Great Metal Albums of 1984: Whitesnake- Slide It In

Well, here I go! This is my fourth post in as many days and my fifth in the past six. See what happens when a person has too much time on their hands. It is a good feeling compared to when I am so swamped, I worry that I won’t get out my self appointed quota of two posts a week. What better way to end this run than to post about the first Whitesnake album I seriously listened to, “Slide It In.”

One thing I didn’t realize back in 84 that I learned shortly after was that Whitesnake were going through their normal personnel changes at the time the album was recorded. After the recording of the album, both guitarists and bassist would leave bringing in guitarist John Sykes and bassist Neil Murray to play on the US version of the album. As it was the US version I’m most familiar with, the focus of the post will be in light of that.

For those who have Whitesnake’s “Greatest Hits” album, one would believe that they put out loads of power ballads. However, those who delve further into the band’s discography would quickly discover the misconception of that belief. The two tracks on “Slide It In” that comes even close to being a power ballad are “Love Ain’t No Stranger” and the single, “Slow and Easy.” Even those songs only appear to be such at the beginning before going much harder.

The album also leads off with the title track and my all time favourite Whitesnake song. This song demonstrates that Whitesnake has always had it in them to be more than a commercial metal band who played nothing more than power ballads. These days people say that about Bon Jovi but I digress. The rest of “Slide It In” follows in the vein of my all time favourite song. The songs are harder although there is some good melody in them. I like the Jon Lord’s keyboards sound in “Gambler,” especially the way it links up with the guitar solo. “Guilty of Love” is similar to the title track as a metal tune. It would have sounded even better if the guitar on the mix was turned up a fraction higher. Same things can be said for the remainder of the songs for I can see why some people argue that “Slide it In” was Whitesnake’s last real metal album.

Track Listing:

1. Slide It In
2. Slow and Easy
3. Love Ain’t No Stranger
4. All Or Nothing
5. Gambler
6. Guilty of Love
7. Hungry for Love
8. Give Me More Time
9. Spit It Out
10. Standing in the Shadow

Whitesnake- 1984

David Coverdale- lead vocals

Mel Galley- guitar, backing vocals

Mick Moody- guitar

Carl Hodgkinson- bass

Jon Lord- keyboards

Cozy Powell- drums

John Sykes- guitar on US release

Neil Murray- bass on US release

John Sykes

Was “Slide It In” Whitesnake’s last real metal album? I won’t get roped into that debate, especially when I hear some of the songs from their next album. However, that wouldn’t come out for another three years so it’s hard to judge. What I do know is that I really liked this album and it compelled me to go check out Whitesnake’s earlier material, particularly when I got to England.

Next post: David Bowie- Tonight

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