Whitesnake/David Coverdale album by album (Deep Purple & Coverdale/Page)

Hmm, you don't agree?

Playing small to medium clubs & relying on word of mouth.
Maybe an occasional opening gig in an arena like before.

 

I though the box set was pretty good when it came out but now it feels a little lacking compared to the Slide and Slip boxes. I would have thought there would be more (and better) live audio and video from this time.

 

Of course I do! I just love the comparison. Saxon means nothing in the US so it was perfect... and funny (as I find Saxon hilarious).

 

Except for when an entire subgenre was based on image married with vapid songwriting and production.

 

Not right. Saxon never sold bupkis in the USA and Slide It In was gold well prior to WS87 coming out. It did eventually push Slide It In to platinum as a result (and double by 92) but they were doing just fine based on the US remix of Slide It In and in particular the great video for Love Ain’t No Stranger.

 

Anyone else think that when Coverdale uses snake analogies in interviews like “we’re waiting for it to strike” etc he’s channeling 1966 Catwoman?

 

Speaking of players on the album, what is the deal with Aynsley Dunbar? I feel like this was his last "major" release. His resume up to this point is almost unbelievable -- truly one of the few drummers who has played on a whole list of iconic albums, and has been a member of major acts. But then after this, where was credited but didn't benefit from being a real member of the band, we hardly heard from him again. I know he played with Journey for their RRHOF induction, but that was decades after this album. Anyone know what he'd been up to all those years? If memories serves, he might have done a stint in clubs with Eric Burden -- but that doesn't seem to jell with his history prior to '87...

 

Aynsley Dunbar played literally every genre of popular music of the last 60 years! His discography list is breathtaking! He began his career almost the same time with Ringo Starr and Charlie Watts.... from Merseybeat to Heavy Metal....unbelievable!!
He's also known for Warning track, co-written by him for his Ansley Dunbar Retaliation band and covered by Black Sabbath

 

He played on a couple of UFO albums - 'Covenant' (2000) and 'Sharks' (2002).

 

I saw him play with Micky Moody and Eric Burdon at the Hampton Beach Casino back in the late 90's.

 

I love the 1989 Blue Murder album. It's pretty much the only album from that era that I still listen to regularly. I think the Sykes/Franklin/Appice lineup had so much potential, it's a shame they couldn't continue it at all, even if it was a latter-day reunion or something. The second BM album didn't do much for me. I still give it a spin every now and then to see if anything clicks for me but it always just seems kind of generic.

 

Yeah the second one sounds somewhat like a contractual obligation. We All Fall Down being the obvious standout.

And it has a song title that is totally inappropriate and got swiftly renamed in my iTunes.

Edit : ok that was on the first album. The second one has the similarly titled Love Child so I confused them.

 

LOL, it does make sense that Love Child comes after Sex Child. It's always interesting to look at 80's hard rock / metal lyrics through a current day lens. To say they don't come across well is probably sugar-coating it.

 

What's hilarious about Saxon?

 

I actually was confusing them with Manowar. Nevermind!

 

I loved Saxon personally - the first few albums anyway. Dallas 1PM is a hard rock symphony to these ears - just check out how those 3 different riffs interweave below - magical.

Even Saxon knew that change was in the air by 1983 or so. They made some unforced errors, never broke the States, cocked up their live album (should have been a double, shouldn't have omitted key tracks, should maybe have considered the kind of studio clean-up others got away with) and slowly drifted off to irrelevance. A huge shame when Iron Maiden showed it could be done.

 

Wonderful track and the 1980 recording(2009 remaster on Tidal) sounds excellent, deserves to be cranked up
!

 

It's glorious isn't it. Everything you want in a hard rock song. Saxon did about 10 tracks that are just about perfect. They married dumb crunching riffs with Marsden-like solos (see above) and a great logo too!

 

Slide It In : As much as I love (and prefer) the earlier albums, the "classic" Whitesnake had gone as far as it would go. Slide It In represents a rebirth, nudging the door open for the long-awaited breakthrough in America.

1987: The transformation that began on Slide It In was now complete. Whitesnake had updated its sound and as a result, was now enjoying healthy record sales in America. In retrospect, the production dates the music a bit but "Here I Go Again" and "Crying In The Rain" sound more dynamic and vibrant here than in their original versions.

 

That singer is terrible though.

 

VIVIAN CAMPBELL LEAVES....
After the last USA leg ended in mid-Aug, the band took a break before reconvening to start working on the follow-up to Whitesnake's massive success. Whitesnake would log 76 weeks on the charts. When it left the Billboard 200 it was at 5x platinum. It would go onto 8x Platinum with it's last certification in 1995. Slide It In which was certified Gold in 1986 would get to 2x Platinum by the 1992. Geffen was chomping at the bit to get an album out sometime in 1989 so within a few weeks the band needed to start arranging the songs. Coverdale and Vandenberg worked on some material out on the road and once the band, including Campbell, got together Campbell soon realized it was a "closed shop." Vivian worked Dio on material but this situation was different. Coverdale only wanted to work with Adrian on the songs. Campbell who was also dealing with some personal issues at the time quickly got frustrated and within a couple weeks he would be out of the band due to his attitude and frustration. It was decided Adrian would handle all the guitar duties on the album. Unfortunately that wasn't to be...

Here is Vivian taking about leaving Whitesnake (and Dio) and then Adrian's take.


(836) Whitesnake: Adrian Vandenberg on Why David Coverdale Fired Vivian Campbell After 1987 Album/Tour - YouTube

Vivian Campbell would obviously go on to have a great career as he is super-talented and obviously matured from his less then amicable departures with Dio and Whitesnake. Campbell would start off rocky with a band he was involved in called the Riverdogs. They got a deal with Sony but the album bombed. I can't really describe what direction they were going for. Maybe you can figure it out!?
(836) Riverdogs - Toy Soldier - YouTube

After that he has found a home with Def Leppard where he has been since 1992.
(836) Vivian Campbell joins def leppard - YouTube

He has done some solo projects as well as Last In Line with his old Dio band members. It was cool seeing him play those old songs again after 30 plus years. Last in Line is still going on despite Jimmy Bain passing away a few years ago. He does this on the side when Def Leppard is not active.
(836) Last in Line - Rainbow in the Dark - YouTube

Vivian and David have mended fences as they tour together frequently with Def Leppard. Here he is in 2015 with the band...
(836) Whitesnake Still Of The Night - YouTube

 

WHITESNAKE MARK XI MEMBERS
March 1989-Sep 1990
David Coverdale- vocals
Adrian Vandenberg- guitar
Steve Vai- guitar
Rudy Sarzo- bass
Tommy Aldridge- drums

Pre-production for the album started and Adrian started having problems with his wrists. Rudy recalled him and Adrian going into a store and Adrian buying a book about isometric exercises for the guitar. One of the exercise was to do a whiplash motion with your wrists which caused tendonitis. The more Adrian played in the studio the worse it got. He was supposed to heal with a few weeks but he needed more time. David had no choice to recruit a second guitar player due to pressure to deliver the album on-time. Coverdale had his eye on Steve Vai but was only familiar with his work in the Crossroads movie.
Steve Vai started working with Frank Zappa in the early 80's and moving over to Alcatrazz (replacing Yngwie Malmsteen). He released a solo album around the same time and in 1985 got the call to join David Lee Roth's solo band. After Skyscraper tour, Roth put the band on ice for a bit so Steve left not really happy with the direction the band was going in anyways. While working on his second album, Passion and Warfare, he met Coverdale and they hit it off. He figured joining Whitesnake would be a very high profile position and would be good promotion for his impending album. Vai would go into the studio adding guitar on the already written and arranged tracks on the album...

Vai with Zappa


Vai with Alcatrazz
(836) Alcatrazz - God Blessed Video (1985) - YouTube

Vai with DLR
(836) David Lee Roth * Steve Vai-Just Like Paradise - YouTube

Vai in Crossroads
(836) Steve Vai vs Ralph Macchio Epic Guitar Battle - YouTube

Vai - Passion and Warfare single
(836) Steve Vai - The Audience Is Listening - YouTube

 

I always think it is strange that DC would pick a guitar player for the album based only on a movie soundtrack he did.

Also every time I see pics of the band from this era, I have to remind myself that is Rudy Sarzo...

 

The evidence would tend to suggest he was picking them on the basis of their mastery of hair styling and ability to smoulder in pleather at this point.

 

Funny?
I guess until you hear them play…incredible musicians.