Monthly Archives: April 2011

Whitesnake – Forevermore [Classic Rock Fan Pack Exclusive Limited Edition] (2011, Classic Rock/Future Publishing)

1. “Steal Your Heart Away” … 5:18
2. “All Out Of Luck” … 5:28
3. “Love Will Set You Free” … 3:52
4. “Easier Said Than Done” … 5:12
5. “Tell Me How” … 4:41
6. “I Need You (Shine A Light)” … 3:49
7. “One Of These Days” … 4:53
8. “Love & Treat Me Right” … 4:14
9. “Dogs In The Street” … 3:48
10. “Fare Thee Well” … 5:18
11. “Whipping Boy Blues” … 5:01
12. “My Evil Ways” … 4:33
13. “Forevermore” …  7:24
BONUS TRACKS
14. “Slide It In (live)” … 5:06
15. “Cheap & Nasty (live)” … 4:35

Band:
David Coverdale – Vocals
Doug Aldrich – Guitar
Reb Beach – Guitar
Michael Devin – Bass
Brian Tichy – Drums

Additional Musicians:
Timothy Drury – Keyboards
Jasper Coverdale – Vocals

Producer: David Coverdale, Doug Aldrich and Michael McIntyre

Always a favorite of mine since the mid-90s, it wasn’t until the last two or three years or so that Whitesnake came to rise to the near top of my list of favorite bands. Of course, KISS is forever and always #1 in my book but David & Co. would be a strong contenders for my Top 3 and definitely make my Top 5. Being a HUGE fan of their last album, Good To Be Bad, I was more than ready for Forevermore to be released.

As often happens in this band, the line-up has changed a bit. Drummer Chris Frazier and bassist Uriah Duffy left the band in 2010 and were replaced Brian Tichy and Michael Devin respectively. Keyboardist Timothy Drury, who had been in the band since Coverdale brought back the Whitesnake name in 2002 also left in 2010 but was around to record the album. In the line notes, he is only credited as a “special guest” and has since been replaced by Brian Ruedy on stage. Though I would love to see Tommy Aldridge come back in on drums (he was a member from ’87-’91 and then ’02-’07), I’m basically happy as long as Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach are on guitars. I think the band has a much beefier guitar sound now with Aldrich and Beach yet they still are able to stay true to the band’s blues-rooted sounds and play the classic ‘snake songs wells.

The Coverdale/Aldrich partnership has proved very fruitful and is definitely one of the best partnerships David has ever had in this band. David has always kept great guitarists in Whitesnake but Aldrich’s time in the band has that something special to it and he has risen to become not only a songwriting partner with Coverdale but also co-producer of this album. I’m sure the day will come when Aldrich moves on to another project, I just hope that doesn’t happen anytime soon.

A bit of info about this particular version: UK’s Classic Rock magazine was offering a “Fan Pack”, also referred to as the “Snake Pack”, which included the album (featuring the alternate cover art you see above) with two bonus live tracks from the upcoming Live at Donington 1990 album, a poster of the band, a Whitesnake “Official Collector’s Pin Badge” and the coup de grace — a special Whitesnake edition of Classic Rock magazine. CR has done similar packages in the past for the release of Slash’s solo disc and Motorhead’s The World Is Yours. I should point out that the various retail editions of this album are available from Frontiers Records.

I haven’t read the magazine yet but I’m pretty anxious to. My favorite magazine putting the spotlight on one of my favorite bands, how could it go wrong? I also want to point out how cool the packaging of the album is. This version of the CD comes in a hardcover case that’s larger than your standard jewel case. Although most of the pages are full of “thanks”, there’s a cool shot of the band and the lyrics to “Forevermore” are included. All in all, it’s a classy package and it’s great to see Whitesnake get this type of treatment.

So what about the music?!? Well, if you’re a fan of Good To Be Bad, then you already like this album. David & Co. continue what they started there– bringing all eras of the band together into one powerful album. If anything, this album brings it back even more to the early Whitesnake days. Tons of the songs sound like pre-pop metal WS… but on steroids. ”Steal Your Heart Away”, “I Need You (Shine A Light)”, “Love & Treat Me Right”, “Whipping Boy Blues” and “My Evil Ways” should put a smile on any fan that’s been listening since the early days.

“Love Will Set You Free”, “All Out Of Luck” and “Tell Me How” are perfect modern Whitesnake and would’ve been right at home on Good To Be Bad. “Dogs In The Street” sounds like a Slip of the Tongue-era rocker, it’s kinda generic but not bad. Probably my least favorite song on the album though. Also bringing to mind Slip of the Tongue is the ballad “Easier Said Than Done”. ”One Of These Days” and “Fare Thee Well” are great acoustic driven ballads that sound like something off Restless Heart. “One Of These Days” especially has a great 1970s classic rock/country feel to it, reminding me of the Eagles. Then there’s the epic closer “Forevermore”. It has that Led Zeppelin vibe to it the band had during the late ’80s and probably wouldn’t be out of place on their 1987 album.

I really can’t recommend this album enough. I knew it was going to be very good but it has exceeded even my own expectations (which is probably why this review has been so long-winded). I LOVED Good To Be Bad but Forevermore is even better and Coverdale sounds as good as ever!

Highlights: “Steal Your Heart Away”, “Love Will Set You Free”, “Tell Me How”, “I Need You (Shine A Light)”, “One Of These Days”, “Love & Treat Me Right”, “Fare Thee Well, “Forevermore”

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Buy Forevermore (CD/DVD) (DIGIPACK) at Amazon.com