795. Whitesnake / Slip of the Tongue. 1989. 5/5

Want to know how to polarise opinion? Get together with a bunch of Whitesnake fans, and pose the question, "When did the band release their best material, pre-1985 or post 1985?" That's a debate that will get emotional and passionate, divide the room and create a heated discussion. Nothing will be resolved of course, because the majority of people who grew up with the immediate post-Deep Purple era Whitesnake will insist those first albums are far superior to anything that was released later on. I came along just a little later, and took my Whitesnake apprenticeship on albums such as Whitesnake [aka 1987] and Slip of the Tongue. I still think those early albums are great, but for me, Slip of the Tongue is the top of the tree.

After having lived off Whitesnake [aka 1987] for a good 18 months, I was champing at the bit for a new album. John Sykes had gone of course, as had his replacement Vivian Campbell. Then bugger me, Steve Vai gets drafted in! Incredible! With the twin guitars of himself and Adrian Vandenberg, this had to be something special. And then it got even better. Vai had come in because Vandenberg had injured his wrist and was unable to play on the album itself, so Steve was going to play ALL the guitars on the album. Wow. Pinch me. How can this not be a triumph?
I can see why some fans of Whitesnake may not like this album. The early albums, and even the latter day albums with Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach on guitar, all have that very bluesy rock feel about the songs. It was a trademark of the music. Some of that was acid-washed away on 1987, and it has almost completely gone here on this album, no doubt mainly through Steve Vai's influence on guitar. Apparently Vandenberg has stated that he felt Vai's interpretation of the songs was far too 'flamboyant'. To be honest, I believe this is why I love this album so much, because Steve has infused so much energy into these songs with his flairs and flails on his guitar, which may not have been the case if the guitar duties had been shared in the recording process. In fact, trying to fuse together the two halves of these guitarists on the album could well have created more harm than solving any questions.
There is too much to like here in Steve's guitaring. Take the brilliant start and then furious picking on the main riff under the verse to "Wings of the Storm" as just one example. It electrifies the album, lighting it up with a joyful kind of excitement, and along with the brilliant enthusiasm of David's vocals makes this one of the many highlights of the album. I'm not sure this could have been achieved otherwise. Listen to the layered guitar solos playing off against each other in the break, and then the feverish end of the solo with Vai's fingers flying across that fretboard. Stunning and amazing.
The album is a mix of those brilliant fast paced hard rock anthems, the bluesy slower thought pieces, radio friendly love-and-anguish based tracks and the soulful ballad-based lyrical songs that have a slightly harder edge on the guitars and drums. "Fool For Your Lovin'" is another re-recording of the band's songs from a previous album, this one originally from Ready an' Willing. I love both versions, and it's funny how both versions were released as singles. "The Deeper the Love" is very bluesy, and Steve's guitaring throughout is very circumspect in keeping with the mood of the song. "Now You're Gone" is in this mood too, a ballad like song that has that harder edge, making it into more of a rock ballad than a blues ballad, which I prefer and enjoy more because of this. Perhaps the only real disappointment of the album is the penultimate song "Slow Poke Music". While it isn't a bad song as such, its averageness tends to be noticed much more given the two songs it is sandwiched between.
How about that start to the album though? From the get go, Tommy Aldridge pumps those drums, Rudy Sarzo hammers that bass guitar, Steve Vai flies his fingers up and down the neck of his guitar, and David Coverdale takes hold of the microphone and gets those vocal chords vibrating. "Slip of the Tongue" careers out of the speakers and sets the tone for the whole album to come. This is followed by the tongue in cheek "Cheap an' Nasty" which is right up Coverdale's alley in regards to lyric writing. I love Tommy's drumming in this song, breaking out the cowbell and emphasising every beat. Great stuff.
Coverdale's vocals are spectacular in "Judgement Day", driving a punch in that song over the moody rhythm that makes up the basis of the track. While each member has their part in creating the scene of the song, the amazing atmosphere created by the vocals here is magnificent in showcasing his undoubted talent. This song gets lost a little bit in a live setting, but on the studio recording it is almost the star showing of this album. I still get shivers listening to it. To finish it all off comes "Sailing Ships", which builds throughout to an amazing climax with Coverdale again front and centre with an amazing vocal performance and Steve Vai complementing it perfectly.

There is no doubt many will see this as an overblown late-80's hair metal pop-fest with a guitarist on an ego trip and a lead singer in a similar vein. I think those people are only hearing what's on the surface, and not allowing the music to move through them. I am also aware that I have had this album since the first day it was released, and have worn out my vinyl copy, my CD copy, and now my digital copy. It has been ingrained in me since that first day, and it grows with me as I grow older. Any flaws that someone may find with this album I will probably see with rose coloured glasses. And let's face it, isn't that the way you SHOULD approach the music you love? Because it doesn't matter what anyone else says about albums that affect you the way this always has with me, because music speaks differently to everyone. And this for me will always be one of my favourites.

Rating:  I never realised my love could be so blind.  5/5