Whitesnake -'1987/Whitesnake'

DazMarz

Release Date: April, 1987

Peak Chart Position (USA): 2

Singles (with peak USA Chart Positions): Still Of The Night (79), Here I Go Again '87 (1), Is This Love(2), Give Me All Your Love (48)

Studio Personnel:
-Vocals: David Coverdale
-Guitar: John Sykes
-Bass: Neil Murray
-Drums: Aynsley Dunbar
-Keyboards: Don Airey/Bill Cuomo

Touring Personnel:
-Vocals: David Coverdale
-Guitar: Adrian Vandenberg
-Guitar: Vivian Campbell
-Bass: Rudy Sarzo
-Drums: Tommy Aldridge


After seven studio albums, endless tours of Europe and Japan, constant line up changes and an aging line-up, Whitesnake seemed to be a fading force. While 1984's 'Slide It In' had gone Gold (sold more than 500,000 copies) in the United States, Coverdale wanted more success. Giving the whole group an overhaul on both sound and image, Coverdale struck upon commercial and critical gold with his offering from '87.

Hit singles and memorable numbers simply drip from this album: almost everybody has heard ''Here I Go Again'' (originally released on 'Saints and Sinners' in 1982) or ''Is This Love'', while tracks such as ''Still Of The Night'', ''Give Me All Your Love'', ''Crying In The Rain'' (originally released on 'Saints and Sinners' in 1982), ''Bad Boys'' and ''Children Of The Night'' remain firm live favourites.

The punchy blues numbers of previous albums are replaced by polished, streamlined heavy rock, which were perfect for the consuming public at the time, creating an album that had huge commercial potential. Also, a powerful campaign of videos, starring Tawny Kitaen, for singles ''Here I Go Again'' (famous for Tawny writhing on the bonnet of a car), ''Still Of The Night'' and ''Is This Love'' broke the band into MTV, boosting the album further.

The key to this album is the sound: big, polished, bombastic, smouldering and epic. The guitars are thick and full sounding, the drums are huge and dramatic and the keyboards add that commercial sheen to the whole affair. But the real winner is Coverdale's vocals; from a smooth bluesy croon (see ''Is This Love'', ''Looking For Love''), to a husky rocking bellow (''Bad Boys'', ''Give Me All Your Love''), to a soaring operatic roar (''Still Of The Night'', ''Crying In The Rain''), Coverdale's vocal histrionics tick all the boxes.

Perhaps ironically, the only weakness of the album is the cheekiness of Coverdale in re-hashing two old songs, one of which would pretty much define Whitesnake thanks to its commercial success this time around. Those two songs are: ''Here I Go Again'' and ''Crying In The Rain''. Both were originally released in 1982 on 'Saints and Sinners' (as mentioned above). While both sound impressively revamped and shot full of adrenaline on '1987', they seem somewhat soulless, when compared to the bluesy originals.

Minor complaints aside, one cannot deny the truth: this is one terrific album. There is something here for everybody, metal fans, pop fans, rock fans, blues fans etc. No one will leave disappointed. From the opening with the shuddering and epic ''Still Of The Night'', to the closing ''You're Gonna Break My Heart Again'', this album keeps the standard up. There is not one duff track or album filler on here, all tracks doing what is required of them (the rockers rocking, the ballads sounding smoochy etc.)

This is a five-star album, no mistake. Little wonder it spawned four hit singles, is still the most essential Whitesnake album in the entire discography, contains the most famous songs and was only held off the top of the charts in the USA by both 'Licensed To Ill' and 'The Joshua Tree'. Its sales peaked at over 8 million copies sold in the United States alone, and it also saw a renewed interest in its predecessor, 'Slide It In', which jumped from Gold to Double Platinum (2 million+ copies sold) status by the end of 1988.

While its follow-up album, 'Slip Of The Tongue' in 1989, was equally as dramatic and epic sounding, thanks to the addition of guitar god Steve Vai to the line-up, it just simply couldn't compare to the quality and power of '1987'.

Rating: *****/*****