GET A BIT OF WHITESNAKE INTO YOU (BABY)

Unlike a lot of hair bands which came crashing down after the 80`s had ended, David Coverdale retained enough of a hardcore following to continue trading his band WHITESNAKE in an era when alternative rock distorted powerchords and flannelette shirts were making polished hard rock and tight pants on stage seem as corny as the guy out of the GODS MUST BE CRAZY when he's trying to hit on his co-star. The things you come up with off the top of your head (laugh). Reminds me, i should get that movie out on DVD and watch it, haven't seen it since 1983. Anyway, WHITESNAKE of course was a huge band in the 80`s, often referred to as a 'home for old bluesers', WHITESNAKE, thanks to a few great heavy rock guitarists including the shred sensation John Sykes, most of the time escapulated a heavy blues approach with a great dose of glam and pop metal thrown in. The band's most commercially successful album, the generically titled 1987 which was released in that year, threw up a swag of charttopping hits including HERE I GO AGAIN and the silky smooth ballad IS THIS LOVE? Despite an obvious copycat attempt to take off Led Zeppelin, the album's heaviest song STILL OF THE NIGHT is an absolute blinder. I'll skip the follow-up album to 1987 and fast forward it to 1996, when Coverdale re-formed WHITESNAKE following his one-off supergroup outing with Led Zep's Jimmy Page simply called COVERDALE/PAGE. Their pairing produced one epic self titled heavy rock album in 1993. Convincing for the most part but perhaps a little too top heavy in places where it should have been more eclectic, i'd still highly recommend the album to anyone. RESTLESS HEART was released sometime around 1997, Whitesnake's first outing since the COVERDALE/PAGE experiment. Adrian Vandenberg was drafted as the band's new guitarist, and his more earthy and bluesey approach, in contrast to the likes of John Sykes, took the sound of Whitesnake back to where it began in the late 70`s when Coverdale first formed it after the decimation of DEEP PURPLE. The drumstool was filled on this album by one time Heart and Montrose member Denny Carmassi, and his heavily punctuated and dynamic style of drumming can be easily heard in the mix, he hadn't drummed this good since the Montrose debut in 1973. Not forgetting Coverdale himself, renowned for being one of the most emotive hard rock singers of all time his intentionally more bluesey approach to singing on RESTLESS HEART gells perfectly with Vandenberg's guitar. STAY WITH ME, which is Carmassi's tour de force of power drumming on the album, is my favourite track, the opener DONT FADE AWAY wasn't but should have been a huge hit on australian FM radio, CRYING has that kind of NO QUARTER mid 70`s Led Zeppelin funk feel to it, really great song, while TAKE ME BACK AGAIN and the song of the time for me back then, WOMAN TROUBLE BLUES, prove that great albums end with great songs and not mediocre fillers.