Thunderous, blistering, epic…just some of the words I would use to describe the surprise of the year – Whitesnake’s “Good To Be Bad,” their tenth studio album and first CD since 1989’s “Slip of the Tongue” (not counting the David Coverdale more or less solo outings).
Whitesnake is back with a vengeance, mercilessly strangling the life out of the competition. “Good To Be Bad” exceeded my expectations (admittedly, though, they were not that high to begin with as I was never the biggest fan of any band having ‘white’ or ‘snake’ in its name). In contrast to Def Leppard’s paltry 40 minute release, Whitesnake delivers lots more music for your dollar, and even includes a second CD of 7 live tracks and one video. Now with Reb Beach (Winger) contributing on guitars, Whitesnake has vastly modernized their sound, but remain unmistakably Whitesnake because of the distinctive howl of David Coverdale.
Coverdale and company sound better than ever, although his vocals do show some roughness around the edges in his lower register during the ballads – sung like he’s just eaten a bowl of gravel. But Lord the man can still wail in the finest Robert Plant tradition. And musically, Whitesnake still manage quite transparent odes to their Led Zeppelin idol (e.g. hear any “Black Dog” barking in “Lay Down Your Love”?), and even themselves (e.g. hear “Still of the Night” in that same song)? But Whitesnake also goes back to their more bluesy roots for several tracks on this new release, proving they can mix it up a bit (especially “A Fool in Love”, with outstanding results). The two catchiest songs are “Best Years“ and the title track. "Summer Rain" is a superb acoustic-driven power ballad, and is like an eye of the storm during this hurricane of a CD. “All I Want - All I Need” tries hard to be the next generation “Is This Love” – and comes damn close.
My only complaint is that many of the songs are overly long, taking us well into 6 minutes. No matter how good the hook, hearing it drag on for more than 5 minutes makes you want to hit fast forward and get on with it already. I’d rather have 2-3 more tracks than these opuses.
This release does not surpass the glory days of “Slide It In” or “Whitesnake (1987)”, but is a blazing hot, rocking CD that will receive plenty of spins in my house.
Man...new Def Leppard and Whitesnake releases back to back...I’m lovin’ life! All we need now is Guns ‘N’ Roses and I’ll feel like I am back at the beach during senior week for high school.
Whitesnake: Official site.
iPOD-worthy: 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9
Isn’t it a coincidence that so many new hairband releases would rear their heads during my hugely popular and award-winning investigation into “where have all the hairbands gone”? Here is a tally so far and whether or not the artist is still viable (in no particular order). Let's hear your opinions!
Scorpions – YES
Whitesnake – YES
Slaughter – NO
Mr. Big – SO-SO
Winger - NO
Kip – NO
Reb Beach – YES
Company of Wolves (Kyf Brewer) – YES
Def Leppard – SO-SO
Tyketto (Danny Vaughn) – YES
Extreme
Nuno - YES
Gary Cherone - NO
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