Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale recently spoke with CleveScene.com about the band's new album, Flesh & Blood, and the band's 40th Anniversary. Following is an excerpt from the chat.

Q: Why has Whitesnake endured while other bands from the ’80s have fallen by the wayside? 

Coverdale: "I don’t know. Good songs probably. I really focus on the songs. I have a stamp of approval. You wouldn’t have anything in your hands if I hadn’t approved it. When we do these anniversary boxsets, we want to make them a gift to the fans. It’s like an Oscar grab bag. We’re also known for delivering when we perform and delivering in terms of songs. It makes putting a set list together very difficult. In different parts of the world, we have different hits."

Q: What was your mindset going into the making of this new album? Did you want to do anything differently?

Coverdale: "We just wanted to do the best we could. I’ve tried to retire more times than Sinatra. We did what I thought was a very solid album, which was Good to Be Bad in 2008. I thought, 'That’s great. I don’t need to add any more songs to the existing repertoire.' Then, I was asked again to do an original album and we came up with Forevermore, which had some absolute classic Whitesnake songs on it. I thought it would be great to bow out with, but no. It’s the demands of my Twitter pals. It’s what people want from me. That’s what’s been happening for the last 15 to 18 years. Then, it’s very sad. I hate to make it a short story, but in 2012, we lost the very beautiful Jon Lord from both Deep Purple and Whitesnake. Suddenly, in the same window of time, my wife loses a brother and I lose the aunt who was the first person who played me Elvis Presley and Little Richard. She was like an older sister, so it was really tragic for me. At the same time, I was working on updating Deep Purple ideas and then the epiphany I had after all this terrible grief was about reaching out and making amends. It was an extraordinary time period for me to reconnect with people from 30 and 40 years ago to remind them about how much I loved them and how important they’d been in my life’s journey. I didn’t want to lose anyone without telling them how much they meant to me." 

Read the complete interview here.

Whitesnake will release their Flesh & Blood album this Friday, May 10, via Frontiers Music Srl. Joining Coverdale on the forthcoming Whitesnake album is the powerhouse band comprised of Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra on guitar, Michael Devin on bass, Tommy Aldridge on drums, and Michele Luppi on keyboards.

For an inside look at the players that make up the band check out the clip below.

Flesh & Blood follows the 2011 studio album Forevermore and 2015’s The Purple Album, a reimagining of Deep Purple classics from Whitesnake mastermind’s David Coverdale’s time in that band. The 13 original, visceral tracks on Flesh & Blood, the band’s 13th studio album, are, luckily for you dear reader, “all killer, no filler”, as the saying goes. But would you expect anything less from the ’Snakes?

David Coverdale, the mastermind behind Whitesnake & co-composer of "Shut Up & Kiss Me" with guitarist Reb Beach, commenting on the forthcoming release said that "after the intense darkness of our last video 'Burn', if anything, it’s ‘light’ snake, you know? We’ve got some really dark energy going on in the world right now, so we’re gonna write & record a fun, knees up, song about falling in love with a fabulous babe. You’re over-talking, over-compensating & she just looks at you, takes the reins & says, 'Shut Up and Kiss Me!' and that’s it!! My video director and creative partner Tyler Bourns and I discussed a great storyline for the video, which involves a surprise guest: my fabulous old white Jaguar. We ended up cleaning and detailing it, as it has been in storage since I moved to Lake Tahoe, then we dusted off my old turquoise silk jacket from the original ‘Here I Go Again’ video and I was thinking, "man, this is going to be fun!" It’s a respectful acknowledgment and positive nod to the past, just fun stuff.”

Joining Coverdale on Flesh & Blood is the powerhouse band comprised of Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra on guitar, Michael Devin on bass, Tommy Aldridge on drums, and Michele Luppi on keyboards.

Since joining the band four years ago, and just in time for 2015's The Purple Album, Chicago native Joel Hoekstra has really come into his own, not only as a highly impressive axe-slinger, but also as a very accomplished songwriter too, co-writing six of the songs for Flesh & Blood with singer David Coverdale. Of course Joel’s talents are hardly surprising, considering he’s the son of two classical musicians.

Guitarist Reb Beach, who originally joined Whitesnake in 2002, has stepped up to become the group’s bandleader and guides the band to implement Coverdale’s musical vision. As well as bringing his impressive musical chops to the band, Reb has co-written five songs on the new album, the fourth studio album he has appeared on, commencing with 2008’s highly acclaimed Good To Be Bad.

It was the Good To Be Bad follow-up, Forevermore (2011), that saw the debut of bassist Michael Devin. The New Englander’s four-string-depth-charge-bass-bombs definitively underpin and drive the sound of Whitesnake in the 21st century.

Rounding out the rhythm section is David’s longest serving ’Snake, the renowned drummer and unstoppable percussionist Tommy Aldridge, who has been with Whitesnake in some capacity for 30 years. Tommy made his debut with Whitesnake way back in 1987 in the "Still Of The Night" video, becoming a mainstay behind the kit for successive albums and tours.

Last, but certainly not least, the band is completed by the inventive keyboards and vocals of Italian maestro Michele Luppi, who made his live debut in 2015, as documented on The Purple Tour live CD/DVD (2018).

The current incarnation of the band carries on the long and unwavering tradition of main man David Coverdale being surrounded by cream of the crop players who go all in to bring fans the best hard rock humanly possible. 40+ years into their existence, the ‘Snakes fangs have only grown sharper and are ready to inject fans with more of that rock ‘n roll venom they crave.

Flesh & Blood will be released in multiple formats.

* CD (Jewel Case)
* CD+DVD Deluxe Edition (Digipak) - Includes two studio bonus tracks on CD. DVD includes "Shut Up & Kiss Me" (classic jag version) (video), "Shut Up & Kiss Me" (club mix version) (video), Behind the Scenes of 'Flesh & Blood' video + 3 DVD Audio Tracks (remixes of album tracks)
* Super Luxury Boxset - Includes CD+DVD Deluxe Edition, 2xLP Standard Color LP, Poster, Numbered Lithograph, Box Set
* 2xLP - Black, 180g, Gatefold (Worldwide)
* 2xLP - Silver, 180g, Gatefold (Frontiers' U.S. Store Exclusive) - Limited to 300 Copies
* 2xLP - Gold, 180g, Gatefold (Frontiers' UK Store Exclusive) - Limited to 500 Copies
* 2xLP - Red, 180g, Gatefold (Frontiers' EU Store Exclusive) - Limited to 350 Copies

Pre-order "Flesh & Blood" here.

Signed CDs (Limited to 100), Limited Edition Silver Vinyl (Limited to 300 copies worldwide), & more available from Frontiers' US webstore here.

Signed CDs (Limited to 100), Limited Edition Gold Vinyl (Limited to 500 copies worldwide), & more available from Frontiers' UK webstore here.

Signed CDs (Limited to 100), Limited Edition Red Vinyl (Limited to 350 copies worldwide) & more available from Frontiers' EU webstore here.

Tracklisting CD / 2xLP:

"Good To See You Again"
"Gonna Be Alright"
"Shut Up & Kiss Me"
"Hey You (You Make Me Rock)"
"Always & Forever"
"When I Think Of You (Color Me Blue)"
"Trouble Is Your Middle Name"
"Flesh & Blood"
"Well I Never"
"Heart Of Stone"
"Get Up"
"After All "
"Sands Of Time"

Bonus tracks on CD+DVD Deluxe Edition and Digital Version:

"Can’t Do Right For Doing Wrong" (Bonus Track - New Studio Song)
"If I Can’t Have You" (Bonus Track - New Studio Song)
"Gonna Be Alright" (X-Tendo Mix) - DVD Audio Track
"Sands Of Time" (Radio Mix) - DVD Audio Track
"Shut Up And Kiss Me" (Video Mix) - DVD Audio Track

Mixed by Christopher Collier
Produced by Beach, Hoekstra & McIntyre
Executive Producer: David Coverdale

"Hey You (You Make Me Rock)":

"Trouble Is Your Middle Name":

"Shut Up & Kiss Me" video:

"Shut Up & Kiss Me" video behind-the-scenes:

EPK (Electronic Press Kit):