Whitesnake - Good To Be BadSPV (2008)
Well, it's been a long time coming from David Coverdale's band of gypsies, so to speak. (Oh, come on, no pun intended!) He's as bad as Ritchie Blackmore was with Rainbow for lineup changes in his backing band he calls Whitesnake.
So, what does he have now and how good is it really compared to the classic Whitesnake – say 1979–1984, or the commercially successful Whitesnake of, say, 1987–1990s?
This album is a great blend crossing all his past 'Snake skins, which may well be shed but are in no way forgotten! I'd go so far as to say he had the guys soak up the old back catalog before they got in the studio with this.
Coverdale has a great double-barreled guitar assault team of Reb Beach (Night Ranger, Winger, Dokken) and Doug Aldrich (Dio, House Of Lords, Hurricane) plus Timothy Drury on keys (ex-Don Henley, Stevie Nicks and others) - all have been with the touring band through the last five or so years. On drums is Chris Frazier (ex-Steve Vai, Edgar Winter) and bass covered by Uriah Duffy (Travers, Appice, etc.)
The album opens with a fairly safe hard rocker, "Best Years" with the sound of Hammond organ, awesome heavy guitar work (a Whitesnake trademark) and Coverdale’s voice still sounding strong.
"Can You Hear The Wind Blow" has a traditional early '80s Whitesnake vibe from the opening riffs. The sound is good overall, even if they keep the same riff most of the way through.
"Call On Me" hints at where fellow classic rockers UFO are right now, but also has a kind of current Night Ranger feel to it, keeping it up to date. Generally a harder rocker than older Whitesnake, more akin to "Slip Of The Tongue" era 'Snake. Plenty of guitar riffing here.
Next up is "All I Want, All I Need" - it's "Is This Love" 2008-style. There's no reason why, with the right airplay, it wouldn't be huge. Big chorus, strong guitar solo work a la John Sykes' work on the 1987 album.
Title track "Good To Be Bad" starts strong, and I can’t help hearing reminders of "Ready And Willing" (1980 album) and some of the guitar work reminds me in places of Thin Lizzy. I like it. I mean really like it! This lyric is typical Coverdale of old, but the song is very strong, again bringing Whitesnake right up to date.
"All For Love" opens with twin harmony guitars, then Hammond organ. It's is a phenomenal track with lots to it, certainly the strongest song here so far, with a solo that could've been Steve Vai.
"Summer Rain" is a very laid back affair that really sounds like something else and the guitar solo sound is also very, very familiar. In the bridge section of the song, Coverdale’s voice croaks a little but, you know, for the guy's age, this album is something else!
"Lay Down Your Love" ... oh boy, do you really want to hear this from me? It seems that for as long as I can remember, Mr. Coverdale has a tendency to slip a song on each of his albums that gives more than a passing nod towards Led Zeppelin. I sometime think he wishes he’d got a job with Zep, rather than Deep Purple. This time it's not quite "Still Of The Night" but it has elements of that. I'd also go so far as to say that the middle solo isn't too far away from the solo in Free's "All Right Now". Listen and tell me you don’t hear it too! It's another good song with strong vocals throughout and plenty more going on musically.
Next up is "A Fool In Love", a seriously strong bluesy rocker through the verses, but then the chorus is typical commercial Whitesnake, and then coming out of the chorus, familiarity strikes again as it's reminiscent of "Cryin' In The Rain" from the "Saints And Sinners" album (1982). Still a good one!
"Got What You Need" ... wow! Does this sound like AC/DC or what? Very basic rock and roll and slide guitar riffing and perhaps almost filler simplicity, although, hey, why not have some fun?
Album closer, "'Til The End Of Time" is steeped in Southern blues, but also leads to be a beautiful ballad, very rich layered song indeed.
I did enjoy this album and I can assure Whitesnake fans old and new that you should find something you'll enjoy in this release. It's a well produced and written album and if you're quick, initial copies come with a bonus eight track live CD (which, sadly, did NOT come with my promo copy.)
The album is a good return to form for Whitesnake. They're touring in the UK with Def Leppard this summer, but we're still waiting to hear of any US tour dates.
Track Listing
01 Best Years
02 Can You Hear The Wind Blow
03 Call On Me
04 All I Want All I Need
05 Good To Be Bad
06 All For Love
07 Summer Rain
08 Lay Down Your Love
09 A Fool In Love
10 Got What You Need
11 `Til The End Of Time
01 Summer Rain (Acoustic Version)
02 All I Want All I Need (Radio Edit)
03 Take Me With You
04 Ready To Rock (Enhanced Video)
Text: Alun Williams
