SONIC WAVES….Whitesnake/Slide It In

Who here by a show of hands has heard Slide It In the song?? Hahahaha…we all have but let me tell ya now in 2014 you  can snicker,hoot and howl but back in 84 this was a classic piece of hard Blues Rock and I’m gonna tell ya all about it!

Some background history with this release this is the album that got the Snake a foothold in North America. Gone is Bernie Marsden,Gone is Micky Moody,Gone is Mel Galley(r.i.p)Gone are both Jon Lord(r.i.p) and Ian Paice back to the reunited Deep Purple,returning is Neil Murray on bass and say hello to hot shot new guitar dude John Sykes,he of later day Thin Lizzy fame! And the great Cozy Powell on drums(r.i.p)Got it?

As you can see form the vid above this is the band with Lord( who went back to Purple shortly after this show)) playing Gambler in a hotel bar in Sweden?? These guys kick ass and from all accounts The Snakes blew off headliners Quiet Riot on there North American tour nightly.

So the deal is this, Cov I guess recorded a British version with a different mix for the faithfull diehards but in North America more specifically my house we got the North American remix but at the time I did not know this bit of tiny info but now 30 years later we may just get some debate going on this subject! In the European Version Corner we have Scottish blogger HMO and representing the North American side is Captain Canuck,Mr Ladano. Gentlemen let it rip in print !! Seriously,though these tunes especially the first three songs received a ton of vid play and still do!

But with me as always its the other songs like the vid for Gambler that I really dug and hey this my blog so enjoy the video..Hahahaha ….my rules!

Lets check on Coverdale before he bought fast cars and had that crazy ol wing nut slipping and sliding on the hood of his car 3 years later In 1987!

SLIDE IT IN- some neat guitar and bam Cozys drums kick in and man Cozy kicks ass and drives the Coverdale ship into tough seas on this and hey these lyrics have 1980s written all over em! But at the time I’m like who cares “I’m gonna slide it in right to the top! Slide it in I ain’t ever gonna stop,” seriously does it get any better than this? Cool solo now it could be Sykes,or is it Mel Galley or is it Bernie Marsden? I guess the story goes is Sykes is on the North American release as the others by this time were booted. Who the hell knows but I dig it!

SLOW AN EASY- some sleazy old school slide guitar starts off with Cov crooning and gasping for air and Cozy slams into heavy action on the drums …da da bam..dada bam..you know what I’m talking about you’ve heard this song a million times! Cool solo once again and the Snake has totally stepped up in to the big leagues with this album! 2 tracks in a were already into sleazeyville with  Mr Coverdale and his cronies!

LOVE AINT NO STRANGER- Jon Lord opens the song with his magical keys and he’s joined by Coverdale and Sykes and boom here comes Cozy kicking the song from becoming a sap ass power ballad and giving me hope and well that’s three songs in and three songs with Cozy Kickin ass! Coverdale could have used Cozy on those sappy tracks like Now Your Gone on the Slip Of The Tongue record but than again Cozy would have probably puked in his bass drum at the thought!

ALL OR NOTHING – this is a slammer of a hammer tune! Basically it’s Coverdale and his Snakes picking up a crowbar and crackin ya in the noggin and telling ya to listen up! You know the trick. Coverdale says ‘your gonna burn’ and bam were into a Jon Lord big ass sounding Hammond B3 rip snortin solo! Along with Cozy and Sykes driving the song! F’n Bravo !

GAMBLER- Shit I just love this tune and this was the tour opener for the Slide It In Tour if your keeping score! Great time changes,great solo and love the lyrics on this. It’s a tune about standing on the outside lookin at love! Ramblin,Gamblin Man Ol Coverdale was….

GUILTY OF LOVE – is the Whitesnake Xpress headed for destruction at break neck speed! You want a fast bluesy rocker. We’ll sign yourself up man and hop aboard the bus! Great synch of the keys and guitars and Coverdale gives it all on the pipes while Cozy slams those Yamaha drums into submission!

HUNGRY FOR LOVE- basically this tune is the Whitesnake Xpress slowing down due to construction ahead and it’s a different kind of groove! Love the drum mix on this record by Martin Birch! Man I miss those 1984 sounding records! But Hungry For Love  is just that! Cool I don’t need a University education to figure this stuff out! Thanks Dave!

GIVE ME MORE TIME- this track and the next two after this  are solid tunes as well and man I just love how the album doesn’t let up with this hard rock blues vibe! The Snakes say you can show different aspects of your sound and people will be cool with it like me! Neat guitar solo and solid drums,keys a great track!

SPIT IT OUT- If you don’t like it sez the Cov! Hahaha,30 years later yeah man the lyrics are corney but who the hell cares! I don’t! Back in 84 is no different than 2014 except that I’m balding/I’m broke/ I have a mortgage/ I have bills to pay .Cool catchy chorus even after all these years and Sykes/Murray and Powell drive the song! Hey u wanna be the cool guy whose pushing 50 at your next staff Christmas party! Throw on Spit It Out! Go ahead do it! ( and yeah invite me will ya!)

STANDING IN THE SHADOWS- so we go from Spitting it Out to Standing In The Shadows. This is a great song to end a great record. Cool backing vocals push the tune into super catchy status and I remember back when I received this album from parents at Xmas time 1984 that how it was awesome when bands ended albums on high notes! This is one of em!

IN CONCLUSION- don’t do it man,don’t laugh but this album is a scorcher from start to finish! David Coverdale,John Sykes,Jon Lord,Neil Murray and Cozy Powell made a super deadly slab of vinyl which I really wish i woulda kept cuz the cover of the vinyl did not feature any writing just the girl and the snake slithering down her (ahem) chest! This album is my fav all time Snake album. Also of note the touring unit of this album Powell/Sykes/Murray and Coverdale is my fav…….Next