BravePicks 2019 - WHITESNAKE's Flesh & Blood #18
December 14, 2019, 5 years ago
As Dark Angel famously said, “Time Does Not Heal”, but it certainly moves fast and here we are again, staring at our annual BravePicks countdown where the devout scribes at BraveWords get to stand up and shout! 2019, yet another banner year for extreme music, whether you call it heavy metal or not. We do, cuz we wear it on our sleeves! So the votes are in and the compiling is complete! It's time to crown the winners and put the noose around the bands that truly let us down.
So who will be our #1? You’ll find out as we count down the BravePick Of 2019 each day in December!
Everybody has an opinion and it’s time for ours! And stay tuned in January for the writers’ individual Top 20s (new studio albums ONLY), Top 5 Brave Embarrassments (a fan favorite!), Top 3 Concerts, What/Who Needs To Stop In 2019? and Metal Predictions For 2020. All will be showcased come the New Year!
So let’s commence the good, bad and ugly of 2019! First up, the Top 30 releases of 2019!
BravePicks 2019
18) WHITESNAKE – Flesh & Blood (Frontiers)
Here they do again! Whitesnake has been rattling their tale for over 40 years now, but David Coverdale’s crooning and shaking is still as strong as ever, as evidenced by Flesh & Blood. With two mighty guitar slingers at his side, Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra, and rounded out by keyboardist Michele Luppi, drummer Tommy Aldridge, and the underrated bassist Michael Devin; Flesh & Blood is 13 tracks full of fun rompers and of course those bluesy odes and hymns stylized by Coverdale’s lyrics of love and getting it on with the ladies! 2019 or 1987; it doesn’t matter as the Snake proves it’s still relevant with this fantastic record!
Scribe Mark Gromen opined in his review: “Got into Whitesnake before the teased hair and fancy outfits, when they were denim wearing, hard rock from the UK and have always preferred that edition of a band now celebrating 40 years of existence. Slide guitar opener ‘Good To See You Again’ seems destined to kick off the upcoming concerts, with its lively beat and ‘Good evening kings & queens’ lyric. The sustained, slide riffing is the dominate feature, and as such, comes closer to the pre-MTV version of Mr. Coverdale's band.
“Like most discs with 13 tracks, a few less would have made an even stronger impact. That said, for a man creeping up on 70, Flesh & Blood is a strong album, able to rock, without becoming a maudlin caricature of past lives.”
BravePicks 2019 Top 30
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18) WHITESNAKE - Flesh & Blood (Frontiers)
19) GATECREEPER - Deserted (Relapse)
20) GRAND MAGUS - Wolf God (Nuclear Blast)
21) DESTRUCTION - Born To Perish (Nuclear Blast)
22) TEXAS HIPPIE COALITION - High In The Saddle (eOne)
23) EXHUMED - Horror (Relapse)
24) DEATH ANGEL - Humanicide (Nuclear Blast)
25) BEAST IN BLACK - From Hell With Love (Nuclear Blast)
26) D-A-D - A Prayer For The Loud (AFM)
27) IDLE HANDS - Mana (Eisenwald)
28) HELL FIRE - Mania (Riding Easy)
29) SOILWORK - Verkligheten (Nuclear Blast)
30) MEMORIAM – Requiem For Mankind (Nuclear Blast)
