The Lowdown….The Record label finally gets it right…apparently at Mr Coverdale's insistence.

There are two types of Whitesnake fan. The pre-"1987" fan---usually in HIS (not her) mid-to-late 30's, slightly over-weight and still wondering when Mr Moody and Mr Marsden are coming back (What's your point?-Kellz). Then there's the post-"1987" fan--- usually looking slightly past HER (not his) best and wondering whatever happened to that band with the nice lead singer who spoke a bit posh in interviews.

Slightly sexist I know, but as a wise man once said," What's wrong with being sexy?"
Anyway, I digress, the fact is this…the fan of the pre-"1987" days has been ill-served by the Whitesnake record label over the years. Anything relating to a retrospective has simply refused to admit the existence of a band before the massive success that they enjoyed in the mid-80's.It has been a chore to listen to the glossy and lets face it, lesser tunes that Mr Coverdale has been handing us for a few compos. Everything on the "Best of "front has concentrated on the, if you will, hairspray days!...Until now!

Finally we have an album that has everything that an old (-ish) rocker would demand from a Whitesnake Retro. We have the blues of the early days…the cock rock of the money years…the fine Coverdale-Page album...the mis-judgement of the "Restless Heart" album and the return to form of "Into the Light'" solo glory. (Ahem!)

We start with" Fool for your Loving"…the original version and it's as good as you remember it. It's superb. And as the man says…the hits just keep on coming. Look at this.."Don't break my heart Again""Love ain't a Stranger""Slow an' Easy "the mighty "Blindman", and the epic and unexpected"'Till the day I die" from "Come and get it." Whitesnake were truly flying when you listen to this stuff..a great band, and Coverdale continuously found a sparring partner, whether it was Bernie Marsden , Mel Galley or John Sykes, who could push him and get the best out of him. Ably supported by the likes of Ian Paice, Jon Lord , Cozy Powell and Neil Murray, the band rarely disappointed in those early years, but something had to give. They were making no money were it mattered..America.

The Whitesnake story has been told often. I'll not bore you with it now. The upshot of the whole thing was that "1987" sold by the shedload.This wasn't harmed by a new line-up, even more suited (as if it were possible) to the MTV -era than Jon Lord's huge moustache. And of course, Dave's wife in the accompanying videos. Here we've been blessed with the hits of the day…some of you may still enjoy them, I personally do not." Still of the Night" still hits home as a tune but" Give me all your love" is poor and "Is this Love" is worse. They haven't aged as well as their writer has. The follow-up to this was the truly painful" Slip of the Tongue" where fans of the band had to endure an hour or so of Steve Vai screeching his way through some tunes that Motley Crue would have thrown away. Anyway we get the one good'un here and it's a "Kashmir" rip-off.."Judgement Day". Fair enough.

We then get the pick of the mighty "Coverdale/Page" album….and excellent the tunes are as well.We are cursed with some tunes from the risible "Restless Heart" album…a horrible mistake. Finally there are excerpts from the solo album "Into the light". This album was a much better stab at "Rock'n'Roll" music, which is all Coverdale has ever given us…in whatever guise it's appeared as…..

All in all then, a fine compilation. There's no doubting the quality of Coverdale's pipes. They have remained in fine nick. The songs are always good. Sometimes superb.Whitesnake were a super band…….at times magestic, at times god-awful. What else do you want from yer Rock'n'Roll stars……………….?

Contact Dixie with any comments at dixiedixie69@hotmail.com

Read our review of Whitesnake's recent stonking gig in Dublin