Music
Store

"Snakebite" is one of their earliest efforts, actually an amalgamtion between a 4-track EP released and 1978 and 4 of the best tracks from Coverdale's solo album "Northwinds." The tracks show Coverdale at his vocal best and loosest, a sense of fun alternating with genuine pathos.

1. Come On--slower than the familiar live version, but still a keeper. Sets the tone for much Whitesnake to come.

2. Bloody Mary--a piano driven boogie tune, almost like Elf in a way, but with rather ribald lyrics to boot. "Bloody Mary" is not a drink made with vodka and V-8 but instead a woman who likes to have sex.

3. Ain't No Love In The Heart of The City--Coverdale puts much "heart" into this rendition of the minor Bobby "Blue" Bland classic. The minor key guitar figure fits in well with the well-tempered vocalisms.

4. Steal Away--slide guitar dominates this borderline camp tune.

5. Keep On Giving Me Love--this tune defies categorization. Not quite rock, not quite funk, not pop...a new genre is born, but never really expanded upon. One of the five best tunes Coverdale has ever sung.

6. Queen of Hearts--excellent ballad, with effective dynamics.

7. Only My Soul--the second best song on the album (after Keep On Giving Me Love). Coverdale sings of children who are lost but searching.

8. Breakdown--uptempo, tough rock with classical solos in it (perhaps the most Deep Purple-like tune found here). And this makes sense, for the lyrics concern the final breakup of Deep Purple in 1976.

All in all, a worthy little gem to add to your CD collection.


This is a very good Rock album!   July 3, 1998
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

If you dig Classic Rock but always thought that Whitesnake was too bubble-gum metal for you, then this is the right album to listen to and have a better opinion of the band.

SNAKEBITE is probably the least comercially sucessful album of Coverdale's band, but for me it is the most charming. It includes 8 good songs. Only the 4 first songs were actually performed by Whitesnake, the band that included the former Purple Jon Lord and the guitarrist Bernie Marsden. The last four songs belong to Coverdale's second solo album, NORTH WINDS, recorded some months earlier, and probably were included because: 1) they fit in the context; 2) they were the best material Coverdale had to offer. Produced by Roger Glover and with the precious help of Micky Moody on guitar, the final half of SNAKEBITE is the best and most mature music Coverdale has ever sung.

This is a 1977 rock album, so don't expect any metal guitar virtuosism or high-pitched over-the-top screaming. SNAKEBITE is a collection of good and honest songs. There are some good rock'n'roll ("Come On", "Bloody Mary"), a funky gem ("Keep on giving me love"), the definitive Micky Moody's slide guitar work ("Steal Away") and a hard rock that, if recorded during the Deep Purple era, would be considered a classic: "Breakdown".

Two ballads show that Coverdale can be a sensible song writer, as well as a great singer: "Only My Soul" and "Queen of Hearts". The arrangements are terrific, mainly in "Queen...", that begins smooth but ends with all the Rock and R&B excitement a good long-haired British band could offer 25 years ago.

Classic Rock music fans that pay attention to this overlooked album may have a pleasant surprise!


Great songs, but they're not enough   August 7, 2005
 6 out of 8 found this review helpful

Snakebite (1978.) Whitesnake's first album.

INTRODUCTION:
When Deep Purple disbanded, David Coverdale's future wasn't looking very bright. At only twenty-one years of age, Coverdale became Ian Gillan's replacement singer in the legendary classic rock band... and then everything went horribly wrong. After only three albums with the rock powerhouse, they disbanded in 1976. With the exception of Burn, the first album he recorded with the group first, none of the work got any major publicity or credit. His two solo releases from 1977 didn't fare any better. While excellent, they too never got the proper publicity. Likewise, some people were not satisfied with this shift in sound from the Deep Purple albums he played on. What Coverdale needed was a new beginning... a new band. And that's just what he did - formed a new band. In 1978 David Coverdale released the four-track EP, Snakebite. Read on and see how Whitesnake's first album measures up!

OVERVIEW/REVIEW:
The songs on the first Whitesnake release are nothing short of excellent. Unfortunately, this album is only EP-length. The songs are good songs, but there are only four of them on here! That said, let's have a look at the songs this release serves up. Come On, a straight-up hard rocker, kicks things off. Even way back in the mid-late seventies, long before Whitesnake got any real popularity, they could rock hard with the best of them. The song is Bad Company-styled rock at its very best. It's almost a shame Whitesnake didn't follow this direction more. It's followed up by the piano-heavy bluesy rocker, Bloody Mary. This is a song that sounds like it would have been at home on one of the solo albums Coverdale releases prior to this EP. You've gotta love the piano in this song, and the classic bluesy feel the song conveys. And next up is the slow and soulful tune, Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City. Slow, melodic, and soulful, this song features Coverdale in one of his most unique sounds of all. You'll find many fans of his praise this song, and really, it isn't hard at all to see why. Closing out this four-song release is the guitar-heavy, classic-style rock of the fourth and final track. Of all the songs on the album, this one probably has the best guitar playing, and that backing piano track only adds to the song's overall charm. There are only four songs here and I would have liked to see more, but what little this package does offer is nothing short of excellent!

EDITION NOTES:
When this album was released on CD, in an effort to make the album worth the full price places usually charge for albums, the record company put on four bonus tracks - all of which were previously available on Northwinds, David Coverdale's second solo album. In my opinion this was a stupid move. Why do that when they could have combined these four tracks with Trouble, the full-length Whitesnake album that followed this one up? Not to mention the fact that this forced many fans to buy those Coverdale solo tracks twice. Here's my advice - buy Coverdale's Northwinds solo album to get those tracks. But rather than buy this version of the album, download the four unique tracks on iTunes. And then burn a copy of Northwinds with the four songs unique to this EP on it as bonus tracks. That way you'll save yourself some real money, and not be screwed over by the record company.

OVERALL:
Overall Snakebite is a very good first release for Whitesnake, I just wish there had been more songs unique to the EP. As I previously stated, this is good music but I DO NOT RECOMMEND BUYING THIS EP. Instead buy Northwinds and get the four tracks unique to Snakebite on iTunes. You'll save yourself some money this way, and get a listening experience that isn't redundant. Whitesnake in the seventies was radically different from their eighties power rock incarnation - and in a GOOD way. Check out this album and other early Whitesnake albums, and you'll see what they were REALLY about.


Lethal Snakebite   January 15, 2006
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

You gotta give David Coverdale some kind of credit for name-dropping two of his old Deep Purple classics right there in the first song on this album, "Come On".

"I'm just a SOLDIER OF FORTUNE,
Must be the GYPSY in me..."

Maybe David just wanted to remind people who he was, that this was not some "new" band, but in fact featured the talents of Deep Purple's old lead singer. Either way, it's a very solid outing despite the fact that it was patched together from various players and recording sessions.

Songs 1-4 (or "side one" if you remember the days of vinyl) featured his new band which he dubbed Whitesnake, named after a post-Purple solo album that he had done. Purple producer Martin Birch ensured a solid sound, and Coverdale & Co. provided four solid tunes. The aformentioned "Come On" sounds like latter Purple and features three players who would stay through most of Whitesnake's history: Neil Murray (bass), Bernie Marsden (guitar) and Mickey Moody (guitar). Track two, "Bloody Mary" is driven by a boogie piano, one of the best songs on the album. Then Coverdale gets bluesy. "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City", previously a hit for Bobby "Blue" Bland, ended becoming Whitesnake's live centerpiece. "Steal Away" ends this side with some slide guitar courtesy of Moody, and some very very bad synth tom drums by Dave Dowle.

Tracks 5-8, or "side two", featured some miscellaneous Coverdale solo material produced by ex-Purple bassist Roger Glover. Although Mickey Moody plays on these songs, all the other players are just studio musicians. Unfortunately, these songs show a distinct lack of direction. "Keep On Giving Me Love" was funky, like the kind of stuff Glenn Hughes was always trying to push on Deep Purple, but with a sub-par riff. Although it boasted a killer pre-chorus, the rest of the song is pretty stock. In fact the only standout song on this side would be "Only My Soul". Coverdale has often done these incredible soul-searching pieces, such as Purple's "Soldier Of Fortune", and Whitesnake's later "Sailing Ships". This time out we're treated to some very appropriate violin, and Glover on synth.

The CD itself includes lyrics, liner notes, and photos. Coverdale himself provided a brief blurb about the material at the start of the booklet.

Although David Coverdale was still searching for direction after leaving Purple, the Snakebite album is an enjoyable (albeit brief) listen from front to back. Some material really showed what David was capable of, and he certainly would deliver in full in the future. Whitesnake diehards should not do without Snakebite, as it provides in interesting set of snapshots of what Coverdale was up to in between his bouts of fame and glory.


It's rhythm & blues - not heavy metal   April 1, 2003
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

When Deep Purple came to an end, David Coverdale began a solo career that later developed into Whitesnake. "Snakebite" is the third release from Coverdale and the first one under the Whitesnake banner. You can say that this album continues where Deep Purple's "Come taste the band" left off, and the songs are in the same musical vein. I would not say that this release is world class, but it sure has its good moments, especially in the slow "Only my soul", which perhaps is the most beautiful song ever from Coverdale - alongside with "Soldier of fortune". The guys are doing a great job in the cover "Ain't no love in the heart of the city", and they surely blast away in the closing "Breakdown". The overall approach is a blend of traditional rock `n' roll and rhythm & blues. Fans of the later heavy metal direction ("1987" and "Slip if the tongue") might be a bit disappointed in this album `cos it ain't heavy metal at all.