Thursday, April 20, 2017

Throwback Thursday: Snakebite, by Whitesnake



Most people when they hear the name Whitesnake instantly think of late 80's big hair and even bigger metal ballads and anthems to make love to. What most people don't realize however is Whitesnake actually got their start long before their huge selling album Whitesnake (1987). In 1978 former Deep Purple singer David Coverdale was trying to launch a solo career, but ended up liking the group of musicians he had so much that they formed a band and called it Whitesnake. It wasn't long before their first release Snakebite was recorded and released.

Snakebite while the length of a full album is really only just an EP because the second side is just select tracks from Coverdale's previous solo album Northwinds. That said, The front side is in my opinion some of the best fun, catchy, good time blues rock you will ever listen to. Snakebite isn't heavy metal in the least. This is straight up Led Zeppelin meets Bad Company meets Little Richard kind of rock n' roll. It's sunshine from start to finish.

Come On is the song that turned me on to Whitesnake in the first place. From the moment that crunchy energizing guitar riff hits your ears, you know that you've found something to crank up and make your day 1,000 times better. It's a mid-tempo tune and has everything a good rock n' roll song needs: melodic catchy vocals, fun lyrics, memorable punchy guitar riffs, blistering guitar solos, and more. I'm honestly shocked that this isn't a classic rock staple.

Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City is a cover tune, but the way they do it is so soulful, powerful, and passionate that in my opinion it far outshines the original by a long shot. It's a sad blues ballad and gives you incredible amounts of melancholic emotion. Coverdale really shines through as a vocalist here. You can hear just how into it he is as well as how much emotion that he truly feels when power housing this song out.

I cannot recommend Snakebite enough. There isn't a single bad track on there. Even the leftover Coverdale solo tracks are still a good listen and worth filling up the second side of the record. These are some songs that really should have gotten a lot more radio airplay than they did. They are as good if not better than the same set of 20 songs that every classic rock song plays on loop forever and ever these days. Then again, no one ever accused radio stations of having good taste, now did they?

Snakebite, by Whitesnake receives 5 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Come On
2. Bloody Mary
3. Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City
4. Steal Away
5. Keep on Giving Me Love
6. Queen of Hearts
7. Only My Soul
8. Breakdown

Buy the album on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Snakebite-Whitesnake/dp/B000VZXCCM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492744500&sr=8-1&keywords=Whitesnake+Snakebite

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