Year : 2013 (Japan Special Expanded Edition)
Style : Hard Rock
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 152 mb
Bio:
Whitesnake are a rock band, formed in England in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. Their early material has been compared by critics to the blues rock of Deep Purple, but they slowly began moving toward a more commercially accessible rock style.By the turn of the decade, the band's commercial fortunes changed and they released a string of UK top 10 albums, Ready an' Willing (1980), Come an' Get It (1981), Saints & Sinners (1982) and Slide It In (1984), the latter of which was their first to chart in the US and is certified 2x platinum.The band's 1987 self-titled album was their most commercially successful worldwide, and contained two major US hits, "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love", reaching number one and two on the Hot 100. In 1988, Whitesnake was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group.Slip of the Tongue (1989), was also a success, reaching the top 10 in the US and UK, and receiving a platinum US certification.The band split up shortly after this release, but had a reunion in 1994, and released a one-off studio album, Restless Heart (1997).Whitesnake officially reformed in 2002 and have been touring together since, releasing two studio albums, Good to Be Bad (2008) and Forevermore (2011). In 2005, Whitesnake was named the 85th greatest hard rock band of all time by VH1.
Album:
The CD+DVD Digipak Special Edition contains a 15 Track audio CD featuring newly recorded, remixed & remastered versions of Ready To Rock, If You Want Me, All I Want Is You and Dog, originally featured as bonus tracks from the Live In The Shadow Of The Blues double live album.PLUS a Bonus DVD that includes the music videos ‘Ready To Rock’ and ‘Lay Down Your Love’, a rare and unseen 8 song Live Acoustic Performance with David Coverdale and Doug Aldrich at the Cutting Room In NY in 2008, the ‘Good To Be Bad’ Interview by Eddie Trunk and the ‘Live In The Shadow Of The Blues’ EPK. The DVD also includes a slideshow of live photographs from 2008-2009 Good To Be Bad World Tour featuring the Summer Rain Acoustic Version.Whitesnake disbanded in 1990.Coverdale did his album with Jimmy Page, but that didn’t prove to last either. Although they’d started writing for a second album, the affair ended and David Coverdale assembled a new Whitesnake for a Greatest Hits tour in 1994. This reformation eventually led to an album in 1997 called Restless Heart (billed as “David Coverdale and Whitesnake”. This R&B flavoured album, a personal favourite, did not resonate with some fans of 80’s ‘Snake.After another hiatus, and a solo album (2000’s Into the Light), David once again formed a new group of ‘Snakes, a mixture of old and new members. After several years of touring (and lineup changes), the long awaited new Whitesnake album, Good to Be Bad, hit the shelves in 2008. Former Dio guitarist Doug Aldrich and Winger’s Reb Beach had been a formidable guitar duo since 2002.Similarly to his partnership with Adrian Vandenberg, David has retained his writing style of co-writing with just one co-writer; in this case, Aldrich. It seems to be evident that the guys have gone for a John Sykes guitar sound and style. You can certainly hear a lot of trademark sounds and tricks that Sykes used to do, that gave the 1987 album such a cool sound. This isn’t to say that they don’t play plenty of their own style too, but the retro stuff is frequent.So similar is the direction of this album to 1987, that you can play “name that tune” with all the new songs:“Can You Hear The Wind Blow” for example directly references moments on 1987, right down to those flares that Sykes used to do. “All I Want, All I Need” equals “Is This Love” Part Deux. Basically, every song on Good To Be Bad is a mash-up of songs from Coverdale Page, 1987 and Slip Of The Tongue, and you can hear the references quite distinctly. “A Fool in Love” is “Crying in the Rain”. “Lay Down Your Love” is “Shake My Tree”, without Jimmy Page. Throw in a little “Kashmir” during “‘Til The End Of Time” (which seems to be based off “Till The Day I Die” from Come An’ Get It) too.Having said that, despite the lack of originality, Good To Be Bad is still a very enjoyable listen, and a very welcome return. A world without David Coverdale’s voice is like a world without crème brûlée. That voice is in fine form, perhaps even stronger than it was on 1997’s Restless Heart. The album has a lot more life to it than Restless Heart, although it does lack that album’s subtlety and R&B moments. The band play great, kicking it on every tune, even the ballads. The melodies are strong and memorable. It’s just…too contrived.The bonus live disc is the the Canadian special edition is highlights from Live: In The Shadow Of The Blues. No big deal. It’s nice to hear Whitesnake playing “Burn/Stormbringer” from David’s Deep Purple days, and cool to hear the old 70’s classics.The real cool version to have is the Japanese release with two bonus tracks. And a sticker! Can’t forget the sticker. The bonus tracks are both remixes (a “Doug solo” version of “All For Love”, and a stripped down version of the lovely “Summer Rain”). For $20, I wasn’t complaining.
Line Up:
David Coverdale - Vocals
Doug Aldrich - Guitar
Reb Beach - Guitar
Timothy Drury - Keyboards
Uriah Duffy - Bass
Chris Frazier - Drums
Tracklist:
01. Best Years
02. Can You Hear The Wind Blow
03. Lay Down Your Love
04. If You Want Me *
05. All I Want All I Need
06. Call On Me
07. Ready To Rock *
08. Summer Rain
09. Good To Be Bad
10. All For Love
11. All I Want Is You *
12. Got What You Need
13. A Fool In Love
14. Dog *
15. ‘Til The End Of Time
*Re-recorded with Chris Frasier on drums. Remixed and Remastered To Bring Out All The Super Sonic Goodness.
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