Saints & Sinners in Bloomington, MN

What a difference a year makes. After releasing the thoroughly disappointing
Come an' Get It
,
Whitesnake
made up for it in spades with 1982's excellent
Saints & Sinners
, their best record yet. Perhaps it was the arrival of new guitarist
Mel Galley
(replacing founding member
Bernie Marsden
) that re-energized the band. The dull, midtempo numbers of recent years are largely gone, replaced by rowdy bursts of bluesy aggression like
"Rough an' Ready,"
"Bloody Luxury,"
and the downright nasty
"Young Blood."
David Coverdale
also reaches new heights with the astounding heavy
blues
of
"Crying in the Rain"
(a lyrical relative to
Elmore James
'
"The Sun Is Shining"
if there ever was one) and the timeless power
ballad
"Here I Go Again."
Most Americans only came to know these songs when they were butchered into ridiculous
power metal
five years later, but for true
fans, these original versions make
well worth seeking out. [The 2007
EMI
reissue includes three bonus tracks.] ~ Eduardo Rivadavia