Whitesnake
Forevermore

(I pulled out this old review, sketched in November 2011, never completed and never published, and I gave it a bit of a revamp. Enjoy!)

Talking about a new album by Whitesnake, as if it were still 1987 or 1989, may certainly seem a bit surreal, but the truth is right before our eyes now: the great dinosaurs of hard rock, still in enviable shape, are back with a new album that is pure dynamite for any debuting band. David Coverdale reaches the sixty-year milestone with a new album titled Forevermore, his recipe for the apple pie that the master thawed from the '80s. A well-tested band, with a deadly guitar duo like Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach, ready to revive the glory of White Snake's best moments. However, the album doesn't present anything new in terms of sound; it is still that dear hard&heavy tinged with blues that the group has been offering since 1984.

But it also drags along the flaws of the previous Good To Be Bad: a pumped-up production, often over the top, compressed and lacking dynamics, which stifles some tracks like Easier "Said Than Done" and "Tell Me How". The opening track "Steal Your Heart Away" alone is worth all the money spent on the album, a powerful anthem halfway between "Slow An' Easy" and the sound of Lovehunter, heralded by a penetrating and dirty harmonica. Although Coverdale still shows some vocal issues, problems that have plagued him for over thirty years, he still proves (at least in the studio) capable of delivering a gritty heavy blues voice. This is proven by those injections of energy in the form of scorching bravura pieces like "All Out Of Luck" and "Love Will Set You Free", which, despite the title, is perhaps the most streetwise and sleazy track of the entire album. The album also features a vigorous piece that more aligns with classic American rock, "I Need You (Shine A Light)", which, just like "Love Will Set You Free", has a powerful, very radio-friendly chorus. As the first ballad of the album, "Easier Said Than Done" did not make a great impression, decidedly uninspired and at times banal, although easily catchy. To uplift its fortunes, it needed a semi-acoustic track like "One Of These Days", where David's warm voice takes center stage, a piece worthy of the band's great hits like "Is This Love". Instead, it is a perfect mix and pure street hard rock magic in the triad "Love & Treat Me Right/Dogs In The Street/My Evil Ways", where the band fully unleashes all its aggression, with everyone giving their best, alongside sensual melodies and a great taste in arrangements.

It's incredible how a band from the '80s (although born in the late '70s) manages to repeat itself at such fantastic levels. Maybe it's just a coincidence, or maybe not? Either way, the album closes with the title track, an intense masterpiece, divided between the initial acoustic and emotional part and the slightly more energetic part but still loaded with pathos towards the middle, inevitably fading away at the end. A clear and determined proof of a band in excellent health and not at all intending to step aside from the current music scene. Towards infinity and beyond, forevermore indeed!

RATING = 80 / 100