On a truly personal level, Whitesnake is a band that I've really missed over the last 15+ years, a group that delivered the hard rock goods time and time again from the late 70's through the early 90's. With constant personnel changes and the rise of the grunge/alternative movement, Whitesnake splintered apart and only appeared sporadically throughout the last decade. Well, times are different now, and David Coverdale put together a red hot band a few years ago that has had some seasoning on the road, and now they are releasing their first platter of new music in years, the strong Good To Be Bad. Along with guitarists' Doug Aldrich & Reb Beach, bassist Uriah Duffy, keyboard player Timothy Drury, and drummer Chris Frazier, Coverdale and Crew have put together a fine statement here, a CD filled with plenty of hard rock muscle, some heavy blues, and a few catchy ballads, all elements of classic Whitesnake that we have come to love from this band over the years.
The veteran singer shows that he still has the vocal chops despite his advancing age, his husky tone perfectly rising to the occasion on crunchy rockers like "Call On Me", "All For Love", "Can You Hear the Wind Blow", and the raucous "Lay Down Your Love". Not only can this guy still rock, but his tender side should still illicit moans from the female fans, as evident by ballady tunes like "All I Want, All I Need" and "Summer Rain". Although Coverdale will always be the star of Whitesnake, the real selling point has always been the excellent guitar work, and his two right hand aces, Aldrich & Beach, put on quite a show here, offering up plenty of tasty licks, crunchy riffs, and a mix of blues, metal, and hard rock solos. Both of these guys can shred with the best of them, Aldrich coming from the John Sykes style of heavy rock guitar, and Beach more of a Van Halen devotee, yet both have injected a healthy dose of blues into their styles here, which you can hear to full effect on the cranking "A Fool In Love" or the energetic "Got What You Need", which sounds like it could have come off any of the late 70's Whitesnake releases. Drury's organ and synth tones provide a nice backdrop to these melodic songs, and the rhythm section of Duffy & Frazier are rock solid.
Fans of classic albums like Slide It In, Lovehunter, Trouble, and Whitesnake should really warm up to this latest installment in the Whitesnake saga. While there are probably no 'mega hits' included here (although "All I Want, All I Need" has potential), this is a very strong hard rock album filled with memorable songs, passionate vocals, and excellent guitar work. I can easily see these tunes fitting into Whitesnake's live set perfectly, so let's hope David and the boys make it over here to the US again sooner rather than later to put them on display for us.
Welcome back guys!!
Track Listing
1. Best Years
2. Can You Hear The Wind Blow
3. Call On Me
4. All I Want All I Need
5. Good To Be Bad
6. All For Love
7. Summer Rain
8. Lay Down Your Love
9. A Fool In Love
10. Got What You Need
11. `Til The End Of Time
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