When Eleven Goes To Ten

It has already been said that Michael Sweet's latest album, Ten, goes to eleven, which of course is a reference to the 1984 metal mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap.  In that film, guitarist Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest) explains that his custom amplifiers go to eleven when he needs "that extra push over the cliff."  The question, however, is where to go after eleven, and Michael Sweet has answered that.  You go to Ten.  This album is a monster of creative exploration and pure metal madness.

It kicks off with "Better Part of Me," the first video to be released before the album came out.

It has the feel of Stryper until the 2:30 mark when the solo by Jeff Loomis kicks in.  Suddenly you realize this is not Stryper at all, and by the time your head has stopped spinning, the song screeches to a stop.  So, what's going on here?  First of all, Sweet brought in a different guitar soloist for each song but the ballad, and this speaks to his continuing love for musical experimentation.  We hear it on the two Sweet & Lynch albums, on his last solo album, and on the last three Stryper albums, and this is part of what keeps fans coming back for more.

My eyes flew open at the intro to "Lay It Down," the second track.  It's hard, dark, and chugging, which is what a good metal fan wants.  The chorus could have come from the Stryper album Fallen, but that is it.  This song is well outside what we've heard from Sweet before, and while there is fine, melodic noodling on the six-string later in the song thanks to Marzi Montazeri, that heavy chugging and pounding drums prove that Sweet wasn't making things up in the pre-release interviews when he said this would be a true metal album.

What would happen if Jimi Hendrix brought his "Foxey Lady" to a Michael Sweet concert?  You would get the song "Forgive, Forget."  While the opening riff is Hendrixesque, it moves into a Stryper-flavored thing with a hint of Sweet & Lynch thrown in, and you ask for the first of many times, "Who IS this beast of an artist named Michael Sweet?"  Howie Simon's solo makes it abundantly clear that while Ten may have been influenced by other of Sweet's works, it cuts its own metal path.

"Now or Never" is up next, and opens with a big, epic, almost orchestral metal sound with a touch of metal opera in the middle.  The guitar solo by Gus G is simply thrilling, and you just want to replay this song again, only louder.  As I said in my review of Sweet's prior solo album, One Sided War, he can bring a Dio-esque quality to his vocals, something he did on that album's song "I Am."  He continues to show himself the true successor of Ronnie James Dio on this dark and dramatic track.

The title track comes in with a swagger befitting its lyrical content.  Written from the perspective of God as

He gave the Ten Commandments, this could easily have been on a Stryper album and was the third video from the album.  The Duke of Metal, Rich Ward, brings his royal touch to the solo, making this a solid rocker.

The second video for this album was for the next song, "Shine," which again opens heavy and showcases Sweet's signature lyrical theme.  Michael Sweet writes positive songs.  Period.

Then again, what would you expect from a guy who claims Jesus as his Lord?  Ethan Brosh, who worked on Sweet's One Sided War, is back, and it's a complete toss up whether to focus more on the music or the lyrics.

In addition to soaring high note vocals and virtuoso guitar playing, Michael Sweet is known for his ballads.  Obligatory on a metal album, perhaps, but "Let It Be Love" goes beyond the typical boyfriend/girlfriend scenario.  It is not just a song, but a salve for a bruised and wounded world.  This is one to hold hands with your neighbor and sway to or hold up a light in the arena when it is played.  Sweet handles the solo, and it is straight from the '80s, perfectly matching the melodic, powerful lyrics.

Okay.  Ballad time is over.  Track 8, "Never Alone," is back into hard, dark, and heavy, chugging, metal, and again comes the question, "Who IS this beast of an artist?"  There is simply nothing not to like about this song.  It and the next one were co-written with Joel Hoekstra of Whitesnake and Trans-Siberian Orchestra, who takes on the solos.  Hoekstra had worked with Sweet on One Sided War, and this is truly a musical partnership from which the world needs to hear more and more.

"When Love Is Hated" opens with a '70s hard and heavy metal sound and expands into soaring vocals reminiscent of the '80s.  The solo is something the must make David Coverdale jealous that it was not on the last Whitesnake album.  This is the second Sweet-Hoekstra collaboration on this album, and for my money, I could take an entire album of songs like this.  It's pure, classic metal.

"Ricochet" bounces up next with more of that '70s/'80s feel coursing through the blood-pumping veins of this tune.  None other than Tracii Guns sets the six-string on fire, and you start thinking how great this collaborative project really is.  Sweet has brought in musicians from throughout the decades and across the spectrum of metal and has given the world a taste of what amazing music they can make.

"With You Till the End" takes us back to classic Michael Sweet territory as the familiar-yet-fresh sounds assault the ears.  Ian Raposa accompanies Sweet on vocals, making you think of great sounding, different-but-complementary vocal pairs like David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes in the Mark III lineup of Deep Purple.  Mike Kerr handles the guitar solo and lends a drive and passion to this song that make it one of the true standouts.

The album concludes with a full frontal sonic assault in "Son of Man," with no less than Todd LaTorre on shared vocals and Andy James on guitar.  The video for this has killer graphics to match

the brutal, heavy attack of this song that, like the opening number races right to the edge of a cliff and then stops.

Bottom line:  This is quite simply the best solo album Michael Sweet has released and one of the best of his career.  If you love metal, get it now!

Swamp Rock

I used to joke that the day the music died was not, per Don McLean's famous song, February 3, 1959, when The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, and Ritchie Valens died in a plane crash, but rather December 31, 1989, for it was my contention that no good music had been released since then.  There has, of course, been much good music since then, although for my money most, if not all, has been by artists that got their start decades ago.  So, what do you do when you discover some truly original music recently released by a longstanding musical legend?  You buy Beau Weevils:  Songs In the Key of E and you listen to it over and over, stopping only to tell everyone you know to get it, too.

This is the latest album by Charlie Daniels, and if you want to see the talented lineup on it, head over to Charlie's website.  CD himself describes it as "Downhome, Swampy Rock meets Funk with a little taste of 'Delta' type of style."  Now, if that doesn't at least make you curious, something's wrong with your curiosity glands.  This album has me slapping the steering wheel in rhythm and singing along loud and proud as I drive to work.  Here's the track-by-track rundown.

1.  Geechi Geechi Ya Ya Blues...There is simply no way a song with this title could be anything other than great.  The first ten seconds grab your neck and start forcing your head to bop with the rhythm, and a huge "Awww, yeah!" rises up from your gut, and even if it isn't true that your "alimony payments are way past due and the Lake Charles cops are lookin' for" you, too, everyone knows what it means to have the geechi geechi ya ya blues.  You may not have known what to call that feeling, but now you do, and you have the perfect song for the occasion.

2.  Bad Blood...This is a story song, a true ballad, but not of the romantic variety.  It tells of the murderous lineage of one family that is passed along in the bad blood of its members.  The main character's brother is serving a life sentence in prison, his daddy kills a deputy sheriff who finds his still and is forced to go on the lam, and the main character himself commits murder in a crime of passion.  As the family patriarch tells his son before fleeing on a midnight train, "It's time you knew what's comin' to you like my daddy passed on to me.  Ain't no escape, it's like a copperhead snake crawlin' up the family tree."  And we learn that "all the while the devil smiled, feastin' on the risin' flood.  Bad blood."

This song has two effects on me.  First, it breaks my heart.  There are many people who feel cursed by their family heritage and see no hope.  It is just one generation after another of pain and dysfunction.  Second, it makes me want to cry out to the characters in the song, "It doesn't have to be this way!  There is redemption in Jesus Christ.  His blood can run through your veins and replace that bad blood."

3.  Mexico Again...This is another ballad set in Mexico and with a story and musical line that conjure memories of Marty Robbins.  This is one is just pure fun, and if you like a story with a place called "Hard Luck Sally's, just a little juke joint stuck way back up in the alley," then this is the song for you.

4.  Louisiana Blues...Mmm, mmm, mmm.  I do love the slow groove of a brush on drums, and this song's got it.  Be careful listening to this while driving.  It makes you want to close your eyes and swing your head back and forth.  Even listening to it as I write this, I have to take my hands off the keyboard to snap my fingers in time.

5.  Oh, Juanita..."I'm gonna keep on buzzin' around you, girl, like a king bee around a honeysuckle vine."  With a line like that, nothing more needs to be said.

6.  Smokey's Got Your Number...This song chronicles the misadventures of a variety of drivers who pay no attention to posted speed limits.  Again, this is a dangerous song to listen to while driving as it makes you want to mash that gas pedal yourself and pull your hands off the wheel for some serious air guitar.  And for those of you who grew up watching The Dukes of Hazzard on Friday nights, you can almost feel the General Lee catching air with this one.

7.  Mudcat...This is probably the standout track on the album.  It tells the story of Mudcat, an old man who plays the devil's blues on the front porch of his shack with "a half a gallon of homemade wine."  It seems old Mudcat learned his craft from Robert Johnson, with whom he played "every old funky kind of backwood juke."  When things turn spooky in the swamp and there's "big things bumpin', little things jumpin'," Mudcat hightails it out of there.  Great lyrics and great music combine to make this a top number.

8.  Everybody's Gotta Go Sometime...The brush on drums returns for another swingin' number that gets you snapping your fingers to the timeless truth that it doesn't matter who you are, everybody's gotta go sometime.  With its admonition to "live today like it's all you've got," the song reminds you not to take yourself or other things too seriously, a worthy reminder in our hectic world.

9.  We'll All Have Some...This is the one whose chorus line I find myself singing long after I've stopped listening to the song.  It's in the tradition of songs like "All My Rowdy Friends Are Comin' Over Tonight" by Hank Williams, Jr., and is a fun number about a party featuring barbecue, rum, and Brunswick stew, and if that doesn't kill you, then "we'll all have some."

10.  How We Roll...Southern rock the way the way it was meant to be!  "I'm as country as a bale of hay, and I don't care who knows it.  I'm as redneck as a rodeo, my disposition shows it.  I got a tricked out 4X4 that'll flat blow off your doors, and I like cornbread."  There it is, folks.  That's how the Beau Weevils roll, and it pretty much sums up the whole album.

If any of this intrigues you, makes you curious, or gets your bad blood a-boilin', then, as Charlie sings on the final song, "come on down and git ya some!"

Evil Be Damned

The #1 album on Amazon's Hard Rock list is the new release by Stryper, God Damn Evil, and while we may be waiting on certain evils in the world to go away, one thing is clear.  The evil of wimpy music has been condemned and the triumphant flag of hard rock has been planted on its grave with the release of Stryper's twelfth studio album.

Everything about this release is old-school, yet updated for the 21st century.  Back in the day, a band would release singles that we heard on the radio, getting us excited for the full album.  In the '80s we had music videos that told stories and took us into the world of the songs.  With the release of God Damn Evil, Stryper and Frontiers Records went back to this strategy and gave the world "Take It To The Cross," "Sorry," "Lost", and "The Valley" before the album came out today.  Each one had its own video, and the ones for "Sorry" and "The Valley" were true MTV-era works that featured a dramatic story along with shots of the band in action.

To say that this strategy got fans hyped is an understatement, and I know this because of the 21st century part of the formula, social media.  Michael Sweet is one of the savviest users of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.  He knows how to light a fire and stoke it to a blaze with words, pictures, and videos sent at the just the right times to keep conversation about the record at a fever pitch.  And of course, there are all the fans and fan groups that keep the Internet buzzing with retweets and shares of everything that comes out from or about the band.

Early reports said this would be Stryper's heaviest and best album to date, and Michael Sweet confirmed this in numerous interviews.  Guess what?  Those articles were right.  This is an album that is clearly in the Stryper catalogue while making hard rock and metal relevant with fresh, new sounds worthy of being blasted from the best speakers of you've got.

"Take It To The Cross"...Opens with an eerie, moody sound that evokes images of swirling mists in the darkness.  And then the doors blow off with a fierce drum attack and what quickly became the early talking point surrounding this album, the thrash sound of the course and the high vocals screaming, "TAKEITTOTHECROSSTAKEITTOTHECROSSTAKEITTOTHECROSS!"  This song is perhaps the biggest departure from the traditional Stryper sound, but the guys handle it well, and let's be honest.  True musicians aren't just making music for commercial reasons.  They like to experiment, and this experiment produces a great result.

"Sorry"...I commented on the YouTube video that the early riffing is reminiscent of "Ready An' Willing," the title track from Whitesnake's 1980 album.  The vocals would have worked well on a Sweet & Lynch album or a Michael Sweet solo project.  He is very aggressive on this, yet the guitar solo is melodic and simply delicious.

"Lost"...If the first track was the greatest departure from the typical Stryper sound, "Lost" will be the most familiar to longtime fans.  A great guitar attack with impossibly soaring vocals on the chorus make this a number that would have been at home on the No More Hell To Pay or Fallen album.

"God Damn Evil"...This is my early favorite, hands down.  A swaggering opener turns into a scream that demands your attention.  Although it could easily have been a bonus track on Fallen, this one is sure to be stand-alone and concert favorite. The lyrics are in your face as is their delivery, but it is that chorus that, when translated, says, "Get your fists in the air and scream this one back at the band to help take the decibel level in the concert hall to a deafening level."  Oh, and there is a twist starting at 2:56 that just puts a smile on your face.

"You Don't Even Know Me"...This is a slower, thoughtful number, but with a solid, hard rock punch.  The guitar solo takes you back to the glory days of guitar solos in the '80s and has you rocking right along with the band.

"The Valley"...This track opens with Oz Fox reading Psalm 23:4, which, when combined with lyrics about fighting the good fight, makes this song the rightful successor to "Marching Into Battle."  Once again, there is swagger and attitude to spare in the vocals and guitar work.  Hey, if you were looking for the meek and mild, try the easy listening station at the office, because you certainly won't find it on this song.

"Sea Of Thieves"...Michael Sweet said in an interview I did with him that he was always a Deep Purple fan, and that shows in the intro to this song.  It pays homage to "Bloodsucker" from Purple's 1970 In Rock album and then comes back throughout the song.  This one caused me to stop writing this review and break out my own air guitar.

"Beautiful"...Robert Sweet's drum opener will turn your head from whatever it is you're doing while listening.  It is unlike anything on any other Stryper album.  This, my friends, is a rock ballad.  I have to confess that I often fast-forwarded (in the days of cassette tapes) through the obligatory ballads on metal albums, but I won't be skipping this track.  Yes, it is a ballad and, true to its title, is quite beautiful, but there is enough punch and, oh, yeah, a guitar solo, that make it impossible to forget this is a rock record.

"Can't Live Without Your Love"...Let your mind drift back to the '80s.  Can you see your favorite band on MTV in a video?  The scenes cut back and forth from the band on stage to the members standing along a cliff as the sea breezes blow their hair that is long than their girlfriends' and then transitions to a dramatized mini-play of the lead singer and his girl.  That's what you get with this song.  And the guitar solo...good grief, this is fine stuff!  I'm going to have to replace the strings on my air guitar when I listen to this!

"Own Up"...This has another opener that makes you ask, "Is this Stryper?"  This is in no small part because of Robert Sweet's rhythm again.  I may need to break out the thesaurus to find another word for "swagger" in this review, but there it is, making this a hugely fun song to sing along with.

"The Devil Doesn't Live Here"...Fast and hard!  It may just be me, but I had a faint impression of Motorhead.  With a title like this on an album titled God Damn Evil by a band that has regularly told the devil where to go, you have to know that this is going to be a sonic blitz against sappy music and a vocal attack on Satan even as it lifts up Jesus Christ.

Fans of rock and metal, this is as good as it gets.  Buy this thing now and you'll see what I mean.

Stryper faithful, your band has given you an amazing gift, new music that reminds you of why you have listened to them for decades even as it takes you to a whole...notha...level.

Chaotic Resemblance-The Interview

Stryper's Oz Fox with LA Ellis introducing Chaotic Resemblance at Rocktoberfest

October 29, 2016.  It was an epic night of metal.  Rocktoberfest in Indianapolis, IN, saw Whitecross, Petra, and Stryper together, with Stryper headlining the evening on their 30th anniversary To Hell With The Devil Tour.  On top of that there were three opening acts, and while I was there for Stryper and the other big name bands, the icing on the cake, the surprise in the Christmas stocking, was the band from Oklahoma, Chaotic Resemblance.

These guys rocked as hard as anything in the heyday of metal during the '80s, and I had to have more.  A quick trip to iTunes helped, but it wasn't enough, and when the guys came back to Indiana for the Kingdom Come Festival in June of the following year, I was there.  It was a true metal experience as winds from the coming storm whipped the band members' hair, and when the clouds opened up, no one left.  We just kept banging our heads in the pouring rain.

These guys are the real deal.  They've got the metal chops to take them to the next level, and with the likes of Stryper's Oz Fox working with them, you know they've got true metal cred.  So sit back and enjoy this interview with Travis McConnell and LA Ellis of Chaotic Resemblance as they share the story of the band, talk about the relationship between metal and their Christian faith, and tell us about their new album coming out this year.   

Interview with pictures, music, and more on YouTube     

Audio-only interview on SoundCloud      

Webpage  http://chaoticresemblance.com/

Twitter       @chaoticresembl, https://twitter.com/CHAOTICRESEMBL

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/ChaoticResemblance/

Instagram  @chaoticresemblance, https://www.instagram.com/chaoticresemblance/ 

GoFundMe support for their upcoming album gofundme.com/chaoticresemblance

Let's Talk '80s Metal

"Say what you want about the 80's but there will never be another era quite like it. Rock & Metal ruled the charts, arenas, magazines, television - the world. We were a part of that moment in music history. Lord willing, maybe we'll be a part of the next big rock movement. Stryper is alive & well!" -- Michael Sweet, Stryper, FB post 24 March 2018

The colors, the light shows, the hair, the outfits, and of course THE MUSIC! While it is true that I love blues, jazz, country, gospel, hymns, classic rock, hard rock, folk, and the pop songs of the '50s through the '80s, it is '80s metal that will always hold a special place in my heart. It is the first music that was truly my own and that I enjoyed in some of the most formative years of my life.

So let's take a look and a listen with some of the bands whose logos are featured here, starting, in no particular order, with Poison.  These guys were just straight up fun.  They had some of the biggest hair in the business, and "Nothin' But A Good Time" could well have been the anthem for the whole decade.

Although there was some bad blood between Poison and Mötley Crüe back in the day, which undoubtedly bumped record sales for both bands, it seems fitting to put them back-to-back here.  There's a lot to choose from in the Mötley catalog, but 1989's "Dr. Feelgood" has it all...the boys at their best and a video full of flames and plot straight out of Miami Vice.

Another anthem for the era could well have been "Cum On  Feel the Noize" by Quiet Riot.  It's a song about loud music.  It's a song about noise.  It's a song about cranking those speakers to 11.  What's not to like?

Readers of this blog know how big a Stryper fan I am, and with a new album coming out on April 20, 2018, these guys are not just keeping the great music of the '80s alive but taking to new heights in the 21st century.  Here's the title track to their 1985 album Soldiers Under Command, a favorite for lead singer Michael Sweet and the album that introduced me to the yellow & black army.

I love that in the graphic above Stryper and Whitesnake are next to each other, since Whitesnake was my other favorite band in the '80s.  Their entire body of work, from 1978 onward, is killer blues-rock and metal, but nothing, and I mean nothing, slays quite like "Still of the Night" from their quintuple platinum 1987 album.

Lots of bands have had color words in their names, and White Lion joined the palette in the '80s.  I was fortunate to seem the open for Stryper in Louisville, Kentucky, and remember being blown away the gymnastic performance of bassist James LoMenzo, who went on to play with Michael Sweet on both Sweet & Lynch albums.

'80s metal may have been something of a boys' club, but Vixen proved that the ladies could rock just as hard.  Following the path paved by Heart and Joan Jett, they also showed why relationships were easier in the '80s...guys and girls could share Aqua Net!

Now, I've had a taste for the blues ever since I first started listening to rock, and no one plays blues-rock/metal better than Cinderella.  Once again I was fortunate to see them live when they opened for Bon Jovi in the spring of '87.  "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" from their sophomore album Long Cold Winter showcases Tom Keifer's unique, gravel-filled vocals at their peak.

Is there any song from the metallic '80s that has been played, sampled, used, and even mocked more than Europe's "The Final Countdown?"  Who cares!  It's a classic, and for some reason I will always connect it with a college visit to Indiana University when I was a senior in high school and was planning what classes I would take.  I must have been listening to it a lot then, and it sure takes me back.

I've always been a big Twisted Sister fan, and "We're Not Gonna Take It" is a straight up metal anthem.  It also connects with a special memory for me.  When I was in high school, some guys from the grade ahead of me had a band called Storm Front and they played this during one of our Latin Club meetings!

There are, of course, countless more great metal and rock songs from the '80s.  Share favorites and leave a link to the videos in the comments below.  As for me, if I ever get around to writing a will, I am going to insist that those who attend my funeral listen to a playlist of my favorites!

Winds From The North

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of David Coverdale's second solo album, North Winds.  I discovered it in 1988, along with his debut album from 1977, White Snake, on a double album by Connoisseur Collection.  I soon purchased the Connoisseur double version on CD, and then later both albums individually when they had been remastered with extra tracks.

North Winds is a soulful album and a funky album.  You get the funky side of things on the opening track "Keep On Giving Me Love" and then move into the deeply soulful "Northwinds," a song that demonstrates how well Coverdale's vocals can shape a song.

I don't know what it is about the third track, "Give Me Kindness," that for some reason reminds me of New Orleans, but it does.  Perhaps it's the horn section.  It's a fun, swinging kind of song for those who've been around the block a time or two and as a result know a thing or two about life.

"Time & Again" is the stand out track for me.  I included it on a mix tape back in the day for the girl who would become my wife and to this day remains one of my all-time favorite romantic songs.  This is a soft, gentle number for lovers who are so deep into each other than completely understand what it means when Coverdale sings, "all I want to do is just talk about the woman I love."

"Queen Of Hearts" gives us the first taste of what the early Whitesnake would become, and for good reason.  It appeared on the first Whitesnake album, the Snake Bite EP.

"Only My Soul" is simply exquisite.  It touches that place in a man's soul where all he wants to do is weep, where he needs someone to lead him on "through restless waters" and to walk with him "along the way."  It is hauntingly beautiful number.

The next track, "Say You Love Me," opens with a piano riff that makes you think you are standing with good friends around the upright in someone's living room sharing memories in song.  Another horn selection gives this a good-time groove that leaves you saying, "Ah, yes!"

"Breakdown" concludes the original album and is a number about the breakdown of Deep Purple Mark IV in 1976.  A fast-paced rocker, it documents the end in the only way fitting, with solid rock 'n' roll.

The remastered album includes what to me were two fascinating surprises.  The first is an up-tempo, seriously funky number called "Shame The Devil" that has me reaching for polyester bell-bottoms and platform shoes.  It has the characteristic Coverdale flair in its lyrics with the line "shame the devil, tell the truth," and it makes you wonder with its horns and funk what it would have been like had he gone full tilt in this direction.

The other track is "Sweet Mistreater," that opens with a very surprising layer of synthesizer.  It sounds like nothing else Coverdale ever recorded and is squarely in the pop genre.  Again we see his affection for wink-wink, nudge-nudge lyrics in "you shame the devil when you tell me the truth, just like a dance hall queen."  The lyrics actually tell a rather said, typically blues tale, but that synthesizer takes it straight into pop.

All in all, it is well worth adding to any collection of great '70s music and great rock music, and it is a must for all fans of the unparalleled voice of David Coverdale.

The Purple Tour

On December 12, 2015, Whitesnake played Genting Arena in Birmingham, England, a stop on The Purple Tour that saw them playing songs from David Coverdale's Mark III lineup of Deep Purple as well as classic Whitesnake tunes.  The cameras were rolling, and the result is a live CD and Blu-Ray of that concert.

I had pre-ordered this so I would get it on the day of its release.  As I have written, Coverdale's project to "snake up" classic Purple songs on The Purple Album was a success, so I couldn't wait to see and hear these and other serpentine songs live.  Bottom line...I was well rewarded.

On the Blu-Ray disc you get thirteen songs from the concert.  These are the same as on the CD.  The Blu-Ray also gives you 5.1 Surround versions of "You Keep On Moving," "Stormbringer," "Lay Down Stay Down," and guitar solos from Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra called "Lotsanotes."  Listen carefully, and you will catch Hoekstra tearing his way through a bit of "Amazing Grace."  There is also the new video for "Burn" and a fun interview of Hoekstra and Beach by bassist Michael Devin in which you learn what the guys enjoy on their off days and everything you wanted to know about bacon.  Yes, bacon.

But let's get down to what matters, the concert.  First of all, David Coverdale, who will turn 67 this September, looks and sounds great.  I truly do not understand comments that he has lost his voice.  Has it changed?  Of course it has.  He first sang "Burn" when he was 22.  Yet he still has power and the emotion to carry any song.  Ian Gillan, by contrast, as I noted in a post on Deep Purple's Long Goodbye tour, has lost much of his vocal gift, but Coverdale's is still there.  And don't let anyone tell you he can't hit the high notes anymore, for he digs down deep into the private reserve of his vintage vocals for as powerful and earth shattering a "Here I GOOOOOOOOOOO" as ever.

Whitesnake has always been a twin-guitar band, and axe-slingers like Hoekstra and Beach demonstrate why this works.  Hoekstra simply wails on the six-string, and the solos passing back and forth between him and Beach are electric.  As for Reb Beach, that guy has all the cool of a '70s southern rocker and looks as if he would be just as at home in Lynyrd Skynyrd.   Actually, his look fits in well with the full beards of Michael Devin and guitarist Michele Luppi, and even Coverdale's own extended sideburns are a good look for this '70s-meet-21st century rock extravaganza.

Let's face it, rock is about image almost as much as it is about music, and the visuals of this concert accentuate the songs.  We see the "Coverdale candle" from the cover of the original Burn album on the big screen during some of the Purple-era songs,

pictures from Whitesnake's 1987 tour book behind songs from the '87 album, and the band's original logo during tunes from the earlier years.  And when it comes to image, Hoekstra frequently steals the show for me with too-cool guitars.  He starts with a white Les Paul emblazoned with a stylized snake and the Whitesnake amulet, switches to a purple glitter axe, and then back to a black and gold version of his opening Les Paul.

Don't think that the rhythm section isn't in on the action. Throughout the concert bassist Michael Devin just has fun.  In fact, he seems to be having such a good time that he could just as easily have been standing next to you in the audience, singing along as one of Whitesnake's biggest fans.  Tommy Aldridge's drum solo comes along about halfway through during "You Fool No One," and when he tosses his sticks to the crowd, he begins pounding and flailing away like a madman, only to find another set of sticks for his final percussive attack that ends with the Christian drummer holding them aloft in the shape of a cross.

The concert opens with a sonic tsunami, but by the time you hit the middle, you begin to settle in and realize something.  These are simply incredible songs.  For example, for the longtime Whitesnake fan, there is just nothing like seeing the band play "Ain't No Love (In The Heart of The City)" and joining the world-famous Whitesnake Choir to sing along.  You move from epic to epic as "Mistreated" comes next, and it dawns on you what amazing music Coverdale has created and delivered for more than four decades. And then comes "Soldier Of Fortune," an exquisite song telling a beautiful story that reminds of you how great songs can transport you to another time and place.  By the time you get to "Here I Go Again," you feel as if old friends have gathered to sing the songs of favorite memories, and there is something in the Snakes' performance of this beloved hit that reinforces the comfortable, fun, relaxed feeling.  

The Blu-Ray captures the energy and enthusiasm of this historic concert and ends
with "We Wish You Well," a song the Snakes have never played live but with which they have ended most of their concerts for nearly forty years.  Having the same songs on CD makes it nice to be able to hear the concert anywhere.

Official video of "The Gypsy" from The Purple Tour