Whitesnake - Whitesnake (1987)

Quality or nostalgia: There are things I really loved when I was younger, and when I hear them now I’m never sure if I’m really hearing the music or if I’m just hearing my fond memories. So I’m going to add in this little feature to explore whether younger me was onto something, or just on something

The hairsrpay, leather, and denim of mid 80s pop metal was the first music I really connected with. There was enough of it that I could be obsessive about it and get comfortable with hyperfixating on music. Its escapist lyrics kept me from thinking about the profound depression I now realize I was dealing with when I was 13 and 14. Despite being the devout Christian I was raised as, I never really had an easy time of feeling that personal sense of revelation in worship that my fellow Baptists did; but I got something like that from getting lost in music. “Hair metal” has since become an almost universal punchline for any cheesy and terrible music that needs making fun of, but my experience of it at the time was as genuine as could be.

David Coverdale was an alumnus of Deep Purple, and his band was a rotating cast of 70s hard rock veterans. This album features Thin Lizzy guitarist John Sykes and frequent Frank Zappa drummer Aynsley Dunbar, although by the time it actually dropped they’d been replaced with other Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, and Thin Lizzy personnel.

The whole thing about 80s pop metal is that it wasn’t very ambitious or forward thinking. Given that, Coverdale did what lots of other bands were doing but he did it exceedingly well, making memorable tunes with just enough grit and just enough sheen.

So is it Quality or Nostalgia?

In Whitesnake’s case, there’s definitely something here. As outlined above, these are not kids learning to play instruments so they can get laid. The hard rock pedigree and the experience of what makes a solid tune makes this still hold up pretty well. Like lots of its ilk, it was produced with enough reverb and density to sound like they’re live from the Grand Canyon, but the dated sonics don’t keep it from being good.

Tracks I Liked

Still of the Night - a hit, but also a wicked Zeppelin rave-up.

Children Of The Night - both musically and lyrically I had to check that it wasn’t written by Ronnie James Dio. It wasn’t, but it’s a Dio-esque bodyslam