Whitesnake – ‘Restless Heart’ (1997/2021 – 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) – Box Set

Whitesnake remained dormant for quite a while after ‘Slip of the Tongue’.  But in 1994, the band released a greatest hits album and ended up doing a short tour that included David Coverdale, Adrian Vandenberg, Warren DeMartini (RATT), Denny Carmassi (Coverdale/Page) and Rudy Sarzo.  The tour was short and the band disappeared again shortly there after.

Now on to the next Whitesnake album.  Okay, not really.  This isn’t a Whitesnake album.  It is a David Coverdale solo album that the record company made him add the Whitesnake name in to the title and that is why it reads David Coverdale & Whitesnake on the original release of the album which was on March 26, 1997.  When you hear it, you will agree, this isn’t Whitesnake. The album does have Adrian Vandenberg and we finally get an album that he actually plays on with David.  But it is not what you expect.  The dual guitars of Whitesnake are not there.  The playing is very understated on most of the songs and it is not a guitar heavy album at all.  No sir.  It is back to the early R&B and Blues roots for this one.

Adrian and David wrote most of the album together and the band for this album included Carmassi on drums and then added Guy Pratt on bass and Brett Tuggle on keyboards.  The band had a label in Europe and Japan, but the U.S. market never had an official release of this album. After the tour of this album, Whitesnake would end yet again.  David decided to shelve the band one more time and it would be 10 years before we got another Studio album from the band.  I don’t know what happened, but it can’t be good for David to hang it up so fast.  He wasn’t happy at all with the turnout of the album and tour.

The 25th Anniversary box set was released on October 29, 2021 which is technically not exactly 25 years, but pretty damn close. The set includes 4 CDs and 1 DVD. The CDs include a remixed album, a remastered album, a ton of demos and the “Evolution” CD these sets are famous for. You get a DVD, a hardback book, a replica tour book and a poster. Like all his sets it is chock full of stuff. Let’s check the stuff out.

DISC 1: ‘RESTLESS HEART’ 2021 REMIX

The first disc in the set is the brand new 2021 Remix album. It is in a carboard sleeve that looks like a vinyl jacket and this one is actually a gatefold. The Remixed album has one of his current guitarist Joel Hoekstra on it as well as former Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian. The both recorded additional parts for the remixed version of the record. Additional percussion and backing vocals were provided by Christopher Collier, who also was the one that remixed the album. The remix sounds great. The sound feels modern, fuller and richer, but is it any better than the original album. I don’t know since we get a remastered album as well. An interesting note is that some of the remixed songs had previously been included on a series of compilation albums, collectively titled the “Red, White and Blues” trilogy, which were released between 2020 and 2021.

DISC 2: ‘RESTLESS HEART’ 2021 REMASTER

When I hread this album, it took me back to the early blues and R&B Whitesnake albums, but still keeps a little of the modern sound.  Here is what I said about the album when I reviewed it for the David Coverdale Series…

The album had too many slow tracks which would be my biggest complaint.  It won’t be one I go back to a lot, but it still has some memorable tracks that are essential to the Whitesnake family such as Woman Trouble Blues, Restless Heart and Too Many Tears to name a few.  Overall my rating is going to be a 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars.  Maybe not the best, but still enough on the bone to give it a try.

And my thoughts aren’t really any different. I do like that a song or two have the Coverdale Page Sound to them, the ballads are good and it is a decent album…but I think a 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars is still a fair score.

DISC 3: ‘DANCING ON THE TITANIC: EARLY ARRANGEMENTS & GETTING DRUM TRACKS IN THE STUDIO’

The third disc is one of the gems in the set. These are all demos of songs on the album. Some are instrumental, some are pretty basic and some you even get studio banter. These are full demos and not pieced together like the next disc which we will discuss shortly. I love hearing early demos as you get different lyrics some times, different solos and overall some coolness. This disc even gives us an unreleased demo called “Snakes DOwn South” which is a really cool bluesy, swamp boogie type song. It didn’t fit the tone of the album but was a fascinating track on its own.

DISC 4: ‘RESTLESS HEART: EVOLUTIONS’

What is always the most interesting disc in these Whitesnake box sets is the ‘Evolutions’ disc. What is “Evolutions”? This is the disc where he pieces together the songs from the album from the very beginning or early stages of the song up until right before the finished product. It tracks the “evolution” of the song. It can start of as acoustic with simply a guitar or piano and David, then the electric guitars come in or the bass or the drums. The song gets fuller as it goes along. Like with the demos, you hear different solos (or no solos), different lyrics and experimentation. You get studio banter as well on some parts. It is so intriguing hearing a song develop along the way.

DISC 5: ‘RESTLESS HEART: DVD VIDEO’

Next you get a DVD which is chock full of videos for the songs. You get “Fan Videos”, actual music videos and lyric videos. There is also a three song set of the Starkers show and lastly, a behind the scenes set of the making of ‘Restless Heart’. It is fun to watch and see the guys from back in the late 1990’s. And it is always great to see Adrian and David working together. A nice addition to the set.

THE HARDBACK BOOK:

In all the Box Sets, you get a 60-page hardback book that is full of pictures, lyrics and a great interview with all that are involved including David, Adrian, Denny, Guy and more. It is cool seeing some of the advertising and different articles from that time period. It is a history book of ‘RESTLESS HEART’.

REPLICA TOUR BOOK:

The set also includes a replica tour book from the 1997 Restless Heart World Tour. You get pictures of the band, of David and best of all there is a great essay on the history of David Coverdale & Whitesnake. It is really cool to have this since I didn’t see that tour or have that tour book.

POSTER:

Lastly, you get a full sized poster of David Coverdale with the Whitesnake logo and album title. Now, appropriately it is only David as this was supposed to be a solo album and not a Whitesnake album, but you got love record companies and there thinking as the Whitesnake album would sell. Which honestly, I don’t think helped sales…but whatever.

And that is it. Another great box set from David Coverdale. You get a lot…but…what it wasn’t perfect. Think about it. You have a Remixed album and a Remastered album and they are the same songs. Then the 2 other discs are mostly demos of those same songs and the DVD has videos of those same songs. That is five discs of the same songs…different versions of course, but the same songs. That is a lot of the same. The set is also missing a live show from that era. That would’ve made this the perfect set. As a result, I think the 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars I gave the album are still a fair shake for the whole set. It is still a great box set, no doubt but it isn’t my favorite album. If you have all the other sets, you really do need this one to complete the set. It is well worth it!!

The David Coverdale Series:

1. Deep Purple – Burn
2. Deep Purple – Stormbringer
3. Deep Purple – Come Taste the Band
4. Deep Purple – Made in Europe
5. David Coverdale – Whitesnake
6. Deep Purple – Last Concert in Japan
7. David Coverdale – Northwinds
8. David Coverdale’s Whitesnake – Snakebite
9. Whitesnake – Trouble
10. Whitesnake – Lovehunter
11. Whitesnake – Ready an’ Willing
12. Whitesnake – “Fool For Your Loving” 7″ Single (Bonus Review)
13. Whitesnake – Live at Hammersmith
14. Whitesnake – Live…in the Heart of the City
15. Whitesnake – Come An’ Get it
16. Deep Purple – Live in London
17. Whitesnake – Saints & Sinners
18. Whitesnake – Slide It In
19. Whitesnake – “Give Me More Time” 12″ Single (Bonus Review)
20. Whitesnake – ‘The Best of Whitesnake (Bonus Review – 1982 release)
21. Whitesnake – Whitesnake (1987)
22. Whitesnake – “Is This Love” 12″ Promo (Bonus Review)
23. Whitesnake – ‘Best’ (Greece Version)
24. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue
25. David Coverdale – “The Last Note of Freedom” – Single Review
26. Coverdale/Page – Coverdale/Page
27. Coverdale/Page – “Take Me For A Little While 12” Single (Bonus Review)
28. David Coverdale & Whitesnake – Restless Heart
29. Whitesnake – Starkers in Tokyo
30. David Coverdale – Into the Night
31. Whitesnake – Live…In the Still of the Night (DVD)
32. Whitesnake – Live…In the Shadow of the Blues
33. Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad
34. Whitesnake – Forevermore
35. Whitesnake – Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock
36. Whitesnake – The Purple Album
37. Whitesnake – The Purple Tour (Live)
38. Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood
39. Whitesnake – The Rock Album
40. Whitesnake – Love Songs
41. Whitesnake – The Blues Album
42. Whitesnake – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
43. David Coverdale – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Other David Coverdale Albums reviewed – (Box Sets and Bootlegs):

1. Whitesnake – Little Box ‘O’ Snakes (The Sunburst Years 1978-1982) – Box Set (2013)
2. Whitesnake – 1987 (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
3. Whitesnake – Slide It In (35th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
4. Whitesnake – Unzipped – Box Set
5. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
6. Whitesnake – Restless Heart (25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) – Box Set
7. Whitesnake – Still…Good to Be Bad (15th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) – Box Set
8. Whitesnake – Into the Light: The Solo Albums – Box Set (2024)
9. Whitesnake (Snake) – Still of the Night Live in Battle Creek, Mich. July 26, 1987 (Bootleg)
10. Whitesnake – Washington State Wipeout (Spokane & Glasgow Broadcasts 1984) – (Bootleg)
11. Whitesnake – Nagoya 1980: The Japanese Broadcast (Bootleg)
12. Whitesnake – Saints And Sinners Tour 82-83 (Bootleg)