Whitesnake - S/T album & cd opinions

Both the self-titled "Whitesnake" Geffen US and "1987" EMI UK are digitally identical, except for the two extra tracks on the English version.

 

You know John Kalodner has a lot to answer for-there are only a handful of CDs where he has been involved in my collection and I have to say that they all stink. Did he single handedly begin this Loudness War on his own. Apart from Whitesnake -Get a Grip Aerosmith is appalling, as is Coverdale Page.

The only version I prefer over the UK version is Slide it In, which in the UK had terrible flat Cozy Powell drumming. I don't know why it sounded so amatuerish..it was really that bad. But Geffen refused to issue it and sent them back to the studion with some new musicains to try again. At least with the US version they polished a tune

 

Well I bought the vinyl when it came out and remember it being one of the worst sounding LPs in my collection - it sounded just ...wrong ...no dynamics at all - YMMV of course

 

Just bought a US original mint press of the 87' Lp for $2 and it sounds fantastic.

 

Actually, I have both. The UK is less bright, and you get two extra songs, and the correct track order. The best sounding version, bar none.

 

Ralph did you ever find a UK?, I found a US 1987 Geffen at the thrift a few days ago, doing a transfer of it right now, It is a DMM press, Stephen Marcussen, I'm listening on crappy headphones but it sounds like the typical mid to late 80's sound- Outfield-Bangin, Ratt-Reach For The Sky, Bad Company-Dangerous Age lp's I have

 

"terrible flat Cozy Powell drumming"!!! You are kidding, right? Cozy`s playing on that album is superb. The only overdubs were the lead guitar parts redone by John Sykes. Jon Lord`s keyboards were brought down in the mix when the entire album was remixed for the US. Other than that they are the same performances afaik.

 

No, not kidding. I was talking about the mix and poor drum sound, not the performance. (specifically on the original UK mix)

 

Ah! I thought it was a slight against poor old Cozy

 

I need to re-listen to Slide It In. I only had heard the US mix but was unaware of the two versions going around. So when I bought the CD, it was the UK version, and the added turbo boost was missing, so it seemed pale in comparsion. Took a while but I finally got the US mix on CD as I needed it as it was too strange going retro back to the original recording.

 

Funny this thread should pop back up. I recently acquired an early pressing of the U.S. Geffen cd at a garage sale for $1. Those of you who have seen my comments in other Whitesnake threads will know I was not a fan of this album. I bought it on cassette the day it came out and tried to like it, but. . .

So I hadn't heard the album since around 1989. Looking at the tracklisting, I had no recollection of most of the songs. Having now played it through a couple of times, I have to say it's even worse than I remembered. Just awful, but I guess I'm glad Coverdale got his payday I used to think the remake of "Here I Go Again" was an improvement, but I hereby withdraw that opinion. There are only two tracks here I would ever want to hear again.

And to the point of this thread, this is one weird sounding cd. It's been a couple of weeks now since I listened, so I want to have a fresh listen before I attempt a more detailed description of the sound, but booming bass definitely applies. Even by 80's standards something seems very off about the sound.

 

Let's not forget the "Here I Go Again" 45rpm radio version that was never actually played on the radio.