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/
Saints An' Sinners
Whitesnake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
An' the final curtain call,
Don't lie when you testify
'Cause the good Lord know you're all
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves,
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves
Laying the Law on the line,
He said don't come knocking
On the Pearly Gates
If all you did was have a real good time
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves,
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves
For what we are about to receive
May the Lord make us truly thankful.
Saints an' sinners
I stand guilty of a thousand crimes,
An' I suffer temptation still,
Show me a man who won't give it to his woman
An' I'll show you somebody who will
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves,
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves
For what we are about to receive
May the Lord make us truly thankful
Saints an' sinners,
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves,
Get ready for Judgment day
An' the final curtain call,
Don't lie when you testify
'cause the Good Lord know you're all
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves,
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves
For what we are about to receive
May the Lord make us truly thankful
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves
Saints an' sinners
The song "Saints An' Sinners" by Whitesnake speaks of the final judgment day where everyone will face the "jury" and the "judge". The lyrics urge the listeners to face this day with honesty and without pretense because God knows everything. The title itself "Saints An' Sinners" refers to the two categories of people who will be judged on this day. The song lists down these two categories, as well as the people who represent them, such as priests and thieves.
The lyrics also refer to the story of Moses and the Red Sea, wherein he laid down the law and warned the people not to come knocking on the Pearly Gates if all they did was have a good time. This is relevant to the theme of judgment and the consequences of one's actions. The song admits to the singer's guilt of a thousand crimes and temptation. He also acknowledges the reality of human nature and the inevitability of giving in to temptation.
Overall, the song reflects on the finality of judgment and the importance of living a life that is worth remembering. It speaks to the listener to make the most out of their time and to always strive to be better, honest, and true.
Line by Line Meaning
Get ready for Judgment day
Prepare yourself for the day of judgement.
An' the final curtain call,
It's the last performance before the end.
Don't lie when you testify
Be truthful when you give your testimony.
'Cause the good Lord know you're all
God knows that we are all both saints and sinners.
Saints an' sinners, priests an' thieves,
Everyone, regardless of their background or role, is both good and bad.
When Moses stood on the Red Sea shore
Referencing the story from the Bible about Moses parting the Red Sea and leading the Israelites to safety.
Laying the Law on the line,
Moses was stating the rules and the consequences for not following them.
He said don't come knocking
Don't expect to be let in if you didn't follow the rules.
On the Pearly Gates
Referring to the entrance to Heaven.
If all you did was have a real good time
If you didn't do anything meaningful or good in your life, you won't be let into Heaven.
For what we are about to receive
Giving thanks for what we are receiving, likely referring to a meal.
May the Lord make us truly thankful.
Asking God to make us truly grateful for what we have.
I stand guilty of a thousand crimes,
Acknowledging that we are all guilty of making mistakes and doing wrong.
An' I suffer temptation still,
We still struggle with temptation and doing things we know we shouldn't.
Show me a man who won't give it to his woman
This line refers to a sexual relationship between a man and his partner.
An' I'll show you somebody who will
This line is saying that everyone experiences temptation, even if they don't act on it.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DAVID COVERDALE, NEIL JAMES MURRAY, JON LORD, IAN ANDERSON PAICE, BERNARD MARSDEN, MICKY MOODY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Gary Unsworth
Quality bluesy Whitesnake
Mark Lorne
David Coverdale was reported to say the Saints and Sinners album was a disappointment to him after Come and Get It, as he felt some members of the band didn't put in the required effort. Personally, although Saints isn't the classic line-ups greatest hour, it's still better than the later "hair-cut" band's efforts, but i'm a Moody, Marsden, Lord fan.
Christopher Reinheimer
This upload is so raw so cool. I do not care what anyone says. I thought I had everything, but now I am proven wrong. I must find this
C B
I know he said that Ian Paice didn't perform as well as he could on this album , not sure about other member's though. What I do remember is that someone in the band referred to it as Paints & Thinners.
Simon Clark
almost the same opening guitar riff as 'Keep on giving me Loving'
Vanei Pontes
This is true 👉 White 🐍😎👊
Mmm Ghool
love the emojis