Whitesnake – ‘Flesh & Blood’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Frontiers Records/Hard Rock
It has been a rough few years for Whitesnake, multiple tours with those who attended being shocked at the state of David Coverdale’s once golden larynx coupled with accusations of lip synching and backing tapes. Ultimately, this led to expectations being relatively low when Whitesnake announced that a new album ‘Flesh & Blood’ was imminent.
These low expectations played perfectly into the hands of Whitesnake as ‘Flesh & Blood’ managed to blindside the world of rock. For anyone expecting another ‘Forevermore’, an album packed with ballads and sickly-sweet lyrics will be shocked, Coverdale has once again found his voice with ‘Shut Up And Kiss Me’ managing to combine rip-roaring blues rock with double entendre lyrics. These lyrics are as always, amusingly tongue in cheek as Whitesnake manage to poke fun at their older selves through a multi-platinum self-titled 1987 haze. Tracks such as the stomping ‘Trouble Is Your Middle Name’, the smouldering ‘Heart Of Stone’ and the almost Thin Lizzy dual guitar workout of ‘Always & Forever’ all have the touch of Whitesnake in their prime. ‘Flesh & Blood’ may have all out rockers, but it would not be a ‘snake album without huge, stadium style singalong choruses and ‘Flesh & Blood’ has these to boot, ‘Well I Never’, ‘Hey You (You Make Me Rock)’ and the title track are all juxtaposed by the beautiful ballad ‘Sands Of Time’. However, there are some forgettable songs here, but guitarists Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra do their best to counter this by providing a near perfect blend between the classic Marsden and Moody sound with the big late 80’s Sykes sound.
‘Flesh & Blood’ has all the swagger of Whitesnake in their prime and stands head and shoulders over ‘Forevermore’. In fact, this album may just be the best thing Whitesnake have released since their 1987 self-titled album.
Rating : 81/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
