An archive release that in many ways pleases all of us with a fetish for albino reptiles, but at the same time should offer some more candy than what’s really in the bag.
Ah, these legendary double live albums! My teen years are lined with a plethora of gatefold sleeve albums packed with inspired live recordings from rock’s greatest. In the seventies and eighties it was more rule than exception that every rock band worth it’s salt should release a double album recorded in a large industrial city, anywhere in Japan, and most preferably at Budokan in Tokyo. Deep Purple’s “Made in Japan” Rainbows “On Stage”, Thin Lizzy’s “Live & Dangerous” Kiss “Alive” and “Alive II” Cheap Trick’s “At Budokan” Kansas “Two for the Show”, Gillan’s “Double Trouble, “” Yessongs “Zeppelin’s” The Song Remains the Same, “Ufo’s” Strangers in the Night “… .The list goes on and on (although not all of these are recorded in Japan …). One of the live albums I listened most to during this time was Whitesnake “Live … In The Heart of the City“, a double album consisting of two concert recordings with the most classic line up of the band, one early show from 1978, and one two years later, when the band started to get really big, in Europe at least. It took until 2006 before the next live document was released, in the form of “Live … In the Shadow of the Blues,” which showcased the new streamlined Whitesnake of the new millenium and where all the hits from the bestseller “Whitesnake” 1987 could be heard in live format on record for the first time. Since then the band has released a few more live albums, however none of wich exibits the same charm and joy that Live … In The Heart of the City “ posessed.
But the new “Live in 1984 Back to the Bone” is, as the name suggests, an archive recording from 1984, when the band was in some kind of skin changing-stage. Of the old beer gutted blues rocking snake with Bernie Marsden and Mickey Moody’s dual guitars were now not much left. The latest album “Slide It In” was the band’s heaviest so far and the lineup at this point included pinup pretty boy and guitar hero John Sykes along with veteran drummer Cozy Powell and a returned Neil Murray. After organ maestro Jon Lord left the band for a reunited Deep Purple, singer and bandleader David Coverdale chose not to replace him with an official member but opted for an anonymous keyboardist hidden behind the scene for the Lord’s pieces.
I’m fairly ambivalent towards “Back to the Bone”. Certainly there is much here to smile about, for instance to hear energetic versions of “Slide It In” –highlights such as Gambler, Guilty of Love, Love Aint No Stranger and Slow and Easy, but also that the arrangements at this time were still fairly organic unlike the recent year’s more metal manic versions . Moreover, it is fascinating to hear how amazing Mr Coverdale sounds. He has a power and warmth in his voice that can make rocks bleed.
But then there are a few things that irks me. Why dual editions of the songs? Of the 13 tracks on the album, we really only get eight songs, several of which are in two versions from different concerts. Completely unnecessary, it seems to me. There were no more recordings? We could not get versions of Slide It In, Aint No Love in the Heart of the City, Here I Go Again, Don’t Break My Heart Again or other big hits who were regularly featured in the set list during this period? The album ends with a medley from Swedish Television’s Måndagsbörsen, which was Jon Lord’s last appearance with Whitesnake. My review copy of the cd only contains audio tracks, but there is supposedly also a DVD version and I suspect that is the one that makes the entire purchase worthwhile. Seeing a 1984 version of Whitesnake in free flight is definitely a sight for the gods. It makes grading of this package a bit difficult too. DVD package is a clear four, (I’ve seen live pictures in worse bootleg quality of the shows featured here and can verify that it really is great stuff) while the music CD with its stingy content gets a 2. Overall, the grade ends in between, which in itself can be seen as a bit tight fisted of me when it comes to value something from my great hero, but in this case I think actually it’s Mr Coverdale who is a bit tight fisted.
WHITESNAKE “Live in 1984- Back to the Bone” = 3/5, Good. Worth the time and money (just).