When David Coverdale reformed his Whitesnake back in 2007, I wasn’t convinced at all that he and his band would be able to create anything listenable when it came to new music. Besides, the concerts the band made prior to the first Whitesnake album since the poor Slip Of The Tongue back in 1989, showed that old Cov’s voice wasn’t in the best shape. But the album, Good To Be Bad (2008), was really good even though the rhythm ’n’ blues based rock ’n’ roll that was Whitesnake 1978 – 1984 was more or less gone, which is a shame. So, with this new album I was really glad to discover that David and his band had been looking back and picked up those influences once again. At least a bit. Because even though you can spot traces of the Whitesnake of old, the major part of the band, both in looks and in sound, it is the platinum selling U.S. version of the band that Coverdale is going with these days. And unfortunately, this kind of music isn’t being kind to his voice. Live, he can’t reach the higher notes at all anymore and it barely works in the studio. But enough about that. Instead, we concentrate on the songs, which are for the most part on this album, brilliant.
Forevermore is easily the best Whitesnake album since the multi million selling 1987, if not better. Kick ass opener ”Steal Your Heart Away” and first single ”Love Will Set You Free” are both great and reminds us a lot of Whitesnake before hair metal stole them from us. ”Easier Said Than Done” is a ballad and probably the best ballad Cov has written in many, many years. On”I Need You (Shine A Light)” he goes all pop metal on us. It works great, though, mainly because it isn’t cheesy and lies on a ground of bluesy hard rock. The chorus is pure glue and could very well be a hit. ”Whipping Boy Blues” is a big, fat blues rocker and how I wish that he wrote more of these kind of songs. The title track that finishes the album is a seven minute long Zeppelinesque, heavy ballad. It’s a fantastic song and maybe the best song on here. I wish he wrote more this as well. The only bad song on here are ”Dogs On The Street”. It’s one of those Whitesnake goes metal, think ”Bad Boys” or ”Kitten’s Got Claws”, that suits them so bad. The production here is pretty similar to its predecessor, although on this album it feels a bit lighter, but in a good way. More rock than metal in the sound.
The band performance here are, of course, faultless. The band do consists of brilliant musicians, but both Reb Beach (Winger) and Doug Aldrich are too much about technique and leans more towards edgier music, which contrasts badly with the bluesier sounds. Whitesnake needs a Micky Moody and / or a Bernie Marsden to make this kind of music work properly. Drummer Brian Tichy is brilliant, though. Maybe the best drummer they have had since Cozy Powell (RIP) was in the band. David Coverdale turns 60 this year and it’s not far-fetched to assume that this album may be the last Whitesnake album we get. If that is the case, then he finished with, if not a classic Whitesnake album, but a damn good one.
Jon Wilmenius (8/10)
Tracklist:
1. Steal Your Heart Away
2. All Out Of Luck
3. Love Will Set You Free
4. Easier Said Than Done
5. Tell Me How
6. I Need You (shine A Light)
7. One Of These Days
8. Love & Treat Me Right
9. Dogs In The Street
10. Fare Thee Well
11. Whipping Boy Blues
12. My Evil Ways
13. Forevermore
CD & Festival reviews 
You must be trying to get a reaction by saying that slip of the tongue was bad.
Or maybe many fans think it’s bad.
Dude, I know more people who hates SOTT than likes it. In fact, I only know one who digs the album. I don’t hate it but it’s not a good Whitesnake album. It’s not a Whitesnake album at all…
Yeah agreed. I like it as a mainstream Steve Vai album, mostly. But as Whitesnake, it bears little resemblance to the band who recorded Slide It In.
Yes. And it bears no resemblance to the band who released Lovehunter, Ready An’ Willing and Come An’ Get It.
I love Steve Vai, but there’s no place for a guitarplayer like him in Whitesnake.
No. There’s that thing called taste. Meaning: what you think is good, I might not. Why on earth would I write something like that just to get a reaction?
I’m an old school Whitesnake fan and neither the music or look has anything to do with Whitensnake. If Cov had changed the name of the band, I would have viewed the record differently. The album is not bad per se, but as a Whitesnake record, it doesn’t hold up. Same with 1987.
Yeah. My favourite is Come An’ Get It, that’s the style I like best. But I’m also a Vai fan, and I’m also a fan of bands where they put people together that shouldn’t be together. Like Motorhead when they had Robbo, or Sabbath with Ian Gillan. So I probably like Slip a bit more than you. But I would never try to defend it as a good WHITESNAKE album.
I love Sabbath with Gillan and Motörhead with Robbo. The difference is, both bands still sound like they should, they have kept their sound, only with a different vocalist and guitarist. With, SOTT, nothing sounds like Whitesnake. Not even Coverdale himself…
But I agree, I think there is some really constellations of musicians that really shouldn’t be in the same band but works anyway.
Yeah, for all the controversy with Motorhead fans, Another Perfect Day is one of their best albums! And I’ve always said Born Again is my favourite album of all time.