Having thoroughly revisited his work with Whitesnake at Rhino Records with remixes, reissues and compilations aplenty, the band's singer David Coverdale will now partner with the label to do the same for his three solo albums.
Into the Light: The Solo Albums, due October 25, will collect six CDs' worth of Coverdale's solo material, including new remixes alongside remastered versions of the albums WhiteSnake (1977), NorthWinds (1978) and Into the Light (2000) as well as unissued demos and outtakes from the latter album sessions and even a recently-discovered demo reel the frontman recorded in 1968. The new mix of Into the Light will be available separately as a double-vinyl release. The box also contains a 60-page booklet of rare photos, liner notes and new recollections from Coverdale - no doubt explaining how these albums fit into the continuum of Whitesnake. ("As I'm recognized as 'Mr. Whitesnake,'" Coverdale said in a statement, "I thought, Why not? They're all Whitesnake albums to me.")
Coverdale's solo career began in earnest after the collapse of Deep Purple, which he'd fronted between 1973 and 1976. His solo debut WhiteSnake - featuring a fairly prescient title - was a somewhat tentative, stylistically diverse effort featuring the talents of guitarist Micky Moody, Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover (who also produced), keyboardist Tim Hinkley and drummer Simon Phillips. Moody, Hinkley and Glover (as producer) returned to Coverdale's side on follow-up NorthWinds, considered by many fans to be a bit stronger effort, unified by the singer's versatile blues-y voice - but Coverdale was well into the thick of assembling a new band called - you guessed it! - Whitesnake, featuring Moody as a key member through 1983. Both albums were considerably remixed for this set - a combination of new overdubs (including a string arrangement on NorthWinds track "Time & Again" that Coverdale had in mind for years) as well as machine-assisted sound separation technology. "The remixes are modern, using new technology to squeeze the best out of them," Coverdale said in a statement. "Truly exciting to revisit and take care of any technical 'issues' I had with the tracks all those years ago."
Decades later, Coverdale released Into the Light in 2000, three years after temporarily bidding Whitesnake farewell with a tour. (The album they set out to promote, 1997's Restless Heart, was meant to be a Coverdale solo project until EMI requested to use the more familiar branding.) Into the Light, heavy on blues and ballads in classic Coverdale style, features a myriad of collaborators past, present and notable: Whitesnake's former rhythm section, drummer Denny Carmassi and bassist Tony Franklin; future Whitesnake bassist Marco Mendoza; and David Bowie guitarists Earl Slick and Reeves Gabrels. Into the Light (which is also presented in original and remixed forms) also features a disc's worth of bonus material in the box, including album demos with bassist Martin and several versions of songs that would appear on the reformed Whitesnake's later albums, including "Lay Down Your Love" (from 2008's Good to Be Bad) and "Whipping Boy Blues" (from 2011's Forevermore).
Into the Light: The Solo Albums offers one more treat for fans alongside the remastered and remixed albums: Young Lad's Blues, a collection of demo tracks Coverdale recorded as a teenager in 1968. (This is even earlier than the Deep Purple audition demo uncovered for Rhino's reissue of The Purple Album.) One track, "Sunny Days," would later take shape as a part of WhiteSnake nearly a decade later, while the rest are previously unheard gems for faithful fans.
Into the Light will be available anew on October 25. Pre-order it at the links below (as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)
Into the Light: The Solo Albums (Rhino, 2024) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
CD 1: Into the Light (2024 Remix) (previously unreleased - also available on 2LP vinyl with Disc 2, Track 1: Amazon U.S. / Amaazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- She Give Me
- River Song
- Don't You Cry
- Love is Blind
- Slave
- Cry for Love
- Living on Love
- Midnight Blue
- Too Many Tears
- Don't Lie to Me
- All the Time in the World
- Wherever You May Go
- Yours for the Asking
- Let's Talk It Over
CD 2: Into the Light (Additional Remixes, Demos & Unfinished Symphonies) (previously unreleased)
- Love is Blind (Band Version)
- As Long As I Have You
- With All of My Heart
- Wherever You May Go (String Version)
- Love is Blind (String Version)
- Lust (Demo)
- Oh No! Not the Blues Again (Demo)
- Into the Light (Intro) (Demo)
- Into the Light (Demo)
- You Make It Hard on Me (Demo)
- Would You Be Happy (Demo)
- Fooling Yourself (Demo)
- Make the Best of It (Demo)
- Veda of Cassandra Blues (Demo)
- I Can See the Light (Demo)
- Another Fallen Angel (Demo)
- Itchy Finger (Demo)
- Crazy 'Bout Cha (Original 1997 Demo of "Whipping Boy Blues")
- If You Want Me (Original 1997 Demo)
- Lay Your Love on Me (Original 1997 Demo of "Lay Down Your Love")
CD 3: NorthWinds (2024 Remix) (previously unreleased)
- Keep On Giving Me Love
- Sweet Mistreater
- NorthWinds
- Give Me Kindness
- Queen of Hearts
- Only My Soul
- Time & Again (Strings Version)
- Say You Love Me
- Shame the Devil, Tell the Truth
- Breakdown
- Time & Again (Piano Version)
- Time & Again (Strings Only)
CD 4: WhiteSnake MCMLXXVII (2024 Remix) (1-9) and Young Lad's Blues (1968 Home Demo) (10-17) (previously unreleased)
- Lady
- Blindman
- Goldies Place
- Time on My Side
- Peace Lovin' Man
- Sunny Days
- Hole in the Sky
- WhiteSnake
- Celebration
- Sunny Days (Original)
- Love Me in the Morning
- I Will Love You
- Moment in Time
- It Would Be Nice
- There Was a Time
- Why?
- I Still Love You
CD 5: Into the Light (Original Mix - 2024 Remaster) (released as EMI 72435 28124 2 4 (U.K.)/Dragonshead D001 (U.S.), 2000)
- She Give Me
- River Song
- Don't You Cry
- Love is Blind
- Slave
- Cry for Love
- Living on Love
- Midnight Blue
- Too Many Tears
- Don't Lie to Me
- Wherever You May Go
CD 6: WhiteSnake (Original Mix - 2024 Remaster) (1-9, released as Purple Records TPS 3509 (U.K.), 1977) and NorthWinds (Original Mix - 2024 Remaster) (10-17, released as Purple Records TPS 3513 (U.K.), 1978)
- Lady
- Blindman
- Goldies Place
- Time on My Side
- Peace Lovin' Man
- Sunny Days
- Hole in the Sky
- Celebration
- WhiteSnake
- NorthWinds
- Give Me Kindness
- Time & Again
- Keep On Giving Me Love
- Queen of Hearts
- Only My Soul
- Say You Love Me
- Breakdown
Not quite correct.
Presumably for Rights reasons, the 'Classic' Whitesnake Albums have never had the Coverdale treatment, even to the extent of remastering
Hello,
The same question is asked again and again about the “old” albums.
It should actually be well known by now that Coverdale no longer has any influence on any new editions of his works from Trouble to Saints And Sinners. Coverdale has said this several times in interviews. But there is a remaster of the albums mentioned in the "Box Of Snake" from 2011, which he himself supervised.
The fact that David has been able to remix his first two albums, is an encouraging sign, as it might open the way for the Whitesnake albums -Trouble to Saints And Sinners to get remixes/anniversary editions.I did read that David used A.I technology the remixing process. Did David have access to the original unmixed masters for those albums?