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Classic rock with a fresh feel

David Covderdale and company are back with their 1st studio album in a decade. Celebrating their 30th anniversary, Good To Be Bad (SPV/Steamhammer) is carries the trademark Whitesnake sound and is filled with almost 60 minutes of music. (Note to the band – CDs hold a lot more information than vinyl. Give us a couple of more songs.)

The current band consists of David Coverdale – vocals, Doug Aldrich (Hurricane, House of Lords) – guitar, Reb Beach (Winger, Dokken) – guitar, Uriah Duffy (Pat Travers/Carmine Appice) – bass, Timothy Drury (Eagles, Melissa Ethridge) – Keyboards, Chris Frazier (Steve Vai) – drums. Obviously, Coverdale wanted another supergroup like he had for the Whitesnake album. There is a lot of talent on this disc.

The disc begins with “Best Years,” which sounds like a heavy version of The Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post.” Nothing wrong with that. It then glides into
“Can You Hear The Wind Blow.” The first note is a slide that is reminiscent of the intro to “Still of the Night.” It’s a great rocker.

Next up is “Call On Me.” There is some really cool production on this track. Listen to it with a good surround sound system or with headphones to hear the panning and channels ping-ponging back and forth. Nice heavy-driving chorus and the riffs during the verse are thick and chunky.

“All I Want All I Need” is the first of three ballads on the disc. It incorporates some electric guitar along with some 12 string. Not a bad song but not a memorable tune, either.

“Good To Be Bad” is a throwback to the Slide It In and Whitesnake albums. So if you like the albums that made the band a household name back in the ‘80s, you’ll dig this.

“All For Love” would be a great song to start their new shows out with. The guitars doing their thing as the lights come up and Coverdale bouncing out onstage with this classic sounding song would be a tune to get the audience revved up.

“Summer Rain” is another love ballad that could be a hit for the band. Coverdale’s smoky voice, along with the gentle acoustic guitars, make for a very soulful song.

“Lay Down Your Love” has a Steve Marriott feel. It really does seem to be an homage to “30 Days in the Hole.” It’s followed by “A Fool In Love.” The song starts out hard to hear with an old bluesy feel, then builds up to a blues rocker with a lot of “ummpphhhh” to it.

“Got What You Need” just takes off running and doesn’t let up. It feels like a mix of Ted Nugent and Led Zeppelin doing “Black Dog.” Coverdale has been compared to Robert Plant plenty over his career, but once again, what great rock band hasn’t ripped a Zeppelin riff - vocal or instrumental?

“ ‘Til The End Of Time” ends the CD. A slide guitar or dobro piece that is a bluesy love ballad. The solo segment of the song has a late ‘60s/early ‘70s feel to it. Very cool.

The new Whitesnake sounds a lot like the old Whitesnake, so no big surprises for old fans. But the music comes across as fresh and vibrant. Definitely a stellar disc to put in your collection. It just needs to be a bit longer.

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