Flesh & Blood

Flesh & Blood is a work on which WHITESNAKE re-presented the blues-based hard rock it has long honed in a modern, tightened sonic image. Thick, surging riffs, a tenacious rhythm, and David Coverdale’s voice — holding both gloss and shadow — vividly draw the band’s core from the opening. The guitars work not to show off technique but to lift the singing and amplify the songs’ heat. On “Shut Up & Kiss Me,” “Trouble Is Your Middle Name,” “Hey You (You Make Me Rock)” and “Flesh & Blood,” brisk drive and big choruses come forward, while in the mid-tempo songs the blues-derived spacing and low center of gravity stand out. The guitars of Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra add rich color to the songs. Rather than imitating past signature works, re-confirming with present playing the sensuality, dignity and rock ’n’ roll physicality that the WHITESNAKE name has meant, it is a record that vividly conveys a veteran band’s fullness.