TO CELEBRATE ITS 35 ANNIVERSARY, WHITESNAKE WILL RELEASE “SLIDE IT IN: THE ULTIMATE SPECIAL EDITION ON MARCH 22ND
Whitesnake scored its first platinum-selling album in 1984 with Slide It In, a release that has sold more than four million copies worldwide thanks to hard-rocking songs like Love Ain’t No Stranger, Slow An’ Easy and the title track. The classic album turns 35 this year and Rhino is celebrating with several new versions, including an enormous seven-disc box set.
Slide It In: The Ultimate Special Edition will be available on March 22nd. The 6CD/DVD collection includes newly remastered versions of both the U.K. and U.S. mixes of the album, plus unreleased live and studio recordings, music videos, concert footage, and a new interview with Whitesnake founder and lead singer, David Coverdale. The music comes with a 60-page hardbound book that’s filled with rare photos and memorabilia from the era.
Three other versions of Slide It In will also be available the same day. A double-CD Deluxe Edition includes the newly remastered U.K. and U.S. mixes expanded with a selection of bonus tracks. The double-LP Deluxe Edition features the newly remastered U.K. and U.S. mixes. And finally, a single-disc version includes the newly remastered U.S. mix. The music will be available digitally as well.
After releasing Saints & Sinners in 1982, Whitesnake reconvened the following year in Germany to begin recording songs for what would become the band’s sixth studio album, Slide It In. At the time, band members included Coverdale, guitarists Micky Moody and Mel Galley, bassist Colin Hodgkinson and keyboardist Jon Lord. The album was initially released in 1984 in the U.K., where it climbed into the Top 10.
Soon after, the band’s lineup changed. Lord left to rejoin Deep Purple and Moody and Hodgkinson were replaced by guitarist John Sykes and Neil Murray, who was Whitesnake original bassist. Prior to its U.S. release in 1985, Slide It In was remixed while newly recorded parts by Sykes, Murray and keyboardist Bill Cuomo were added, resulting in two distinct versions of the album, both of which are included in this set.
Slide It In: The Ultimate Special Edition features unreleased versions of every album track, including 35th-anniversary remixes made this year, as well as monitor mixes recorded in 1983. The set boasts more than a dozen unreleased live recordings from 1984 that feature an entire concert from Glasgow, Scotland, plus several songs from Lord’s final show with Whitensake in Sweden. The collection’s final disc unearths 30 tracks that cover original demos and early mixes for album tracks, as well as unfinished song ideas.
Coverdale says, “Slide It In was always meant to be a structured, more electric modern take on the classic blues-based hard rock that Whitensake were famous for — but our new hook city hooligan, mixer extraordinaire Christopher Collier, has hand-tooled this classic record for the 21st century.
“Hearing all the performances so fresh and so clear after 35 years was amazing. Mel, Cozy and Jon’s playing on the record is as vital now as it was all those years ago. All the featured players shine.
Not only did Christopher get the best out of the recording, but he gives the album a fresh coat of sonic paint bringing it right up to date. I’m personally thrilled with it.”
Holy sh-t, I was just listening to Whitesnake earlier! Slow An’ Easy, so damn sleazy, but so damn good!! Not interested though in remixes or any other kind of version, original only! Thank you.
I LOVE that song, one of my all time favorites. “My heart is beating faster, baby, beating like a big bass drum.”
Hell yeah! One of my faves as well! 😉 Great, great song!
Slide It In is by far my favorite Whitesnake album – there’s really not a bad track on the entire thing and most of them are considered classics today. An interesting story: In November, 1983, I saw Quiet Riot at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Metal Health was taking the charts by storm and the band had just started to headline. Nazareth opened the show (Hair of the Dog is a great album, too, I might add…). Quiet Riot was incredible that night. They essentially played the entire Metal Health album and they were on fire. The place was sold out and the crowd was on their feet the entire show. For the final encore, Kevin DuBrow said, “It seems like there’s one song we forgot to do.” He turned his back to the crowd and when he turned back around, he was wearing The Mask, they went into the track, Metal Health, and the place went nuts! Fantastic! Exactly one year later, in November of 1984, they were back again at the same venue supporting the Condition Critical album, this time with Armored Saint opening the show (very good, considering the 20 minutes they were given). However, this time, Whitesnake went on before Quiet Riot…and it wasn’t even a contest. Whitesnake blew them away that night. They probably could have blown anyone away that evening. Slide It In was getting good airplay on the rock stations with the title track and, of course, Slow An’ Easy, but the real strength was the band. They played so well and David Coverdale…well, he just had that star quality as a front-man. I will also always remember how he introduced two particular members of the band. He said, “On drums, the legendary Cozy Powell…and on guitar, me good friend, John Sykes.” Can you believe it? Another interesting point: they introduced a new track that night that was going to be “on our next album” and it was Cryin’ In the Rain.” I remember it was much harder-edged than the version that showed up on 1987’s “Whitesnake” but it is still my favorite song on that album. As much as I love Slide It In, I agree with Doug R and Michael Monet – the original is still the best and I certainly don’t need 6 discs-worth of it!
In my opinion, that Whitesnake lineup, was their absolute best, between Sykes and Powell, just wow (no rhyme intended).
I envy you, you were so fortunate to have seen that version of the band, live. By the time I got to see Whitesnake, they were opening up for Motley Crue on their ’87 Girls, Girls, Girls tour. By that time, the whole line-up had changed, and I was seriously bummed.
Yes, Dana, I totally agree. Whitesnake went on to feature some other great musicians in the later versions of the band, but that 1984 lineup and that album will, at least for me, always be the best. I remember driving home from the concert that evening and most of the discussion was about how great Whitesnake was. Not so much was said about Quite Riot that night.
Great story, KB! Whitesnake has had a lot of great different lineups, but you got to see the best!
All this talk about Whitesnake makes me want to another top 20! 😉 Maybe later… Cheers!
First whitesnake album I went back to look for when someone introduced me to the 87 album love the song love ain’t no stranger god the glory days before the dark 90s
Another great song!
So we all complained about digital only SKID ROW and now this. 6 CDs? What the heck is this all about? 15 versions of LOVE AIN’T NO STRANGER and an entire CD of Coverdale doing comedy. Coverdale singing THE GAMBLER in Chinese. Tawny Kitaen reading poetry to her cat. 6 CDs is an awful lot of SLIDE IT IN. Imagine 72 holes of golf or going to the movies for a week straight. I love the album, SAINTS AND SINNERS and READY AND WILLING too, but 6 CDs? Imagine an 18 hour SUPER BOWL? Tom Brady would be like 60 years old by the time it ended. I’m going to fly to Australia and back just so I could hear SLIDE IT IN X 6. If SLIDE IT gets 6, does BURN get 18? MACHINE HEAD 30? LED ZEPPELIN 4 gets 108 CDs but who’s counting. SLOW AND EASY with no drums. I think I’ll pass. I’m saving my money for FORBIDDEN remastered. Hopefully only 2 CDs and under $30.
Well, it’s better than 12 versions of Yellow Ledbetter. 😉
Yellow what?
I knew I might get that response-LOL!!! It is a Pearl Jam song, a B-side to either Even Flow or Jeremy, I think?
Oh, well anything would be better than that sh-t! Pearl Jam? Talk about boring and depressing, they are the definition of BORING AND DEPRESSING!! I barely remember that song “Jeremy” and the video, but I do remember it being the worst “song” and video I had (unfortunately) ever seen, even worse than “Teen Spirit!” I avoided that sh-t like the plague!
Mark Pellington, who directed the Jeremy video, also directed Alice In Chains’ Rooster clip.
I found the Jeremy video, which is, sadly, based on a real event, extremely disturbing. It has stuck with me to this very day, and after seeing it once, I could NEVER view it again. So, as a result, I never saw the Rooster video, either, as I assumed, it was equally disturbing.
Michael, when I first read your post, I thought you meant the SF thrash band Forbidden was remastering their catalogue. So I started to use the internet to find out what the remasters would include. Now I realize you meant the Sabbath album. I guess I had a “duh” moment there…. :o)
Dana, Eddie Vedder (Or Eddie Muehler, as he was known in high school) of Pearl Jam was a classmate and part of my high school graduating class in Encinitas. My wife used to have a crush on him because she though he was cute. That bastard! :o)
Oh, and BTW, Forbidden was a great thrash band. Paul Bostaph, currently with Slayer, was the original drummer for them.
Eddie Vedder is adorable. Those apple cheeks, green eyes, doubles lashes. Damn him, I want all those things-LOL!
But I digress, while I have some Pearl Jam albums, I really should sell them, I have not touched them, since they came out. I cannot say I ever really liked them at the time, either. Evenflow was okay, Breath, from the Singles soundtrack may be better, but yeah, not my thing, at all.
Speaking of the Singles soundtrack, Chros Cornell’s song, Seasons, is such a great song, even though quite somber, is probably one his best. Not the norm, for what I would like.
Ain’t that something, “Rooster” is 1 of the few AIC songs that I don’t like. I like to be entertained, I like energy, I don’t want to be bored to death by “drama rock,” or “soap opera rock,” that’s what I call and think of Pearl Jam.
Ahh, all the reminiscing. I was sadly only 3 when Slide it in came out, had to wait a while before I could get back into the back catalogue after being infected with 1987 on the radio constantly… always found the album hard to find when I went CD shopping with my parents… can’t imagine why… (seriously, it was the last of the early ‘Snake I picked up, stores in the UK never seemed to stock it).. so I got hooked onto Come An’ Get It instead, and it’s still on heavy rotation. An education for a young rocker, in many ways. BTW – Do you think I’ll be able to show my mom the cover to Lovehunter yet?