Whitesnake
Slide It In

THE REVIEW

Someone said.... "before Mr. Coverdale's hair turned blond, before the 'Still of The Night' video dominated MTV, before '1987', there was a great English band. They were called Whitesnake."

After the release of "Come An' Get It" (1981) David Coverdale was determined to break into the American market, aiming to replicate the sales success they had achieved in Europe up to that point. When, even after the States tour supporting Jethro Tull, the expected sales increase didn't materialize, Coverdale decided to change the line-up, choosing musicians he deemed more motivated. By the time "Saints & Sinners" (1982) was released, the line-up that recorded it no longer existed, with Murrey, Marsden, and Ian Paice replaced by Colin Hodginkson, Mel Galley (Trapaze), and Cozy Powell, whose backgrounds allowed the band to maintain a strong connection with the '70s hard rock tradition. Together they triumphed after a grueling tour at the Monsters of Rock in Donington in 1983.

At this point, the studio test was what was missing, and it arrived promptly the following year with the album titled "Slide It In." With this album, David Coverdale finally realized the dream of breaking Whitesnake into the American market; the album presents a melodic hard rock, tending towards radio-friendly, which gradually begins to abandon the bluesy notes, a dominant feature in the early Whitesnake. Mel Galley aptly replaces Marsden, writing powerful riffs and radio-friendly tracks, while Cozy Powell's powerful and elegant drumming perfectly complements the band's new songwriting style.

The work in question features many notable tracks, starting with the opener "Gambler," a hard rock track that in some ways foreshadows the sound of "1987." The title track has a square, overwhelming riff, which unleashes its best live, becoming an important piece for Coverdale in the recent reunion tours. "Love Ain't No Stranger" begins as a sweet ballad with a radio-friendly appeal, changing its skin after less than a minute into a classic of the white snake, a legendary track where Coverdale manages to combine melody and power, creating a unique mix, a trademark in the years to come. "Slow An' Easy" is the track I'm most attached to: groove, Rock, blues, sex, sweat, blood, this is what comes out of the notes of "Slow An Easy." Heart-stopping. "All or Nothing" is perhaps the hardest track of the lot, where after a typically hard verse, Coverdale sharply veers towards a chorus with AOR impact, somewhat overshadowed in the rest of the album. In this track, you finally hear a prominent Jon Lord, who is also destined to leave the band for the Deep Purple reunion happening in the same year of "Slide It In"'s release. The album includes two other great songs: the anthemic "Guilty Of Love" and the Americanized "Standin' In The Shadow".

We are still a long way from the sound of "1987," but "Slide It In" is the album that bridges old Whitesnake to what they will become, it is an hybrid that, perhaps in hindsight, can satisfy all fans of the white snake.

P.S. There are two versions of the album: one with Micky Moody's guitar parts, and one, originally released on Picture Disc, with John Sykes replacing the departing historic band member's guitar.