Whitesnake – Whitesnake

Producer: Mike Stone & Keith Olsen

Released: April 7, 1987

Rating: *****

As long as music and teenagers have co-existed, every generation has embraced a style of music to call their own. Since Elvis infected the ears of every teen-ager who grew up in the 1950’s, Rock N’ Roll, or some variation of it, has been the predominant music of choice for generations of kids navigating their way through those treacherous teen years. Some might justifiably argue that since the mid 90’s Rap/Hip-Hop has been the “choice of a new generation”. Regardless, Rock N’ Roll has always been identified with the music of our youth.  As one generation ends and another begins, tastes and styles inevitably change. When viewing a generation from the rearview mirror, its music is often remembered for a handful of albums that helped define or create its sound. Not surprisingly, these are usually the genres or decades biggest selling albums. Ideally, these albums would also be the best that a genre had to offer, but this is not always the case. Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet was undoubtedly one of the biggest selling albums of my generation, but I would challenge anyone who says it’s also one of the best. Hell, I don’t even think it’s their best album.

I’ve made many claims that Hair Metal was the soundtrack of a generation which is both true and misleading. It was undoubtedly the soundtrack of my youth and many others, but there was other music to choose from in the 80’s. The beginning of the decade was dominated by New Wave and Pop. Heavy Metal was still very much an underground sensation. Bands like Motley Crue, Ratt and Twisted Sister were beginning to build a fan base, but that wouldn’t really gain momentum until the mid 80’s. Even when Hair Metal exploded, artists like U2, INXS and Madonna were experiencing enormous popularity. That being said, from about 1987 – 1989 Hair Metal seemed to be everywhere. In a genre of music that has been brutally criticized for lacking any substance, these were the pinnacle years. It was during this time that some of the genre’s most enduring albums were released including Bon Jovi’s New Jersey (this, I feel, is their best album), Def Leppard’s Hysteria, Motley Crue’s Girls, Girls, Girls and Dr. Feelgood, Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction, Poison’s Open Up & Say Ahh! and this album, Whitesnake’s self titled 1987 release.

It’s not uncommon that a band’s self titled album is also their debut release. Such is not the case here, but one might argue that the band were debuting their new sound. For all practical purposes, “the band” is David Coverdale and plethora of musicians who have come and gone since the band’s inception in the late 70’s. The band itself was more or less a continuation of what Coverdale had started during his days fronting Deep Purple. The original Whitesnake was very much a blues based, hard rock band whose sound was very much at home in the heavy metal landscape of the late 70’s. Through the early 80’s, the band’s sound lost its bluesy feel and could best be described as straight forward hard rock. By the mid 80’s the over produced, teased sound of hair metal was taking over and outdating bands like Whitesnake.

After the 1984 release, Slide It In, the band took a bit of a break.  At some point in 1985, writing for the band’s next album had begun, but would be put on hold due to health issues that Coverdale was dealing with. David Coverdale and John Sykes wrote the album and when recording commenced in 1986, were joined in the studio by bassist Neal Murray, drummer Aynsley Dunbar and keyboardist Don Airey. Prior to the release of Slide It In, Whitesnake had secured a major record deal with Geffen. Enter A&R mastermind, John Kalodner. If you listen to Slide It In (or any of the Whitesnake albums leading up to the release of this album) and their self titled, 1987 release, it’s impossible not to notice a huge difference in the band’s sound. The sound is enormous, very polished and, well, perfect. Kalodner’s influence and excruciating attention to detail, no doubt, helped in re-creating the band’s sound.

The results speak for themselves. At just 9 songs, the album may seem a tad short. In addition, 2 of the songs (Cryin’ In The Rain and Here I Go Again) were originally released on the band’s 1982 album, Saints & Sinners, and were re-recorded for this album. Regardless, this album shines from start to finish. After the 30 second vocal intro to the album opener, Cryin’ In The Rain settles into a very sexy, sleazy groove that pretty much sets the tone for the entire album. If Cryin’ In The Rain seems a little subdued for an album opener, the raucous follow-up track, Bad Boys is sure to get your blood pumping. While the first two tracks are impressive, the third tune is not only the album’s best, but also one of my all time favorite songs. Quite honestly, I could care less if Still Of The Night is a shameless Led Zeppelin ripoff. This is better than Zeppelin. This is epic without being pompous. This is cool without being arrogant. This is the definition of sexy. Every superior Coverdale vocal is followed up by an equally impressive Sykes guitar lick. This tune oozes cool. The song is a Zeppelin ripoff. The riff, the vocal delivery and, yes, the Kashmir-esque solo all reek of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. There are so many nods to Led Zeppelin it’s hard to keep track.

Without a doubt, the album and the band are remembered primarily for the next song, Here I Go Again. The song is both a blessing and a curse. Whether they want to admit it or not, most bands want to reach as many fans with their music as they possibly can. In order to do this, it’s almost mandatory to have a song or album that transcends genres. In today’s speak, they’d call it a crossover hit. Here I Go Again is absolutely a cross-over hit. Poppy, anthemic and very inspirational. The problem is that these songs undoubtedly receive way too much airplay and suffer from overkill. I live in Chicago which is polluted with cover bands. Some good, some bad. You could probably hit a different bar every night during the week and several on Friday’s and Saturday’s and find a different cover band, playing your favorite tunes from yesteryear. As many bands as there are to find, sometimes it feels like there is just one set list. There are a few songs that almost every band plays and this is one of them. I could go the rest of my life and never hear this song again.

Lucky for me the next song and the albums 5th single, Give Me All Your Love, is another fantastically well written and perfectly produced tune. A feel-good tune that is impossible to resist. Up next is the album’s 3rd single, the super moody Is This Love. It may seem like the requisite hair metal ballad if it weren’t so perfect. Hardly a throw-away or forced tune, Is This Love is dripping with emotion. Sure, it’s also dripping with 80′s keyboards, but somehow in the context of the rest of the album it doesn’t matter.

Children of The Night is arguably the album’s heaviest track that couldn’t have come from any other era than the made for the arena, 80′s hair metal. Classic fist pumping, riff driven rock. The album finishes off in fine fashion with Straight For The Heart and Don’t Turn Away. Truth be told, these songs are okay. What solidifies this album as a classic and what helped propel the album to over 8 million in sales in the US alone is the strength of the 5 singles. These 5 songs are amazing and most bands would be lucky enough to write 5 songs of this caliber throughout their entire career, let alone for one album.

Just prior to the album’s releases, Coverdale fired the studio band and hired a stage/video band. While the new band was certainly capable, there’s no denying they looked the part in the hairiffic 80′s. Adding to the sex appeal of the videos was Coverdale’s then gal-pal, Tawny Kitaen and a couple of Jaguar’s. To say that this album was “huge” is both appropriate and understated. For about 18 months it seemed like this was the only option if you liked music. In addition, it took a band that was on life support and introduced them to a completely new fan base. It’d be easy to remember this band and album soley for Here I Go Again, because that is the way radio chose to remember them. If you grew up when I did, when this album was released, you’ll recall a few more reasons why this band and album should be remembered for more than an over played, radio ready anthem.