Editing Whitesnake (section)

== Style and influences ==

=== Music ===
David Coverdale's original vision for Whitesnake was to create a [[blues]]-based, melodic [[hard rock]] band.<ref name="Vain"/> He wanted to combine elements of hard rock, [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] and blues with "good commercial [[Hook (music)|hooks]]".{{sfn|Popoff|2015|p=34}} Coverdale's earliest influences included [[The Pretty Things]] and [[The Yardbirds]], who combined blues and [[soul music|soul]] with electrified rock, a style Coverdale found more appealing to traditional twelve-bar blues structures. Another major influence on Whitesnake's sound was [[The Allman Brothers Band]], particularly their [[The Allman Brothers Band (album)|first album]].<ref name="Q&A"/> Whitesnake's other early influences included [[Cream (band)|Cream]], [[Mountain (band)|Mountain]], the [[Jimi Hendrix Experience]], [[Fleetwood Mac]] with [[Peter Green (musician)|Peter Green]], [[Jeff Beck]] (particularly the albums ''[[Truth (Jeff Beck album)|Truth]]'' and ''[[Beck-Ola]]''), [[Paul Butterfield]], and [[John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers]] (particularly ''[[Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton|The Beano Album]]'').<ref name="Vain"/>

As the band began playing and writing together, their sound developed further into what has been described by music critics as their [[blues rock]] period, which encompasses roughly the first five Whitesnake studio albums.<ref name="Vain"/>{{sfn|Popoff|2015|pp=55, 110}} ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s Richard Bienstock described their early sound as "bloozy, sexed-up [[Pub rock (United Kingdom)|pub-rock]]".<ref name="50Greatest"/> Dave Ling, writing for ''Classic Rock'', described "Walking in the Shadow of the Blues" as "a textbook fusion of blues, hard rock and melody".<ref name="LouderLovehunter"/> Micky Moody and Neil Murray have felt that Whitesnake didn't truly find their sound until ''Ready an' Willing''.{{sfn|Popoff|2015|pp=25, 32}} Coverdale has seconded this, stating that ''Ready an' Willing'' was the beginning of what Whitesnake should have sounded like from the start.{{sfn|Popoff|2015|p=64}}

Beginning with ''Slide It In'', Whitesnake's sound developed more into straightforward hard rock.<ref name="Vain"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/whitesnake-mn0000251595/biography |title=Whitesnake – Biography |last=Monger |first=James Christopher |work=AllMusic |publisher=All Media Network |access-date=10 February 2021 }}</ref> Neil Murray acknowledged that by 1983 the band's sound had become "repetitive" and "stale".<ref name="RockMilestones">{{cite AV media | date=8 January 2008 | title=Rock Milestones: Whitesnake – Slide It In | type=Documentary | publisher=Edgehill Publishing Ltd}}</ref> Coverdale later expressed his desire for the band's blues elements to "rock more".<ref name="Vain"/> Additionally, Murray attributed this shift partially to John Kalodner, who began pushing Whitesnake in a heavier, more guitar-based, "American-sounding" direction.{{sfn|Popoff|2015|p=143}} John Sykes also played a pivotal role in Whitesnake's evolution,<ref name="RockCandy"/><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Suter |first=Paul |date=19 April 1989 |title= Fatal Attraction |magazine=[[Raw (music magazine)|Raw]] |issue=17 |pages=50{{ndash}}53 |publisher=EMAP Publishing Limited | location=London, England}}</ref> with Murray remarking how Sykes wanted the band to be more "American style".{{sfn|Popoff|2015|p=114}} Regardless, music journalist Jerry Ewing described the change as a "natural progression" from the band's previous albums.<ref name="RockMilestones"/>

The band's eponymous album saw Whitesnake moving towards a sound Coverdale described as "leaner, meaner and more electrifying".<ref name="Story"/> This later period of Whitesnake's career has been described by music critics as hard rock,{{sfn|Popoff|2015|p=120}} [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]],{{sfn|Popoff|2015|p=125}} and [[glam metal]].{{sfn|Popoff|2015|p=171}} Coverdale would later admit that by the late 1980s, Whitesnake had become a "heavy metal comic", stating: "If people confuse Whitesnake with [[Mötley Crüe]] or any of these things, looking at the pictures [...] you can understand why."<ref name="BBCSpecial">{{cite episode |title=Heavy Metal |series=Top Ten |network=BBC |season=1 |number=3 |date=6 March 1999 |last=Jupitus |first=Phill (presenter)}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|It is unclear from the statement whether Coverdale is referring to the magazine ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]'' or the style of music, when describing Whitesnake becoming a "heavy metal comic".}} Musically though, Coverdale has rejected the notion that Whitesnake were ever a heavy metal band.<ref>{{Cite web | url= https://noisecreep.com/david-coverdale-rejects-heavy-metal-tag-for-whitesnake/ | title=David Coverdale Says Whitesnake Were Never a Heavy Metal Band | website=Noisecreep | date=6 April 2011 | access-date=12 February 2021 }}</ref>

Since reforming the band in 2003, Coverdale has attempted to combine elements of Whitesnake's early sound with their later hard rock style on their most recent studio albums.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=McIver |first=Joel |date=March 2011 |title=Good To Be Bad (SPV/Steamhammer) |magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]] presents: Whitesnake – Forevermore (The Official Album Magazine) |page=129 |publisher=Future plc |location=London, England}}</ref> However, music critics have noted that Whitesnake's style has remained most consistent with their late 1980s output, with Philip Wilding of ''Classic Rock'' in his review for ''Flesh & Blood'' stating: "Those hoping that the new Whitesnake album record will recall Coverdale's smoky, ''Lovehunter'' past should look away now. [...] Coverdale understood American radio in the 80s, and that might be why he still writes for it."<ref name="Flesh"/>

==== Comparisons to Led Zeppelin ====
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|description = "[[Still of the Night (song)|Still of the Night]]" has been accused of copying [[Led Zeppelin]]'s "[[Black Dog (Led Zeppelin song)|Black Dog]]" and "[[Whole Lotta Love]]".{{sfn|Popoff|2015|p=141}} David Coverdale has denied this, stating that the song's structure and middle section were inspired by "[[Jailhouse Rock (song)|Jailhouse Rock]]" and [[Jeff Beck]]'s "Rice Pudding", respectively.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsZQW4Mr1sI | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/FsZQW4Mr1sI| archive-date=2021-10-30| title=Whitesnake '87 Track by Track – Still Of The Night | publisher=Whitesnake TV | via=YouTube | date= 2 December 2017 | access-date =24 February 2021 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>
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As Whitesnake's style evolved in the mid to late 1980s, they began to draw unfavourable comparisons to [[Led Zeppelin]].<ref name="PopM03">{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/whitesnake-030713-2496079112.html |title=The Rock Never Stops Tour with Whitesnake, Warrant, Winger and Slaughter |date=26 August 2003 |website=[[PopMatters]] |access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref><ref name="PopM11">{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/149282-david-coverdale-white-snakenorth-winds-2495941248.html |title=David Coverdale: White Snake / North Winds |last=Valdivia |first=Victor |date=16 October 2011 |website=[[PopMatters]] |access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wake |first=Matt |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/greta-van-fleet-led-zeppelin-rocks-anxiety-of-influence-749513/ |title=Rock & Roll's Anxiety of Influence |date=31 October 2018 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref><ref name="Guinness Rockopedia">{{cite book |first=David |last=Roberts |year=1998 |title=Guinness Rockopedia |edition=1st |publisher=Guinness Publishing Ltd. |location=London |pages=236, 476 |isbn=0-85112-072-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessrockoped0000unse/page/236}}</ref> Tracks like "[[Slow an' Easy]]", "[[Still of the Night (song)|Still of the Night]]" and "[[Slip of the Tongue|Judgement Day]]" have been accused of copying Led Zeppelin,{{sfn|Popoff|2015|pp=136, 141, 143}}<ref>{{Cite magazine| url= https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/12-artists-who-ripped-off-led-zeppelin-186817/ | title= 12 Artists Who Ripped Off Led Zeppelin | magazine=Rolling Stone | first=Dan |last=Epstein | date=23 June 2016 | access-date=23 February 2021 }}</ref> while David Coverdale has been accused of imitating singer [[Robert Plant]].<ref name="CoverdalePage"/><ref name="PopM03"/><ref>{{Cite web| url= https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1993-03-14-1993073135-story.html | title= Coverdale/Page borrows moves from old Led Zep, but lacks unique Led zip | website=The Baltimore Sun | first=J. D. |last=Considine | date=14 March 1993 | access-date=23 February 2021 }}</ref> Responding to the claims, Coverdale jokingly stated in 1987: "I guess it's quite a compliment to be placed in a class like that."{{sfn|Popoff|2015|pp=141{{ndash}}142}} The comparison was exacerbated when Coverdale teamed up with Led Zeppelin guitarist [[Jimmy Page]] to release the album ''[[Coverdale–Page]]'' in 1993. In the press, Plant would refer to Coverdale as "David Cover-version" among other taunts,<ref name="CoverdalePage"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/robert-plant-whitesnake-david-coverdale-feud/ |title=Exploring the feud between Robert Plant and Whitesnake's David Coverdale |last=Taysom |first=Joe |date=3 December 2021 |website=[[Far Out (website)|Far Out]] |access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref> which was not well received by Coverdale nor Page.<ref name="Enemmän">{{cite interview |last1=Coverdale |first1=David |last2=Page |first2=Jimmy |interviewer=Heli Nevakare |title=An Interview with David Coverdale and Jimmy Page |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LizpiA_PBfI |work=Enemmän tätä |year=1993 |publisher=[[Yle]] |access-date=16 August 2021 |via=YouTube |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817203724/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LizpiA_PBfI |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="RNZ2020"/>

Coverdale denied any notion of plagiarism, stating: "I don't know how accurate the comparison is. People shouldn't forget that I worked in Deep Purple for a number of years, so my pedigree in hard rock is quite strong. I understand that bands like Whitesnake, Purple and Led Zeppelin all play a solid powerful brand of rock, but I don't think we're coming from the same place musically."{{sfn|Popoff|2015|pp=141{{ndash}}142}} Neil Murray laid some of the blame on John Kalodner, who he claimed began pushing Whitesnake in a more Led Zeppelin-like direction.{{sfn|Popoff|2015|pp=136, 141}} As for the comparisons to Plant, Coverdale said they are "both from a similar school of influences and inspirations and singers [...] I can tell you precisely who Robert listened to to develop the voice he has, which is [[Steve Marriott|Stevie Marriott]] and [[Terry Reid]] and that screaming blues voice isn't copyrighted by Robert and that's something that I've grown up doing too".<ref name="RNZ2020"/>

=== Lyrics ===
Coverdale has stated that lyrically all of his songs are love songs at their core.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4fap4A8D_0 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/M4fap4A8D_0| archive-date=2021-10-30| title= Whitesnake '87 Track by Track – Give Me All Your Love | publisher=Whitesnake TV | via=YouTube | date=6 November 2017 | access-date=12 February 2021 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> He has described them as diaries of particular times in his life.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://downloadfestival.co.uk/news-features/interview-whitesnakes-david-coverdale-flesh-and-blood/ | title= Interview: Whitesnake's David Coverdale "I'm the Edith Piaf of rock – I have no regrets" | website=Download Festival | date=7 May 2019 | access-date=27 February 2021 }}</ref> Nearly all of Whitesnake's studio albums feature one or more songs with "love" in the title. Coverdale has maintained that this hasn't been a conscious decision, rather he considers love his primary source of inspiration.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://loudwire.com/whitesnakes-david-coverdale-meditation-love-ritchie-blackmore/ | title= Whitesnake's David Coverdale: Meditation, Love + Ritchie Blackmore | website=Loudwire | first=Joe | last=Divita | date=3 April 2019 | access-date=27 February 2021 }}</ref> He has also attributed some of Whitesnake's longevity to the lyrics' "human themes", whether physical or emotional.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/david-coverdale-attributes-some-of-whitesnakes-success-to-lyrics-about-human-themes/ | title= David Coverdale Attributes Some Of Whitesnake's Success To Lyrics About 'Human Themes' | website=Blabbermouth.net | date=31 October 2020 | access-date=12 February 2021 }}</ref>

Whitesnake and main lyricist Coverdale have been heavily criticised by the music press for their excessive use of [[double entendre]]s and [[sexual innuendo]]s, most egregiously on tracks such as "Slide It In", "Slow an' Easy" and "Spit It Out".<ref name="Sexcess"/><ref name="Englishman">{{cite magazine |last=Dome |first=Malcolm |author-link=Malcolm Dome |date=17 August {{ndash}} 4 September 1990 |title= An Englishman Abroad |magazine=[[Raw (music magazine)|Raw]] |issue=52 |pages=18{{ndash}}21 |publisher=EMAP Publishing Limited | location=London, England}}</ref> Such criticism began in the late 1970s and was further inflamed with the ''[[Lovehunter]]'' (1979) [[List of controversial album art|cover art]].<ref name="ClassicRock23">{{cite magazine |last=Ling |first=Dave |date=29 October 2023 |title="We are bathing in innuendo": Whitesnake's Lovehunter artwork was knee-jerk response to their critics, but the album itself was a game-changer |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/whitesnake-lovehunter |magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]] |access-date=17 November 2023}}</ref> Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden and Jon Lord have expressed some discomfort over the band's lyrical content.<ref name="BBCSpecial"/> Coverdale has reiterated that some of his lyrics are meant to provoke laughter more than anything else, stating: "If I look at sex as an observer [...] there's humour also as well as the serious nitty-gritty stuff and I like to write about this as well." He also added that many of his songs are [[tongue-in-cheek]] and inspired by his own experiences, not uncommon to other people as well.<ref>{{cite interview |last1=Coverdale |first1=David |subject-link1=David Coverdale |interviewer=Anders Tengner |title=An Interview with David Coverdale |work=Metaljournalen |year=1984 |publisher=Sveriges Television }}</ref> The lyrics along with his stage personality "solidified an image of Coverdale: the [[preening]], tight-trousered [[lothario]]", according to ''[[The Guardian]]'''s Michael Hann, who also noted that although often ridiculed by the media, by 2015 "there's a certain affection for his magnificently preposterous persona".<ref name="TheG15">{{Cite news|last=Hann|first=Michael|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/22/david-coverdale-whitesnake-the-purple-album-deep-purple|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=David Coverdale: 'I amplify who I am 10 times when I'm on stage'|date=22 April 2015|access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref>

Coverdale has repeatedly denied any accusations of [[misogyny]] or [[sexism]].<ref name="RNZ2020">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018735397/whitesnake-singer-david-coverdale-there-s-not-a-misogynist-bone-in-my-body |title=Whitesnake singer David Coverdale: 'There's not a misogynist bone in my body' |date=23 February 2020 |access-date=24 February 2021 |website=[[RNZ]] }}</ref> ''[[PopMatters]]'' noted in 2003 that Coverdale "comes from a bygone era", while songs like "Slide it In" and "Slow an' Easy" show not only "the blues aspect of Whitesnake", but also "the tongue in cheek humor that Coverdale is so fond of".<ref name="PopM03"/> Marsden also conceded that while many of Coverdale's lyrics are not entirely [[Political correctness|politically correct]] in a contemporary setting, they were written "completely tongue-in-cheek" and are more a product of a bygone era.<ref name="LouderLovehunter"/> Music journalist Malcolm Dome compared some of Whitesnake's more suggestive lyrics to a ''[[Carry On (franchise)|Carry On]]'' film with their tongue-in-cheek sensibilities, also noting how in his opinion Coverdale has written songs with "some real depth and lyrical awareness" like "Sailing Ships" and "Love Ain't No Stranger".<ref name="Englishman"/>