Restless Heart

Restless Heart is a work on which David Coverdale combined bluesy guitar, soft keyboards and deep, settled singing. Rather than the flashy arena rock of before, a personal, calm mood is at the center, and the songs slowly widen their emotion. Having been conceived at first as a solo work, it strongly reflects Coverdale’s matured inner life even while carrying the WHITESNAKE name. On “Restless Heart,” “Too Many Tears,” “Your Precious Love” and “Stay With Me,” it wins not by forceful pushing but through the expression of the voice and the afterglow of the melody. Songs like “Crying” and “Woman Trouble Blues” breathe a deep, blues-rooted feeling too. Foregrounding maturity and calm over flash, it is a flavorful record that strongly reflects Coverdale’s solo-like sensibility — a work to savor the matured expression that only a singer with a long career could give.