Listen To A Previously Unheard Early Version Of WHITESNAKE's 'Is This Love'

The “Evolutions Version” of the classic WHITESNAKE song “Is This Love”, which will appear on the upcoming thirtieth-anniversary reissue of the band’s self-titled album, can be streamed using the SoundCloud widget below. The track is part of a complete bonus disc full of demos and rehearsals from the period leading up to the “Whitesnake” LP, also known in some countries as “1987”.

“Whitesnake: Super Deluxe Edition” will be available on October 6 for $49.98. The 4-CD/DVD collection includes the original album with newly remastered sound, unreleased live and studio recordings, classic music videos, concert footage, a thirty-minute documentary, featuring a new interview with David Coverdale, WHITESNAKE‘s founder and lead singer. The music comes with a sixty-page hardbound book that’s filled with rare and unseen photos from the era, an extended essay based on new interviews with Coverdale, plus a booklet of the album’s lyrics, handwritten by Coverdale. The audio will also be available via digital download and streaming services.

Three other versions of “Whitesnake” will also be available the same day. A Deluxe Edition will be available in both 2-CD ($19.98) and 2-LP ($29.98) versions, each including the newly remastered album expanded with a selection of unreleased bonus recordings. A single-disc version of the newly remastered album will also be available.

This also marks the first release under a newly signed catalog deal with WHITESNAKE and Rhino Entertainment, the catalog division of Warner Music Group. This new deal includes both the North American and Japanese rights, marking the first time a substantial amount of the WHITESNAKE catalog will reside under Warner Music Group worldwide.

“It gives me great joy to finally have so much of my WHITESNAKE catalog all under the same roof with the Warner family and I’m thrilled to be now working with this tremendous team on a worldwide basis,” says Coverdale. “I have great memories of being with Warner back in my days with DEEP PURPLE. Then when I was with Geffen, they were distributed by Warner, so it feels like coming home to now have WHITESNAKE there. This elaborate reissue is the perfect project to kick off the new relationship.”

“WHITESNAKE is one of the all-time great rock n’ roll bands, with David being an absolute icon as a vocalist and front man,” says Rhino president Mark Pinkus. “We are absolutely thrilled to now have so much of the WHITESNAKE catalog with Warner on a global basis and are excited for the fans to see what great releases we have planned for the coming years.”

Soon after its release in April 1987, “Whitesnake” became a huge success around the world, selling multi million copies. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard album chart and spawned four popular singles: “Still Of The Night”, “Give Me All Your Love”, “Is This Love” (which reached #2) and the #1 hit “Here I Go Again”.

“Whitesnake: Super Deluxe Edition” comes with an entire disc of unreleased live performances featuring Adrian Vandenberg, Vivian Campbell and Tommy Aldridge, recorded during the band’s 1987-88 tour. The music includes live versions of several tracks from “1987”, plus WHITESNAKE classics “Slide It In”, “Love Ain’t No Stranger” and “Slow An’ Easy”.

An additional disc spotlights the creative process behind “Whitesnake” with a selection of elevent unreleased demo and rehearsal recordings, including early versions of nearly every song on the album called “87 Evolutions”. The final disc introduces newly remixed versions the album’s four singles, and includes rare radio mixes, as well as songs from “87 Versions”, an EP released exclusively in Japan.

The DVD from “Whitesnake: Super Deluxe Edition” includes music videos for the four singles, all of which have been carefully restored and remixed in 5.1 Surround Sound for the first time ever. In addition, the DVD also features a new thirty-minute documentary about the making of “Whitesnake”, a new promo video made especially for this set of the 1988 version of “Here I Go Again” and unreleased live footage from the 1987-88 tour.

According to Billboard, a WHITESNAKE home video will follow on Record Store Black Friday (November 24) as well as a coffee table book chronicling “The Purple Album” cycle from 2015. An all-new WHITESNAKE studio album is planned for 2018, along with a world tour.

“It was a lot of fun to do,” Coverdale told Billboard of the “Whitesnake” reissue, “because I don’t go back a lot. I kind of learn from the past to apply those lessons to the future and the present. But my gratitude for (the album) is beyond words. I’ve only ever gone into a studio to try to improve on the last record…There was no, ‘Right, I’m gonna sell thirty-odd million fucking records!’ It was amazing, just amazing, so it’s great to revisit all of this.”

Coverdale also revealed that he has been getting together with WHITESNAKE guitarists Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra for regular writing sessions for a new album that will lively arrive late spring of 2018. “I’m actually very excited about it because it’s the first opportunity both Reb and Joel and I have actually had to sit down and write together,” Coverdale said of what will be WHITESNAKE‘s first set of original material since 2011’s “Forevermore”. “There’s a lot of what one would refer to as arena rock; Reb and I were talking the other night over dinner and he said, ‘Man, there’s so many songs here that no matter where we play — Portugal or Brazil or Tokyo — they’re gonna get this hook. They’re gonna be punching the fuckin’ air and have a great night.’ And I went, ‘Oh, absolutely — and more than usual,’ which is great. I can’t do throwaway shit. The only reason I’m doing this record are the songs are gonna be a great WHITESNAKE album for WHITESNAKE fans — and the band. It’s very exciting.”

“Whitesnake: Super Deluxe Edition” 4CD/DVD Track Listing:

Disc One: Original Album 2017 Remaster:

01. Still Of The Night
02. Give Me All Your Love
03. Bad Boys
04. Is This Love
05. Here I Go Again ’87
06. Straight For The Heart
07. Looking For Love
08. Children Of The Night
09. You’re Gonna Break My Heart Again
10. Crying In The Rain
11. Don’t Turn Away

Disc Two: Snakeskin Boots [Live On Tour 1987-88]:

01. Bad Boys/Children Of The Night*
02. Slide It In*
03. Slow An’ Easy*
04. Here I Go Again*
05. Guilty Of Love*
06. Is This Love*
07. Love Ain’t No Stranger*
08. Guitar Solo – Adrian and Vivian*
09. Crying In The Rain*
10. Still Of The Night*
11. Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City*
12. Give Me All Your Love*

Disc Three: 87 Evolutions [Demos and Rehearsals]:

01. Still Of The Night*
02. Give Me All Your Love*
03. Bad Boys*
04. Is This Love*
05. Straight For The Heart*
06. Looking For Love*
07. Children Of The Night*
08. You’re Gonna Break My Heart Again*
09. Crying In The Rain*
10. Don’t Turn Away*
11. Crying In The Rain (Lil’ Mountain Alternate Take Ruff Mix) *

Disc Four: 87 Versions [2017 Remixes]”

01. Still Of The Night – Remix*
02. Is This Love – Remix*
03. Give Me All Your Love – Remix*
04. Here I Go Again 87 – Remix*
05. Standing In The Shadows – 1987 Versions, Japanese Mini-Album
06. Looking For Love – 1987 Versions, Japanese Mini-Album
07. You’re Gonna Break My Heart Again – 1987 Versions, Japanese Mini-Album
08. Need Your Love So Bad – 1987 Versions, Japanese Mini-Album
09. Here I Go Again – Radio Mix
10. Give Me All Your Love – Single Version

DVD:

01. Still Of The Night – Music Video, Restored and Remixed in 5.1
02. Here I Go Again 87 – Music Video, Restored and Remixed in 5.1
03. Is This Love – Music Video, Restored and Remixed in 5.1
04. Give Me All Your Love – Music Video, Restored and Remixed in 5.1
05. Documentary about the making of 1987 Album*
06. Here I Go Again – Purplesnake Video Jam*
07. Crying In The Rain – 1987 Tour Video Bootleg*
08. Band Intros – 1987 Tour Video Bootleg*
09. Still Of The Night – 1987 Tour Video Bootleg*

“Whitesnake: 30th Anniversary Edition” 2LP Track Listing:

Side One:

01. Still Of The Night
02. Bad Boys
03. You’re Gonna Break My Heart Again
04. Straight For The Heart
05. Here I Go Again 87

Side Two:

01. Give Me All Your Love
02. Is This Love
03. Children Of The Night
04. Crying In The Rain
05. Don’t Turn Away

Side Three:

01. Still Of The Night – 2017 Remix *
02. Is This Love – 2017 Remix *
03. Give Me All Your Love – 2017 Remix *
04. Here I Go Again 87 – 2017 Remix *
05. Looking For Love

Side Four:

01. Bad Boys/Children of the Night – Live*
02. Here I Go Again – Live*
03. Is This Love – Live*
04. Give Me All Your Love – Live*
05. Still of the Night – Live*

“Whitesnake: 30th Anniversary Edition” 2CD Track Listing:

Disc One: Original Album 2017 Remaster

01. Still Of The Night
02. Give Me All Your Love
03. Bad Boys
04. Is This Love
05. Here I Go Again 87
06. Straight For The Heart
07. Looking For Love
08. Children Of The Night
09. You’re Gonna Break My Heart Again
10. Crying In The Rain
11. Don’t Turn Away