Classic Whitesnake
Once bitten. Every genuine Whitesnake fan needs this album, as early Whitesnake is just as important as later Whitesnake. . . always addicted!.
Great!
Ain't no love in the heart of the city. . . . . ain't no love in the heart of town, the first ep of the band Whitesnake, i love this cd, you can listen some songs of the fist 2 albums of Coverdale.
Underestimated classic
It contained the original four-song Snakebite EP plus four of the best songs from Coverdale's solo album Northwinds. In reply to some earlier reviews, actually Snakebite DID come out (at least in Europe) in the late seventies/early eighties as a full album, exactly as it is presented here on CD.
Snakebite is different from Whitesnake's other work, because it is mostly a mixture of Southern Rock and Deep Purple-style early Metal, while later Whitesnake is more blues rock/boogie influenced and even later Whitesnake is pop metal/hair metal oriented.
So this is really an unique effort. It is true that Northwinds is also worthwhile buying separately and that half of the tracks featured here you already get on Northwinds. But between them the full Snakebite album is better than Northwinds, and Snakebite is a superb album in its own right, not just a loose amalgamation of songs.
The heart of this album is formed by three fantastic mid-tempo steamrollers of early metal ("Come On", "Keep On Giving Me Love", and "Steal Away") that gracefully avoid the hard rock cliches (because they weren't invented yet!), and three equally fantastic heartfelt ballads (the awesome power ballad "Queen of Hearts", and the classics "Only My Soul" and "Ain't No Love (In the Heart of the City)").
If they had added a few more songs of this high standard instead of the less convincing "Bloody Mary" and "Breakdown", then Snakebite would have been one of the all-time masterpieces of metal, on a par with, let's say, Sad Wings of Destiny (Judas Priest) or Iron Maiden's debut album. As it is now, I would say it's in the same league as classic-but-not-perfect hard rock albums like Toys in the Attic (Aerosmith) or In Trance (Scorpions). Don't get me wrong, that's extremely good company to be in. Also, in my opinion, Snakebite is just as good as Whitesnake's later top albums, Saints & Sinners and Slide it in. So this IS highly recommended indeed!.
way too cool and really hip!!!
Almost every song is good and you
wouldn't think that they played this stuff before they became
more well known in the late '80's. A really good CD by Whitesnake, and is really great as it was
one of their early works. Still, this is a gem to have
in anyone's collection where a lot of groups in the late '70's
had started to emerge, and where most of the band members were
from Deep Purple and Trapeze. Give it A+++++.
Lethal Snakebite
"I'm just a SOLDIER OF FORTUNE,
Must be the GYPSY in me. You gotta give David Coverdale some kind of credit for name-dropping two of his old Deep Purple classics right there in the first song on this album, "Come On". . . "
Maybe David just wanted to remind people who he was, that this was not some "new" band, but in fact featured the talents of Deep Purple's old lead singer. Either way, it's a very solid outing despite the fact that it was patched together from various players and recording sessions.
Songs 1-4 (or "side one" if you remember the days of vinyl) featured his new band which he dubbed Whitesnake, named after a post-Purple solo album that he had done. Purple producer Martin Birch ensured a solid sound, and Coverdale & Co. provided four solid tunes. The aformentioned "Come On" sounds like latter Purple and features three players who would stay through most of Whitesnake's history: Neil Murray (bass), Bernie Marsden (guitar) and Mickey Moody (guitar). Track two, "Bloody Mary" is driven by a boogie piano, one of the best songs on the album. Then Coverdale gets bluesy. "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City", previously a hit for Bobby "Blue" Bland, ended becoming Whitesnake's live centerpiece. "Steal Away" ends this side with some slide guitar courtesy of Moody, and some very very bad synth tom drums by Dave Dowle.
Tracks 5-8, or "side two", featured some miscellaneous Coverdale solo material produced by ex-Purple bassist Roger Glover. Although Mickey Moody plays on these songs, all the other players are just studio musicians. Unfortunately, these songs show a distinct lack of direction. "Keep On Giving Me Love" was funky, like the kind of stuff Glenn Hughes was always trying to push on Deep Purple, but with a sub-par riff. Although it boasted a killer pre-chorus, the rest of the song is pretty stock. In fact the only standout song on this side would be "Only My Soul". Coverdale has often done these incredible soul-searching pieces, such as Purple's "Soldier Of Fortune", and Whitesnake's later "Sailing Ships". This time out we're treated to some very appropriate violin, and Glover on synth.
The CD itself includes lyrics, liner notes, and photos. Coverdale himself provided a brief blurb about the material at the start of the booklet.
Although David Coverdale was still searching for direction after leaving Purple, the Snakebite album is an enjoyable (albeit brief) listen from front to back. Some material really showed what David was capable of, and he certainly would deliver in full in the future. Whitesnake diehards should not do without Snakebite, as it provides in interesting set of snapshots of what Coverdale was up to in between his bouts of fame and glory.
You can see a complete list of all Whitesnake discography, or go back to the Whitesnake tabs
|
