Just Listening to…Whitesnake – Unzipped
Acoustic Adventures – Unplugged in the Studio and Live on Stage 1997-2015

I thought this was going to be a boring listen.  5 CDs and a DVD of acoustic Whitesnake?  The same songs over and over?  It sounds pretty dull on paper, but in practice it’s another story.  So far, Unzipped has been a blast!

It turns out, a lot of my favourite Whitesnake songs are acoustic.  “Sailing Ships” is a fine example.  When David Coverdale is in a philosophical mood and busts out the acoustic guitar, he has the ability to make magic happen.  (But damn, he sure does like to re-use lyrics and imagery.  “Circle ’round the sun” again!)  Other tunes, such as and “Summer Rain” are less intellectual, but still leave a lasting impression.  Then you have acoustic arrangements of old familiar songs.  Whitesnake, Deep Purple, and even Coverdale-Page are revisited, and not just the hits.  These are songs to warmly enjoy when in a laid back mood.

The discs also include a remixed and expanded version of the first acoustic live Whitesnake album, Starkers in Tokyo.  The differences are audible; the album finally comes alive.  As a bonus, there is a off the cuff version of David’s solo song “Only My Soul” done a-cappella.  There is also a disc of “unreleased acoustic demo ideas”.  They are very raw — one track even begins with David calling it a “very rough idea”.  Some are written on the piano.  It’s hard to say if any of these ideas could have been made into hits, but they’re not bad.  Points must be awarded for the best song title:  “Another Lick While the Missus is Busy in the Kitchen”, a swampy blues riff.

Man, this one’s gonna take a long time to review!

For a fully detailed review, check out this one by John Snow!