Review Summary: A perfect analogy for the re-vamped 90s Whitesnake: nowhere near as flashy or ostentatious as what came before it, considerably more matured and refined, but still as dependably solid as ever.
Time was, 'the acoustic album' was all but a staple of a long-standing rock artist's career, right up there with 'the live album' and 'the cash-grabbing Best Of compilation.' The 1990s, in particular, provided the ideal environment for artists to cash in on this type of release, as grunge and alt-rock had helped accustom rock audiences to quieter, less electrified songs.
And yet, the existence of this trend was mesmerizing in and of itself; for in truth, nearly every genre in the modern musical spectrum is in some way or another hampered by the all-acoustic format. With the exception of traditional jazz and folk combos or singer-songwriter set-ups – where electricity was never much of a factor to begin with – all other types of music stand to lose in some way from being stripped bare: those which rely on studio trickery to mask their inadequacies will have those exposed, while those which rely on big riffs and pounding percussion to generate excitement will see those resources taken away from them, as well. While some artists manage to make these handicaps work in their favour (Nirvana, Eric Clapton or Bryan Adams come to mind) just as many end up with dull, one-dimensional collections of similar-sounding tracks, closer to background music than to any kind of emotionally moving or thought provoking creation.
This was the trap Whitesnake risked falling into in the summer of 1997, when EMI Japan asked them to put on a semi-secret acoustic show in support of then-current, import-only release
Restless Heart. As frontman David Coverdale himself puts it on the liner notes, the band's songs are usually written with the
'final drum-driven, electric guitar fueled, chest-beating Tarzan vocal approach that people know as Whitesnake' in mind; when stripped down to its barest basics, the group's repertoire risked losing that sense of excitement, instead resulting in a boring experience for all concerned.
Fortunately, Whitesnake had a number of factors playing in their favour in this instance. Being experienced showmen with a hit list split somewhat evenly between power-ballads and rockier tracks, the band (or rather, Coverdale and then-new axeman Adrien Vandenberg) did what any experienced hand would when faced with this type of scenario – namely, play it safe. Ninety percent of the setlist for
Starkers in Tokyo – the name given to the commercially-released recording of the June 5, 1997 show – is made up of the exact tracks one might have expected, from the myriad slow-dance baiting tear-jerkers with
Love in the title to ubiquitous mega-hit
Here I Go Again. Also unsurprisingly, most of these hold their own quite well in a bare-bones format, with the main surprises coming from how well the rockier tracks hold up once the electricity is taken away. Not only that,
Give Me All Your Love and
Here I Go Again are far and away
the best two tracks included here – which says something about the standard of their original songwriting.
These songs (and the remaining eight tracks surrounding them) might not have come across as strongly were it not for Whitesnake's not-so-secret weapon: Coverdale's vocals. The Brit is rightfully seen as one of the great voices of hard rock, and on this – a solo showcase in all but name – he shows exactly why he deserves that epithet. Without the encumbering of a full (loud) band behind him, the gentlemanly frontman gives a veritable tour-de-force performance, launching into each song with as much gusto as he would had he been backed up by a wall of amps. Of course, unlike many of his contemporaries, he does know when to be understated as well; however, when a song needs power, Coverdale gives it
power.
Here I Go Again, for one, would have never worked as superbly as it does had the singer not been wailing every line like it was still 1987.
Much like the format itself, however, Coverdale's commitment to these tracks ends up being a double-edged sword. For every
Is This Love or
Here I Go Again – where his vocals both carry and enhance the acoustic version of the song – there is a
Can't Go On, where his sappy, schmaltzy delivery crosses the line into grating. This, in turn, brings up an issue with the setlist itself – namely the fact that, despite playing it safe
most of the time, Coverdale and Vandenberg
were still promoting a specific album, meaning at least
some of its songs had to be slipped in there somehow. Hence
Don't Fade Away, Too Many Tears and
Can't Go On, of which only the first manages to assert itself – mainly by virtue of its heartfelt relatable lyrics and message. The remaining two songs, on the other hand, have nothing at all remarkable about them – other than Coverdale cheesing it up on the latter – and do drag the overall quality of the album down a notch. Even more baffling is the inclusion of
Sailing Ships and
Soldier of Fortune, taking up two slots which could have housed
Still of the Night and
Fool For Your Loving, to name but two.
Still, overall, the acoustic show is a triumph. The two musicians are obviously very much at ease, Coverdale alternately joking with the crowd (
'feel free to go WHOO!') or gently ribbing his own partner; the tracklist is solid, if not perfect; and most of the songs have strong enough choruses and vocal lines to stand apart from one another. Considering the album being promoted was Whitesnake's first in almost exactly a decade, it is also encouraging to see that Coverdale – at least – has kept his pipes in flawless working order, and not missed a beat since the heady days of breaking through in America and working with Steve Vai. Actually, in a way,
Starkers in Tokyo itself serves as both an introduction and a perfect analogy for the re-vamped 90s Whitesnake: nowhere near as flashy or ostentatious as what came before it, considerably more matured and refined, but still as dependably solid as ever – even with nary an electric guitar in sight.
Recommended Tracks
Love Ain't No Stranger
Give Me All Your Love
Is This Love
Here I Go Again
