WHITESNAKE – STILL OF THE NIGHT – METAL REWIND

Happy Friday Metalheads! Today we take a trip back to 1987 to a track from the seventh self -titled album by Whitesnake called “Still of the Night.”

The song written by David Coverdale and John Sykes hit #16 on the UK Billboard Chart and #79 on the Billboard Hot 100 U.S. chart when it was released in March of 1987 and combines the blues origins of the band with a more distorted, harder sound driving the song, making it a classic.

The video was the first of many Whitesnake videos to include David’s then wife, Tawny Kitaen and ended up being the most requested video the first week of it’s release. The lineup for the song included David Coverdale – vocals, John Skykes and Adrian Vandenberg – guitars, Neil Murray – bass, Aynsley Dunbar – drums and Don Airey on keyboards. Since the band had changed personnel from the time the song was written until it was recorded, the lineup had changed to Vivian Campbell on guitar along with Adrian Vandenberg, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Tommy Aldridge on drums.

The song and band were often compared to Led Zeppelin, especially Adrian’s bowing guitar technique in the video, however while considering Zeppelin an influence, Coverdale felt that the song stood on it’s own merit. The song still stands the test of time and is one of my all-time favorite metal songs from the 80’s.

CHECK OUT THE CLASSIC VIDEO BELOW:

WHITESNAKE – STILL OF THE NIGHT – METAL REWIND

Happy Friday Metalheads! Today we take a trip back to 1987 to a track from the seventh self -titled album by Whitesnake called “Still of the Night.”

The song written by David Coverdale and John Sykes hit #16 on the UK Billboard Chart and #79 on the Billboard Hot 100 U.S. chart when it was released in March of 1987 and combines the blues origins of the band with a more distorted, harder sound driving the song, making it a classic.

The video was the first of many Whitesnake videos to include David’s then wife, Tawny Kitaen and ended up being the most requested video the first week of it’s release. The lineup for the song included David Coverdale – vocals, John Skykes and Adrian Vandenberg – guitars, Neil Murray – bass, Aynsley Dunbar – drums and Don Airey on keyboards. Since the band had changed personnel from the time the song was written until it was recorded, the lineup had changed to Vivian Campbell on guitar along with Adrian Vandenberg, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Tommy Aldridge on drums.

The song and band were often compared to Led Zeppelin, especially Adrian’s bowing guitar technique in the video, however while considering Zeppelin an influence, Coverdale felt that the song stood on it’s own merit. The song still stands the test of time and is one of my all-time favorite metal songs from the 80’s.

CHECK OUT THE CLASSIC VIDEO BELOW:

DIO – THE LAST IN LINE – METAL REWIND

L to R: Jimmy Bain, Claude Schnell, Ronnie James Dio, Vivian Campbell, Vinny Appice

Photos courtesy of Red Ring Records and Amazon.com

Happy Friday Metalheads! Today we take a journey back in time to 1984 to the second album by Dio called “The Last in Line” released on Warner Brothers records.

The album which was the first Dio album to feature Rough Cutt keyboardist Claude Schnell, was certified gold by the RIAA in 1984 and is considered one of the most classic albums of it’s time. Videos for We Rock, The Last in Line and Mystery received substantial airplay on MTV.

The lineup for “The Last In Line” includes Ronnie James Dio – vocals, Vivian Campbell – guitar, Jimmy Bain – bass, Claude Schnell – keyboards and Vinny Appice – drums.

Check out the videos below from the album:

MYSTERY

THE LAST IN LINE

WE ROCK

 

 

DIO – HOLY DIVER – METAL REWIND

L to R: Vinny Appice, Ronnie James Dio, Vivian Campbell and Jimmy Bain

Today we take a trip back to 1983 to the debut album by the band named after one of the most influential singers in metal, Dio and the album, Holy Diver.

Dio formed after Ronnie James Dio and legendary drummer Vinny Appice left Black Sabbath to form a new band. Ronnie, who was a fan of Sir Walter Scott and science fiction wrote songs that were fantasy tales. In particular, the songs “Rainbow in the Dark” and “Holy Diver” showcase the theme of good vs. evil to raise questions about the deceit in romance and religion.

While the cover art, which features Dio’s band mascot Murray, was deemed to be controversial by critics suggesting that it appears to be a devil killing a cleric, Ronnie clarified that it could be a priest killing a devil and that you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. Dio’s logo had also been interpreted as spelling the word “die” or “evil” when turned upside down. Dio also said this was coincidental. The artwork for the cover was done by artist Randy Berrett.

The album reached #56 on the 1983 Billboard 200 chart and the track “Holy Diver” reached #40 on the Mainstream Rocks USA chart while “Rainbow in the Dark” charted at #14. The lineup for Holy Diver includes: Ronnie James Dio – vocals, Vivian Campbell – guitar, Jimmy Bain – bass and Vinny Appice – drums.

Ronnie’s death in 2010 has left a void in the metal world, however his voice lives on forever through his music. Vivian Campbell, who parted ways with Dio in 1986, went on to join a number of different bands including Whitesnake, before settling in Def Leppard in 1992.  Vinny Appice has been involved in many different musical endeavors over the years and was inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History in 2017. Jimmy Bain sadly passed away in 2016 from lung cancer