1. Steal Your Heart Away
2. All Out Of Luck
3. Love Will Set You Free
4. Easier Said Than Done
5. Tell Me How
6. I Need You (Shine A Light)
7. One Of These Days
8. Love And Treat Me Right
9. Dogs In The Street
10. Fare Thee Well
11. Whipping Boy Blues
12. My Evil Ways
13. Forevermore
14. Whipping Boy Blues (Swamp Mix - bonus)

In 2008, after a long period, we would get a new album. Good To Be Bad was a bold statement of intent, demonstrating that Whitesnake were still a force to be reckoned with.

It was by far the heaviest album to bear the name, but without sacrificing what endeared them to their legions of fans all those years ago, as it fused all of the different ‘Snake eras into one, and added a modern heavy rock sound.

Many anticipated that it would be their last album, but now it's 2011 and here's Forevermore to show that Mr. Coverdale isn’t planning to hang up his microphone just yet.

It seems that the revolving door of band members will always remain turning, the band are now back to a five-piece following the departure of keyboard player Timothy Drury (though he does feature as a special guest), former Lynch Mob bassist Michael Devin has replaced Uriah Duffy, and ex Billy Idol and Pride & Glory drummer Brian Tichy has taken the stool vacated by Chris Frazier.

However, rather pleasingly, the guitarist line-up has remained unchanged. Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach have established a formidable partnership, their riffs and solos absolutely dominate proceedings.

As for David Coverdale’s voice, although it’s not as powerful as it was back in the 80's (and he would probably be the first to admit it), and it’s obvious he has his limits, he stays within those confines comfortably and sounds just fine. His frontman abilities will never be questioned.

Forevermore picks up where Good To Be Bad left off, and is not quite as heavy as it’s predecessor, and moderately more melodic, which has resulted in a slightly more eclectic collection of songs.

Opener "Steal Your Heart Away" with it’s subtle harmonica parts bridges the gap between the seventies and twenty-tens perfectly – strip away the modern production sound and this would sit comfortably on the Trouble debut.

The likes of "All Out Of Luck", "Tell Me How" and first single "Love Will Set You Free" are riff-heavy chest-beating melodic rockers absolutely teeming with hooklines, while "I Need You (Shine A Light)" eases back on the muscle without losing the power, and has the biggest chorus on the album.

"Love And Treat Me Right" is slightly reminiscent of the classic "Love Ain’t No Stranger", and"One Of These Days" is a bright and breezy acoustic-driven number with a hint of The Eagles.

"Dogs In The Street" is a devastating hard rocker with a production sounding like Slip... era work. The guitars are simply awesome and Beach is at the top of his game here.

"Whipping Boy Blues" sounds like it could be a leftover from David’s collaboration with Jimmy Page, and "My Evil Ways" is a rip-roaring rocker that again harks back to the old days – "Take Me With You" for 2011, and complete with an awesome guitar duel.

And as for the ballads, "Easier Said Than Done" is a classy mid-tempo smoocher, and "Fare Thee Well" is a beautiful acoustic-based piece with a subtle Southern Rock influence.

Under normal circumstances this would be the perfect closer to the album, however that honour is reserved for the seven-minute plus sweeping epic "Forevermore". It’s a dynamic number that resembles "Sailing Ships" from the Slip Of The Tongue album, beginning with gentle acoustic passages and smooth vocal lines, before erupting into a huge power ballad with fantastic guitar work, and is quite simply one of the best songs Coverdale has ever written.

Forevermore is far, far better than the previous Good To Be Bad.

This is a much more melodic album, organic and faithful to the 'Snake's history. In fact, many songs, if recorded with the first half of the eighties standards, easily could fit on Slide It In or 1987.

Production is terrific on all aspects, the band sounds big, shiny and powerful.

I didn't have too many expectations on this new recording, but Mr. Coverdale did it again. Yes, his voice is a bit wasted, but who cares? Even rusty, this throat is unstoppable. And he still can write killer tunes.

Forevermore, for me, is to be considered one of the best albums of Whitesnake's career.

Line up:
David Coverdale : Vocals, Harmonica
Doug Aldrich : Guitar
Reb Beach : Guitar
Michael Devin : Bass
Brian Tichy : Drums
Timothy Drury : Keyboards

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