In their early years, Whitesnake played in a hard-edged blues rock and heavy metal influenced style. By the mid-80s, the band had moved towards a more commercially friendly arena rock and pop metal ethos, garnering them major hits such as "Love Ain't No Stranger", "Now You're Gone", "Slide It In", "Still of the Night", and the iconic tune "Here I Go Again" (arguably their 'signature song'). They were named the 85th greatest hard rock band of all time by VH1.
Whitesnake were active primarily in the 80s, but they still tour, albeit with an entirely new line-up (bar Coverdale), to this day. Some of the most famous musicians who have joined the band for a time include Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Rudy Sarzo, John Sykes, Adrian Vandenberg, Vivian Campbell, Tommy Aldridge, and Steve Vai.
The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple. This is not only because three past members of the band were once in Deep Purple but also because of their sound and influences. Later, the band took on a sound more in line with the hair metal style popular in the mid to late 80s, but they never truly left their heavy, blues rock roots behind
Formed in 1978 by David Coverdale after leaving Deep Purple, Whitesnake were originally a straightforwards heavy rock group with Jon Lord and Ian Paice from Deep Purple in the band. Despite a few album releases and constant touring, Whitesnake was unable to attain any significant commercial success in America, though becoming popular in the U.K., Europe, and Japan. Their critical reviews as well for their albums were somewhat mixed.
After acquaintance with Chris Cuttler, Fred Frith and most importantly, young guitarist John Sykes, David Coverdale decided to turn to a slicker, more commercially viable sound. Whitesnake made their first major splash in the States in 1984 with the album 'Slide It In', featuring the self-titled single as well as rock tracks "Slow An' Easy" and "Love Ain't No Stranger". All three of them gained major airplay and were eaten up by fans. Sykes was not involved in any of the song writing for 'Slide It In', though re-did some of Micky Moody's guitar work in the American remastering of the U.K. version of the album.
Three years later, thanks to radio-friendly, Zeppelin-ish songwriting and MTV friendly Tawny Kitaen's automobile acrobatics, Whitesnake became superstars with the album 'Whitesnake' (titled '1987' in Europe, and 'Serpens Albus' in Japan). Containing the U.S. smash hits "Here I Go Again", "Is This Love", "Still of the Night" and others, the album eventually sold over 10 million copies. Coverdale replaced the entire band for the subsequent tour, ditching Sykes for guitarists Adrian Vandenberg and Vivian Campbell. Also joining the band at this point were bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge.
Campbell left shortly after the tour (going on to replace Steve Clark in Def Leppard. Vandenberg, despite penning most of the material on the follow-up album, was unable to record due to a freak wrist injury. Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai was brought in to record all of the guitar parts for Slip of the Tongue, which was released in the spring of 1989. Despite going platinum, the album did not reach the stratospheric heights of Whitesnake (entitled 1987 in Europe, and Serpens Albus in Japan). With a divorce looming, and the alternative 'grunge' movement threatening to destroy the melodic rock movement, Coverdale dissolved Whitesnake.
In the late 90s, David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg finally recorded together again. Initially intended to be a Coverdale solo effort, the Whitesnake name was eventually attached (much like the Tony Iommi/Black Sabbath projects of the late 80s). The resulting products were a new studio album entitled Restless Heart, and the live acoustic set, Starkers In Tokyo.
In the early 2000's Coverdale relaunched Whitesnake fully with an entirely new lineup centred around guitarists Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich (previously of Winger and Lion/Dio). This Whitesnake embarked on tours across the globe, releasing the "Live In the Still of the Night" DVD and "Live... In the Shadow of the Blues" on CD in 2006. A new studio album, "Good to be Bad", was released in 2008 reaching the top 10 in the UK album charts.
Over the last few years Coverdale has been involved in a remastering project which has seen all albums from 1978's Trouble, to 1989's Slip of the Tongue reissued with bonus material.
Whitesnake released Forevermore, on March 25, 2011 in Europe, and on the 29th in North America. They have released a number of scheduled 2011 tour dates on their website, with six scheduled UK tour dates and other European dates. In February 2011, Whitesnake was announced as one of the headliners to play the annual Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma, on Memorial Day weekend. A digital single for the song 'Love Will Set You Free' was released, along with a video for the song, on February 21.
The album Forevermore was released as a special edition 'Snakepack' through Classic Rock magazine on 25 March, a full 3 weeks before its commercial release. The fan pack includes the full, official new album Forevermore, a 132-page magazine, poster and pin badge. On 20 March 2011, Whitesnake announced that Brian Ruedy would play keyboards on the Forevermore World Tour.
The album did not chart highly upon its official release in the UK (number 33, possibly due to the copies released as part of the aforementioned Classic Rock Snakepack, which are not eligible for the charts). It did, however, show signs of Whitesnake's slow rebuild of support in the US with the album charting at number 49 - the band's highest charting album since the 80s.
Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach are Whitesnake longest standing guitar players, both being in the band 10 years by 2012.
Whitesnake are set to embark on their farewell tour in May 2022, beginning in the UK and Ireland with Foreigner and Europe. In July 2021, the group announced the addition of multi-instrumentalist Dino Jelusick to their ranks, turning Whitesnake into a septet for the first time. Later that November, Michael Devin parted ways with the band. He was replaced by Tanya O'Callaghan, marking the first female musician to join the band.
Website: http://www.whitesnake.com/
Lady Luck
Whitesnake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I never get the chance to deal
Flick of the wrist and you cut me down,
I'm spinning like a roulette wheel
You say that love's a gamble
But, you play with loaded dice
You hide behind a good girl smile
But, I want it, I need it
If you don't give it I'll steal it,
I'll take it all and walk away
Lady luck,
You're a loser in the game of love, sweet lady luck
Who you gonna call when it all falls down on you,
Sweet lady luck
You can't stop your dealing
'cause it's a crying shame,
When the winner takes it all
And never ever takes the blame
But I want it, I need it
If you don't give it I'll steal it,
I'll take it all and walk away
Lady luck,
You're a loser in the game of love, sweet lady luck
Who you gonna call when it all falls down on you
Uh, what you gonna do?
Lady luck
I need your love, I need it now,
I've got to have it anyhow,
Sweet lady luck
I can't win for losing,
It's tearing me apart
So I'll play the joker to your queen of broken hearts
But, I want it, I need it,
If you don't give it I'll steal it
I'll take it all and walk away
Lady luck,
You're a loser in the game of love, sweet lady luck
Spinning like a roulette wheel, sweet lady luck
You're a loser in the game of love, sweet lady luck
I need your love, I need it now,
I've got to have it anyhow
Sweet lady luck
Sweet lady luck
Sweet lady luck
Lady luck!
The song “Sweet Lady Luck” by Whitesnake is a blues rock anthem about a man’s obsession with a woman who holds all the power in their relationship. The man is frustrated because he never gets a chance to take the lead in their relationship and feels like he’s always being controlled by the woman. He compares his situation to gambling, where he’s at the mercy of the woman’s whims, never knowing if he’s going to win or lose. The chorus repeats the phrase “Lady Luck, you’re a loser in the game of love” emphasizing the man’s feeling that the woman is ultimately going to lose because of the way she’s treating him.
The lyrics suggest that the woman is using her power to manipulate the man, and he is willing to do anything to get what he wants. He says he’ll take what he wants even if he has to steal it, and although he knows she's not good for him, he can’t help but keep coming back to her. The repeated phrase "I need your love, I need it now" reinforces the idea that he's addicted to her.
Overall, Sweet Lady Luck is a powerful blues rock song that speaks to the feeling of being powerless in a relationship and the desire to break free from it.
Line by Line Meaning
You hold all the aces,
You have control over the situation.
I never get the chance to deal
I am not given the opportunity to change things.
Flick of the wrist and you cut me down,
Your actions bring me down easily.
I'm spinning like a roulette wheel
I am uncertain about the direction I am going in.
You say that love's a gamble
You believe that love is unpredictable.
But, you play with loaded dice
But you have an unfair advantage.
You hide behind a good girl smile
You pretend to be innocent and friendly.
With a heart stone cold as ice
But you are actually unfeeling and uncaring.
But, I want it, I need it
But I desire and require it.
If you don't give it I'll steal it,
If you do not give me what I want, I will take it without your consent.
I'll take it all and walk away
I will take everything I want and leave without looking back.
Lady luck,
Luck or chance.
You're a loser in the game of love, sweet lady luck
You may be in control of the situation, but you will still lose in the end.
Who you gonna call when it all falls down on you,
Who will you turn to when everything goes wrong for you?
You can't stop your dealing
You cannot stop manipulating the situation.
'Cause it's a crying shame,
Because it is unfair and unfortunate.
When the winner takes it all
When the person who has control gets everything they want.
And never ever takes the blame
And never takes responsibility for their actions.
Uh, what you gonna do?
What actions will you take?
I need your love, I need it now,
I need your love immediately.
I've got to have it anyhow,
I must have it no matter what.
I can't win for losing,
I cannot succeed no matter what I do.
It's tearing me apart
It is causing me great emotional pain.
So I'll play the joker to your queen of broken hearts
So I will play the role of the fool to your emotionally damaged self.
Spinning like a roulette wheel, sweet lady luck
I am uncertain about the direction I am going in, with luck being the determining factor.
Lady luck!
Luck or chance.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ADRIAAN VANDENBERG, DAVID COVERDALE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
perpetual61
Lyrics:
You hold all the aces,
I never get the chance to deal
Flick of the wrist and you cut me down,
I'm spinning like a roulette wheel
You say that love's a gamble
But, you play with loaded dice
You hide behind a good girl smile
With a heart stone cold as ice
But, I want it, I need it
If you don't give it I'll steal it,
I'll take it all and walk away
Lady luck,
You're a loser in the game of love, sweet lady luck
Who you gonna call when it all falls down on you,
Sweet lady luck
You can't stop your dealing
'cause it's a crying shame,
When the winner takes it all
And never ever takes the blame
But I want it, I need it
If you don't give it I'll steal it,
I'll take it all and walk away
Lady luck,
You're a loser in the game of love, sweet lady luck
Who you gonna call when it all falls down on you
Uh, what you gonna do?
Lady luck
I need your love, I need it now,
I've got to have it anyhow,
Sweet lady luck
I can't win for losing,
It's tearing me apart
So I'll play the joker to your queen of broken hearts
But, I want it, I need it,
If you don't give it I'll steal it
I'll take it all and walk away
Lady luck,
You're a loser in the game of love, sweet lady luck
Spinning like a roulette wheel, sweet lady luck
You're a loser in the game of love, sweet lady luck
I need your love, I need it now,
I've got to have it anyhow
Sweet lady luck
Sweet lady luck
Sweet lady luck
Lady luck!
David Vitullo
David coverdale is one of great voices in heavy metal rock, one of the best underrated bands,
Sage Green
Straight facts.. I’m 18 and I am so pissed that people my age that listen to rock only appreciate Freddie mercury....
el Pablosky
and Vai are great together , Lee Roth is more poser !
jelena vasiljevic
q
Kelly Bowser
I miss the 80's so much. the kids nowadays have no clue what they missed out on!
Wob
Some of us do, but we'd rather not because it's unfair what we got instead :/
Faith5x
coming from a 15 year old although i wasn’t apart of the 80s i miss it😂
Jonsey mtb
well im only 14 and i listen to all 80's rock
Emilly Lima Psi & UX
80's Its the best of rock
Beth
I'm 18 and was raised on music like this wish I could have experienced it at the time though