This Album was release on 26 May 2015 under label Frontier Records. Find their full lyrics here.
Whitesnake is
a sort of lone survivor after the wild west of hair metal. The English
outfit started out as more of a straightforward hard rock band from
the mind of former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale, a breath of fresh air
among their ’80s counterparts. They began ahead of the pack, releasing their
first album in 1978, and avoided the common death knell of that era by breaking
up before Nirvana killed glam. Since their reunion in 2002, they’ve
released three albums — the not-at-all-bad Good To Be Bad, the
all-too-long Forevermore, and
this year’s all-too-predictable set of re-recordings, The Purple Album.
Longtime fans will find thrills all over — the twisted riffage
and extended soloing of “Burn” leaves no room for irony and makes a better
argument than Chuck Klosterman for the validity of hair metal and shred. The
hooks are deep throughout the first half, often blending the blues rock of the ‘70s,
the predictable structures of the ‘80s, and modern production, all to some
success. Strip “Love Child” of its tacky, prepubescent lyricism and the song
would stand its ground almost anywhere — which is really too bad, because those
vanilla and idiotic moments can burn an otherwise fun ride. “Love child, always
teasing me” just doesn’t have a lasting appeal next to a serious examination of
the aging rocker that is “Sail Away”, especially when their musical gun isn’t
always loaded.
The latter half of the album finds them repeatedly trying to
re-invent the power ballad without much success. “Soldier of Fortune” tries to
do it with melodramatic lyrics but few dynamic changes. “Holy Man” falls flat
almost everywhere except the impossibly fast but tasteful guitar solo, complete
with twin harmonies and key twists. Longtime fans will still find what they’ve
always loved and enjoy the new palette, but years later, the flaws that prevent
the genre from critical success still exist, and prominently.
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