Album Review: Whitesnake - Flesh & Blood

I don't know why, but I've been hearing Whitensake everywhere. The band has somehow gotten their songs into a host of recent commercials, which is something I'm not sure I understand, since the people advertizers target would have barely been born when the classic '87 self-titled album came out. The people these companies want to buy their products wouldn't know who Whitesnake are, so why are their songs being used to brainwash them into buying stuff? It baffles me. I like "Here I Go Again" just fine, but even I consider myself too young to really know or care about Whitesnake. Let's face it, they haven't been relevant to anything in decades.

There's also that little issue of David Coverdale's voice, which has not aged as well as his hair. Coverdale has been sounding worse and worse in recent years, so listening to a record where he is obviously being propped up is not exactly an 'event'.

This time out, Doug Aldritch has been replaced by Joel Hoekstra as the second guitarist. If you could have named the guys in the band besides Coverdale before I just said that, you're definitely a music nerd. The players don't matter much, as Whitesnake continues on being Whitesnake, with Coverdale firmly driving the ship. What we're going to get is an album of slightly bluesy hard rock that is mostly centered around Coverdale chasing after women. Not a lot changes in their camp.

Notable is that Coverdale seems to have finally realized his vocal limitations, as the majority of his vocals on the record are rather tame and subdued. He rarely tries to put any force behind his voice, which is a smart call, but it also draws attention to the reality. If the band is trying to sound big and rocking, and the vocalist doesn't match, the reason why becomes rather obvious. Coverdale's voice is thinner, more shrill than ever before. He doesn't have the range, power, or clarity he once did. He sounds old.

The songs don't bail him out very often. Coverdale still writes songs as if he is a young man, light on melodies and centered more on his vocal charisma. That worked when he was singing in Deep Purple, but not anymore. "Hey You (You Make Me Rock)" is not just incredibly cliche, it has one of thsoe practically worthless choruses where the band chants each word with a solid pause between them. It wants to be an anthem, but it sounds like trying to get a kindergarten class to recite the alphabet back to the teacher.

Hoekstra, along with mainstay Reb Beach, are supposed to be a duo of phenomenal guitar players. They may have talented hands, but they write limp and boring songs for Coverdale. There aren't any riffs here that go beyond the basics of blues-rock, or that you would hang your hat on as examples of your great playing. I thought the band's last outing being a re-recording of Deep Purple classics would have given them a clearer example of the standard they need to hold for themselves, but that didn't happen.

It's not that "Flesh & Blood" is bad. Believe me, there has been a rash of truly awful records this year, and Whitesnake is nowhere close to making that list. That said, this record also isn't that good. It's perfectly acceptable music for people who want to hear Whitesnake being Whitesnake. The 50+ crowd will be happy to play this once in a while, and if Coverdale plays a song or two in concert, it'll fit in fine. But if you're in that demographic being inundated with classic Whitesnake as a sales tool, you might be inclined to check out the band's new album, and you're not going to like this much at all. Whitesnake sounds dated, but not in the good way. They are stuck in 1987, but they're too old to stay there.

This is an album for die-hard Whitesnake fans, and no one else.