Artist: Whitesnake
Album: Slip of the Tongue
For some reason the intro to this song has always reminded me of the dungeon music from Super Mario Brothers, just with electric guitars. Once you get past that though, the meandering vocals lead into a long climb into the full bombast of the chorus. And the rest of the guitar work on this song just begs for air guitar while singing along. I find that the chorus especially lends itself to full-out belting and shameless air guitar.
This song has always stood out to me as having perfect pacing–every part of the song slowly builds to the chorus. The lyrics can be interpreted as either a bluesy love song with a hard edge, or (more likely) as a metaphor for sex. It’s the pacing of the song itself that makes it clear that the second interpretation is the correct one.
This song also showcases the flexibility of Coverdale’s voice. He handles everything from the soft, melodic vocals at the very beginning to the intense, full-throttle bellow of the chorus. And he covers it all without sounding strained or slipping even once. In the hands of a less-skilled vocalist, some of the lyrics could have come off a bit silly. However, in Coverdale’s hands, not only do I feel the lyrics, I am irresistably tempted to sing along whenever I’m by myself. This song illustrates perfectly the skill that Coverdale brings to his performances. It is these vocal skills that enabled Whitesnake to be more than just ‘another hair metal band’.
(That being said, back in the 80′s, Coverdale did have some of the best hair. Second to Jon Bon Jovi’s of course, but pretty good, all the same. Actually, the last time I saw him on TV, he still had better hair than I do.)
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Tags: Whitesnake