1225. Whitesnake / Trouble. 1978. 3/5

By 1976, Deep Purple had finally collapsed in on itself and ceased to exist after ten years of amazing albums and several personnel changes. One of those had been lead vocalist David Coverdale, who had presided over the final three albums the band had released. Following their demise, Coverdale went out and immediately got to work on his own solo work, releasing his first solo album titled “White Snake” in 1977, and then “Northwinds” in early 1978. In an effort to distance himself from the hard rock sound that had been synonymous with Deep Purple, his solo work combined elements of blues, soul and funk to give it a different sound, and also characteristics that suited his vocals well. Long term friend, guitarist Micky Moody, had played on both albums, and when Coverdale started to assemble a backing band for his project he was the first to join. It was Moody who suggested the group needed a second guitarist, and through this they found Bernie Marsden who had started out as a member of UFO. Marsden then facilitated the recruitment of bass guitarist Neil Murray as they had recently played in another band together. Drummer Dave Doyle and keyboardist Pete Solley also came in to round out the initial group, which at the time was dubbed David Coverdale’s Whitesnake. Coverdale had not wanted his name attached to the band’s name, but record company interest was only fanned if it could be promoted in such a way.
The band were offered the chance to record for EMI, but only an EP rather than a full album. The four track was released in June 1978 (which included a cover of the song “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” which became an unofficial fan anthem of the band) and the reaction was so positive that Whitesnake was offered the chance to record their full length debut soon after.
During this recording, keyboardist Pete Solley’s contributions were re-recorded by a man who had been chased and coaxed for some time by Coverdale to join the band. After much back and forth, his former Deep Purple bandmate Jon Lord agreed to come on board and provide his ample talents to the band. Thus came together the first outing for the band Whitesnake, and the debut album titled “Trouble”.

“Take Me With You” is a jaunty opening number, with a great bassline that is the mainstay throughout. It is a real rollicking rock song with a bluesy underbase, and immediately sets itself apart from what Coverdale’s previous band had been producing. This then moves into Coverdale’s slower paced “Love to Keep You Warm”, dominated by his smooth vocals and the more soul and funk sound that had come from his solo albums. These two tracks typified the direction of the music that this album brought to the table, and where the band would go over the next couple of albums as well. This is followed by “Lie Down (A Modern Love Song)” that is dominated by Jon Lord’s piano, an upbeat song that is a great counterpoint to the genre, with Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden combining perfectly to draw attention in the middle of the song, and finishing off in style.
It’s a brave move at any stage by any band to take on covering a Beatles song, and this is no different. “Day Tripper” is the one that gets the Whitesnake treatment here, and on first impressions you feel as though it doesn’t work. The energy and great vibe of the track is extricated on this version and replaced with a staccato and bluesier version of the original. Once you get used to it (after several dozen listens to be honest) it comes across better, but compared to the other tracks on the album it is a little out of place musically. “Nighthawk (Vampire Blues)” lifts the action again, with a great blues playoff between Marsden and Lord on guitar and keys respectively, and a rollicking pace throughout as Coverdale’s vocals play great games in a fun atmosphere.
“The Time is Right for Love” is a familiar tune and theme to any Whitesnake fan with a great drum beat setting the scene from David Dowle and super rumbling bass line again from the amazing Neil Murray that is the base of the song again. The secret to the enjoyment of this track is the tempo it is played at. It would have been destroyed if it was a slower paced ballad, but here as the excellently written up-tempo blues-based track, it is a beauty. On the other side of the coin, the title track “Trouble” IS that midtempo track, slowed back from the previous song, and with Coverdale crooning rather than belting, and the rest of the band dialling everything back. Another example of the two sides of Whitesnake on this, and to be honest, most of their albums.
“Belgian Tom’s Hat Trick” is a terrific instrumental where everyone has their moment, but it is the trade off between Marsden and Moody again that is the star of the show. Once again the faster tempo of the track is what brings it all to life, and as per usual whenever Jon Lord’s keyboards come to the fore it is a fun and frantic time. “Free Flight” finds that mid tempo again, before the closing track “Don’t Mess With Me” moves forward again and finishes the album on a high note.
The album tends to mix up the tempo of the songs throughout, which perhaps could have been altered slightly in order to keep the energy up in different spots, but the overall flow of the album is excellent still to this day.

Being in high school through the mid-1980's, it probably isn’t hard for you to believe that my first initiation to Whitesnake was their multi-million selling album ‘1987’, or self-titled, whichever way you know it to be called. That album is still such a massive part of my life and is so tied to that time of my life it is a difficult thing to get past. The other part of that is that ‘1987’ is such a different album musically than the band’s first albums were, but I didn’t discover that for a few years down the track, when I began to go back and find the albums of bands that I loved that I just hadn’t discovered. So you can probably imagine just how I felt the first time I heard this album, given how different every part of it is to those albums I knew of the band from the late 1980’s. This album is amazingly different, so much so that it was a real shock and something I didn’t process well on that initial discovery. Indeed, this album went away to collect dust for some time after that initial foray.
Thankfully though, I grew older, and more open to the changing musical styles of bands and the times they were recorded, and I went back to Whitesnake's “Trouble” for a second time. And this time around, I discovered exactly what I had missed that first time around. Because this is a very underestimated album, even within the Whitesnake catalogue. Most people know “Ready n Willing”, and “Saints n Sinners” and “Come an Get It”, and “Slide it In”, but how many people of my generation and younger have really appreciated the early Whitesnake albums? And “Trouble” in particular?
In my early twenties I was incredulous that there were fans out there who claimed that the early albums were so much better than the band’s later albums, that Coverdale had sold his soul to conquer America, and that Marsden and Moody outweighed anything that Vandeburg and Sykes and Vai had done in the latter years. I laughed. And then I really began listening to the albums of this era, and discovered that, even though I still love the albums from my era, that those people were right. That this band lineup is superb, their writing and playing is magnificent, and that they deserve to be on that pedestal as well. And this album Is a major part of that. In particular, Neil Murray on bass is just superb, in his element really in this genre of music. His bottom end to support the guitars of Marsden and Moody, and the leys of Jon Lord, is magnificent. And of course there is Coverdale himself, with those amazing vocal chords that are the star attraction of what the band does.
It took me a long time to get around to giving this album the time of day, and the time it deserved, to discover how good it is. And though there are a lot of years there that I have wasted due to not appreciating it sooner, the time since has been well spent. “Trouble” may not get the accolades of other great albums in the Whitesnake discography, but in my opinion it deserves them as much as any of those other albums.