesnake. First there was The Snakes, which was started up by former Whitesnake guitarists Bernie Marsden & Micky Moody. Then that became The Company of Snakes featuring Marsden and Moody with the addition of former ‘snake bassist Neil Murray. Then that became known as M3. Now, Moody & Murray have started up Snakecharmer with other notable musicians such as Monroe/Heartland vocalist Chris Ousey, Wishbone Ash guitarist Laurie Wisefield, Magnum/Thunder drummer Harry James and current Ozzy/Black Sabbath keyboardist Adam Wakeman (son of Rick Wakeman).
Given all of the names involved, Snakecharmer is what you’d expect: melodic & bluesy classic rock. If you enjoyed what Marsden, Moody and/or Murray were doing in their previous Whitesnake-inspired bands, you’ll like Snakecharmer. That said, Chris Ousey (as good as he is) is no David Coverdale. A number of tracks definitely sound like early Whitesnake though. “A Little Rock and Roll” and “To The Rescue” are shining examples of songs that could’ve been recorded by that band’s earliest line-up. Another standout is “Stand Up”, which kind of reminds me of something Rainbow would’ve done during their more commercial years.
Snakecharmer is a solid album full of professionals who have faithfully been playing in this style for decades. Though it openly draws comparison to them, this album is not on the same level with Whitesnake earliest releases. What it is is an enjoyable release and fine stand-in for anyone who wishes Coverdale would take Whitesnake back to their earliest & simplest sound.
Highlights: “My Angel”, “Accident Prone”, “Falling Leaves”, “A Little Rock and Roll”, “Stand Up”, “Nothing to Lose”
http://www.snakecharmer.org/
http://www.facebook.com/QEDG.snakecharmer
Whitesnake – Live At Donington 1990
Whitesnake – Live At Donington 1990 (2011, Frontiers Records)
Disc 1:
1. Slip Of The Tongue … 6:52
2. Slide It In … 5:03
3. Judgement Day … 5:56
4. Slow An’ Easy … 8:12
5. Kitten’s Got Claws … 4:58
6. Adagio For Strato … 3:08
7. Flying Dutchman Boogie … 4:02
8. Is This Love … 4:4
9. Cheap An’ Nasty … 4:31
10. Crying In The Rain … 13:28
Disc 2:
1. Fool For Your Loving … 6:02
2. For The Love Of God … 5:24
3. The Audience Is Listening … 3:02
4. Here I Go Again … 5:43
5. Bad Boys … 6:17
6. Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City … 8:26
7. Still Of The Night … 8:00
Band:
David Coverdale – Vocals
Steve Vai – Guitar
Adrian Vandenberg – Guitar
Rudy Sarzo – Bass
Tommy Aldridge – Drums
Hot on the heels of the excellent Forevermore is the release of live album that was recorded at the 1990 Monsters of Rock at Castle Donington (a show that included Aerosmith, Poison, the Quireboys and Thunder). At that time, Whitesnake was still touring in promotion of Slip of the Tongue. There are no less than six tracks from that album played here and while that album is generally regarded as a misstep in the band’s catalog (though I think opinions have begun to mellow), the material seems to go over fairly well with this crowd.
I somewhat find it odd that Coverdale would choose to release this album right after a brand new studio album is released, especially considering he’s the only guy that appears on both albums. I also didn’t realize this show even existed and that there was any demand for it but apparently Whitesnake fans have been clamoring for an official release of this show for quite some time. That’s another thing I thought to be weird — a Slip of the Tongue-era live album? All of these guys are great musicians but that album was so polished I wasn’t sure how the band would come across live.
Sarzo, Vandenberg and Aldridge I have no problem with but Steve Vai? He’s never really seemed like a true ‘snake or a good fit to me and I’m not huge fan of his solo work so I thought maybe this concert would be a bit too flashy and technical, taking away the soul of the band. Happy to say that isn’t the case for the most part. Vai does get to show off with “For the Love of God” and “The Audience Is Listening” from his 1990 solo album Passion and Warfare and I have to say both songs stick out like a sore thumb in this set list despite the crowd’s appreciation for it. I much more prefer Vandenberg’s solo moments on “Adagio for Strato” and “Flying Dutchman Boogie”.
On the whole, this is a much more powerful sounding live performance than I was expecting. Though I never disliked the album, I’m appreciating the Slip of the Tongue songs on this disc a lot more after hearing live incarnations of them. The crowd is absolutely rabid (Whitesnake were the headliners) and they eat up an oldie like “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” (which was done surprisingly well) just as much as they do “Slip of the Tongue” or “Crying In The Rain”. And of course I have to point out yet again Coverdale’s vocals. The guy is flat out amazing. As powerful as he STILL sounds to this day, he’s even more powerful during this show. A true rock legend and one of rock’s better vocalists of all time.
Though I don’t think this album tops the classic Live… In the Heart of the City from 1980 or Live: In the Shadow of the Blues from 2006, this album stands as a great document of how good the pop-metal era of the band could be and perhaps shows that time frame deserves much more credit than it is given. If you’re a fan of the self-titled/1987 album and Slip of the Tongue, this is well worth picking up.
Highlights: “Slip Of The Tongue”, “Judgement Day”, “Slow An’ Easy”, “Cheap An’ Nasty”, “Crying In The Rain”, “Bad Boys”, “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City”, “Still of the Night”
http://www.whitesnake.com
http://www.facebook.com/Whitesnake.official
Metal Excess 