EMI are issuing a Whitesnake box set covering The Sunburst Years 1978-1982 in November. It includes every album, but without the bonus tracks on the reissues of the last few years. Extras which might be of more interest are a DVD with promos and BBC clips, and a 90 page booklet.

The box set appears to include two unissued Whitesnake recordings from the BBC Reading broadcasts in 1979 and 1980 as discs 8 and 9. Available on bootleg, this does make the package more interesting. All titles are in mini LP type sleeves too. Still think they should do a version with maybe just the Reading shows and the DVD for the hard up!

CD One: "Trouble" (1978) '/ CD Two: "Live At Hammersmith" (1978) / CD Three: "Lovehunter" (1979) / CD Four: "Ready An’ Willing" (1980) / CD Five: "Live…In The Heart Of The City" (1980) / CD Six: "Come An’ Get It" (1981) / CD Seven: "Saints & Sinners" (1982) / CD Eight: "Live At Reading Rock ’79" (1979) / CD Nine: "Live At Reading Rock ’80" (1980) / DVD: Promo Videos 1978-1982, TV Performances, Extra Feature: Official Bootleg : Live at the Capital Centre, Washington, USA 1980 / Snakebite EP (1978) 33rpm seven inch white vinyl.

DPAS preview: Whitesnake, The Sunburst Years 1978-1982

Available to order at DTB Online store. The box-set will be shipping this week!

Meanwhile they are re-releasing Good To Be Bad with new bonus DVD 'Still Good To Be Bad', a Japanese only release originally planned to be relesed by SPV in 2009 before they hit difficulties and it was shelved. The CD has four reworkings from the tracks on Live In The Shadow Of The Blues - this time with Chris Frasier instead of Tommy Aldridge on drums.

The DVD is:  1. Ready To Rock （Music Video） / 2. Lay Down Your Love （Music Video) / 3. Give Me All Your Love Tonight （Cutting Room NY Acoustic Performance 2008）/ 4. Can You Hear The Wind Blow （Cutting Room NY Acoustic Performance 2008） / 5. All I Want All I Need （Cutting Room NY Acoustic Performance 2008） / 6. Lay Down Your Love （Cutting Room NY Acoustic Performance 2008）
7. Fool For Your Loving （Cutting Room NY Acoustic Performance 2008） / 8. The Deeper The Love （Cutting Room NY Acoustic Performance 2008） / 9. Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City （Cutting Room NY Acoustic Performance 2008） / 10. Here I Go Again （Cutting Room NY Acoustic Performance 2008） / 11. Good To Be Bad Interview / 12. Live In The Shadow Of The Blues EPK / 13. Slideshow （featuring Summer Rain Acoustic Version）

SR#2002611 (with thanks to Martin Waldron)

California wine lifestyle website www.californiawinepress.com features a new David Coverdale interview, Whitesnake wine review, and Forevermore album review. The piece can very appropriately be found in the "Wine Women and Song" area.

DB#200267

with thanks to David Serfozo

More details are appearing of the upcoming Whitesnake Donington 1990 release along with the cover artwork. This is now confirmed as standalone 2CD and DVD formats, with 17 tracks (same on both) along with a special edition combining both together (which is the one DTBonline store will stock).

The DVD includes a photo gallery from the 1990 tour, plus a ‘Behind The Scenes’ documentary of the Slip Of The Tongue album, beginning with Adrian & David composing the songs, the band working on the arrangements in pre-production rehearsals at Lake Tahoe, recording sessions in Reno & Los Angeles, the video shoot and tour footage (plus "all never before seen footage from David Coverdale’s private home video collection"!).

SR#200266

SR#200265

Whitesnake's new studio album is to be available as a special edition through Classic Rock magazine in the UK, ahead of going on sale. The edition is a special magazine, with the CD, and a badge. The CD has two bonus live tracks from 1990 on. The album will then be issued in the normal way through stores three weeks later in April. It's an interesting exercise, and one assumes the record label get back a good wedge of their investment in one hit, without having to do any special editions of their own. A similar project with Motorhead was trailed not long ago.

There is no physical single, but a download track (off the album) and video will be made available.
If you're worried that you need to buy this special edition just for the bonus tracks, then don't. Because Live @ Donington 1990 is coming out as a DVD and double CD in the summer and can be pre-ordered at the dpas online store.

Well ,"the official album magazine" / CD pack is available now in UK for £14.99. The magazine is a good read in places, including features on DC's pre-Purple days, and Bernie Marsden talking through the formation of Whitesnake in 1978. We do know of one or two people who have enjoyed the magazine, but haven't played the album yet - so I guess there's something for every shade of Whitesnake fan! The album comes inside a hardback book-type format.

For more reaction, see the DPAS Darker Than Blue blog

MR/DB#2002641

Nicky Horne gave the new Whitesnake single, 'Love Will Set You Free', its first radio play on Planet Rock, Friday, 18 February. The song is the first to be lifted from the new Whitesnake album, ‘Forevermore’.

The promo video for the song can be viewed on AOL.

NY#2002651

The venue for Whitesnake's Glasgow show on 14th June has been changed from the SECC to the O2 Academy. The venue is smaller than the original venue and only has seating upstairs. Apparently there are only tickets available for the upstairs, about 600 of them.

See the full list on our tour dates page.

DB#200266 (with thanks to Kevin Dixon)
photo: Peter Rossen

Whitesnake have come back following the news of the Classic Rock edition of their upcoming album and set more special editions of their own.

As well as the regular in-store CD, there is a CD/DVD combo, a 2LP set, and a box set (which has the CD, the DVD and the LP plus some memorabilia). The DVD is a bit thin on content, with just the video, a making of, and some interviews, though more may be rustled up before launch date. All these editions will of course be limited. The DPAS online store will be getting stock but the allocations may be small.

SR#200265

The forthcoming Whitesnake studio album is to be titled "Forevermore". The 2011 tour (and a new song) will also carry the name, according to David Coverdale.

For more detail visit www.whitesnake.com.


NY#200263

Whitesnake are firming up a long European tour during May - July 2011. We're not sure if their new album will be finished to tie in, although David has mentioned a March 2011 release. This tour will commence in Scandinavia with a couple of festivals and include a number of UK shows in June, with (amazingly) Manchester Apollo on June 17th 2011 - which has been confirmed. Tickets go on pre-sale December 15th (whatever that means!), general sale December 17th, priced £38.50.

2011 tour dates pages: Whitesnake

SR/NY#200262 (Thanks to Paul Harrison for this)

Whitesnake: The Definitive Biography is part of a new luxury range of large format music books, and will trace the story of the band from Coverdale's early days in the clubs around Redcar through to his recent Live In The Still Of The Night world tours. It comes in two collectable hardback limited editions, both 12" by 12", 240+ colour pages inside a card slipcase. The 'standard edition' is £175 plus shipping. A more expensive edition in its own flight case is also planned. Signed versions (members of the group are involved in the project), a limited vinyl album, poster and other goodies will also be announced. We have been able to negotiate a discount for DPAS Members. We have had the opportunity to see a pre-release mock-up and were suitably impressed by the size and quality of the production. The book will be launched in March / April 2011 and as soon as we have permission we will provide links to the publishers website. It will only be available from them, we are unable to stock it through DTB's own store.

There is more information on the DTB Blog.

The publishers are now taking orders. They have agreed a 5% discount for DTB readers and DPAS members. To get this discount you need to enter the special code into the form in the online shop on the publishers site. The code is DPAS1565. The publishers are also happy to accept payment by installment but this is not yet set up on the shop. If you want to pay this way, contact the publishers direct using the email address on the publisher's contact page, and they will organise this with you direct.

http://www.rslimitededitions.com/whitesnake.html

The publishers also have the more modestly priced Dio photo book on the go which can be pre-ordered from dpas online store.

MM#2002612

The same mob who did the Rainbow coloured vinyl reissues are working on three Whitesnake titles. They are planning to release Ready An’ Willing, Lovehunter and Live.... Heart Of The City at the end of August. The latter is a double, and they come in gatefold sleeves. As before the coloured versions are a LIMITED EDITION of 1,000 copies after which they will revert to black.

These are in stock now at the dpas online store.

MM#2002581

Whitesnake have announced their new bass player. Michael Devin steps in to replace Uriah Duffy, who departed in June 2010 along with drummer Chris Frasier. Devin has recently been playing with Lynch Mob (lalongside Whitesnake's new drummer Brian Tichy). He will be playing on Whitesnake's new studio album. The album is currently being recorded for release on the Frontiers label in early 2011. The band say they will also be returning to touring in support of the new album's release.

It has now been announced that Whitesnake's keyboard player / back-up vocalist Timoth Drury is leaving the band to pursue a solo career. The statement reads that "At this time the band are focusing on finishing the new studio album before seeking a replacement keyboard player."

Deep Purple family trees : David Coverdale & Whitesnake, 1991-2010

DB#2002601

Calling all olde time photographers! There is a smart new book of Whitesnake photographs in the pipeline and the publishers have asked if we can see what DPAS Members (and viewers) might have in the way of pictures taken anytime from 1977 onwards. I have dug out all my negatives and colour slides, and I know from doing the magazine that people have let us use pictures they took in the past. They must be pictures you took so we can arrange to clear them for copyright purposes. Quality is important but also rarity, and ideally you should have the negatives. A modest fee will be offered.

Do get in touch and we will take it from there. More details on this exciting book as soon as we are able. Exciting? Well they've chosen one of my shots for the front so I'm excited if nobody else is!

SR#2002592

Italian label Frontiers Records have announced their signing of Whitesnake. The band have apparently started to compose new material for the follow-up to 2008's highly successful 'Good To Be Bad' album. According to David Coverdale "We are off to a very good start, with the new songs taking positive shape. It feels good, fresh & exciting. As always, we want to take it to the next level, I feel that with the last album we achieved a strong Whitesnake 'cocktail' that comfortably embraced & mixed all the previous musical aspects & styles of the band's history, while taking our identity a little further... all on one album..."

TS#200257, photo: Niklas Nilsson

David Coverdale had to pull a show in Denver on August 11th after just four songs. He explained to the crowd that his voice wasn't up to it. It  seems likely that he has tried to get back on the road too quickly  after a bout of laryngitis. Whitesnake cancelled their scheduled show  in Arizona last week after doctors advised Coverdale not to risk it. 

The Whitesnake website has posted a statement: "The specialist discovered that David was suffering from severe vocal fold edema and a left vocal fold vascular lesion. He was instructed to cancel all performances for the next two weeks & then undergo a further examination. The doctors told us we were fortunate this was caught at a stage where no apparent permanent damage has been caused."

SR#200256 (Thanks to Rock Radio in Manchester and Jon Kirkman for the news)
photo: Niklas Nilsson

Slip And Slide with Whitesnake Reissues    *updated 14.06.09*

Re-releases of the  Slip Of The Tongue (20th anniversary) and Slide It In (25th  anniversary) albums are now planned for June 2009.  Both are the combined CD / DVD type now favoured by EMI and come in  nice digipaks. Goodies are listed below, and certainly the Slide It In release will  be welcomed by collectors wanting the US mix. DVD content is also  generous, with a mix of promos and live tracks. Both discs can be ordered at dpas mailorder. Whitesnake's previous remastered editions are still available at dpas mailorder.

An expanded edition of their recent studio album Good To Be Bad is  also planned. So if you've bought it twice, be prepared to cough up a  third time.

Slide It In CD has : both US and UK mixes of all tracks plus one live song (20  tracks total). DVD has: Guilty Of Love, Slow An' Easy, Love Ain't No Stranger (all  promos), Guilty Of Love (Donnington 1983), Love Ain't No Stranger  (Live: Starkers In Tokyo), Give Me More Time (BBC TV Top Of The Pops  19/1/84), Love Ain't No Stranger (Live... In The Still Of The Night).

Slip Of The Tongue CD has : album plus Now You're Gone (US Remix), Fool For Your Loving  (The Vai Voltage Mix), Slip Of The Tongue, Kittens Got Claws (Live At  Donnington 1990) DVD has: Fool For Your Loving, Now You're Gone, The Deeper The Love  (all promos), The Deeper The Love, Sailing Ships (Live: 'Starkers In  Tokyo'), Judgement Day (Live... In The Still Of The Night), Slip Of  The Tongue, Kittens Got Claws (Live At Donnington 1990)

The Whitesnake reissues have raised three immediate questions which a number of people have been asking: 1 - Why are there only 8 tracks from the UK mix of Slide It In? 2 - Why is the version of Need Your Love So Bad on Slide It In the kitschy 1987 re-recording not the original 1984 Jon Lord driven Hammond organ version? 3 - According to Jacqui Carter "the live version of Judgement Day from Live In The Shadow of the Blues which is listed as Track 14 on the CD packaging is not present."

"On SLIDE IT IN I fully agree concerning the mistake with "Need Your Love So Bad", again, that version has nothing to do with the other stuff featured on this set. But there are far more big disappointments:
The complete US-Mix but in a new running order! The incomplete UK Versions! The two missing Eddie Kramer mixes from the advance 7"! These mixes are even mentioned in the linernotes by D.C. They would have done better making a 3-CD-Set with all (and correct) versions on board. Again here on the CD "Love Ain't No Stranger" from "Starkers" is inappropriate.

Sound, linernotes and packaging are marvellous but the overall result especially for "SLIDE" is indeed frustrating." Bruce Schmidt

We could guess that on 1) they miss-timed it and found something had to give but forgot to change the packaging, (though not for why they used other bonus cuts instead). 2) may just be a DC decision. If we hear anything from EMI I will pass this on.

For 3) there is now an announcemant at http://whitesnake.com/media/slipslide/cdreplacement.html :

"It has come to our attention that track #14 'Judgment Day' (live) is missing from the new CD. This was an error that has been corrected, however there are some still in circulation that are missing this track. For those of you that have the incorrect CD and wish to replace it they should send the audio CD only (not the entire package) to the appropriate address below for replacement with the correct CD. Sorry for the inconvenience." Poor Albert

DPAS album reviews: Whitesnake, Slide It In & Slip Of The Tongue, anniversary editions

SR/DB#2002544 (with thanks to Joerg Planer and, Chris Brown)

SPV Records, home to many metal acts, and in particular at one time or another to Heaven & Hell, Glenn Hughes, Blackmore's Night, the recent Tommy Bolin archive albums and Whitesnake (the latter still on the label) have declared themselves insolvent. They are currently working on a restructuring plan, or a possible take over by another company. While this happens they are hoping to trade as normal.

Thanks to Chris Meloche for the story

SR#200255

Whitesnake are marking their thirtieth anniversary with a triple CD compilation set on EMI, scheduled for June 2008. This turns out to be a repackage of the Early Years and  Silver Anniversary CD sets with one or two updates.

EMI have announced that the triple CD 30 Anniversary Whitesnake release is due out on June 9th 2008. 52 tracks in all but no rarities announced.

MR#2002402
(Thanks to Jim Henderson for the news)

WHITESNAKE's new studio album, "Good to be Bad", will be shipping from dpas mailorder on April 21st. The group's first studio album in a decade features "11 new, slamming WHITESNAKE songs which are guaranteed to take their place alongside their multi-million selling catalogue," according to a press release.

The new songs, written by Coverdale and guitarist Doug Aldrich (who also co-produced the album with Coverdale and Michael McIntyre) "provide a good balance of eight rocking tracks and three ballads". Coverdale feels it's the first "real" WHITESNAKE album in almost 20 years.

The track listing is: Call On Me / Can You Hear The Wind Blow? / Best Years / All I Want All I Need / Good To Be Bad / All For Love / Summer Rain / Lay Down Your Love / A Fool In Love / Got What You Need / 'Till The End Of Time.

DPAS Album Review: Good To Be Bad

DB#2002373

Whitesnake have announced a limited edition of their new album Good To Be Bad, due out on April 18. This will feature the regular CD, a bonus CD in card sleeve, poster, photocard and sticker, all in a flashy box. The bonus disc has four tracks: Summer Rain (acoustic version), All I Want All I Need (radio edit), Take Me With You (live version - origin unknown), Ready To Rock (video). Thanks to Tim Summers.

The album is also now due as a very limited double vinyl release in a  gatefold sleeve. dpas mailorder are stocking this. Pre-ordering is advisable on this format. SPV have also announced that Whitesnake's new album is to be heavily  advertised across the UK, including TV and radio commercials and the  national press, as well as the usual music outlets.

They also reckon  that the upcoming tour is close to selling out; a total of over  80,000 ticket sales. dpas mailorder tell us they've been able to get a pre-order discount  on the Ltd Ed of the CD so this will now sell for the same price as  the regular version. Anyone who has pre-ordered already will get the  discount.

MK#2002401