Whitesnake: Flesh and Blood(2019)

Well, you have to hand it to David Coverdale Folks! I was off the SS. Whitesnake for many a year. Lets for shits n giggles call it the  ‘dEke’s Lost at Sea Snake Years 1990-2017.’

Ok, I’m kinda fibbing as I did pick up some Snake that being the live  Made In Britain release that David put out a while ago along with that one studio album Good To Be Bad. So not completely off the S.S Whitesnake completely. I was lost at sea a few times but would always somewhat return when Cov doled out yet another live album!

The Coverdale Chronicles:2017 -2019!

So I kinda gave up on W.S!  Than David did the right thing back in October of 2017 and released a Deluxe30-year Edition of the 1987 album the one that featured John Sykes demolishing the fretboard all over the album’s tracks! Demos/Live Stuff what a package! A full 21 Gun Salute to David for doing it the right way.

Then, David released the Purple Live(2018) album and kinda lost me again as it didn’t do it for me. It was just another live album. It was ok. Alright well I’m fibbing again I listened to it once or twice and it’s just sitting there on my iPod!

March of this year David once again struck Gold with me when he released a 35 Year Deluxe Edition of Slide It In which I wrote about a few weeks ago and its such a mindblower of a package! It blew me away.

At around the same time back inMarch of this year, David announced a new studio album called Flesh and Blood and went on about it yadda yadda yadda. I ignored that talk as I had zero interest in any new studio material not featuring Sykes!

But then a funny thing happened…

I started reading reviews about this new studio album with Dave and his current crew of Snakes which feature,

• Reb Beach / guitar
• Joel Hoekstra / guitar
• Michael Devin / bass
• Tommy Aldridge / drums
• Michele Luppi / keyboards

So this version of Whitesnake whipped up a batch of tunes as they were putting out a  few tracks before the May 10, 2019, release. To be honest now at this point in my life I do not want to watch any Whitesnake videos unless it’s from 1984! HAHA…yeah man I’m old and cynical!

The Present…

So May 10th came and went and some reviews started popping up on various websites. I prefer to read WordPress reviews as we as fans pay for our music instead of some Yoko who gets it free and can say they love it or hate it. But for some reason, all the reviews I read not on WordPress were very positive.

My reaction was umm…“What the F…”

So I headed off to iTunes and lo and behold there was Flesh and Blood waiting to be clicked and purchased, I checked out the tracklisting…

A bunch of songs….

“Flesh And Blood” Track-Listing:

1.    Good To See You Again
2.    Gonna Be Alright
3.    Shut Up & Kiss Me
4.    Hey You (You Make Me Rock)
5.    Always & Forever
6.    When I Think Of You (Color Me Blue)
7.    Trouble Is Your Middle Name
8.    Flesh & Blood
9.    Well I Never
10.    Heart Of Stone
11.    Get Up
12.    After All
13.    Sands Of Time

That’s not all as the iTunes version was the Deluxe which included.

14. Can’t Do Right For Doing Wrong (Bonus Track – New Studio Song)
15. If I Can’t Have You (Bonus Track – New Studio Song)
16. Gonna Be Alright (X-Tendo Mix) – DVD Audio Track
17. Sands Of Time (Radio Mix) – DVD Audio Track
18. Shut Up And Kiss Me (Video Mix) – DVD Audio Track

Holy Smokes! Basically  15 new songs and 3 radio remixes and what not but let’s go with the fact that there are 15 new songs…

So I clicked and bought it and…

IT’S FRIGGIN PHENOMENAL..

Yeah, I’m not Bullshittin you all, it really is …

David hooked me in line and sinker right off the bat with opener Good To See You Again. As I made my way and since then a few times listening to the sonics of Snake I’m completely blown away and I have to say that so far this is one of the best albums I have heard this year. No skipping of tracks.

I will add I get a huge rise out of Dave’s vocals at time’s as you can hear that exhale inhale style of his voice like he used to sing back in the early ’80s!

The guitar playing of Beach and Hoekstra is done the right way. None of that wackadoodle wang bar jacking off that polluted 1989’s Slip of the Tongue album.

Check out the title track posted below!

Beach especially could have gone to town with that 80’s shredder deal but he refrains plays some wild licks and him and Hoekstra play excellent together. Adding at times flash and dash with a pinch of the wah pedal but not overstaying there welcome at the Guitar Hero Department!

Congrats Fella’s!

Tommy Aldridge as well who is as old as Coverdale lays down some ass-kicking drums with added percussion at times. Not overdoing that Double Bass drum but playing and keeping the hard rock groove going.

The album has speed rockers. Mid-tempo rockers and two interesting tracks that end the album.

After All, is that! A Ballad that features some really slick acoustic guitars along with Aldridge pushing the tempo of the tune. Geez, its a ballad and I kinda dig it!

Sands of Time could have easily fit on that classic Coverdale/Page album from 1993 as it has a zip to it in a Kashmir Zep way! (shhh don’t tell Robbo Plant I said that but if you bump into Robert. Tell him my pal Tbone said it! HAHA)

Seriously though Sands of Time and all of its 6 plus minutes is a fantastic romp through some good old late 70’s early 80’s Whitesnake vibes!

Even the two bonus tracks are wicked! Can’t Do Right For Doing Wrong is Sleazy Blues Snake with some fab guitar work while If I Can’t Have You could have easily squeezed in on Side 2 of the Billion selling 1987 album!

15 TRACKS ALL TOP NOTCH!

So there ya have it! An album I dismissed before giving it any kind of chance ends up being a brilliant piece of work! One that if you are a fan of this band give it a spin…

Put it this way! This is the Whitesnake album that should have been a followup to the 87 album!