Whitesnake

Restless Heart RHINO

Nowhere near as bad as some claim.

OK, in Whitesnake terms this is a long way from being a classic. But listening to the new mix of the original album, this is better than history has painted it.

David Coverdale wanted Restless Heart to be a solo album, however for commercial reasons it came out in 1997 under the Whitesnake name. Now he’s had it remixed to fit his initial purpose, and this has improved songs like All In The Name Of Love, Don’t Fade Away

and Too Many Tears,

accentuating the soul, blues influences. And both Restless Heart plus You’re So Fine capture something of the spirit the band had prior to their early presuperstar days.

Naturally, there’s a raft of extras on a super-deluxe 4-CD/ DVD edition. These include studio out-takes and demos, which sound closer to Coverdale’s ambitions than the way the album eventually sounded. The DVD has a feature on the making of Restless Heart,

plus the videos shot at the time. Fans can also opt for the double CD, double LP or single CD versions.

Restless Heart is still relatively minor in the Whitesnake world – but it does still come as a pleasant surprise. ■■■■■■■■■■ may be rickety, but it helps keep things real. Also, there’s a thumping 10-track BBC session, where to the delight of the crowd, they trawl their catalogue as far back as the debut album’s I’ll Be Your Man. If that wasn’t enough, there are audience-free Electro-Vox studio versions of assorted El Camino and Brothers

songs. The extras don’t usurp the originals, but that’s simply a reflection of the quality of those originals. Terrific. ■■■■■■■■■■