Whitesnake - The Definitive Collection (2006)

It's a common misconception that Whitesnake was just another '80s hair metal band. Before you dismiss David Coverdale's pride and joy in the same breath as Ratt, Poison or even... shudder... Motley Crue, consider Whitesnake's impressive pedigree. Upon leaving his post as Deep Purple's mid-70s frontman after a trio of overlooked and often underrated albums (Burn and Stormbringer from 1974 and Come Taste The Band from 1975), Coverdale launched a short-lived solo career. Produced by former bandmate Roger Glover for Deep Purple's Purple Records boutique label, Coverdale's 1977 debut album, titled Whitesnake, and its follow-up, Northwinds, provided the blueprint for the singer's future musical direction.

Coverdale subsequently formed the band Whitesnake to pursue his creative vision of hard-edged R&B and blooze-rock anthems. The band's first full-fledged album, Trouble, dropped in 1978, but it wasn't until 1984's Slide It In went platinum that Whitesnake climbed to the top o' the arena-rock heap. After that album's release, Coverdale shed himself of founding guitarist Mickey Moody (from his solo album days), eventually replacing the entire band and even re-recording a large part of Slide It In to feature the more photogenic guitarist John Sykes and his explosive fretwork.

Coverdale's ambitious machinations worked, as the band's self-titled 1987 set -- fueled by sexy MTV videos, hit singles in the form of "Is This Love" and "Here I Go Again," and a poppier, ballad-driven sound -- launched Whitesnake into the stratosphere. There was still trouble in paradise, however, and by the time of 1989's Slip Of The Tongue, which featured new guitarist Steve Vai, it was pretty much over. Although the album sold well and eventually went Platinum, changing musical currents ushered in the grunge era and Whitesnake -- wrongly or rightly tossed under the bus with what colleague Chuck Eddy terms "nerf metal" bands, was consigned to rock & roll history and classic rock radio formats. Although Coverdale attempted to resurrect the band in 1998, America wasn't listening.

Whitesnake's The Definitive Collection follows on the heels of half a dozen similar "greatest hits" compilations, but this one succeeds where most of the others failed. First of all, the single-disc set offers up 18 classic tracks -- not too much, not too little. Secondly, it includes harder-rocking material from the band's first three albums, European hits like "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City" and "Ready An' Willing" that offer the perfect fusion of soul, dirty blues and blustery hard rock that Coverdale originally envisioned. Finally, MTV-era hits like "Is This Love," "Still Of The Night," "Fool For Your Loving" and "Judgement Day," among others, still sound good almost twenty years later. Based in the R&B and soul music that Coverdale loved as a young pup, vintage late-80s Whitesnake had a musical foundation that contemporaries like Skid Row, Poison, et al didn't share, a timeless appeal that has held up through the passing years.

While Whitesnake was never the most original of bands, nor very influential in the long run, the band's run of hits and its flamboyant frontman came to epitomize '80s rock star excess. Coverdale's tale of sex, drugs, fast cars and loud guitars would make a great movie screenplay, but the music speaks for itself. Released to coincide with a live DVD/CD set from a 2005 London performance, The Definitive Collection offers up the best that Whitesnake had to give from a truly crazy decade. (Geffen Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy a copy of The Definitive Collection from Amazon.com)