Whitesnake – Live At Donington 1990

Having done the rounds on countless blogspots and forums over the last few years, the impressively high quality bootleg of Whitesnake?s triumphant headlining performance at the 1990 Monsters of Rock festival at Donington has finally been given it?s long overdue, proper release. It?s strange that it?s taken more than two decades for this live album to get officially put out, with even the bootleg version – taken from a BBC official radio broadcast of the event ? boasting a testosterone fuelled set with Whitesnake?s most musically impressive line-up on the back of the English five-piece?s tastefully titled ?Liquor and Poker World Tour?.

Head ?snake member David Coverdale sounds in great form throughout, and his banter with the tens of thousands in attendance is a comparable to him talking to his best mate down at the pub. The dual guitar heroics of Adrian Vandenberg and the Steve Vai, both of whom get more than ample opportunity of show off their wears throughout the fifteen-plus song set, a huge layer of pyrotechnic guitar work to the album.

“Live At Donington 1990” is probably the ultimate Whitesnake collection of tunes, with tracks taken off the harder more metallic ?Slip of the Tongue? perfectly fitting with their earlier, more blues influenced work. Picking one standout song from the record is damn near impossible, with ?Slow An? Easy?, ?Here I Go Again?,  ?Fool For Your Loving?, ?Crying the Rain? and silky smooth version of the uber-ballad ?Is This Love? all massive crowd pleasers. But it?s the goosebump inducing version of ?Judgement Day? that takes the cake as the highlight for the album, with every band member firing on all cylinders ? and even though the tune might have a slight nod towards Led Zeppelin?s ?Kashmir?, Coverdale?s throat shredding vocals and the awesome guitar interplay creates an undeniably stunning track.

Essentially the purpose of a live album is to create the feeling of being there at the show ? well,  Whitesnake?s ?Live At Donington 1990? has achieved that result and then some, and probably would even be a good starting place for potential fans of the group. From the opening notes of the bombastic intro tape to the final chords of the set closing ?Still Of The Night?, this is a stone-cold classic live album.

Rating: 9.5/10
Label: Frontiers Records
Website: www.whitesnake.com

By Andrew Kapper