I almost never write bad reviews. If you can’t say anything good or encouraging, it’s better you don’t say anything at all. But David Coverdale made something unforgiving - a Deep Purple tribute album, worse than some heavy metal beginners would have done it. I found about his album when Whitesnake announced they were coming to Skopje (my home town) in December 2015 with a Deep Purple repertoire. Being a huge Whitesnake and even huger Purple fan when I was younger, I was very excited about this event. I saw Whitesnake in Skopje some 7-8 years ago and it was fantastic. I could hardly wait to see them again, especially with the song list of my teenage days. In the meantime I bought the album and…
...it was a total disappointment. So flat, so superficial, it doesn’t even remind me of the original songs. Deep Purple were known for their explosiveness and energy, but also for their sophisticated arrangements and virtuosic performances. They were a band that grooves, especially the Mark 3 line-up with Glenn Hughes on bass and Coverdale on vocals. Bruce Dickinson once said that Purple’s music sounds wild and furious in our memory, but when you put on one of their records you can hear that it is pretty well-balanced, that it doesn't have too much distorted guitars, that it isn’t loud as we remember it. The secret was in the groove and the arrangements. And this is what Whitesnake failed to achieve. They sound like they don’t “feel” the songs and that is the most disappointing thing about this album, especially because of the fact that David Coverdale was not only a member of Deep Purple back in those days, but also a principle songwriter alongside Ritchie Blackmore. For me, without the desire to be harsh, with this album David made an aesthetic suicide.
Again, I’m writing this from a position of a Deep Purple fan. To the kids out there that have never heard of Jon Lord or Ritchie Blackmore, these songs might sound exciting, fresh even. But to me it’s a desperate try to stay on the scene, to push through one more tour and to capitalize on the former band’s fame and legacy. I’m sorry Mr. Coverdale, I love you, I respect you, but this is just awful!
