Formed from the ashes of Deep Purple, David Coverdale's Whitesnake has pretty much been a band in name only since Coverdale was the only constant member of the band. Other members have been Deep Purple's Ian Paice and Jon Lord, future Black Sabbath bassist Neil Murray, ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist John Sykes, ex-Journey drummer Aynsley Dubar, ex-Dio/former DefLeppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, Quiet Riot bassist Rudy Sarzo , Adrian Vandenberg, ex-Alcatrazz guitarist Steve Via, and Tommy 'been in just about every band in existence' Aldridge. And those are just the members who are well known. There is also an aresenal of lesser known musicians.
Whitesnake-Snakebite (Geffen) 1977
1. "Come On" (3:31)
2. "Bloody Mary" (3:18)
3. "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" (5:07)
4. "Steal Away" (4:16)
5. "Keep on Giving Me Love" (5:13)
6. "Queen of Hearts" (5:15)
7. "Only My Soul" (4:33)
8. "Breakdown" (5:12)
The first "official" Whitesnake album, although it's so short it's really only an EP. The first four tracks were the first songs recorded by Whitesnake as a band, while tracks 5-8 were recorded for David Coverdale's second solo album. A bluesy affair, not unlike Purple's 'Stormbringer.' The better tracks are actually the four recorded and produced by Martin Birch. The later four are just not to exciting.
Whitesnake-Trouble (Geffen) 1978
1."Take Me With You" (4:44)
2."Love to Keep You Warm" (3:43)
3."Lie Down (A Modern Love Song)" (3:14)
4."Day Tripper" (3:47)
5."Nighthawk (Vampire Blues)" (3:40)
6."The Time is Right for Love" (3:27)
7."Trouble" (4:48)
8."Belgian Tom's Hat Trick" -instrumental (3:25)
9."Free Flight" (4:05)
10."Don't Mess with Me" (3:18)
Lots of bluesy rockers on this one, although not the hard rock/heavy metal that would begin with "Headhunter" and certainly not the overtly commercial metal that Whitesnake is now known for. Still, I can't help but enjoy this one, with Coverdale's killer, smooth vox on top of those Purple-esque numbers. Whitesnake's cover of the Beatles 'Day Tripper' is outstanding. Gotta love a song with a talkbox. This one was produced by the legendary Martin Birch and features ex-Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord and future Black Sabbath bassist Neil Murray.
Whitesnake-Love Hunter (Geffen) 1979
1. "Long Way from Home" (4:55)
2. "Walking in the Shadow of the Blues" (4:23)
3. "Help Me Thro' the Day" (4:39)
4. "Medicine Man" (4:00)
5. "You 'N' Me" (3:28)
6. "Mean Business" (3:45)
7. "Love Hunter" (5:36)
8. "Outlaw" (4:02)
9. "Rock 'N' Roll Women" (4:45)
10. "We Wish You Well" (1:36)
This album is remembered more for it's errotic cover than for the actual music contained herein, however, the music certainly isn't bad. Love Hunter was Coverdale's first attempt at a mostly heavy record. The sound is actually a mixture of blues and hard rock, which would continue on several albums to come, before MTV and American success would destroy them. Growing up with this album, I consider it a classic, but to be quite frank, the songwriting is no where near what would come in the near future.
Whitesnake -Live in the Heart of the City (Geffen) 1980
1. "Come On" (3:38)
2. "Sweet Talker" (4:16)
3. "Walking in the Shadow of the Blues" (5:00)
4. "Love Hunter" (10:41)
5. "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" (6:03)
6. "Fool for Your Loving" (4:58)
7. "Take Me with You" (6:28)
'Live in the Heart of the City " is essential to any Deep Purple collector since this disc features not only David Coverdale, but Jon Lord & Ian Paice as well. The material on this cd is all stellar and shows Whitesnake at their creative best, albeit not yet at their most popular. There is also an import version of this disc that features the entire show, including a ten minute version of "Mistreated" as well as the Deep Purple classic "Might Just Take Your Life"
Whitesnake-Come an' Get It (EMI) 1981
1. "Come an' Get It" (3:58)
2. "Hot Stuff" (3:22)
3. "Don't Break My Heart Again" (4:03)
4. "Lonely Days, Lonely Nights" (4:16)
5. "Wine, Women an' Song" (3:44)
6. "Child of Babylon" (4:48)
7. "Would I Lie to You" (4:28)
8. "Girl" (3:55)
9. "Hit an' Run" (3:23)
10. "Till the Day I Die" (4:26)
A lukewarm album in comparison to the rest of the Whitesnake catalogue; not their best and not their worst. Certainly there is some great bluesy rock and roll on this disc, but even after having owned it on record for many years, upon hearing the cd for the first time in a long time, I still could not recall anything from it. That is not to say this album is a total stinker, by any stretch. "Hot Stretch," "Wine, Women and Song," and especially "Child of Babylon" are all fine Coverdale numbers.
Whitesnake-Saints & Sinners (Geffen) 1982
1. "Young Blood" (3:30)
2. "Rough an' Ready" (2:50)
3. "Bloody Luxury" (3:24)
4. "Victim of Love" (3:34)
5. "Crying in the Rain" (5:58)
6. "Here I Go Again" (5:08)
7. "Love an' Affection" (3:08)
8. "Rock an' Roll Angels" (4:07)
9. "Dancing Girls" (3:09)
10. "Saints an' Sinners" (4:22)
Depending on who you ask, 'Saints & Sinners' is either the one of the best things to come out of Whitesnake or one of the worst. I'm of the opinion that it sounds like Whitesnake, and they sound like they are at their best. There are tons of energetic, yet bluesy heavy metal numbers on here like "Rough an' Ready," "Bloody Luxury," and "Young Blood." Other favorites are "Crying in the Rain" and the awesome power ballad "Here I go Again," that would later be re-recorded and become a huge hit during the band's big-hair MTV days. As many times as I have heard this excellent version, after being tormented with years of hearing the newer version on the radio/TV I now find it odd to hear the slightly altered lyrics on the 'Saints & Sinners' version. ("Like a hobo I was born to walk alone")
Whitesnake (Geffen) 1987
1. "Crying in the Rain" (5:35)
2. "Bad Boys" (4:07)
3. "Still of the Night" (6:38)
4. "Here I Go Again" (4:36)
5. "Give Me All Your Love" (3:30)
6. "Is This Love" (4:42)
7. "Children of the Night" (4:22)
8. "Straight for the Heart" (3:37)
9. "Don't Turn Away" (5:08)
This disc is actually quite good, although it was heavily overplayed in '87 on radio and MTV. Whitesnake went multi-platinum. This was also the album that had Whitesnake labeled as a "hair band," which of course is not necessarily true. OK, perhaps Coverdale and his cohorts were using a few extra cans of hairspray during this time, but that was the look in '87. The music, however, is just pure heavy rock 'n' roll, with ex-Thin Lizzy axeman John Sykes leading the way. Many credit John Sykes with Coverdale's success in the mid-80's. For some odd reason however, Dave decided to fire his entire band which at the time also included long time bassist Neil Murray and drummer Aynsley Dunbar from Journey. For the tour, Dave hire formed something of a supergroup which featured Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell, Quiet Riot bassist Rudy Sarzo, Adrian Vandenberg and drummer Tommy Aldrige, who at this point was most known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne and Pat Travers. In any case, there really is not a bad song on here. Especially inspired was "Still of the Night," "Crying in the Rain" and "Here I Go Again". "Is This Love,"a sappy love ballad that got way to much airplay, is the only song on this disc that I could live without. Ah, but that is what skip buttons are for. Some of Sykes guitar solos are mind blowing, just take a listen to "Straight for the Heart" and see if you don't get chills. This disc sold some ten million copies worldwide.
Whitesnake-Slip of the Tongue (Geffen) 1989 
This was it, the first album by the Supergroup Whitesnake: Steve Via, Rudy Sarzo, Adrian Vandenberg and drummer Tommy Aldridge. Of couse, from the popularity of the last album alone, this one was almost guaranteed to be a blockbuster, and this certainly proved to be the case since the album went double platinum. Hi-tech, metallic, flashy, and hair to the sky. A few high and mighty rockers in "Kittens Got Claws," Wings of the Storm" and the title track. "Fool For Your Loving" sounds very similar to the classic Whitesnake mid-paced rocker sound in both style and lyrical approach. Of course, what would an 80's hair band be without their useless power ballad to sell them to radio? This one's got two: "Now Your're Gone" and "The Deeper the Love." One thing I always found odd about this disc is how un-Via like the guitar work is. When Steve was a part of David Lee Roth and Alcatrazz, he certainly made his presence known. On this album, Steve, who is credited with all the guitarwork, sound more like ex-Whitesnake axeman John Sykes than he does the king of flash. Several rumors actually went around that said that it was really Sykes who is the uncredited man behind most of the riff and rhythm work on this disc. Accordingly Steve Via was brought in later to add solos, guitar squeels and other bits. Never have found any confirmation of this rumor, except in a small write-up in Martin Popoff's book in which he states the same thing that I just stated.