WHITESNAKE - FOREVERMORE

Whitesnake

Forevermore

Frontiers Records - 2011

http://www.whitesnake.com

NOTES: This review is of the CD version of the release. There is a CD/DVD version which includes 3 alternate mixes of songs on the 1st disc. The DVD has a track by track take on the CD, the music video for "Love Will Set You Free" and making of documentaries on the video and the album. But to be perfectly honest, I didn't want to spend the additional 8 bucks for that.

Musically speaking, the album is one sure fire rock and roll extravaganza. The band is in fine form, most particularly the twin guitar combo of Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach. They both absolutely shred on this disc. With the exception of a couple of slower tempo songs that are seemingly requisite on any rock disc for the past 25 years, you want a rock and roll record to, ahem, ROCK. And you will find that seeming to follow formula or not, Forevermore does indeed rock.

Have a party with your rock friends and they will not be disappointed with the soundtrack of this album. There is riffage galore here.

Fairly or not, the majority of Whitesnake lyrics will be stereotyped (generally for good reason) in one of three categories:

1. I used to love you.

2. I love you.

3. I REALLY want to "love" you. (substitute your own for letter word for the quoted word).

This doesn't bother me in the least because I'm not looking for the wheel to be reinvented, lyrically speaking. David Coverdale can get away with a song like "Dogs In The Street" because he does it both tongue in cheek AND with a seriousness that belies the double entrendres. In short, he makes it work because he can sell it so well.

But then you have examples where he can make you pause and reflect. The song "Fare Thee Well" is a goodbye song that if it had been sequenced as the final song on the disc would make you wonder if Coverdale himself was about to call it a day:

"I'm on my way

I'm going home

My bags are packed

and I'm ready to roll...

I'm going home

Don't you cry

Let's have a drink

Before we say goodbye..."

He can also turn a phrase like few can. In "My Evil Ways" he sings:

"I was born my Mother's son

Since I could crawl I been having fun...

Now I've been poor

& I've been rich

But, I've always been a son of a bitch"

Now the elephant in the room has been the stupendous reviews this album has been receiving and the stated disappointment, at least here on the Classic Rock Bottom forum, with the sound of Coverdale's vocals.

Let's acknowledge that his vocals are drastically different. He simply doesn't sound like the David Coverdale of the 1987 Whitesnake CD that launched him into megastardom. In the interest of fairness however, let's acknowledge also that this isn't 1987 anymore. Coverdale is 60 years old. And the last time I checked if you throw in vocal issues and the loss of vocal elasticity from age, you are not going to sound the same as you did 24 years ago.

How did he compensate? Well, if you notice the vocals are not quite as up front in the mix as they used to be. In the opening cut "Steal Your Heart Away" there was a couple times the music overwhelmed the singing. He also does a lot more of attacking the vocals to match the fast charging pace of the songs themselves. He also doesn't try to pretend to be what he isn't anymore. The long winding howls of the arena rock days are not quite as in evidence as they once were. And in the cases of a song like "Fare Thee Well", I thought the raspier sound to his voice gave more weight to the song.

Rockers like "Tell Me How", "Love & Treat Me Right" and "I Need You (Shine A Light)" will kick you square in the butt. They are songs I think stand up against the band's past material quite well. It may not be the Whitesnake you are used to, but that doesn't mean it isn't a really solid album that they have delivered.

Whitesnake started off as a blues rock spinoff of Deep Purple, rocked arena's in the 1980's with glitz, glam and a ton of hairspray and now they are rock and roll survivors delivering quality material in a time when no one seemingly expects them to do anything other than go away.

Whitesnake...Forevermore...indeed!

GRADE: A MINUS

The full track listing is:

01. Steal Your Heart Away

02. All Out of Luck

03. Love Will Set You Free

04. Easier Said Than Done

05. Tell Me How

06. I Need You (Shine A Light)

07. One Of These Days

08. Love & Treat Me Right

09. Dogs In The Street