Live: In The Still Of The Night (Music DVD)

Whitesnake's career has been a tumultuous one since its founding. Vocalist David Coverdale achieved massive worldwide success with his blues-oriented hard rock outfit, especially with 1984's Slide It In and 1987's Whitesnake, but he changed his bandmembers for albums and tours with dizzying frequency. Also, there were long periods of inactivity during which shifting public tastes threatened to push the band into the realm of the forgotten. 2006's Live in the Still of the Night DVD is an impressive document of the band's powerful 2004 concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. Coverdale's all-star, wrecking-crew lineup for this version of Whitesnake includes guitarist Doug Aldrich, guitarist Reb Beach, keyboardist Timothy Drury, bass guitarist Marco Mendoza, and drummer Tommy Aldridge. Aldridge, an underrated powerhouse, is the lone holdover from the Whitesnake touring band and 1989's Slip of the Tongue; behind Coverdale's thundering voice, he's the engine driving the band. The 16 songs on Live in the Still of the Night are drawn from Whitesnake's entire career, arguably to appeal to the U.K. fan base. Coverdale gives a nod to his Deep Purple tenure by kicking off the show with "Burn" (complete with a teasing snippet of "Stormbringer"). Longtime fans are rewarded with "Ready an' Willing," a smoldering "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City," "Don't Break My Heart," "Fool for Your Lovin'," and the blistering first encore, "Take Me with You." Most of Whitesnake's best-known rock radio and pop hits are performed -- with a few exceptions. The gorgeous power ballad "Love Ain't No Stranger" is the only Slide It In song here; "Slide It In" and "Slow an' Easy" are conspicuously absent. Whitesnake favorites include "Bad Boys," "Is This Love," "Cryin' in the Rain" (complete with Aldridge's famous drum solo including a no-drumsticks, hands-only section), "Here I Go Again," and the rousing final encore, "Still of the Night." (Casual fans are probably unaware that the popular versions of "Here I Go Again," "Cryin' in the Rain," and "Fool for Your Lovin'" were glossier re-recordings of songs from the band's early albums.) With a few exceptions, Coverdale's voice is in fine shape, and the band glides along as a tight ensemble more than you would think. The only real drawback of this DVD is the back-and-forth edits between vibrant color and grainy black-and-white shots; it's not clever, it's annoying. Live in the Still of the Night DVD extras include a behind-the-scenes documentary and a photo gallery. ~ Bret Adams, All Music Guide