Artist: Whitesnake
Label: Geffen
Release Date: 1987
Rating: 4 Skulls
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Title: Whitesnake Artist: Whitesnake Label: Geffen Release Date: 1987
Rating: 4 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Solomon:
It's funny, listening to this record again. It's almost like you're receiving a transmission from the distant past; a radio wave that's been floating around the galaxy for the last fifteen years and got picked up by a world that barely even knew it once existed. And once exist it did: Whitesnake was primo "pop" metal in the late 80's, and it sold boatloads. I picked up on it not too long after being brainwashed by the "Still of the Night" vid on MTV, although I don't know if I was taken more by the music or Tawny Kitaen. Odd thing refering to this stuff as "pop metal," although most would throw in (or throw away) the name "Whitesnake" with any number of pretty boys wearing tight pants and playing Kramer guitars: Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Warrant, you name it. This is unfortunate, since several hard rock bands of the previous decade had more talent than people like to give them credit for. Winger, for example, were good musicians playing good songs (YOU play the solo to "Seventeen"), despite what Beavis and Butthead did to their careers. I'll bet there are more than a few twenty-somethings out there who praise Opeth and Nevermore today, only to hope no one finds out about the copy of Look What The Cat Dragged In stuffed in a box somewhere.Blowing off Whitesnake as just another blow-dried blip on the 80's radar screen is a serious mistake. The self-titled mega-seller had some real class, and a big set of balls to boot. Just check out the first track "Crying In The Rain" and you'll see what I mean. Fairly long by radio standards, this behemoth featured not only a tasty, blues-driven stomp for a verse, but the chorus had plenty of metal punch and a keyboard garnish that delivered more darkness and class than most of the other spandex-clad armies could muster. "Crying" was only accentuated by the epic, thematic lead drilling of mastermind John Sykes who, as I've ranted about in the Blue Murder review, has been overlooked as a player and songwriter too many times before. Of course, David Coverdale was the leader of the pack and a sterling example of the metal frontman: he could shout it, scream it, croon it, and do all sorts of naughty things with a mike stand. Anyway, by virtue of this grand opener, you know Europeans, not LA natives, are behind the wheel on this one.
There are other examples of solid muscle to be found on Whitesnake, particularly "Bad Boys" and "Children of the Night," which seem almost like power metal for their time. "Is This Love," with its solid, driving bass line and cascading clean guitar fills, is a great ballad, and "Here I Go Again" proved that a real hard rock band could land a punchy tune at the top of the singles charts. Of course, the real monster on this platter is "Still of the Night," one of my all-time favorite metal tunes. Okay, the "Black Dog" and "Immigrant Song" references are present, but who cares? Despite the band's association with sugar rock, this song is a good example of higher metallic "symphonic" composition: a variety of parts and textures are entwined together to produce an "epic" work that is so long in duration it's amazing MTV actually aired the full video. From the Zeppish verses, to the catchy sex-groove riff (0:49 and 1:40), to the soaring, majestic outro, "Still" is not a silly little ditty, even if, ironically, the subject matter pretty much revolves around getting laid. More so, the melancholic interlude, with its synth-cello theme (3:57), will haunt me forever, and it opened my eyes to the gothic in metal well before The Gathering or Cradle of Filth hit my ears.
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