Whitesnake “Live In ‘84 – Back To The Bone” cd

Back To The Bone (Best Of The Bootlegs) contains 9 tracks recorded during the 1984 Slide it in tour, and If I remember correctly, this was the third time I had seen Whitesnake, though the first with new guitarist John Sykes.
Opening with the trademark shout of “are you ready” Whitesnake launch into ‘Gambler’, a fast paced rocker quickly followed by ‘Guilty of love’. The recording sounds great, despite their age, and the mix is pretty good as well.
Next up, is the famous “Here’s a song for ya” yell as David tells the crowd before slowing things down a bit with ‘Love aint no stranger ‘.
The group are in great form, with the rhythm section of Cozy Powell and Neil Murray playing particular tight. David, is well David. Leader of Whitesnake, a born showman with a very strong rich soulful voice, and firing on all six, Whitesnakes latest six string gunslinger, John Sykes.
Track 4 is introduced as the current single, as played on MTV, back when MTV actually played music.
“Slow and Easy” is just that, a great slow burn blues track that allows John Sykes to show off his playing skills.
John Sykes and David Coverdale were a musical match made in heaven. However this relationship fell apart a lot sooner than people had hoped. They lasted long enough though to write and record the massive “whitesnake” album which included the mega worldwide hit “In The Still Of The Night”. I don’t think anybody has really filled John Sykes boots since he left, I feel that both Sykes and Coverdale turned Whitesnake into the multi-platinum, arena filling band they are now.
Track 5 is “Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues”, taken from the ‘Lovehunter’ album, and while Sykes plays the Bernie Marsden written track with ease, he adds he own magic sparkle to it, turning the song into a more hard edged rocker.
‘Ready and willing’ is up next, always a live favorite and then Coverdale introduces Sykes who plays a moody harmonic driven guitar solo before launching into a near eight minute epic version of ‘Crying In The Rain”, Sykes in on fire here, the solo on this is both fast and fluid, backed by the ever dependable Cozy Powell.
A nice vocal performance from Coverdale for ‘Soldier of Fortune’ show Sykes that he’s not the only one in the band who can do a ‘solo’ wraps this up nicely.
Next up are three songs played at the Super Rock 84 touring rock festival held in Seibu Stadium in Tokyo Japan, ‘Love Ain’t No Stranger’ ; ‘Ready An’ Willing’ ; ‘Slow An’ Easy’ . The recording of these are not as good as the above 9, but are still pretty decent, certainly worthy of inclusion.
The final track is a medley of Jon Lord’s final Whitesnake performance recorded in Las Vegas, though I have no idea where or when exactly.
Medley: Gambler; Guilty of Love; Love Ain’t No Stranger; Ready an’ Willing.

David had this to say about this project:
It’s still hard for me to find the words when remembering that half the incredible band who recorded the ‘SLIDE IT IN’ album with me have passed away. Incredibly difficult to articulate… Cozy Powell…Mel Galley…Jon Lord…Amazing people…amazing musicians…Their memories live on in our hearts & in the music they made. I miss them beyond words…

Wait until you see & hear them playing as only they can & add in the fiery guitar assault of the incredibly gifted John Sykes…plus the relentless melodic bass pounding of Neil Murray… Watching the videos & listening to the live performances takes me right back to the time I was on stage with this super group…
For this is a time capsule to indulge in, even if you missed the action the first time around & if you did catch any of the shows back in the day, you can relive it now in all it’s sonic glory.
A truly great chapter of the band… One of my all time favorite chapters of Whitesnake.

I have no hesitation in recommending this to any Whitesnake fan, this has not been rushed out, but has been painstaking researched by David to bring the best recordings he could find from that era, some feel the best era of Whitesnake.

DVD: Super Rock
Gambler – Guilty of Love – Love Ain’t No Stranger – Ready an’ Willing – Slow an’ Easy – Crying in the Rain – Guitar Solo – Soldier of Fortune – Drum Solo – Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City – Don’t Break My Heart Again.

Bonus Tracks
Jon Lord’s Final Performance with Whitesnake – Medley: Gambler – Guilty of Love – Love Ain’t No Stranger – Ready an’ Willing.

DVD Bonus Gallery
“Slide It In Slide Show” with rare unseen photos – “The Music Bed” contains snippets of private demos from David’s personal archives.

CD (only available in the combo edition) Snakeskin Boots – Best Of Bootlegs:Gambler – Guilty Of Love – Love Ain’t No Stranger – Slow An’ Easy – Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues – Ready An’ Willing – Guitar Solo – Crying In The Rain – Soldier Of Fortune.

Super Rock 84
Love Ain’t No Stranger – Ready An’ Willing – Slow An’ Easy

EP Audio Track
Jon Lord’s Final Performance with Whitesnake – Medley: Gambler – Guilty of Love – Love Ain’t No Stranger – Ready an’ Willing.

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